I don JUST want to face the Jazz and beat them as payback. I WANT the Rockets to win the damn series and end the Jazz season on the floor of Energy Solutions Arena. I WANT to see all those whiny Jazz fans cry. I cant believe I have to bring this up but, have we forgotten about the '97 Western Conference Finals? What about that painfull feeling after Sockton's shot? I WANT nothing more then to deliver "that painfull feeling" back to the Jazz and see it all over there fans faces.
Yeah I hear you and I would love to see us destroy the Jazz in the playoff too but listen, as long as Yao still play for the rockets and Boozer/William/Okur still play for the Jazz we have no chance against them. The Jazz players I mentioned are a nightmare for Yao Ming they can shoot over him and taking turn flopping all night long.
Everybody wants this team to beat the Jazz, they just believe the chances aren't as good compared to other teams. The Rockets haven't gotten past the first round since 1997? Isn't it more important to get out of the first round in order to build some team confidence and then face the Jazz at a possible later round?
No chance against them....yet we have two wins notched on'em. No chance against them....yet we have home court and they have had road troubles this season. No chance against them....yet in those two loses, we had big leads on them. We have a very good chance to extract revenge. We just need 1 road win in Utah. Then, it would be the Jazz who have no chance.
Amen brother. One thing that I would probably try to tone down with the rhetoric is that the Jazz are unbeatable to the Rockets. They are not unbeatable but very close to it at their home. I'm not scared of them but what is scary is for them to sneak out of Toyota center with a win. I don't care how much of a believer you are...you have to address the possibility of this happening seeing it happen to us 2 years ago. Secondly, even if we won this series can you guys imagine how much of a costly victory it would be? The lingering effects of the physicality of the Jazz play would probably follow us into the next round. The mileage, especially for Yao Ming matching up against Boozer and Okur would not be good for him. Bottom line is this team is not made of iron men like Jordan's Bulls team. Let's get out of the first round before we all clamour about beating the best and winning a championship. Lastly, Adelman should learn from Avery Johnson's mistakes when he had the opportunity to eliminate Golden State from the playoffs but instead he rested his guys and gave GS the 8th seed. He didn't understand matchups and he allowed his 67 win team to lose to the Warriors in the first round leading to one of the most disappointing seasons of a franchise in NBA history. Bottom line is to show that this Rockets team is making progress despite the adversity. We will be given the same props whether we beat the Blazers, Mavs, Nuggets, Hornets or we beat the Jazz. Don't let pride get in the way of making it to the next round.
home court???????....just a lil memo to u..in case u forgot..... we have played this jazz team in the first round for 2 years now and they beat us 2 years in a row....thats first we had HOMECOURT in 07..........guess what.....we lost we didnt have homecourt in 08.....but we stole the first 2 games of the series....essentially given us home court yet again in a series against the jazz...and just take a little guess what the outcome was.......another first round exit... I am all for kickin there arse all over energy solutions...trust me I am......just lets do it in the second round or beyond.....we need to GET OUT of the first round, more than we need to prove a point to the jazz in the first round IMHO
This Rox team can beat any team in the league. This is the reason I care about this team. 1. Our defense is better with Artest than with T-mac. 2. Our PG is better on scoring than Rafer. 3. Everyone is healthy. Why are we so much afraid of Utah?
Any given team on a given day, yes. Any team in a seven game series, always? NO. Unfortunatley this is not the NCAA bracket. Nobody is doubting that you care about this team...the people on this board wanting to avoid the Jazz care about this team too. They are just being realistic about their chances in the first round. Just ask yourself this question. Are we the best team in the league right now? If you say yes then you are being a homer. We are not even in the top tier right now. We are one tier below along with the Jazz and Hornets. I don't see the Rockets mentality being if we don't win a championship this season it will be a failure. If we don't get out of the first round it will be a failure. If we can get the monkey off our backs and comfortably beat the Blazers in the first round we can play with nothing to lose for the rest of the playoffs. Then I don't mind so much playing the Jazz in a later round.
The reality is not why but how. Possibly we need lose some games in purpose if my understanding for all cost is right. This team needs toughness. Paying the cost only means softness. This is not sportmanship we worship. I'll keep watch Rox games even they lost to the Jazz again. But how much joy are we going to have if we can block them from 2nd round?
To elaborate: I just feel like the Rockets can beat anyone if they play Rockets Defense and execute on offense. I know what is going through the minds of you guys..."you can say that about any team". The Rockets are talented enough to beat any team, period.
Yes the Rockets CAN beat the Jazz in a 7 game series, but what the difference playing them in the 1st or 2nd round? Either way we get a chanceto prove our point (whether we succeed or fail). So why not just hope for the best that we don't get the Jazz in the first round so that we can make the 2nd round? THEN we play them. For the fans who support that we NEED to play and beat the Jazz in the playoffs, you have nothing to lose by this. But for the fans (the realistic ones or dare I say intelligent fans that use their heads more than their hearts), it means EVERYTHING to get otu of the first round. So why can't ALL fans be happy and and just hope the Rox don't get the Jazz in the first round. If we play them later in the playoffs, then both types of fans will get what they wanted.
I think we can beat Utah...but the thing is every team in the first round wants the easiest matchup for them. That's why teams fight for the #1 spot. If i'd rank the teams in order of who we would not like to see starting from #1...Utah would be #1. 1. Utah 2. Lakers 3. Spurs 4. Mavs 5. Nuggets 6. Hornets 7. Blazers That is how i'd rank them...can we beat Utah...sure. But I think most people would rather us avoid them in the first round.
Dude, I know we are all suffering from "Jazz fright" right now, but seriously, you have to put the Lakers number one. They have owned EVERYONE this year. At least we split the series with Utah.
Yeah but the Lakers are just better...Utah might be better and at the same time matchup with us. Against the Lakers at least on paper we match up better than we do against the Jazz. Lakers don't have Big men who can shoot, Powell we can't be afraid of him and Pau can shoot the mid-range but he's not going to kill aynone doing it. Yao...On paper should own anyone they throw at him. Their second unit seems to be built on speed and with the addition of Wafer and Lowry, and Landry and Scola improving ours is too. Then Kobe, he's the guy that beats us. On paper you'd think we'd have a good formula of stopping him. Like I said in another thread though...I think Kobe actually drools at playing the Rockets. Kobe is a guy who likes to prove points, what bigger point is there for him to prove after owning Battier and Artest? Lebron couldn't do it. Of course this is the biggest matchup, if Artest or Battier can contain Kobe then I honestly feel we can beat them. As for the Jazz...It seems like all of our weaknesses are their strentghs. Also we can't out-hustle the Jazz like we do other teams because their guys hustle too if not more. I think they really are our nightmare matchup especially with a guy like Tmac out. Jazz have problems playing defense against guys like Tmac, Wade, Kobe. Mainly they foul them too much.
