ClutchFans Game Thread: Jazz @ Rockets 4/19/2008 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

Thanks for nothing...

 

I can't really blame them... but hey just like the streak, we've been written off, we're finished in everyones eyes, there is no pressure on us, so lets just play like there is no tomorrow.

In reality we'll need hot shooting and a few things to go our way to win this series, but we've watched this team all season we know they are capable of that.

 

Can't wait for the game...!!!!!

rockets win 110-102.....
Sweet Revenge coming up this series....

 

usually our hot shooting lives and dies with Rafer. if rafer makes 5 3 pointers a game we're gonna win, but we have no rafer now.

 

Keys to the game:

1. TMAC ATTACK THE RIM....THEY HAVE NO SHOT BLOCKER....NO GUY THAT CAN DEFEND YOU....NO GUY THAT CAN STOP THAT

2. Offensive rebounds!!!! basically rebound in general...dont let paul milisap beat us with his rebounds!

3. Scola continue being our savior!

4. Hardnose defense. Shane, luther, bjax, and brooks .....please hit your threes

5. contain boozer at least...do ur best on deron but we dont match with him at all but we are capable of containing boozer

 

Attack attack attack the rim. have to create space by attacking the rim and give our shooters room to operate.

If we beat them in the paint we win.

Scola and tracy will be huge! Also think we'll see Novak nailing some big time 3s!

Roxs 105
jazzzzz 88

 

The national media will never give the Rockets the respect they deserve. They want an East coast, West coast final. If the Rockets win it all they won't allow themselves to look stupid (Barkley) and blame it on something like an injury or some other unfair advantage they make up.

I think it works out well for the Rockets to be the underdog as long as they are in the playoffs. Nobody will see them coming. My only fear is we are only one back injury away from playoff death.

 

seriously...how are we not favored to beat the jazz...


who likes the jazz???


and if tmac does get past the first round...i think we will see some explosiveness that we've never seen...

as for now...this will be very hard to predict...

i don't think that one game will necessarily set the tone for the rest of the game...

this will be a surprising series...

 

You're a lucky man, Tracy McGrady. You've been given something precious, something a lot of people never get.

Can you guess what that is, Tracy? That's right. You're getting a second chance.

The Rockets drew the perfect first-round opponent. They get another crack at the Utah Jazz. This one's for you, Tracy.

Perfect, absolutely perfect. All those demons, all those insults and doubts and all the rest, can be kicked right out the window if the Rockets get by the Jazz.

Sure, the Jazz are bigger and stronger than the Rockets. Some might say they're mentally tougher. That's why they're so perfect.

If you're going to prove people wrong, if you're going to confront both your doubts and your doubters, this is the place to start.

The Jazz will set hard picks and commit hard fouls. They will play aggressively on the defensive end and make the extra pass on the offensive end.

They are not a pretty basketball team, but pretty never has won much in the playoffs in recent years. If the Rockets aren't willing to match the toughness and energy the Jazz bring to the arena almost every night, then these playoffs are going to have a familiar ending for the Rockets.


Those Game 7 blues
Remember 2007, Tracy? The Jazz won Game 7 at Toyota Center. That one rattled the Rockets to their core and led to a series of changes, including Rick Adelman taking over for Jeff Van Gundy.

The Rockets had been blown out in a Game 7 at Dallas in 2005, but in some ways, the Utah series was worse. The Rockets knew, or should have known, they had more talent than the Jazz. They had home-court advantage, too.

Then in what should have been McGrady's finest hour, the thing got away. It's easy to forget that McGrady played magnificently in Game 7. In the end, it's only about the bottom line.

McGrady knows what the story line will be. Same as it always was. He has been to the playoffs six times and never gotten out of the first round.

This is his NBA legacy. Never mind that some of his teams have been outmatched. Never mind he never had a chance in some of those years. Fans don't want to know how the sausage is made.

McGrady has an unflattering reputation around the NBA as a guy unwilling to do the things the great ones are supposed to do on the biggest stage.

He's the guy who settles for jumpers even on nights when his jumper isn't falling. This reputation isn't completely fair or accurate, but reputations are always like that. There's way too much truth in there, too.

