I don't believe the Duncan mismatch / double team is greater. We have the frontline that can provide weakside help. Doubling down from the guard would force them to shoot from outside well. Parker doesn't appear to be a real threat from long range. Kerr and Smith are. But I didn't see SA trying to isolate and get doubles like that. We didn't have to double TD last night much and we were missing all three centers. Griffin blocked him twice on his own. If Yao was behind EG that would make it even more interesting. Francis is much harder to double team, and who on their team would they send? I wouldn't double team Francis outside, he's too quick and that leaves some damn good shooters open. Because of our depth and make up they probably won't double him. They probably will try to collapse on him inside and give him more of a contested outside game. The next match will be interesting to see the adjustments by both sides. You know SA is going to try hard to win in front of their fans and after we beat them...
Oh if you prefer embarassment then we have something to work on. I would actually come to Houston for those tickets.
Why wouldnt they try that? Thats what won them a title and thats what won us a title. Throw it into the big man, wait for the double then pass it/rotate it to wide open shooters. Thats classisc mid 90s Rockets. If Griffin can handle Duncan one on one, then I agree that it takes some of Duncan's passing skills away and will negate his advantage somewhat. But you have maintained that Mo is the starter. Mo cant handle Duncan one on one. Ouch. Francis wont get double teamed. At least, not as much as Duncan will if Taylor is on him. You rarely see point guard doubled unless its to get the ball out of their hands so that they cant kill you with their passing or their court vision. Steve hasnt realized these skills yet. Ive rarely seen another team double Steve. Other teams will let Steve try and prove that he can beat them all by himself and keep the other 4 players on the court close to their man so even if Steve goes off for 40, then at least his teamates wont get high percentage shots due to any double they might throw at him. Ive already conceded that on paper, we match up 1-12. But even though Mobley is better than Smith, Ill take Smith shooting wide open jumbers versus Mobley shooting with a man in his face every time. Mobley wont get open jumbers, unless we prove that one of our big men can draw double teams like Duncan can. All depends on Yao and Griffin my friend ........
I was going to say if not, I have a client up around the Boston area. Not sure if he has season tickets to the Celtics. IF he does, maybe I can get a couple of tickets to one of their games.
Let's stick with the rockets ticket. I have been a fan since 1984 but never got there so this is as good a time as any. I will take you up on the offer and you draft the signature.
We need to come to an agreement on what is considered "mitigating" factors .........and potential doesn't count (i.e. our players didnt live up to their potential, so the bets off) I think injuries should count as Mitigating circumstances of course.
I must say that I am not surprised that EG held his own against Duncan. I have already gone through what I would do if I was Rudy T and last night's game did alot to make me feel that I was spot on. Outside of those matchups is that we have offensive explosion that I do not see in the Spurs. Certainly not at that level. It happen frequently in the two games. Bam! All of a sudden we up by 10. If one looks at the box score, even with so many people out, you really see that we can come at you in many ways. That is why I said if we had to play tonight, we should still be able to put a fresh team on the floor, if everyone was available.
Don't try to squirm out now. Injuries are part of the season. The tie breaker is head to head and the records versus Western Conference.
So if Francis ACL falls out of his knee and is lost for the season and Yao doesnt have a good rookie year, then you are ok with this and will still honor your part of the bet?
I say give me a 12+ game injury exemption for Duncan only and Ill give yall 12+ game injury exemption for Francis, Mobley and either Mo or Griffin (only one of the two). The odds are too great that 1 out of the 10 starters will miss 20 plus games. Especially since RR sees Rice and Mo as a starter. I dont think San Antonio is hurt much if Bowen goes down as much as they would if Duncan goes down. All starters are not equal.
Kings: With Mike Bibby out six to eight weeks, Hidayet Turkoglu will get a look at point guard. Turkoglu's size will create mismatches that may warrant leaving Bobby Jackson on the bench. "It's really going to be hard for [the opposition] guarding me, and also Doug, Peja, C-Webb and Vlade," he told the Sacramento Bee. "We're going to be hard [to guard]." They could not be talking about the rockets!
This is a little difficult. See we can go with 15 games, but if Duncan misses 15 the Spurs can conceivably lose all of them because he means so much to their team. So I think thats too many. Id want a lower exemption for Duncan. On the other hand if we say only 12 or 15, then that makes it too easy for yall to get out of the bet if yall pick Rice or Taylor. I mean, a guy can sprain an ankle and miss 10 games easy. See what Im sayin? I think we should have to make this all relative to how valuable a player his to his team, but well never agree on the relativeness part. So 86 that idea. Hmmmmmm. Lets go with your 15 games. I like the odds of Duncan not going down for more than 15. Hes a rock and has never been hurt for a long period of time like that. You guys have a BIG advantage here because all Mobley or Francis has to do is sprain an ankle and yall are off the hook. Plus, odds are good that Rice or Mo will be hurting at some point this season and miss a stretch due to their pre-existing injuries. Lets do this, since Rice and you both live in the same fantasy world (j/k), Im assuming yall can agree on 5 players. So pick your 5 on the Rockets, starter or bench player. (too hard to define starter ..(i.e. starting lineups arent the same for all 82 games)) and Ill choose 5 from the Spurs. How is that?
Turkey-glue will at least have the post up advantage on Francis. Other than that, he better have good ball handling skills or Francis is gonna theive him all day long.
