RIP - Shaq

Uh, what was Yao doing the 2nd half of the season consistently - scoring 25+ and rebounding 12+ ? And making the Dampiers of the NBA look like minor league talent. And Tmac must be healthy and able to move - which I admit is not assured - but I would love to see it again - then with both healthy we have our two big cannons. They do need a better supporting cast in order to compete.

Dallas played very aggressive defense - I saw on one 1st qtr play Dirk and two other Mavs all swiping with their hands at Shaq - no call. Then they did it again and there was a foul call when he got slammed by at least two arms. And Dampier ended the night with ONLY two fouls - with all of the shoving he was doing all night? Damp usually fouls out against Yao. Antoine Walker has not had a foul shot in either game and he does drive and shoot at the hoop just like Dirk.

I really like Dirk's spin into the defender - where the defender is outside the arc, standing mobile, hands straight up, and Dirk gets the and one after creating contact. Haslem is probably better off on the bench hurt as all this series would do for him is make him angry - he has been selected to be the Tim Thomas of the finals. Now Posey, he deserves every foul he receives, but then he is out there drawing charges - that guy has to be a little bruised by now.

So what exactly was Dwyane Wade saying to the ref to get a T? My w-a guess is he was tired of the refs dictating the game in favor of the Mavs. But hey, Cuban has paid good money to get the reffing his team needs - so they should deliver the product as ordered.

But back to Shaq - hack a Shaq is working big time - the big guy has lost it at least for 2 games - and it may not be coming back.

Dallas is 3-4 players deeper, and is faster so their victory seems like a foregone conclusion, refs help or no. The games played straight up would just be closer but probably still Dallas wins.

 

I agree and I love it.

 

Miami is not getting smoked because of bad refs - they are getting smoked because they are the weaker team and play an inferior style of basketball. Dallas extended their defense to cut off the passing lanes while swarming Shaq and forcing the ball of of his hands. They used their speed and athleticism to force the game to played at their pace and dared Shaq's supporting cast to beat them. Does this strategy ring a bell? The result? They cruised to a 14 point win. There is nothing the Heat & Riley can do to overcome this level of play not with the makeup of that team. I expect this series to be the death knell for the old Pat Riley - JVG - NYK style of basketball which unfortunately is what's being played here.

Yes, getting a healthy TMac back will help them somewhat but it just won't be enough to put them over the top against team like San Antonio & Dallas. Yes, Yao is a MUCH better player than Dampier, Diop and even the 34 year old Shaq but when all is said and done, it will be Diop & Dampier wearing championship rings before Yao. And that would make me absolutely sick to the stomach. But that's what happens when an organization loses sight of what's important. It's far easier to slide into and wallow in mediocrity than to pull yourself out and the Rockets are about to learn just how hard that process can be.

One final thought: The consistent lament around here is that we need a better suppoorting cast in order to compete. In the empirical sense, that is certainly true given the fact that this team faces serious personnel mismatches at every position save small forward & center. But that's only a part of the problem. I believe that the entire organization from top to bottom needs a complete overhaul. Serious thought must be given to not only WHO we have on this team but HOW we are asking them to play and WHO is picking said players. Only then will we see this team start moving in the right direction.

 

Shaq sucks...He's a non-factor...

 

Except for the fact that one of our two mismatches is historically injury prone and the fact that we have the worst "the rest" in the league and Dallas has the best.

 

well, I'm not going to say the past 2 games were won or lost just because of missed free-throws. however, it's pretty demoralizing for Miami if their big man who keeps calling for the ball is continuing to hit only 10% of his attempts.

therefore, we should never discount the importance of a big man who can hit 80% of his free-throws.

also guys like Duncan and Yao can mix it up by stepping out and hitting a 12-15 footer, while also post-up on the inside as well.

