Yeah, Pistons, Jazz, and Spurs - EXECUTE! Al Harrington's foul was the first hard one, but he was sorry about it. JRich..didn't back down, instead told Okur "not to be a p...y" The Jazz do flop, but they are tough too. I think the Jazz have shown that they're really good..maybe not in a flashy or exciting way, but they end up winning. I think the Spurs will have a tougher time with the Jazz than with the Warriors.
You mean preaching grapling.....that is not allowed anymore..... Different era.....it requires a different approach... DD
Actually, the did the first two games and won playing that way. This Jazz team is really quite versatile and have proven so in the playoffs so far. They can beat you either way, they're like the Spurs-lite.
And you're asking for a coach that had his most success 17-18 years ago? Also, I see plenty of grappling in the playoffs still... and the grappling teams are the ones succeeding (while the "soft/fun-gun" teams are starting to be outlasted). The Pistons of 90 would still OWN today's NBA...
I still see plenty of defense/execution. They run... but only as a by-product of their good defense/rebounding... not simply just to run (like GS and Phoenix try to do).
Yao for sure is a better baller than Okur. Yeah, Yao should have more diversity in his offense as u said which is somehow limited by JVG. now penetration is premium on offense. Even Tim Duncan has moved out of the paint to leave it open for TP and Manu to drive. The Rockets just dont have enough good penetrators. If Yao played high post around the foul line outside the key and the Rockets have good cutters, then I dont even know how the other teams can stop the cutters. And Yao can always turn and shoot a face up jumper. JVG's offense suck balls.
I think "heart", at least in this context, is somewhat overstated. The Issue here is that people want Tracy and Yao to be something they're not: physical players. Tracy is pure finesse, has been and will always be. You can't ask him to play like Scottie Pippen did, that's just not his game regardless of circumstance. I actually think in terms of physicality he held up pretty well against some serious bumping and 'illegal actions' being taken against him by Jazz defenders. He didn't complain or whine about it, so I will give him credit there. Seriously, you just can't ask players to be something they're not. You can't ask Dirk Nowitzki to suddenly turn into a Karl Malone.
Scottie Pippen? Quitten never had quite the offensive responsibility and load of T-Mac. So when you meant t-mac play like him, what did you mean?
Not really in the first two games. There wasn't much 'defense' played, just run 'n gun offense. Sure, the Jazz's offense was more 'methodical' but not enough to define the game as a whole. On a side note, if the Jazz do in fact make it through, I definitely will want the Spurs to advance. A Jazz-Spurs matchup is far more promising and would make for an intriguing, 'new' matchup that we haven't seen in years in the NBA. It would probably go seven and the Spurs would edge them out at the end. Now Jazz vs. Suns? Jazz would dispose of the Suns in six. The Jazz are just a bad matchup for the Suns, IMO. That's not a team the Suns want to face, especially not if they're already b****ing and moaning about the Spurs playing a physical style of ball and frustrating the sh!! outta of them in the process (yup, Suns are 'soft'). As I've already stated, I see this Jazz team as 'Spurs-lite' and I really, really like their make-up and odds to eventually "win it all" if they can keep that young core together. And to put a Rockets twist on this, let me say the following: we're only going to keep falling further and further behind the "Best of the West" if we don't URGENTLY add solid, younger talent around Yao and Tracy. And although I didn't want to ruffle too many feathers before the playoffs started -- although I did 'allude' to it on more than a few occasions -- I have always thought the Rockets were one of the most "overrated" teams going into the playoffs. The fact that they have that "dynamic duo" has seemingly brainwashed people into thinking that what basically amounts to a two-man team was a real 'contender'. The Rockets were too hyped and likely will be again next season, so be ready for that...
I was referring to physicality, that's all. I thought that was clear given the context of my post and what I was responding to. Pippen was one of the most physical players I have ever seen.
Relevance? Against the exact same opposition, so far, the Rockets methodology had more success than the "run and gun" GS method.
Sorry about my misunderstanding. I guess I never viewed Quitten as physical player and viewed him more as a rangy type of player who used his length. Maybe I was too young to notice the physicality. Or maybe all I can remember was Kobe Bryant owning his ass in the playoffs when he played for us and the Blazers.
Rox had a chance to sign Fisher at the MLE a couple of years ago, but management chickened out because they think it is too much.
No, GS did offer Fisher the full MLE, just like we did. It was the length of contract that scared the Rockets off. We wanted give him the full MLE for four years, GS offered it for six years. Naturally, Fisher went to GS.
They flop to exploit the system and win. But if they were really that good, I would question why they'd resort to such shady tactics.
Ask Karl Malone and John Stockton. They were good, very good. Yet they still used those tactics. That's why they were cursed to never able to win a championship no matter how good they were.
