That's cracktacular. As I'm in San Antonio, I won't be able to see the game, but if we get home from my brother's birthday dinner before it's over, I'll try to drop in on the chatroom and see how it's going.
I know I haven't posted much over the past season (yeah, most probably don't even remember me). But since our teams are meeting for the first time tonight, I thought I'd come over here and preview the game. Both teams seem to be riddled by injury. The Jazz is still without Boozer, and lost AK two games into their 5 game, pre-Christmas roadie. Not coincidently, the Jazz dropped all three of those games. Utah if healthy, like the Rockets, is a very dangerous team. They beat the Pistons (only the second team to beat them on the road), knocked off Dallas and are coming off a pretty impressive win against Memphis last night. However, as mentioned in the thread, Utah is playing a back-to-back game, and that seems to always favor the home team. Whether Utah will be tired or not remains to be seen, but the Rockets should take advantage of the possible "weak legs" of the Jazz. This is a classic letdown game for Utah, which sadly has been apart of their season all year. I haven't followed the Rockets keenly, but they're not playing nearly as good as I thought they would be. Alas, most of this can be attributed to the fact they've been hindered by injuries. With Yao out, I think this benefits the Jazz a bit more. Utah likes to get physical inside, and without a "dominate" presence, I think Utah can exploit that. With that said, the Jazz can't play like they did last night. While they won, it took an improbable comeback to get back into the game. With less than 5 minutes left in the third Utah was down 18 points and went on a 20-0 run to take the lead. I don't see them having that kind of run in them again, and I really don't see them doing it on the road. The key for the Jazz will be getting AK into his groove early. The Jazz is 8-4 when he starts and is 2-8 when he doesn't play. To say he's our franchise player at the moment is an understatement. I also think it will be imperative that Okur scores 20 points. I believe Utah has only lost one game with Okur scoring 20 or more points. As goes Okur, so goes the Jazz. However, Utah has been one of the most fickle teams in the NBA. They got swept by New York this season, got beat by Boston and got blown out, at home, by Seattle. One night they can look like a playoff team, then the next they can look like a typical lottery team. Their play has stagnated at times, allowing other teams to make big runs and their offense can be brutal to watch at other times. I would feel better about beating Houston if Utah were playing more consistent ball, but they're not. This game can go anyway, but I just don't think the Jazz win it. I say: Houston 94 Utah 82 Hope I'm wrong. Would love if I were wrong.
That's a pretty safe bet at this point in time... I expect this to another in a continuing series of ugly games...
I see you're not familiar with the fact that the Rockets are a 'senior citizens' squad. Believe me, no matter how 'weak legged' the Jazz are, they will still outrun and outlast the Rockets as far as energy is concerned. For Pete's sake, Mutombo is 49.
Just some decent basketball, please. Something resembling a professional level of play. Make a few wide open shots, give us hope.
Pace yourself T-Mac, don't wear yourself out too early alas the Clippers game. On a sidenote, oh what I would give to have Swift acquire JHoward's footwork, or JHoward with Swift's body.
How is McGrady fundamentally missing these layups? I don't understand it. T-Mac needs to work on his "layup follow through"
any of you guys use gamechannel on yahoo sports.. here's the link. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AlFo0MtPktPjcSHLNHjIFzq8vLYF?gid=2005122710
You want my theory? I think when he drives in and he absorbs any body contact, he's off-balance because his body is just not as 'strong' as Lebron's or Wade's. I just don't think McGrady's body is built for banging inside.
Did you guys see that offensive board Juwan snagged that led to Tmac's dunk? For all you Juwan bashers, this is why I'm a huge fan of him. Also, did anyone notice, at the 1st timeout, all the Rockets on the bench cleared to participate in the huddle. Except for Swift. I still believe that he can develop into what we want for our starting PF but we just need patience. Swift's the type of player, as one of our other posters pointed out, who needs a lot of positive reenforcement to do well. He needs to be made to feel a part of this team and needs a lot of encouragment. We have another rocket like that too. His name's Yao Ming. Hopefully JVG can extend his patience to Swift a little bit and hopefully Swift gets more playing time to figure it out.
Frankly, I think Yao's psyche is a lot stronger than people give him credit for. I don't think Swift's mental toughness is nearly as good as Yao's. BTW, I have always loved Howard's determination, professionalism, and demeanor on and off the court. He has, IMO, gotten more out of his body/abilities/skills than most give him credit for. He's an ideal bench player to give you a scoring punch with the second unit, but that is if his contract was a bit smaller than it is now. However, his rebounding and defensive abilities leave much to be desired especially on a team that requires a defensive-minded rebounding PF next to Yao. His shortcomings are not to be blames on his lack of effort, because it's clearly one thing that Juwon can never be lamented for, but rather due to his size and his physical limitations at this stage of his career.
BTW, Moochie has been SOLID at running the point the past few games, I am not sure if it's me or if my eyes are decieving me. This is more like the Moochie I watch tearing up the summer league.
Can anyone post me the link to download the english version of PPlive? That is if this game is showing on PPlive. Thanks!
