With Boozer playing the way he's playing, Utah is definitely beatable by Rockets. But Rockets need to play disciplined basketball instead of stupid 1 on 5 stuff. And Rockets need to make open jumpers, because there will be a lot of those. Utah simply pack the middle against Rockets.
The only way I see Rox winning a series is if Yao, Ron, and Scola show up for 4 good games and Boozer misses a **** load of 15 footers
this is getting old. this is not the case tonight. (ole' question - did you watch?) yao was 25-10 in the series 2 years ago. what was okur or boozer's number? yao didn't dominate as he would against many other matchups, but boozer and okur "tear him up"? use your own eyes. and your brain, too. don't let the bspn's think for you.
that is getting old , you are using stats from 2 yrs ago lol try again next time. O and did the Rox win that series ? HELL NO, you proved my case, thank you by the way.
Without a doubt my preference is to avoid the j*zz in the 1st round as we have a better chance of advancing playing the other teams but I still believe we CAN beat the j*zz if we execute properly, finish layups, play smarter, and Yao asserts himself in the post. All of those are very doable but we just need to look at the mistakes from tonight, learn from them, then apply it on the court if we meet them again.
you've said boozer and okur tore yao up. i proved you wrong. you've said this year it can only get worse without any reasoning. i ask you to make your case and you haven't. i asked you if you watched the game tonight (since yao didn't have any trouble in defending boozer tonight). you have not answered. class dismissed. i'm really a failed teacher.
Agreed on praying we see them, at least in the first round. I've tried to remain optimistic whenever this topic was brought up recently in other threads but it's pretty clear by now that they have the mental edge on us right now. When a team owns you as bad as the Jazz seemingly own us, the psychological element comes into play also. All of a sudden you're not just gameplanning to beat the actual team, you're also accounting for all your past mistakes against them. Couple that with the pressure of FINALLY winning a playoff series and that simply might amount to too much pressure in the first round.
the Spurs want the Jazz more than any other team i'm sure. the Spurs are the only team that Jerry Sloan has a career losing average against; they lost something like 20 in a row to Duncan's Spurs. i remember during the 07 playoffs, after the Jazz tore the Rockets hearts out, they went on to beat the world-shocking Warriors, only to get their ass handed to them by the Spurs. nothing's changed. they have no answer for the Spurs big 3, but Duncan can easily contain Boozer or Okur. as i stated in different thread, the Rockets best path to the title is Portland, either of Denver or New Orleans (the third or sixth seed), and hope that San Antonio either pulls the upset against the Lakers or at the least wears them out for the WCF. the Rockets match up well against the Spurs, not so much against the Lakers with or without Bynum. if they can pull off yet another unlikely victory, then it's on to the finals against Cleveland, who have a terrible record against the Rockets, homecourt advantage or not. homecourt advantage is the least important in the finals, as the Rockets would play 3 straight home games, and only the very best referees are allowed to officiate the finals.
Grow some balls. Even if we lose to them in the first round, at least we faced them with our heads up instead of running away with our tail between our legs.
fans of a team that has yet to advance past the first round in over 12 years have no reason for bravado or vindication, so i find some of the comments here amusing. there is only one objective and that is to win a playoff series at any cost, even if it means tanking a game for a favorable matchup. we simply cannot beat this jazz team and i would go as far as to say that i would favor our chances against even the lakers than against utah. this team simply owns us. our two biggest strengths are yao and depth: they are even deeper and they can completely neutralize yao, at points even making him a liability. our two biggest weaknesses are pg defense and defending shooting big men: they have the 2nd best pg in the league and two mobile big men with range. ronnie brewer, who might not even be their fourth option just completely OWNED our 2nd best player, ron artest. they are more physical, they execute better, they take away our transition strength, their power forward duo is better, they didn't even double yao in '07, and they have the best homecourt advantage in the west. the only thing we've had going for us against that team in over a decade was tracy mcgrady, and he's gone. so please. save the machismo for when this team has actually won a damn thing because survival should be the only objective. it would be catastrophic to yet again bow out in the first round after the progress this team has made this year in reshaping its identity. the plan is simple - avoid the Jazz at all costs. OP - please make the chart.
I just gave this thread 5 stars and I suggest everyone else do the same because the title's premise is the most logical and obvious statement ever uttered in the GARM. Yeah, I mean, every time I reflect back upon those two titles we won, the thought that we didn't have to face Seattle just totally ruins the whole experience for me and taints those banners hanging at the toybox. Not.
I agree, I mean you give your best and you won't be sorry. But I will be honest and tell that I'd rather take Blazers or Nuggets because those teams seem to play bad basketball against the Rockets. Jazz, especially this season seem to be like custom build team to defeat Rockets. Almost every position is a mismatch and Jazz take advantage of that. And there is no go to guy on offense, offensive facilitator and that was TMac in the past.
