This series is a coin flip no matter who has home court. Both mentally weak teams, both just under top contender status. Yao & Tmac hammer their weaknesses, and Williams and Boozer hammer ours. Flip a coin.... DD
Didn't the Rockets BARELY miss out on Marcus Williams of the Nets? That kid will be a very good PG in this league.
Okur flops! Yao will have 3 offensive fouls called per game and foul out most of the series!!!! Sloan is the master of flopper and his team flops! To win the series, I think it will all depend on T-mac!
It is not a coinflip. The jazz will be crushed by the Rockets because the Rockets are simply better, and will exorcise the demons of 1997 a decade too late. The pent up fury unleashed at the T-Center (where the series will end) will send them running back to Utah, crying in their non-alcoholic beers.
I STRONGLY doubt that Okur will be guarded by Yao. It's far more likely that it will be up to Chuck Hayes to chase him around the perimeter. Yao will probably have his hands full with Boozer, however. McGrady will end up guarding AK47.
No way will Yao guard Boozer, not early in the game anyway, too many foul opportunities...Hayes will guard Boozer, Yao will guard Okur and late in the game they will switch. DD
okur and boozer dont worry me at all i am sure jvg will come up with a scheme to minimize their strengths. deron williams on the other hand is going to give me some sleepness nights. this guy has really blossomed into one of the premier point guards in the league. honestly he should have been the jazz all-star this year not okur. scary how much better he can become. its going to be a tough series to call, they beat us the first game of the season where we didnt really know our team with new players, then tmac beat them without yao in houston. the next game we play will tell a lot on how these teams will match up. right now if i have to pick i would say rockets but this will probably be a 6-7 game series where more than one of the games will be won by a single possesion.
Yao will defend Boozer and when they drop the ball down to Boozer, Van Gundy will send the double team from somewhere, preferrably McGrady coming off the shooting guard to help Yao. Hayes and Battier can trade up on Okur, forcing him to give up the ball or have to put it on the floor. Hayes can also come off his man to help Yao get the ball out of Boozer's hands and then get back to cover his man.
2 comments from sensible jazz fans: Both teams have blown out Utah once this season. I voted Lakers because I feel like the combo of Ming and T-Mac are better than Kobe and Odom. Yao could keep Okur in foul trouble. I could make a better thought-out post about why, but when I see and hear people say we could "easily" take the Rockets I have to question how much of the punch they've had to drink. With the current performance of Utah Jazz, both rockets and lakers beat us easily.. it is obvious that we have the potential to play at least semi final but 2nd round is only dream for us unless Sloan do something Roxs beat jazz
...Wasn't it Shane who guarded Okur last time we played Utah? Either way, whatever we did without Yao worked. We don't need Yao on Okur. Mehmet Okur 31 mins 2-9 FG 1-5 3FG 2-4 FT. 7 points.
Our interior defense is far greater than our perimeter defense. Our doubling and rotations within the paint are a thing of beauty, even on a bad night. Boozer and Okur will do well, but won't steamroll the rocks while on offense. I'm more concerned with the fouls Yao gets in the first half vs how much Boozer scores. Stopping guard penetration and the resulting breakdowns are another issue altogether. I haven't watched Utah play much this year- what style do they play?
Yao? McGrady? who needs them when we have Mutombo! Also we will see our secret weapon unleashed, the Novakaine. dun dun duunnn...
i think most people on the jazz site are underestimating tmac, while i understand that he doesn't show much killer instinct in the regular season, but boy did we see it against the mavericks.
