ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 5/4/2009 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)

Take this game and we'll be in a good position. Keep the fire burning and aim for the top.

Will Von Wafer continue to play?

 

Our best shot is come out aggressive and hit them hard in the mouth, so to speak, in game 1. Surprise them, steal the first game.

It's going to be a tough, tough series.

 

Kobe will go crazy against RonRon but only shooting like 7/31 for 23% with no assists and no steals. Bynum is pissed for not getting ball ans spits on kobe's face.

rox wins in a blowout 105 : 84

 

Yao Ming dominates the Lakers and we win game 1, it will set the tone for the whole series.

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bryant-battier-artest-2384973-lakers-houston

Good riddance to the boring Utah Jazz, whose most compelling storyline in the first round against the Lakers was counting healed fibers in Mehmet Okur’s lame hamstring.

Hello to the intriguing Houston Rockets, whose second-round series with the Lakers will be the teams’ first playoff matchup since 2004 and provides all kinds of fresh material.

• Who would have thought that defenseless Lakers cast-offs Von Wafer and Brian Cook would come together as teammates on a defense-first team?

• How much of Aaron Brooks’ success arises from opposing point guards hesitating for a moment in anticipation of him cracking wise because of his facial resemblance to Chris Rock?

• Is Luis Scola’s Kevin McHale-like game actually more impressive than his Sasha Vujacic-length hair?

• How hilarious a buddy movie could Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo make together?

Then there are the two most interesting Rockets of them all: Ron Artest and Shane Battier, who will provide one of the most curious challenges of Kobe Bryant’s NBA career.

Never before has Bryant faced a playoff series against a team with two perimeter defenders of this caliber. Artest was the 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year; Battier finished third in that voting last season.

And Artest and Battier go about their business in such different ways that it makes for a game within the game for Bryant. This is like going up against the intensity of Mike Ditka and the acumen of Bill Walsh. Or trying to escape Ray Lewis and Zach Thomas. Or having to predict what Tony Romo will do and then outmaneuver Peyton Manning, too.

On a related note: Artest now weighs 260 pounds, which easily qualifies him for gridiron duty.
The buzz entering this series is going to be a lot about Artest, because he has that reputation for being a little crazy. And the last time the Lakers played in Houston, Artest was a little crazy – talking a truckload of trash down the stretch to Bryant, who rallied the Lakers to victory.

Here’s the reality: Rockets coach Rick Adelman erred in that March 11 game by not going back to Battier after Bryant took it to Artest most of that fourth quarter. Battier is the better defender now, and Bryant will need to prepare much more for Battier’s intellectual positioning than Artest’s manic reaching and grabbing.

When it comes down to it, there is no greater storyline in this series to come than Battier vs. Bryant.

Artest did not guard Bryant much in the final Rockets-Lakers regular season game on April 3. Battier was back on the beat – even though Bryant was so fired up about heating up against Battier on March 11 that Bryant went so far as to make a mocking gesture to Houston fans about Battier’s heralded hand-in-the-face defense.

Battier, as a February feature story about him in the New York Times plainly noted, garnered a decent amount of celebrity for his handiwork after Bryant shot 11 of 33 on March 16, 2008, in Houston’s 22nd consecutive victory.

Even though Bryant and Artest go back as far to have played teenage ball against each other (and Bryant tried really, really hard to get the Lakers to trade for Artest at times), Bryant and Battier have the more relevant history now.

The latest twist in their saga was Phil Jackson giving Bryant a copy of that New York Times article by Michael Lewis, who wrote the “Moneyball” baseball book. The feature basically celebrates all the little things Battier does with his big brain to render Bryant shockingly ineffective to his team.

The tone of the article was much different than the one rising from Bryant’s voice in 2003 after he hit a winning shot over Battier in Memphis.

“I torch Shane every time I play against him,” Bryant said then.

When it comes to Battier, there’s definitely something extra with Bryant, who did go for 56 in three quarters against Memphis before that. They were born just 17 days apart in 1978, and Battier got to be the golden boy at Duke – he stayed for that senior season and won the national championship – in an illustrious experience Bryant obviously missed.

Bryant has had a far greater NBA career than the athletically limited Battier, yet Battier has made a mark, too. He managed to make the 2006 USA Basketball team when Bryant couldn’t play after knee surgery.

As we enter this series, Bryant just the other day renewed his vow to stay more aggressive with his individual offense, whereas Battier’s plan to shepherd Bryant into being a volume shooter as opposed to an efficient one is perhaps Houston’s only hope for winning this series.

Will Houston win it? Well, in four victories in four tries against Houston in the regular season, Bryant averaged 28.3 points on 53 percent shooting.

And even though his high-school GPA wasn’t as high as Battier’s, rest assured Bryant will be studying extra for this test, too.



Pretty good article. The writer even takes a shot at the boring jazz.

 

agree.

 

BEAT LA,BEAT LA,BEAT LA,BEAT LA...............

 

Rockets need to come out swinging and not stopping till the game is over. Rockets win game 1. 94 - 88.

 

I'm happy with the defense, it's the offense which can be a big, big concern especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters when the Lakers ratchet up the intensity.

I think the coaching staff need to pull out some new wrinkles and surprises e.g. run more 2 man plays with Ron and Yao or Scola even Wafer/Yao and Shane/Yao. Get Yao and Scola involved off the ball and make Kobe honest.

We need to generate enough points so our defense can take care of the rest.

Beat LA!!! Beat LA!!! Beat LA!!!

 

If we play like yesterday then we win.
If we go back to what we were doing in games 2-5 vs the blazers then we lose.

 

Ron and Aaron will likely make at least 10 shots from perimeter no matter their hands are hot or cold. If they can have high percentage for their shots, then Rockets will win at least one game in LA. Otherwise, Rockets will be in trouble. Since these two gentlemen can not resist the temptation to shoot many 3's, the ball movement is critical. Rockets can not afford to have them to take forced shots from 3 point line

 

I have a good feeling about the first game.

Lakers don't front Yao and they don't play good perimeter defense.

98 to 93, with Scola continuing his post-season success.

 

A tough game, especially on their home court. Hope we can get a win. Let's do it!

 

Imagine what winning the first game could do for the Rockets confidence! This is going to be the game of the year.

 

if we must win a road game to win the series, this is the one we can steal
LA is coming off a weak effort from the Utah Jazz I don't think they're going to be as sharp as they will be in game 4 onwards
Meanwhile rockets are coming off a tough series against Portland where Ron Artest finally learned to control himself and the Rockets semi-beat fronting

 

LOL!

I'm glad you said this because I don't know why it matters if someone is first or not. Don't know why people put "first!". Does their e-penor grow?

Should be a great game. I see us only winning our home games though. We'll take this series to seven!

 

My brain tells me Lakers in 6, my heart tells me Rockets in 7. If my brain wins, then Basketball is just a game. If my heart wins, then Basketball is not only a game. Beat LA!

-flame

 

All I ask is they come out and play smart and with heart.

 

Win this game and turn some heads!

Take home court advantage!

Get Red!

 

e-z win