I think we will have problem defending Odom. Their bench are quite deep offensively. Our bench is quite good defensively but offensively impotent with exception Landry.
This is just my scenerio. As i talk about Thomas, its because what i see him do that none of our 4's can do. He can put the ball on the floor like a guard, can post up some,shoot the 3, pass a little. He's that multi tool atheletic guy we're talking about. I can at least see the idea has crossed your mind, so let me paint t\this scene for u. The rox like to run this play where in the half court, scola or landry is ft line extended and there is some cutting action off it before Yao attempts to dive into the lane. Thats really a effective set, but what would make it dangerous is a guy like Thomas. Why? When he turns to face the basket, he's a triple threat. He can shoot from there, he can put the ball on the floor or he can pass it. Scolandry is either shoot it or pass it. Playing against a guy like boozer,west,dirk, or any other 4, thats a big option and a weapon. The truth is Yao is going to be guarded by the post gold the uy and the other is going to hold the 4. Thomas threatens that guy so many ways.
Whats with the mentality that the Lakers are unbeatable? The NBA, actually all basketball is about is matchups. Any team can match up bad with any team. Its the teams that can exploit the flaws of other teams on any given night are the ones that are considered to be legendary.
i wonder why posters said odom will be the difference maker. If battier is covering kobe, that leaves tmac guarding odom. I cant see odom dominating odom. What i can say is, with yao, rox can and will beat everyone. Lakers will try to expose yao with the p-n-r, but the one running the p-n-r is kobe and gasol, hence it will be battier and scola/landry. Its not like utah where the one defending the p-n-r is rafer and yao, while Deron and Boozer is killing the rox. And i'm still waiting to see how the triangle will work with bynum and gasol, 2 guys who do their damage in the paint.
Agreed! Alot of posters don't understand that...... They believe if team dominates one set of teams that they are going to be that way against the rest of the league, which often not the case. For instance, was there a team more dominate than this season of in the last 5 or 6 years than the NEw England Patriots. At certain points in the season even against the playoff powerhouses they looked unstoppable....but when they ran into Indianapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the Giants in Super bowl. They looked like a very beatable team, because teams match up really well with them and they were somewhat looking to win. Also, use the 1986 Lakers, Lakers are supposed to be the most dominate team in the West, no other team during that span of time came out of the West except for our.................very own Rockets. Y'know how they beat the showtime Lakers is because of their dominate post play from Olajuwon and Sampson. The Lakers couldn't contain both of them and with Sleepy Floyd playing out of his mind....the Rockets took the Lakers out in 5 games. Same thing in 2004, everyone thinks the Lakers are going to steamroll the Pistons, but most people don't take into consideration that the Pistons played very great high level defense and played very aggressive on offense and defense and were just more driven to win than the overhyped Lakers. And another thing about this is the aspect of coaching, a great coach on the weaker or lesser team can even the playing field a little bit more ...I think in 2004 was good example of why I don't think Phil is as great as his 9 rings indicate, Larry Brown showed that he was much superior coach to Phil in the Finals alone. He knew how to minimize everyone else and put special coverage on Kobe, and make him shoot all of those low percentage jumpers he likes to shoot, but this was against good defense. So they pretty much made him non-factor in the series. I thought Phil got outcoached in the playoffs even in the two earlier years, the previous year by Popovich and against our own Adelman. I think his players utterly save his behind when dire moments come, like when there is a last second shot needed it...or someone to carry the team through troubled times....you just need MJ, Shaq, or Kobe to pick it up and that's pretty much it.
I believe that you and I are philosophically opposed as to what we believe the Power-Forward for the Rockets must do. I don't deny that Thomas gives us options on offense, but it is undeniable that when your 4 is initiating the offense from the 3-point line, he's just not physically going to be capable of getting in rebounding position, even if he wants to (and throughout Tim Thomas' career, he has shown a very strong inclination to not want to rebound). Also, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "putting it on the floor" according to his stats from last year. Aren't you a bit concerned by the fact that 80% of Thomas' offense comes from the jumpshot? This Rockets team needs to get easy buckets around the rim, and needs to get offensive rebounds because it relies so heavily on the 3-point shot, while being notoriously streaky. Adding yet another gunner, whose athleticism and length is completely wasted on offense because he shoots from the perimeter so much, doesn't seem to solve any problems. I believe that securing 2-3 extra possessions per game, and denying the same of your opponent by being able to secure a defensive rebound is worth sacrificing 2 3-pointers per game. I know as a fan, and as a player, it is just demoralizing and back-breaking to have to play defense for multiple possessions in a row. Sure, a backbreaking 3 in the clutch hurts, but Thomas shouldn't be playing then anyway. Ultimately, looking at how the Rockets were playing during the streak, I believe that the ideal powerforward for the Rockets can face up from 18ft and in, or play in the high post, and be able to make the decision of whether to go backdoor on the far side of the rim, to dump it into the low post, or kick it back out to a guard for a 3. I believe that Carl Landry can be that guy; he seems to have a pretty good first step, athleticism to finish, and a consistent jumper. He won't be a particularly creative passer or playmaker for others, but with Rafer, Yao and Tracy on the floor, the other two guys on the floor should really be finishers, not shot makers.