In some ways, this season has been his finest hour. When the Rockets were the NBA's best team for two months, McGrady played as well as he ever had.

He didn't score the most points or grab the most rebounds, but he made winning plays. He got his teammates involved and, then when games needed to be won, he won them.

The Rockets have had an extraordinary season no matter what happens in the playoffs. To win 55 times in the Western Conference despite not having McGrady and Yao Ming for a combined 43 games is a wonderful accomplishment.

That 22-game winning streak was more fun than anything the Rockets have done since the championship years. For a few magical weeks, they were the perfect basketball team.

McGrady kept telling us the streak was fun but not what this season was about.

"It's about the playoffs," he said.

At one point, T-Mac looked around the locker room and said, "If I'd had this supporting cast some of those other years, it would have been a different story."

Don't underestimate this team. The Rockets don't have the size of the Lakers, Spurs, Suns or Jazz. They don't have the toughness of the Jazz or the relentlessness of the Spurs.


This underdog has bite
They're going to be the underdog in every series. So much the better. Any opponent that overlooks them is making a huge mistake.

They have pieces that fit. They have the endless energy of Luis Scola and the defensive precision of Shane Battier. They have firepower off the bench.

Even with Rafer Alston out, they have enough to win. Bobby Jackson has emerged as a first-rate point guard, and Aaron Brooks gives them a change-of-pace guard off the bench.

What they need is McGrady to be the player he was during that 22-game winning streak. They need his passing and passion and, at times, his scoring.

They need him to do what Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash and Tim Duncan do when their teams need them. They need Tracy McGrady to be great.

They needed that last year and in 2005, too. Now, he has gotten lucky. He has gotten another chance.

 

this was posted by Richard Justice of chron.com


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5707752.html

 

so richard thinks tmac wasn't great in 2005 v. the mavs? it goes to show you it's all about the Ws and Ls.

kobe hasn't exactly delivered anything the past 3-4 years either richard

 

all the ESPN heads pick utah in 6 except for one, he pick them to win in 7.

again, we're not close to being favored but that's how we like it. keep proving rockets fan proud guys!

 

burn the Jass

 

does that mean gene peterson and jim foley won't brodcast in the playoffs??

 

Jazz suck on the road, and TMac and the rest of the Rockets have something to prove. Rockets win, TMac has a huge game.

 

Would anyone by any chance have a canadian tv schedule? I cant find it anywhere on online.

 

We win this game & prove the doubters wrong!!
We need to take advantage of Jazz's struggles on the road because it will be very hard to pull of a win up in Utah.


1-0

 

Vengenace thy name is Tracy McGrady!

Let's go baby, Rockets 95, Jazz 88!!! 1-0!

 

I get it that T-Mac steps up his numbers in the post-season, and that's admirable, but he problem I have with him is that he's far too often easy to guard in that he'll settle for jumpers. With his shooting percentages, he shouldn't rely solely on jump shots. In the Rockets' last 16 games (win 22 and on) Mac has put up the following numbers from the field:

121/341 from the field (.355)
broken down further, that's 110/281 from 2 point land (.392) and 11/60 on threes (.183) and 62/93 from the line (.667).

Those numbers tell me that he's making the game harder on himself and making playing defense on him that much easier.

Attack the basket, draw the defense, share the ball. It's really that simple. Without Yao, Mac and Bobby Jackson are the only ones that can create offense off the dribble (and Aaron Brooks, I guess if he plays).

If Mac settles (and that's what it is) for the perimeter shot, he better be hitting upwards of 45 to 50 percent to justify the volume he shoots. He's got to understand that he's doing exactly what the other team wants him to do; it's hardly imposing his will on the game.

I hope he proves me wrong, but if he approaches this series thinking he can win it by bombing away from the perimeter, I don't think he's going to be sniffing the second round.

 

COMMAND AND CONQUER ROCKETS!

ROCKETS, GIVE THE NOTHING! BUT TAKE FROM THEM EVERYTHING!

please rockets, show us what you are made of and do not let the jazz own you . . especially TMAC, please get out of your shooting slump! . . we need you so much! . . i'm praying the rockets make it to the 2nd round!