I should have also mentioned in my previous post that Yao's efficiency last post season was much higher than the rest of the team's (I'm not saying higher than any other player, but higher than the team's as a whole). So despite Yao clearly not playing his best, taking him away would have made things even uglier for us offensively. Luckily, we now have Scola and Landry, so maybe they really will be able to keep our offensive efficiency up while also doing a better job defensively than Yao last time. We can hope.
Thinking about it, I know he isn't a great defender, but strength wise, Mike Harris might be able to help out guarding Harpring. Harpring is wiley, so I don't know how well that would work.
The Rockets can definitely beat Utah. No Doubt. IMO the key is to stop one guy: Deron Williams. I really think its that simple if it can be done. Keep him from making plays; on the pick and rolls, penetration to the basket, backdoor passes, etc. the Rockets just need to keep this guy from creating plays for others (which is easier said than done). The strategy is to force guys to play one-on-one; Ronnie Brewer, Kirilenko, Okur, and anyone one from their bench CANNOT create their own plays off the dribble. For the most part, they depends on Williams who dictates the flow of the game and finds those players through off-the-ball movement. I'd even be content if Boozer went crazy on us and scored 40+ points. This is because Boozer can't create plays for other players, therefore 40 points for Boozer would pretty much be a net 40 point contribution to the team. However, if Williams puts up a good game of, say, 20+ points 10+ assists, then thats already equal to Boozer's net 40 point output...But then say add a couple of threes from those assists, add instances in which Deron makes a play to send a player to the free throw line, and most importantly the ability to make his teammates more confident to score during the course of a game, then that might come out to be a net 70+ point contribution from one guy. If Deron had his way, he would involve all five guys on the court on offense, making it so much harder to guard this team. And especially difficult to defend during crunch time of a close game. The focus would be to force Williams to shoot as the alternative to passing the ball the teammates. And force teammates to play a one-on-one game or just let Carlos Boozer just dominate the ball all game. This Utah team needs movement (and flopping too ) in order to win. If the Rockets can somehow stop Deron, then a 5-on-5 game becomes an easier 1 or 2-on-5 game.
Some trends since '83-'84. Winning % of #4 seed: .488 Winning % of #5 seed: .512 When the home team wins Game 1: 231-37 (.862) When the home team wins first two games: 162-10 (.942)
im not really worried about our role players stepping up im just worried about tmac right now the way he's been shooting this whole month, 2-11, 7-21 cmon that's really sad, people say that he looked better last year r u serious, i hated the tmac from last year he never used to dunk and looked slow but he was shooting better, the thing that's really upseting for a die hard tmac fan is that he became so inconsistent
It is a key but not the only key, but what would you define as "stopping D-Will?" He averaged 19 points and 10 assists on 50% shooting, and on Monday he got 17 pts and 9 asts on 38% shooting and we still lost. Now, yes this was in Utah and we did shoot only 40%, but I'm not sure if that is #1 issue.
How about stopping him like we did Nash in the Phoenix game. Nash averages 11 apg, 17 ppg on 50% shooting. We held him to 6 points on 2-9 shooting. He still got 9 assists though.
REBOUND REBOUND REBOUND THE M$Y*#%*ING BOARDS!!!!!!!!!!!! Is going to be the key to this series no doubt. Utah killed us on 2nd chance opportunities last year especially down the stretch in game 7 (Oh god...bad memories) and even the last game we played them I remember there was one possession where they had like 5 second chance opportunities. The key to beating the Jazz is not stopping 1 or 2 guys like Deron Williams or Carlos Boozer it's rebounding and limiting 2nd chance opportunities aka out-scrapping them and out-hustling them. This means keep their role players in check (Harpring, Brewer, Milsap etc)
you are on point my friend. rebounding cost us game 7 last yr. it cost us the game in utah to end the season. we need to really dominate the boards if we have a chance to win. even if we don't shoot well, 2nd chances will be huge. but please, don't let the jazz get too many off. rebounds. they're too good not to capitalize on their 2nd chances.
Rebounds will definitely be a big factor. I think we won't be killed by rebounding this time around, since we have Scola and Landry, plus the fact our team has been rebounding pretty darn well this season for whatever reason.
it's all about hustle and wanting it. we got killed on the boards a few nights ago in utah. if we are not doing the little things, we could lose that edge. all the guards have to chip in.
IMO, I'm not being a hater or anything, but it could be a good thing that rafer is injured. This means Brooks can get his playing minutes, and what is most important about stopping Deron Williams is taking away as much energy from him as possible. We all know Deron is a super strong PG, but from the defense I saw brooks play lately, that guy can take care of things. He is so small, so quick, so athletic, he can cut through screens and catch up with guys within seconds. Remember that block on Rashard Lewis? Ye he jumped above the ceiling for that block. IMO, run brooks on Deron, and make Deron run as much as possible. Remember, they had Fisher last year as an effecitive PG behind Deron, allowing Deron to have as much rest as possible. However, now they do not have as effective a PG as last year to back Deron up. So if we can play brooks on Deron and make Deron run as much as possible, I'm sure Deron won't last for 7 games, maybe 4-5. I have concern for Kyle Korver, Battier will probably be put on him when he is in the game. Korver is sorta like Novak, except shorter. He hasn't got that good a handle, but he has got a good 3-pt. As for Mr.AK47. He was T-mac's energy booster. This guy lets T-mac humliate him so much last year that T-mac's clutch came extra easy!!
