Bonzi was afraid "something bad might happen" if he showed up to the game according to Rich Bucher. I never heard anything about today in the Chron.
So both pick the Rockets to win the series. Greg doesn't sound too 'convinced' of his pick but Legler -- as usual -- is on the Rockets' bandwagon. Both think the Center matchup (Yao/Okur) will be the key and might dictate the series. On the Bonzi front, Stein/Bucher said he won't play again for us, although he won't be suspended or released, but will just be deactivated until the season is over at which time he will opt out and both sides can go their separate ways. All sides think this will be the best first round matchup simply because the two teams are too close and it should be very competitive. That's a short recap...
Ok people lets move on, nothing to see here... Bonzi is done for the season, he is upset with his lack of playing time and the team has not been happy with his effort or fitness level Yao is the X-factor in the Utah series, should be the best first round matchup in the NBA playoffs Dallas will have problems with either team in the 2nd round
I would also like to add that I thought it was funny that Greg and Tim acted like it was a tough choice to choose Yao over Okur. You have one guy who is the best center in the league by a mile and another guy who isn't even an all-star but they pretend like the two guys might cancel each other out. Doubt it. Chuck Hayes will be all over Okur out on the perimeter while Yao is dropping in hooks, jumpers and dunks over Boozer on the other end of the court.
Okur is an all-star, if I am not mistaken. Although he's not a 'traditional' center, he's a damn good player, I don't think you should be so dismissive of his abilities and how much of a headache he can be for our defense. He's basically a poor man's Dirk Nowitzki. BTW, Tim Legler did pick Yao over him in the matchup, although Greg Anthony was somewhat non-committal to either.
You're right. He was named as a replacement this year to the all-star team so I stand corrected there. I still think is was stupid to portray him as an equal to Yao. Yeah, Okur's game is nice but you know they would not have made this comparison between Okur and Duncan if the Jazz were meeting the Spurs in the first round. I thought it was a slight toward Yao.
Do you think Yao can guard Boozer? I'm trying to remember... I think Yao guarded Okur last time, and Hayes guarded Boozer. I could be wrong, and of course JVG might have some defensive tricks up his sleeves for the series. I think the matchups of Okur/Boozer and Yao/Hayes will be interesting to watch. One thing we might see is a small lineup with Hayes/Battier in the frontcourt.
Well the rings make all the difference....Plus Yao's only been playin at this high level for about a year....
I think Yao guarded Boozer, and Boozer didn't play well except for a couple of big plays down the stretch.
They were talking about the match-up problems both players can pose, not comparing the two in terms of talent/skill level, just how two players with contrasting styles will impact the series. There was no 'slight' at all, but I guess if you're looking for one you can always read between the lines...
Last game they switched... started out Chuck on Boozer and Yao on Okur for the first half.. in the second half they were switched part of the time and went small part of the time, but none of the defenses were particularly effective... or I guess the other side of the coin is that you could say we were successful in that they didn't score a lot of points. Guess it depends on your perspective. Personally, I think they are probably right about Okur being the X-factor. If he is shooting a bunch of outside shots and making them, he could cause the swing to go in the Jazz's favor. However, I think that is more of an issue than he and Yao battling inside. Yao is going to get his points regardless, as is Boozer and Tracy. Okur and Williams are the x-factors in the matchup IMHO.
