ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 11/14/2007

For Kobe it's a shootout every night. I think Tmac cares more about the team's total points.

 

If we do, then I guess we can expect a sh*t storm around here eh?

 

don't care what either scores, as long the Roxs pull out the win, can't give away another game going into this weekend.

 

Tracy is playin' better than Kobe right now, no doubt. Yes it would be fun to see a shootout but only if Rockets win this one. W is the most important thing

 

Magic.

 

JVG! JVG! JVG!

This is gona be a heck of a game and broadcast. Too bad I'll be missing out on pre-game/1st quarter.

 

This game will be key to see if the Rockets are the team from last year that can't stand good things come to them without hitting a good losing streak or they break that trend from last year and start a new winning streak after a lost.

I will rooting for the Winning Streak.

Rockets 104 Lakers 90

 

Rockets should win this...but need to play better DEFENSE!!! Last night's D was horrendous, the Griz got most of their points in the paint on easy shots.

I've been a supporter of Rafer, but man he is killing us...if not Steve, at least give Brooks a chance or start MJ and bring steve off the bench.

 

Please get rid of Rafer Alston. He is killing this team. I know his shooting percentage is up to 20% this year, but please dump him on a team like the cavs. We could use the cap space and he is doing nothing for the Rockets.

 

A DVR is your friend... or a vcr if you still have one of those.

Oh wait, are you talking at the game you're going to miss the first quarter... shame on you, you're a Rowdy!

 

We really need to win this game.

 

I think our role players will play great tonight, becasue role players always play better at home.

 

laker siting in the park shops. kobe was in line at quiznos behind my co-worker

 

The best argument for Steve was the Memphis game, the refs were calling the ticky tack stuff and nobody was going to the hole. That's two games in a row James and Alston have not contributed anything significant. If this starts to look like an off night, put Steve in there to force the action.

At least it'll be a monkey wrench in the Lakers game plan.

Other than that, I hope some home cooking helps the shooting slump even if it is on the second night of a back to back. But it hope they bounce back and have a good game.

 

i was thinking... and maybe we made a mistake in the gay for battier trade.. the mistake wasnt trading gay to memphis, but it was asking for battier, not miller. mike miller would be the perfect sg for this team, no WAY any team could ever double up on yao if miller was chilling at the 3pt line... on another note, it made me wonder why we sent novak down to the d-league. i mean, he is by far our best 'pure' shooter, and he could end some of those nasty double/triple teams that yao constantly sees just by standing at the 3pt line. noone will respect rafer/battier/wells at the arch, and they are not even respecting hayes/scola anywhere on the court. if yao and tmac had a legit 3rd scoring option (preferably with 3pt range), i think the rockets (barring injury) would be on track for many, many wins.. for many years... ahhh frustrating, but we all know that mike james (hopefully rafer too) will heat up, its just a matter of time. hopefully sooner than later.

 

I got a bad feeling about tonight's game. Hopefully our scrubs, err, subs, will show up with their A game.

 

The Rockets need to find their lost shooting touch. TMac and Yao are doing their parts. Now they just need someone else to step up make some outside shots. The Rockets have lots of good three-point shooters, but they're all cold at the same time. I predict a bouceback win at home over the LA Fakers 97-88.

 

Nice T-Mac vs Kobe article...

http://www.***************/Story.asp?story_id=6011

There are two ways to look at this season's opening night matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets:

Rockets 95 - Lakers 93

or

Kobe 45 - T-Mac 30

However you choose to look at it, they will face each other again Wednesday night in Houston. What a great opportunity to compare and contrast two of the top scorers in the NBA.

Watch almost any game Kobe Bryant plays, and what he is becomes evident pretty quickly - an aggressive, attacking scorer, with so many different ways to make a play it is almost impossible to defend him with matchups or schemes. Inside, outside, in transition, in the halfcourt, off the dribble, off a cut, in the post - you name it. The scouting report reads: Watch Out For Everything!

Although Kobe plays in the Lakers version of the triangle offense, he will frequently bail out of that three-sided ship and take on the whole defense by himself - and often with great success. He is fearless against any defender or defensive scheme, and will take on the whole team in the lane or at the rim. In any given game you may not see him score the same way twice.

