Whether we win or not will depend on TMAC. If TMAC refuses to take it to the hole (and instead shoots 30ft jumpers), we will lose. If he drives to the hole the way Pierce did tonight against the Lakers, we will win.
We gotta have strong perimeter defense and stop worrying about the paint. They have Amare and Kurt Thomas out, so you know they'll be shooting 3's all night long. Have Yao control the board and forget him posting up. Let him come out more and screw up their defense. JVG needs to make some adjustments quick...because like everyone says, we have a serious matchup problem against the SUNS as then are smaller and quicker and can shoot the lights out. If we win this game (i don't care by how much or little), i believe we're going the the playoffs!!!
The recipe to beat the Suns goes like this: Number one is to get back on defense. Must rotate hard on their shooters (especially Yao who cheats off his man too much). On offense, instead of forcing it into Yao, the other guys have to drive to the basket when they are denying Yao the ball. You can definitely take advantage of the Suns' defense. Rafer, Tracy, Wes and Bogans have to attack the rim. Then when the defense collapses, Yao can get dump-offs and hit the offensive glass. Diaw will be on Yao, and while he can defend Yao with the front, he can't keep Yao off the glass. Yao needs to punish them on the offensive boards like he did last year. Tracy needs to have a monster game, and we need to shoot AT LEAST 45% in order to hang with Phoenix. Preferably 50%+. That means that Howard, Wes, Bogans, Rafer, and Head need to make their open shots. If those guys are on, then we have a great shot.
Any team can be beat on a given night, but this is a back to back for the Rockets (with travel), the Rockets don't match up well with the Suns, They don't shoot as well as the Suns (not even close), and they don't have Steve Nash. The best defensive game of the year is the only hope. The Rockets must play a half court game, but their poor shooting makes this difficult. I would pound the ball to Ming and have TMac drive to the basket, frequently. This would be a huge win. The Rockets are the only team in the NBA that has not won a game in their own division and they have very few wins against contenders. In fact, I can't think of any. Just do it, I don't how, but just do it. They shouldn't lack incentive the way the Suns humiliated them before the break. Come on Rockets, show us what you are made of.
Prediction of this Game: *Houston's Yao Ming will be credited 27 points with 8-12 boards, 1-3 blocks, 1-2 steals *Houston's Tracy McGrady - 34 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 blocked shot *Houston's Juwan Howard - 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block. *Houston's Rafer Alston - 16 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, Rest of Houston's Squad: 30 points... Final Score Prediction: Houston Rockets: 121 Phoenix Suns: 115
At the shootaround tomorrow morning, they need to have Yao practice shooting the ball with Bogans, Head, and TMAC collapsing around him.
This will be my first game at the Toyota Center. I wasn't too thrilled about my choice of opponent for my virgin live Rockets game after watching the nationally televised thrashing by PHX last week. But I believe that we will pull out a tough win with some kickass support from the home crowd and the Power Dancers.
I am going to my second straight game, hopefully it will be another W! Key to beating the Suns: 1. Don't try to play at their pace, slow the game down and grind it out! 2. T-mac please don't jack up ill-advised 3's when they are not falling.
I agree that T-Mac should drive it to the basket frequently, but we need to change the gameplan around about Yao. Everytime we tried giving it to him inside, they would triple him and he would throw a ****ty pass out of the triple team resulting in bad shot position, turnovers, and easier rotation for the Suns' defense.
This is the NBA reigning mvp we are talking about. He can just run off a simple screen and get free. And we don't have anyone named Ron Artest.
Unfortunately, the only way we can win is if someone accidently trips Nash as he's walking onto the court from the locker room...by the way what size shoes do you wear?
Nothing to be afraid of. It's not like the Tundra Dancers are going to be out there risking a wardrobe malfunction.
I have faith in Rockets showing their determination to win in tomorrow game. I would not be surprised if Yao and TMac not being the dominant factors in tomorrow's victory. We need to keep the game slow, we need to score those open shots. JVG should give Bogans and Hayes more playing minutes. 88-81 we win.
I'm not too optimistic on this game either. Matchup-wise this is worse than the Spurs or Dallas. From the remaining games there are 5 games that I think are "likely to lose" for us and this is one of them. I'm a big Yao fan and I'm happy to see his big improvements after the all-star break, but I just can't see how he could suddenly be two and a half steps quicker and can handle the ball like a 6'1 in this game to beat the swarming defense. JVG would *have* to do something about this. Tmac on the other hand better be on, like 13 pts in 30 seconds kind of on; keep in mind that he's likely going to d up on the Matrix and the Matrix's been pulling mad stats lately. Does Tmac has it in him to finish the job on both ends of the court? We'll see. The key tho, the way I see it, is Alston. This is the ultimate test for Skip, he needs to shut Nash down defensively, and make really good on court decisions on the offensive end. JVG has to have drawn up a different gameplan and it's up to Alston our floor general to do the execution. Please surpise me in a pleasant way please.
