I didnt want to mention that and sound like a Laker nut hugger or garm sour puss. But thats definitely the case. The last game against the Lakers was as arrogant a Kobe performance as I've seen. It was like he only chose particular moments to show the Battier's hand-in-the-face D doesnt work anymore. He was just out there working on his behind the back passes to make his Sportscenter highlights package look good. And the Lakers just looked like they were practicing different looks and different sets. Phil Jackson kept the second team out there for them to build chemistry and confidence. It was like they were trying to TUNE UP for the playoffs, not exactly beat the Rockets. The Rockets themselves looked like they were working on a gameplan they over-practiced for, but they were giving full effort and still couldnt keep pace. Good thing the Rockets wont get the #8 seed.
uhh sorry if this is kinda off the topic but it's a pet peeve of mine. the correct term is MATCH UP WELL. off my soap box now. bye.
If Gasol slides to the PF position when Bynum is at C, Pau will have his way with Scola and Landry. Pau has too much length for Scola and Landry to bother him.
He doesn't really use his length on the perimeter, and Scola has guarded him very well, but he is a nightmare for Yao. DD
Better a better match up for us with Bynum in their lineup doesn't make any sense. They could change the man ups very easily. It's all about stopping Kobe. If Battier can invent a new strategy, yes.
everyone knows the first job to do when facing lakers is just to take care of the black mamba, but that guy is just unstoppable no matter what strategy we use on him. neither shane nor ron is the type of player that can lock up Kobe because their quickness is beneath Kobe's by 3 levels, Ray Allen always does good in locking Kobe because Kobe's fake&move doesn't work on Ray who is even more clutch than him. I think even wafer will do a better job guarding kobe than Ron and Shane can do, surely we should free Ron in defense in order to save him more energy for the offensive end.
Gasol doesn't use his length to his advantage. Gasol plays just like LaMarcus Aldridge. Chuck Hayes can bother him I'm sure he can bother Gasol. Landry and Scola also. Don't underestimate our PF
I think you meant to say people were comparing Tracy McGrady to Kobe Bryant. . But you are right. Sigh
We generally don't match up well with the Lakers but I think I actually like our chances better with Bynum in the line up than without. With Bynum out there that means less minutes for Odom (unless the Lakers counter with him on the main unit). Odom is a terrorist when we play the Lakers: playing garbageman, getting put-backs, killing us on the glass and basically displaying his overall versatility in ways that hurts our otherwise athletically-inferior frontcourt. Defensively, we have to use Scola on Odom since he has 3-pt/mid-range game which means Yao absolutely cannot cover him thus forcing us to use Yao on Gasol. To Gasol's credit he's a very crafty scorer that seems to give Yao fits one-on-one. With Bynum in the line up Gasol slides back to the four and given that Bynum is your standard center that plays on the low block we can let Scola worry about Gasol and let Yao concentrate on dominating his match up in Bynum. Bynum is a decent player but he'll have trouble scoring on Yao.
Chuck won't get much time in the playoffs, unfortunately. I don't care how bad Chuck's offense can be. The team is better with him on the floor against certain teams and players and I think that's the case more often that it appears. On nights when Landry isn't giving you good, efficient scoring he should be benched for Chuck. In the minutes Chuck has played in recent weeks he completely wrecks the other team's post up game almost instantly.
Coach is that you??? How do you know Hayes won't get PT in the playoffs. If memory serves me right he played last year and the year before that. I'm sure Rick Aldeman knows how good Hayes' defense is and would use him at a time when he needs him.
Sorry my sarcasm meter may be turned off but a few people have said the same statement in this thread so i'll just address it anyway. There's no way that the Lakers chances of beating us will decrease because they bring back one of their key players. If the matchup favors the Rockets then Phil Jackson will adjust accordingly. He's just one more comodity that this team has at their disposal for the playoffs. This is not a case of subtraction by addition...
Its almost to ignorant to answer, but since a thread was created, its no need to waste space. They have no answer for kobe,gasol, and odom. The rockets don't have 1 guy that threatens La to drop 30 and that includes Yao. They have beaten the Rockets by a avg of 13ppg. How do the roxkets all of a sudden make up that difference?