In just the first quarter against Houston on opening night, Kobe took these shots:

- Catch and shoot jumper from a handoff at the top of the key
- Sweeping right handed sky hook off an elbow handoff
- Back to the basket spin move from the left elbow for a right-handed lay-up in traffic
- Transition jumper at the left elbow extended
- Transition hesitation drive from the right wing for a foul
- Catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the left wing
- Transition hesitation crossover - left-handed runner
- Steal, breakaway lay-up for a foul
- Catch-and-shoot jumper from the top of the key off a curl cut
- Curl cut, catch and drive, behind the back dribble shot fake for a foul
- Transition hesitation crossover dribble jumper
- Crossover - split the trap - left-hand lay-up off the high ball screen

That's just in one quarter - good luck defending that for 48 minutes.

Tracy McGrady also has great versatility. He can score in transition, hit the jumper, drive and create, and post up. Whereas the Lakers run their triangle and allow Kobe to pick his spots, Houston seems to run more sets to get McGrady the ball in certain situations.

He will get lots of ballscreens on the wing and on the top of the key from Yao to get free on the dribble. When he hasn't had the ball in his hands in a few possessions, Houston will run the classic "single/double" to allow McGrady to catch and shoot off the screen. They will also dive him into the post and isolate him on a smaller defender.

Sometimes the Rockets will start T-Mac down in the post, and the action will begin with the point guard passing to the high post at the elbow. The guard cuts off the outside shoulder of the high post, then down screens for McGrady - who cuts off the post, gets the handoff, and drives to the foul line area. Getting T-Mac to the middle on the dribble is a common theme of Houston's action for him.

In another set, Yao Ming and McGrady will set up on opposite elbows. The point guard feeds McGrady, cuts off his outside hip, then Yao comes across the foul line to set a ballscreen - again allowing for T-Mac to dribble to the middle of the foul line area.

The Lakers take advantage of Kobe's versatility and creativity by allowing him to freelance within their system; the Rockets use McGrady's in a more systematic and structured way.

One interesting aspect of this matchup is McGrady rarely guards Bryant, but Kobe defends McGrady a significant amount of the game. The Rockets will start with Shane Battier on Bryant, then rotate as many as three and four players to guard him throughout the game. Luke Walton and Kobe share the duties of guarding T-Mac.

At the defensive end, Kobe relishes the challenge of guarding Tracy McGrady. Kobe gets up in him, picks him up full-court, denies him the ball, and contests hard on every shot. While T-Mac seems to accept this challenge, Kobe lives for these confrontations.

When Kobe has to guard a lesser player, he appears almost disinterested. But when he is matched with McGrady, you can see him come alive - aggressively challenging every move, being physical, and daring T-Mac to try and beat him. He competes hard and concedes nothing.

When McGrady does find himself guarding Kobe, Bryant smells blood and goes right at him. On one possession in their first meeting, T-Mac switched onto Kobe on a ballscreen. As soon as Kobe saw this, he backed out, stared McGrady down, then went between the legs, behind the back, then between the legs again and blew by McGrady. T-Mac "matadored" it and just swiped at the ball trying to get the strip.

On another occasion, Kobe had just jumped in and stolen a pass at the elbow, and was racing to the basket on the dribble with McGrady chasing. The fans were expecting a confrontation at the rim - dunk, hard foul, etc. Instead, McGrady just conceded the rim and swiped down hard at the ball - committing the foul.

T-Mac doesn't appear to want to challenge Kobe when faced with guarding him. He seems content to lay back, bail out, or just try to get a strip.

And maybe that's the true difference between these two great players. Both are versatile, creative, and can score in so many different ways. However, Kobe is also among the best in the league at both ends of the floor, while McGrady deosn't seem to have the desire to really mix it up on the defensive end. You don't hear T-Mac mentioned in the same sentence with "Killer Instinct" and "Rip Your Heart Out." Kobe should wear those on the front of his jersey.

It's that difference in mentality that may be the biggest contrast of all, and what makes Kobe arguably the best player in the game and McGrady merely a talented All-Star who can't advance in the playoffs.

However, this season T-Mac is playing with the best supporting cast of his life. So, this may put him in his best position to go deep into the playoffs - which is the real showcase for the game's best players.

And that is a stage on which Kobe Bryant has already shined.

 

This is nowhere related to the game(maybe).

My friend told me he saw Kobe Bryant at Park Shops today. He asked Kobe if he could take a picture with him and he said no. My friend told him that he hopes that his team lose tonight. lol. He said he was hanging out with white chicks.

So how about that?

 

I would love to see mike james get the start at point guard sometime this season and slowly phase out rafer alston. Refs were terrible last night and battier had a bad game against his old team. Tonight they need to galvonize and work together to beat this laker team, try not to look down the road at San Antonio