No.....I don't think we are quite ready. Yao v.s Bynum Comment: A healthy Yao wins the match-up easily.......however we haven't seen a healthy Yao is quite some time. Bynum however was not healthy this post season either...but he did play this season. Since I have no idea how Yao will look when he comes back, I have to call it a wash as of right now (7/18/2010) Advantage: No one *flame suit on* Scola v.s Gasol Comment: I love Scola's game, but despite how soft he is, Gasol is the better player of the two. Advantage: Fakers Artest v.s Ariza/Battier* Comment: Not sure who will be our starting small forward this coming season with the return of the big fella. If its Battier, I call this match-up a wash and if its Ariza (and not Mr. Brick Shot ) I call this one in our favor Advantage: No one or Rockets Bryant vs. Martin* Comment: Shame on you for even having to read this. Advantage: Fakers Blake/Fisher vs. Brooks Comment: Not sure how the Lakers starting line up will look but regardless Brooks is better than either player, however the gap with Blake is not as large as the gap with fisher. Advantage: Rockets Bench vs. Bench Comment: Our bench boasts alot of depth, because of this...despite the fact that the Fakers are coming off a title, I gotta give us the edge. Advantage: Rockets. X-Factor: The Fakers are the league champs and have, arguably, the best player in the NBA on their roster. Because of this, they make Stern alot of money. Thus, they get alot of crucial calls (i.e. Gasol's infamous travel in the finals). The Rockets will not benefit from these kinds of calls in most instances against the Fakers. Adantage: Fakers.
^ The only problem is, having a Kobe negates all the other advantages we have. We need a star/closer/playmaker/go to guy. Someone who can take over a game and consistently stick daggers into opponents hearts.
Beat me to the punch. They have the ultimate closer in Kobe and the Rox have nothing like it. Until Brooks or KM can show that they can hit a cold blooded shot consistently in the clutch, I really do not see the Rox winning a WCF series vs. the Lakers or a Finals series vs the best in the East.
Type #1 Regardless, I have never been of a fan of these sorts of things: C X>Y PF X.<.Y SF X>Y SG X>Y PG X=Y Therefore X > Y!! I just don't think it's a very accurate way to analyze basketball.
I disagree about Kobe being the difference. I think the real difference is the length. Aside from Yao, the Rockets are small in the frontcourt. The Lakers have Bynum, Gasol, and Odom up front with a lot of length. That's how they were able to kill the Celtics on the boards and I think that would be the difference if these two teams played now.
by completely disregarding their best player, who happens to be at least number 2 in the league? By combining our 2 guards against their point guard? By pairing up our center and their PF? Our PF and their center??
These head-to-head comparisons don't really tell you much. Sure, talent's important, but it's also how the players fit together and what their strengths are. And sometimes you have a player like Kobe who's far better at his position than his opponent. That said, I think if everything breaks their way, the Rockets have the pieces to compete for a championship.
Center and PF are pretty interchangeable especially since both on the Lakers are 7'+. Combining 2 guards against their point guard? WTF are you talking about?
However good the Lakers are will be determined by how much Kobe can stave off aging. Don't forget that Artest Fisher and even Gasol to an extent are not spring chickens, although Gasol probably has the longest shelf life remaining by virtue of being a big man. As for next year I don't expect the Rockets to be championship contenders but we should definitely be in the top half of the West playoffs with homecourt at least in round 1; I would say only Portland or OKC can compete with us for that 2 seed in the West but no one is the favorite as of now. All of it put together our potential is as high as it's been since we acquired Artest in the summer two years ago, before Tracy let it be known that he wasn't gonna have none of this "championship contender" talk and recused himself from the 2008-2009 season entirely.
I am not sure if we need a T-mac type of playmaker to help create offense or bolster the offense for this team. By T-mac type, I don't mean the exact type because he obviously didn't work due to his lack of competitive nature and willing to drive. We may need someone like Carmello. A perimeter player that draw double team in the post. Can Ariza do that?? I seen him did some but i am not sure. Can we just play along with Brooks and Martin and Ariza with no certainty these 3 can create shots for themselves? As i think about this...i think it's perfectly fine without a go-to-guy on the perimeter because we have guys that do attack the basket and can create problem for the teams. All 3 perimeter players can attack. And all 3 are dead eye shooters and need to be guarded tightly. Plus most of the time, when we're in trouble we give the ball to Brooks and do the pick n roll and that's where our offense come from. So maybe that's enough to generate offense and maybe we don't need a go-2-guy. We will see!!
i love how you put Gasol at the center and Bynum matching up with Scola so we're 2-0 instead of a 1-1 and you don't even wanna mention Kobe at the SG. pathetic.
WAIT A MINUTE I DID SAY MARTIN<BRYANT BUT FOR SOME REASON THE BOARD EDITED IT OUT. THEN I CHANGED IT TO MARTIN<KOBE AND THE BOARD STILL EDITED IT OUT. Censoring by Clutchfans.
