I really do not care if the Rockets will beat the Spurs or not. They showed the matchup was fine when Yao was in the lineup. So I will be extremely happy if the Rockets win one out of the back-to-back. I hope JVG could give Wells and Snyder some playing time at Dallas, their physical play style should help on both end. For the Suns game, I really hope JVG can put VSpan on Nash for 10-15 minutes (It is a desperate move but are't the rockets desperate facing Suns?).
the suns played all year without amare... steve nash was the mvp, how did people judge them? how did the suns judge themselves? your loyalty is directed towards yao rather than the rockets as a whole. and if yao was in, 4-0 would be expected? macfan doesn't fit you, wolf in sheeps clothing yaofan, enjoy the rockets, not only yao... glad you aren't the coach of the rockets, 0-4 expected... teams can play without a superstar, and especially, when said team has another superstar. macfan...
Against the Suns is the only time I will say not having Yao is a good thing. I expect us to compete against the Suns. I will not be super-pissed if we lose to the Spurs or Mavs, as we've beaten them before. We need to finally either beat Phx or play them close.
I say we go 1-3. Great success. You really can't expect much out of it. I would hate to lose all 4, but it's a reality. At Dallas then Phoenix on the second night of a back-to-back? No team in the league can hope for anything in those 2 games. I say we take one team by surprise because they aren't used to our perimter-oriented play, but that's about it. I would be ecstatic if we won 2 or 3, and over the moon if we somehow won 4. None would be slightly annoying. But 1 win sounds about right to me.
If we make these games competitive and play these team close then we will have the moral victory. If without Yao Ming we defeat any of these teams then expect fireworks later in the summer.
First of all, congrats to the Rockets on their recent success, which resembles the 04-05 team, only this one is stronger. My expectation for this team in this toughest stretch of the regular season: 1) We are all well aware that the Mavs want to seek revenge and will be extra aggressive from the beginning so we need to match up the intensity. Of course we need Mac to play big. If we stay close to the Mavs till the end, we will have a chance to steal a win, which will remind the Mavs of their 2005 playoff nightmare against us and boost our confidence to a higher level to prepare the upcoming games. But if we fight our best and come short at the end, as long as it’s not a blowout, I’ll be happy. 2) Obviously the Suns have been our biggest matchup problem for years and we are still looking for the answer to beat them. Is there another way to beat the Suns except outshooting them? JVG really needs to do more homework on this game. Actually I think this team without Yao may have a better chance to win mainly because of the speed and team plays are closer to the Suns’ style compare to when Yao is in. If we keep our defense strong and disrupt their offensive rhythm, with the support of the home crowd, we may finally cool off the Suns (they are due for an off night, aren’t they). If we keep the Suns under 100, we will prevail. 3) The Nuggets game is a must-win. Not only because we are better than them, but we need this win to secure the tie-breaker, which will be handy comes playoff time. 4) Although Spurs is the weakest of the elite 3 right now, I actually think this will be the game we have the least chance to win. I predict this mainly because the Spurs excel at not making the same mistake twice and wining at the Spurs home court back to back is extremely difficult. I say we need to execute each every play down the stretch. Again if it is not a blowout loss, I can accept it. 1-3 or 2-2 are more realistic results but if God can make Deke play so incredibly well recently, who knows what will happen to this Rockets team. No doubt the team's chemistry is at its peak and I just hope whatever the result comes out of this stretch, maintain the chemisty and we will be at least 37-20 by the end of Febuary. By way, if we won 2 out of 3 against elite 3 and won the rest of 3 games left in the month, there's no doubt JVG will be the COUCH OF THE MONTH.
1-3 with a win over Denver can be a realistic possibility but if we are really lucky we might be able to beat the Spurs in a half-court game. I would like to see a 100 percent effort against all four of them irrespective of the outcome.
If we can win one of these three games, (wish Mavs) I'd say, god we are good. remember, we are out of Yao now.
I think we can beat the suns because without yao, we can go small and run with them. the big test will be the Spurs. without yao in there, duncan is going to have a picnick in there. if we win 2 out of those 3, McGrady must become the MVP frontrunner.
Even if we go small, we are nowhere near as quick as the Suns. We just aren't an athletic team, especially without a healthy Snyder.
I tottaly understand you're point of view. against the suns, you need good shooters. we got a team full of streaky shooters who on any given night can destroy any team. look at Rafer, if he is on, he'll kill you from the premeter. then there is head who is another streaky shooter. the key against the suns is hit you're shots and try to stop them from running there transition offense. i think we have a good defensive transition defensive team. the key is to let the suns get there running game going.
mavs, suns, denver and spurs will be interesting. rockets can use this as a mini mock playoff series to gauge where they really are and what needs to be done. denver get melo back while nene and camby are healthy. this could be their coming out party. a scary game. i'm curious to see if rockets can beat the spurs on the road... without bonzi.
Dallas. Blazing hot and they just might remember the previous game tween and twixt the two teams. You think? Both teams 'rested'. Phoenix. Their style seems to thwart JVG's v JVG. You think? Rox 'back2back; Suns 'rested'. Denver. Melo is back, but they are the ones on a back2back. Rox 'rested'. SAS. The inside Spurs v the Yao-less Rox. Both teams 'rested'. If Rox manage 2-2 they should be feted!
2-2 would be good If snyder were healthy enough to help against the suns it might not be such a bad thing to be without Yao for any suns game. It will keep jvg from trying to force our style on them and hopefully keep him focused on attempting to match up with the suns. Come to think of it were screwed against the suns. Lets focus on the other three games.
It will not surprise me if the Rockets win all three games coming up. The team's defense will keep them in all the games.
Nope. Melo will be serving the last game of his suspension. 2-2 is my expectation. 3-1, I'd be really happy. I'd be ok with 1-3 if we show we're every bit as good as the other teams.
