If we played Phoenix 100 times, we would lose 90...

You make a good point here but to be honest that harsh reality isn't even my biggest concern. Let people think what they want, nobody thought the Heat had a prayer to win the title last year and look what happened. My biggest concern right now is whether or not Phoenix, of all teams, just exposed Yao and showed everybody the gameplan for slowing him down.

It's amazing that Phoenix was able to do this since they're a team that's notoriously bad on the defensive end. The thing that most people don't realize about them is they're deceptively good on the defensive end. Sure, they're pretty soft on the inside and seem to have a bunch of guys that shy away from contact. And no, they're not good in terms of one-on-one defense but they still are able to use their depth, length and athleticism to create a suffocating overall team defensive effort that they displayed tonight that completely swallowed up Yao and T-Mac too, anytime he wasn't taking his oh-so-predictable pull-up jumper.

Seriously? What's to stop a team like Utah from pulling this "double front" strategy with big, long and athletic guys like Boozer, Kirilenko and Okur all taking turns collapsing on Yao? Yao was getting visibly frustrated with how hard he had to work to even get in position to catch a post feed let alone the frustration he experienced once he got the automatic double/triple team. Do you mean to tell me Phoenix is the only team capable of pulling this strategy off?

Let's hope this defensive masterpiece by Phoenix was just a fluke occurence otherwise we might be in some trouble.......

 

Of course, did has nothing to do with the fact that the Suns know how to play against the Rockets of course...

How did Yao play in our first meeting with Phoenix this year? oh - he didn't play much as he was completely ineffectiv.

THe Suns know how to neutralize Yao. And they know how to Neutralize McGrady.

They know if you neutralize those two guys, then the rest of the team can't beat you.

And that's what we see here. Everyone in the league knows we're a two-trick ponie, and take them away and we are the worst team in the league.

 

Phoenix is to this Rox entry what Seattle was to Hakeem's. At this time the Good Guys and the Suns are bracketed such that it would take the WCFs to meet. However, the reality is that if the two teams were 'merged' 7 of the top 10 of the two rosters would be Suns. The talent gap is a wide gulf.

The Spurs' talent base is more comparable to the Rox IMHO. However, they have played the same TD dominated system for years with Parker and/or Manu the turbo engines. Their discipline and history is awesome. They are a very tough out in the P/Os.

Mavs are another team with a talent gap over the Rox. They are a team which could see themselves in a competitive series with the Good Guys because the match-ups are less glaring than v Phx.

The answer is twofold IMHO: Close the talent gap. Keep the program together.

 

I agree. If Wells can't find his playoff magic he had a year ago, the Rockets will not get out of the first round. They need a 3rd scorer who can do damage taking it to the basket.

 

hehe. "Two-trick ponie" is funny.

 

I don't understand this negative attitude. If you watched the game closely, you should find some positives there, for example, it is rare for Yao to go 1-9 and 3 TO in a row, he was absolutely frustrated, Suns could not possibly hope next time, they will hold Yao to the same statistics again. Tmac 8-28? Totally out of control, but remember, we were still in the game until Yao was pulled and then the final collapse. Hayes was a bright spot, so was Howard. But then Battier and Alston, speechless...
One thing I am particularly glad is that, unlike most others claiming that we played their ball, I think they were forced to play our ball most of the time---at least for the first 3 quarters. If some of the outside 3s went down, this game could be completely different. Now the offense did look awkward but our D was worse, for that I blame the coach, we didn't get killed by Nash, we got killed by Barbosa and Marion, I can't believe JVG didn't have a clue to cover those two for the entire game. But with that said, I believe if we step up a little, no matter the 3s, or the defense against Barbosa and Marion, or Tmac and Yao score some, this game should be winnable.

 

Our offense IS poor. And up to now we don't have a stable 3rd option, that is not good for the playoffs. I always laugh when people say we have the best 1-2 punch in the NBA and we can depend on Tmac and Yao for most of the offense. Suns showed us that a more balanced offense is much better than the predictable 1-2 punch in today's NBA. The funny thing is Suns stopped us with their defense, which some constantly consider "weak", and we couldn't do a thing with our defense, which most consider "strong".

 

Yao, Battier, TMAC can do better than last night.
I have a big question, how can Sons keep running so fast? In NBA, only Dallas can beat Sons.

 

Yao is just coming back and he will destroy the Suns when healthy and in form.Normally playing the night before at home wouldn't bother him,but give it time.

Bonzi isn't even playing right now.

Snyder will definitely contributing in the near future..


Yao,Tmac,and Rafer were 12 for 51.That isn't going to happen very often.

Besides in the postseason it's more of a halfcourt game..We will dictate pace and Motumbo will see the floor more.

