some thoughts: 1. I've been meaning to say this for awhile, but we finally have a quick guard. I can remember countless times when parker has killed us with his quickness and wondering when we were gonna have that and now we do. 2. Artest is great off the bench, the other bench guys have someone to go to who can be somewhat of a focal point. 3. T-Mac does not have to have the jumpshot on the be effective he just has to be a facilitator sometimes and having Yao has a dominant force always helps. This was one of their best performances of the season and they overcame that defect.
Tracy maybe the best rebounder on the Team and we really needed rebounding in this game,if it wasn't for tracy we would have got beaten on the boards like the clipper game. Tracy played a GREAT game
I must admit that I'm astonished with the win. Great job by Tracy,Yao and Ron. This is the first time they played like the big 3.Brooks surprised me a great deal. I do feel that we need an entirely healthy squad and another backup 5 to become a consistent team though. This was an absolute must win. Will our fortunes change for the better? Health is key.
The Rockets overcame themselves, the refs, and the Nuggets, all in one game. 1. Gene and Jim are awesome, I really miss them. They should make a come back. 2. A.B. may have some rough edges, but he outplayed an All Star tonight and made a real difference 3. This is really the first time all season I have seen the big three in the game together and all have very efficient games. Impressive. 4. When TMac is on, he is something. He looks healthier than he has all year. 5. Ron is a clutch player, pure and simple; he is a game changer. 6. Yao has hands of brick, but he can change a game once he gets going. 7. It is a good thing Battier is a world class defender, because sometimes on offense, he stinks. 8. Denver is a very hot team with loads of talent, but the Rockets defense showed up in the second half and wore them down. Clearly the Nugs are headed for the playoffs.
It's amazing what happens when the team shoots 55% from the field, 45% from the 3-pt line, and out-rebound their opponent. Few people doubted we could beat anyone when we are doing that. Problem is that we won't do this every game.
Frankly I was surprised by Brooks' performance on Billups. I thought for sure Billups would eat him alive. Hopefully its not Billups just having an off day today. Billups is your typical AB0 killer (large, quick, great scorer and can post-up). If he has learned how to defend against players like Billups, then I think we finally have our quality backup point guard (hint: its not Ab0)
I'm not deluding myself into thinking AB is this league's next great pg, but it just seems he bring more to the table at that position than anybody else on the roster. I'm sure as soon as he has one bad game Rafer's supporters will jump all over him, but shouldn't he be allowed a few bad games and shouldn't he be allowed to make mistakes so he can learn, progress, and develop as a player? After all, how many bad games and mistakes from Alston have we had to endure? Entirely too many.
You know we still have a very good shot at the number one spot in the west. The Lakers defense is MIA lately and Kobe is playing like CRAP this season
Teams I would want to play in the playoffs in order of difficulting: Portland Hornets Hornets Nuggets Dallas Spurs Jazz Lakers
