[ESPN] Game 1 Reflection

I think briefly is quite the understatement.

 

link??

all articles copied and pasted must have a link.


EDIT: I see DoD was kind enough to do it for you, but please remember next time.

 

In the future, if you can, just add a link to the article to give credit. I added it to your post for you.

 

Great article.

 

One of the best NBA articles I have read in a while.

 

Holy crap did the mainstream media just put a Houston slant on an article? One in which the Lakers are participating in! Hell=frozen

 

Wow about time I read a Great article.

 

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A couple more articles about the Rockets in the daily dime:

Brooks' speed problem for Lakers

LOS ANGELES -- Aaron Brooks is the fastest man on the floor in this series, and on Monday night, in a hard-fought, physical, sometimes chippy, Game 1, his quickness made all the difference.

Repeatedly jetting by whomever the Lakers sent to defend him (Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown, and Jordan Farmar all took a shot at slowing Brooks down), the Rockets' second-year point guard popped into free space and cut deep into the Lakers defense for good interior looks.

"He got to the baseline really quick on us a couple drives and slipped that ball in and it broke us down in a couple situations," Los Angeles head coach Phil Jackson said after Houston's 100-92 victory.

Using a stutter-step, an almost unconscious handle, and a vicious first step to the left, Brooks hit five shots inside of 15 feet and got to the line for six free throws on his way to a 19-point night.

Houston head coach Rick Adelman said after the game that he had gone to Brooks at one point during the second half and told him he had to be more aggressive if the Rockets were to have a chance to win (and steal home-court advantage in these conference semifinals). Brooks responded, scoring 14 of his points in the second half, and consistently forcing the Lakers' defense to extend and adjust.

"I know what [Coach] means when he tells me to be aggressive," Brooks said afterwards. "It's not about firing off shots. It's about working my way into spaces and breaking the defense down so we have options all over the floor."

His first read, when he gets close to the bucket, he said, is for a little "flip" layup, often off the glass.

"He got through and got some layups on us," Kobe Bryant said after the game. "We blew some defensive assignments on him."

If the defense rotates, as they often did in the fourth quarter, Brooks kicks out, either to a spot-up shooter down the baseline for a corner three, or to a rolling big man coming through the lane. There was a lot of talk about Houston's defense in anticipation of this series, and they were stout on Monday, hounding Bryant with doubles, switches, and help from start to finish. But the key to this series may be what the Rockets can manage offensively, and how far they can stretch the Lakers' defense out of its comfort zone.

A maturing and aggressive Brooks, like last year's Rajon Rondo in Boston, getting more and more confident game by game and series by series a year, may be a crucial part of that effort as this series unfolds. We know Yao Ming and Ron Artest are the focus of the Houston offense, but with contributions from Brooks, the Lakers will not be able to concentrate in any one area or on any one player.

"With Brooks, Kyle Lowry, and Von Wafer alongside our veterans we have kind of a strange mix of young and old on this team," said Rockets forward Shane Battier. "And it's working."

Adelman calls Yao the team's "anchor" but he likes the way guys like Brooks are stepping up alongside him.

"I think our guys are very determined," Adelman said. "These guys are going to play. You need people to step up in the last eight minutes of the game, like Kobe steps up for [the Lakers]. And we had that tonight."

An Older and Wiser Artest

LOS ANGELES -- Minutes after the Rockets stunned the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Monday night, Ron Artest burst out of the locker room in shorts, no shirt and a towel around his neck and walked out onto the court to say hello to anyone who would say hello back.

"This is the biggest game I've played in my life," Artest said later. "I've been to the second round before, but this is the biggest round in my career. I would be a fool to not enjoy it. I really wanted to play well."

And he did. But forgotten amid the pre-series talk of Artest's trash-talking, hard-hitting, scrappy, swarming, annoying defensive play was the fact that he can shoot the ball well on a given night. And that he's shooting the three better than he ever has in his tumultuous 10-year career.

Indeed, he was instrumental in helping Shane Battier guard Kobe Bryant, not exactly shutting him down, but not letting Bryant destroy them in the fourth quarter, either. But here's how important Artest was on the offensive end: His 21 points, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, were second to only Yao Ming's 28. And, perhaps, no shot was bigger than his first 3-pointer, a 26-foot jumper that he banked in, and seemingly looked stunned that it did. Not so, he insisted.

"My facial expression was I wanted it to go in," he said. "If I missed, I'd be a little down, if I make it, then I know it's going good."

Artest averaged 17 points during the regular season and a career-high 39.9 percent from the 3-point line. H is teammates say he grew into the role when Tracy McGrady suffered a season-ending injury and he knew they were counting on him to help replace T-Mac offensively. He learned to be patient with his shots and to think team first, rather than shot first. As a result, he became a wiser player, something he regrets that it's taken 10 years to do.

"I wish I would have matured as fast as guys like LeBron, Dwyane Wade, BrandonRoy," he said. "When I got a little college fame, got into the NBA, I veered to the left and wasn't focused on team so much, was focused on myself. It took me 10 years, unfortunately took me so long for me to understand that."

 

was reading LA Times Bill Plaschke says, "They didn't lose, they were Pacquiao'ed." Line of the day!!!!

 

Nice to see Chuck Hayes getting the props he deserves. He was a valuable contributor.

 

This game is so strange.

Lakers had more shot attempts, more made field goal, more assists, more rebounds, forced more turn overs, yet Rockets came out with a win. Might be those once in a blue moon kind thing.

Also, what happened to Odem. Coming in, I thought he would be the one Laker that is tough to deal with. But he barely made an impact. Is it just foul trouble? Or is there something Rockets can exploit in the coming games consistantly?

 

....."Tree stumps are short, too, but have you ever tried to move one?"......
lol

 

Dude, Odom is the original "Mr-Disappear-when-you-need-him." He occasionally shows up and is a problem when he does... but he rarely does.

 

For most part of his careers, sure. But for the second half of this season all the way up to the Utah series, he has been pretty consistant.

 

Man, Im gonna be really disappointed if we don't do what it takes to keep Ron Artest from leaving in the offseason. We need to sign the guy to at least a 3 yr. contract, pair him long term with Yao, and hopefully find a way to keep T-Mac as the third major piece to the puzzle-though if for whatever reason T-Mac coming back doesn't work out (injuries, poor team chemistry, etc.) I'd certainly keep Ron and trade McGrady.

I am a Tmac lover from his Orlando days, but I feel like Artest brings more to the table when it comes to making the team better overall. He's helped significantly in establishing this new swagger the Rockets have been getting by on lately, and Artest has had proven success with this current lineup-frankly T-mac is a huge question mark any way you slice it-but I digress...

Artest seems like a more humble, team oriented guy than he ever has, and I'm confident it's genuine. In fact, Artest has been downright endearing to us Rockets fans with his fun loving attitude, fan mingling, and unwavering furious play on the court... not quite what I expected when I found out we had gotten Artest, and I actually thought I'd like the guy then-so I suppose that's saying something.

I hope Ron has enjoyed Houston as much as Houston has enjoyed him, and I hope the connections he's made with the team and the city factor heavily on him staying here and staying happy here. In the meantime, lets hope the rockets dig deep and find a way to slay the basketball goliuth that is LA in this series-with ol' Ron Artest on our side, we've got a fighting chance!

 

We can exploit him and to an extent Pau as well by posting them up on the low post.Ron looked really great around the basket.He is shorter than them but he is strong and is wide,can be hard to stop. Ron needs to keep on playing like he did yesterday.