We were playing AT Phoenix at much less than full strength and full chemistry....played them even for awhile too.

NO WORRIES.

 

With the current JVG philosophic approach to playing the SUNS, we will lose to them 100 times if we play them 100 times.

Something defeinitely has to change but our beloved Jeff just is so stubborn to even entertain the thought.

Whatever....

 

problem is rafer alston: 3/14 = 21%

he needs to stop shooting.

nets: 4/12 = 33% 0 FTA
magic: 2/8 = 25% 0 FTA
suns: 3/14 = 21% 0 FTA

he is detrimental to the team. he cant hit open shots and does not take the ball to the hole. if he doesnt do either of those what can he create? nothing.

 

It's funny how some fans still believe we would have any shot at the Suns.

Get over it. They OWN us.

It happens.


Back in the day the Rockets owned the Bulls and the Sonics owned the Rockets.


It is what it is.


The only chance the Rockets have is hoping SA knocks off the Suns.


The Spurs could do it, but this Suns team is a lot better than the one the Spurs beat 2 years ago.


It is funny how so many people are so scared of Dallas and say Phoenix is a paper tiger and all of that.

It's the exact opposite, in fact the Mavs are far and I mean FAR easier for any team to beat than the Suns are.

Really the only team that can even matchup with the Suns is the Spurs because they have Manu and Parker.

The Mavs are the team that is soft and a paper tiger, it's not the Suns. This Suns team has tremendous will and they can just rip your heart out of you.

 

Like you, I am also not convinced that Mavs are mentally tough enough to win the Championship. The regular season is just too easy for them, too many sucky teams and not enough challenges. They are not really tested.

However, you can't say Rox has a better chance beating them because Rox is actually a soft team as well and they are mentally weak. When things get tougher, they (the Rox) usually fold. They beat up all those garbage teams alright (There are only 7 quality teams in the entire league anyway), but I can hardly remember there are any significant comeback wins this year. My impression is if they are trailing at the end of 3rd QT, they usually lose the game.

Rox’s two stars are perfect examples to show they are soft. Yesterday we saw Yao made turnovers after turnovers. It was true that Suns played him well and denied him the ball perfectly. But what about those blocks? When he finally caught the ball that deep, there were no reasons he couldn't finish them with dunks. Instead, he got blocked again and again. You should challenge opponents and not let them bully you. And T-Mac, do I have to mention him? He is probably the softest player who has the superstar status in the league. He is now so used to settling and throwing ridiculous jumpers even if they are not falling. Unfortunately these two guys are Rox’s main guy, and their characters define the team’s character. I am sorry for the Rox.

 

Well Yao isn't soft, he's just tired IMO

T-Mac is soft other than the playoffs, he shows up for 5 or 6 games so let's just hope, but the regular season T-Mac is charmin.

BUT Dirk is softer than charmin, Dirk is as soft as they come, way too many fans have forgetten how soft Dirk really is.

 

you are contradicting your self.....you want JVG to make adjustments but you admit we lost because Rafer and the gang can't make shots...unless you are talking about JVG lowering the basket to 6 ft, how is it his fault that we can't make open shots?...I agree some adjustments on defense should be made but if Rafer, Head, Tmac could make a freakin open shot, we would have won that game....put the blame mostly on the players...a coach can put any gameplan on paper but if the players don't execute YOU CANT BLAME the COACH!!!

 

We can match up with Phoenix, we just came unprepared, no.1 we didnt know Barbosa was gonna go off, Yao Ming will never shoot 1/9 again, he played 35 minutes yesterday and came from knee surgery, so he was very tired, T-Mac will never shoot that bad again, we played back to back not to mention and it was a road game, we will beat them for sure next time.

 

Yao, T-mac, and rafer were 12/51(someone else posted). Yes, I definitely see the fault in the players for shooting poorly. But it is hard to ignore the fact that you have a coach that ignores the bench, that is rotting, while the guys on the court can't buy a brick. We always speak of all of these other teams, but no one lets their bench rot like JVG. I thought JL3 did one hell of a job on Nash. He looked like a gnat out there and I thought matched the tempo of the game a lot better than what rafer was. What does JVG do? Please JVG, just swallow a knife so eventually that broomstick up your a@@ will eventually be sawed off. JVG for COY haha

 

i'm not even gonna trip....everytime we faced the suns this season it has been on a back-to-back on the second game and they've had rest to do what they do, us none...come playoffs i'm more than sure that we will dismantle them mark my words

 

If we played Phoenix 100 times, we win 74 1/2.

 

agreed. We need Yao completely healthy to control the tempo of this game. He is getting there quicker than I had imagined which is good news to all of us. You know the man is tired when Kurt Thomas is giving him his only position five feet outside the box.