 

the phoenix suns and the mavs have exposed the rockets weaknesses.

do i have to remind us of the drubbing vs dallas in the playoffs and the 50pt lead phoenix had on us that night on TNT. yeah we had tmac and yao playing too.

the blue print now is stockpiling athletic players who are versatile and stockpiling shooters.

the clippers is what we should strive for, they should have made it to at least the WCF. the key is that they were healthy and they had athleticism/shooters.

this is bizaro world now. we are looking up to the clippers.

 

Stephen A. Smith must be crying in his beer by now.

 

You forget who will be doing the "filling" here for the Rockets. We appear to be mismatched in that department as well...

 

We were not right there this year, and won't be with this sad crew.

We beat up on some weak ****ty teams when Yao/Tmac were healthy, but as Tinman pointed out we got run by the good teams. The reason? We have or are tied for the worst concentration of talent in the league. At PF, SG, PG - we are arguably the WORST in the entire league, or at least in the very bottom tier. To top that off, at backup SF (which is important since our starting SF tends to be a bit delicate) we have possibly the worst player in the league in Bowen, and are not exactly stacked at backup C either.

it will be a couple of years before we are a serous contender barring something unforeseen. Right now, we are as deep as a urine-filled kiddie pool, and arguably the deepest team in the league is winning the championship. So what does that tell you?

 

Reasons for Shaq being a non-factor, in order:

1. Walker and Williams are looking for ANY excuse to go on a shooting spree
2. Miami's apparently never heard of the re-post concept.
83. Dallas is making it hard to get a pass in
84. Dallas is double teaming quickly
85. Shaq is falling off

 

I think this is the new NBA though. The teams with quicker players are now at a huge advantage with how the game is being called. Even if the Spurs beat the Mavs to advance, they are still a lot quicker than the Rockets. I'd love to see the Rockets get more athletic and that is part of the reason I'm not wanting to see JJ Redick on the Rockets.

 

You do realize that you are trying to make someone who thinks an undersized, slow-footed, one-dimensional shooter is the answer to all the Rockets problems "see the light", don't you?

 

Yeah the Heat could put a Rocket on their uniforms and it would be our series against them all over again. The Rockets did go 7 which is 3 more than the Heat will get. The biggest surprise is how effective Dallas fronting Shaq has been. He looks just like Ming. He can't even get the ball in his hands. Much like his understudy JVG, Riley can't make the necessary adjustments with his current role players. The John Starks of this years playoffs is A. Walker and Riley will let him go, what was it, 2 for 17 just like Starks and never send him to the bench.

Uphill climb indeed! Lets hope T-Mac and Ming aren't in an old folks home before the Les and the Rockets get their act together.

 

Oh I have been down this road before, it's virtually a CF.net offseason rite of passage to try to tear away a potential-crazed DaDakota from the next Larry Bird/Moses Malone who in reality turns out to be the latest version of Dan Langhi or Pig Miller. Sometimes you just can't stop yourself though....

 

I think 85 deserves to be way higher on your list. Shaq is looking terrible in this series. He can't move from post to post, and he can't handle the 3/4 front at all. A couple of years ago, that 3/4 front crap would lead directly to a quick spin move, and alley-oop throwdown. Now, he basically stands there and puts his hand out towards the corner. He gets the lob to the baseline, where he can't do anything but get harrassed by double-teams.

Shaq is making it way too easy for Dallas to take him out of the series.

 

Well, if Yao is still to be confined to his inside game, he'll look a lot like Shaq going against Dallas.

You need shooters to spread the floor, or you need to have a face-up game, against those constant doubles.

 

We just need an owner willing to pay lots of luxury tax. Other teams thought they were dumping salary when they traded Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison to the Mavs, but Cuban cheerfully paid up. These players turned into Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, and Devin Harris, who account for most of the Mavs' speed and quickness. Only Josh Howard has been a lifer at Dallas.

Of course, to succeed in all this wheeling and dealing you need a good GM; the Knicks are proof that a heavy budget is not enough by itself. But that kind of a budget is an enormous help.