to beat the mavs: on defense, francis must slow down nash, stopping him from penetrating so that he can't dish to finley and Nowitzki. in addition, francis and griffin and any rockets' power forward need to work together to stop the pick-n-roll between nowitzki and nash. when the mavs run that play, francis must fight through the screen or the forward should step up to slow down nash and then quickly go back to nowitzki. finally, the rox need to rebound, rebound and rebound! on offense, go to yao. francis, mobley and griffin: please don't take too many long jumpers because long shots produce long rebounds, which also mean easy points for the mavs.
I hope Yao won't make it a personal match between him and Stoudamire. He has nothing to prove. In fact, I sense that the big fella is only interested in head-to-head competition against Shaq. This Shaq-Yao II is getting a lot of hype on TNT. I think Yao will score more points in the rematch but Shaq will really punish Yao with his low post moves this time. I am so looking forward to this game.
It sucks that the most important game of the eight, the PHX game, is right after the Lakers. Not only is it the latter of a back-to-back, but it will also be after a game against the Lakers where the Rocks will likely play with all they've got.
Rockets are great on the 2nd night of back-to-backs this season. They will lose to the Lakers, no doubt about that. What's importat is to beat Phoenix.
i disagree, yao should take it personal and accept the challenge. as long as he plays within the offense, the big fella should be encouraged to put the ball up and has a good all around game. head-to-head games are perfect for him to set a statement, to separate him and the other guy. just like what jordan said in the interview with john thompson during the all-star weekend that he wanted to show people that he is better than drexler and it's a joke to compare the two. therefore, yao should tell people like tom tolbert and others that there isn't a roy race because it's mine.
Re Dallas: Yes they couldn't contain Yao but we are 0-3 vs them so far this season. What made you think we are the favourites? Re Memphis: We are 1-1 against them. So it's not a sure win.
Yao would get tired on the 2nd day of a back-to-back (and after Shaq as well). Don't hold your hope high.
The optimistic side of me tells me if the Rockets can beat the Lakers, they'll go on a win streak and pick up momentum. The pessimistic side of me tells me the Rockets might step up and beat the Lakers, but that Yao will be so exhausted after the Lakers game, the Rockets will get blown out by Phoenix afterwards not only from physical exhaustion, but mental exhaustion after a well fought game, and will carry a bad attitude towards Dallas and then lose to a below .500 team following that. The realistic side of me thinks the Rockets have every bit of talent and skill to match each of these teams and win it all, but that they'll play .500 ball. I think they'll sweep the East by beating Washington, Celtics, and Knicks. I'm not really fond of the Celtics even though they have the talent to beat us. If you guys think Mobley is a ball hog, take a look at Walker. And he shoots a piss poor % too, unlike Mobes. I think they'll beat the Heat, lose the next 4, but possibly beat Memphis in a close redeeming win, or gut wrenching loss. That seems to be the trend with the Rockets. I actually think they might beat the Lakers, but get so high on themselves like the last time they did, and just forget what got them in position to win those games. And lastly the crazy side of me thinks the realistic, pessimistic, and optimistic side of me need to shut up and listen to the sleepy side of and get some rest, while the hungry side of me wants to go to Wendys and grab a bite to eat.
Dude... Quit replaying and watching that Jazz-Rockets tape, would you? Replay and watch back all of the previous three games.
Eight games is too far to reasonably project. Somebody's probably going to end up right, but only because there are 8 possible permutations for their record over that stretch. Seriously, let's focus on a few big things, though: Feb. 18th -- Rockets v. Lakers. The Rockets' recent slump followed their victory over L.A. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself. Feb. 20th -- Trade deadline. Let's hope all the posts re: Elton Brand were not in vain. Feb. 21st -- Mavericks v. Rockets. Can the Rockets prevent the sweep? Or will they finally realize that they're not in the same league as these guys? But realistically, I'd say the Rockets finish the next 8 games with a 4-4 record.
As far as my memory serves, EVERY time an optimistic post suggested Rox to win X out of Y number of games, we ended up loosing most of Y.
Hmn. That's a fairly brutal schedule. A lot of games in a short period of time. Hopefully Yao won't be filming any commercials for awhile.
Well, "should" is a little strong, but this is a crucial stretch for the Rocks. 2 teams that are fighting the Rocks for playoff position. Solid road challenges. On the bright side, all good teams are typically due for 2-3 lengthy winning streaks (7 games or more) during any given season, and the Rocks have yet to have one of these streaks. Doesn't mean they will, but its something to keep in mind.
I think that means we'll beat LA and Dallas and lose to the other 6. Seriously, this is a rough schedule. 3 sets of back-to-backs. But, the far-and-away most impotant game is Phoenix. We must win that (of course, if we lose all the others, this game won't be important anymore) to help put someone besides the Lakers between us and the lottery.
