Ok, so it's Rox vs the Lake show on starting Saturday or Sunday. What's our game plan? Here are the stats of our big 3 against the Lakers this year(games w/o Malone): 12/25(win, 99-87): YM - 18pts/8rbs/2blks SF - 22pts/7asts/9rbs CM - 15pts/4asts/3rbs 2/11(win, 102-87): YM - 29pts/11rbs/1blk SF - 21pts/6asts/7rbs CM - 21pts/10asts/6rbs 3/3(loss, 93-96): YM - 33pts/8rbs/1blk SF - 16pts/10asts/5rbs CM - 5pts/4asts/4rbs Guard play will be very important - when Francis/Mobley play well, they win. The pick and roll should be executed as much as possible as it attacks Shaq's weakness of never guarding the guy setting the pick. I'd want to see Yao incorporate his 15-18 ft jumper more often. I'm VERY worried about Yao's stamina if he's gonna match up with Shaq 4-7 games at 38 minutes/game. Shooting more jumpers should save some of his energy. Defensively, I'd like to see a combination of Cato/Weatherspoon/Taylor on Shaq as well as immediate double teaming. Oakley should be added to the playoff roster simply for his 6 fouls. He can give us a hard 10 minutes/game. I honestly don't want Yao guarding Shaq whatsoever, maybe 5-10 mins a game at most. Try and limit the # of easy shots Shaq gets and put him on the line as much as possible(1/8 tonight). I actually would rather see JJ on Kobe instead of Mobley and wouldn't mind them taking turns guarding Mr. Bryant. We've played these guys well, and the PnR has been very effective and should be used to the extent. I'm fully expecting JJ to step up, play D, and hit some clutch shots for us. He should be one of our best players in the series. The refs will be horrendous as usual. Here's to hoping Malone's out for a while and that Kobe misses a couple games.
Cuttino needs to score. We should run some curls for him. Preferably, I'd like to confuse the Lakers by running a triangle. Run Cat and JJ with Yao high post, and let Steve iso with Taylor or Cato. They can't stop that. Don't know if we can stop them, but we can get good scoring opps every time out of that set.
somehow I think we have a deeper team than Lakers. Of course, they have 4 future HOF, but Malone's status is unknown, and what about Kobe's leagl situation, will he miss a game or two or get affected at least? Past 2 years, 8 games against lakers, we always, always had close game with the Laker. This series is going to be great. Stevie and Cat are going to light up.
How the Rockets played LA in the regular season is 90% irrelvent. As always, the key is frontcourt play. Which team gets the rebounds and easy points wins. We really need Cato to step up and be able to play 30-35 mins a game to defend Shaq. The problem is with Yao. Who does he defend? Guard Shaq and risk getting in foul trouble? Try and check Malone and Medvedenko 19 ft away? Unfortuantely, the Lakers will expose Yao's inability to defend. Moreover, the physical nature of play means that Mobley and Francis can expect to get hacked on drives to the bucket. How will they handle it? Will they continue to cry to the refs, while Kobe or GP are already on a fast break? The Rockets must be mature. They must adapt quickly to the style of play that the playoff brings out. If they don't, they are gone in 4.
Stats for the 4th game: 4/1 (loss, 93-85) YM - 6pts/8rbs/2blk/20%fg SF - 17pts/5rbs/8ast CM - 26pts/3rbs/1ast 3 issues spring to mind... 1) If our big 3 don't play up to their potential each game, we're not gonna win many games (unless someone like padgett or mo or spoon have a big shooting night). In our two losses, Mobley sucked ass in one and Yao sucked ass in the other......and that brings me to 2) If the refs are gonna screw us like they screwed Yao that night when he got zero FT attempts, then we might as well pull down our red rocket shorts and bend over. It's so angers me to say this, so sad but true, but our fate is more than partially in the refs' hands. Their frickin' whistles hold the key to our destiny, and it sucks. Put together Yao, who gets no calls, and Shaq, who gets no calls when he crushes his victims' foreheads with his meaty elbow, and you get many whistles for Shaq and no whistles for Yao. No mother fn respect. 3) Injury and fatigue. Yao's tired, and he's gonna have to guard/drive on Shaq, which'll kill him. So Cato and Spoon need to step it up big time. Yao should guard Shaq as little as possible. SF3 and Cat are hurt, so fatigue and wear and tear will be a factor for them also. Steve's injury is especially worrisome, since it affects the wrist of a shooting arm that already posseses questionable accuracy. Therefore, the longer the series goes, the more likely we'll just wear down and keel over. That's why we gotta come out gunnin and blazin, stun them, and take a quick couple games. If we do win the series, i speculate we have to win 4-0 or 4-1. There's little chance we'll win a 4-2 or 4-3 series. Oh well, that's my 7 cents anyway.
Yes, but perhaps it's even a good thing for Rox. I am trying to be optimistic, but I cannot imagine a young team which has missed the playoff for 5 years can win the series against the three-time champion. At least the refs will make every game a close game and perhaps we can steal 1 or 2 games if we have some good plays down the stretch. GO Rox!
JJ can win this series for us, I really believe that. He can dominate his matchup with George and Fox big time, and he's shown that he's a big-game player.
The chance of sweeping the Lakers is 0. Well, according to your logic, maybe the whole team should just bend over and let them do whatever they want to us.
