- Ron Artest should never run a high screen variation ( pop or roll) with Yao Ming. His priority is to shoot first and or bogart his way to the rim, so when he cant turn 'the corner' or create separation on his defender he begins to post. This coupled with Yao already being in the paint or at the top of the key where he is reluctant makes for stagnant offense. He should run it with Landry and Scola considering they are more flexible. - Aaron Brooks will never be a high assist guy, a 6.5 per game average will be his ceiling. However he could be much more of a force if he implemented more stop-and-go and change of direction into his game and also became a passing lane thief on defense to make up for his size. In addition, Aaron or Lowry needs to get the balls to tell Artest to get back away from the ball, and get in the set to minimize wasted possessions and maximize Artests effectiveness. - Ive come across many posters bashing Shane Battier when he was not hitting his 3s and even now because he has a low point average. Some of it was warranted,but the bottom line is Shane rotates and always competes on defense (which cant be said for many) and is a historically good 3pt shooter, don't define the man by his cold streak. His contribution should never be underestimated. -Styles make match ups and no matter what polls on here say or what some 'Rocket warriors' will have you believe we CANNOT beat the Jazz in a seven game series, home court or not. Rockets fan all my life, i still have original 'believe' signs from the championship runs, but im a realist; its not gonna happen. -It is important for Von to be included in more pick and rolls with Carl, that duo has the potential to have a "Barrera/ Bass" effectiveness. Of course that depends on Von's decision making and his willingness to take a little more contact. -Im glad to see Mutombo back in the rotation, his lateral quickness will help defend the paint and lower the opposing points in the paint, and give us that extra length needed against the bigger teams. Im clearly stating the obvious, I just wish it had come a bit earlier and happy its happening now.
i will never understand how some people can claim we'll never beat the Jazz when we took them to 6 games without Yao at all and with Rafer out two games. We took them to seven games with a very thin bench. Is this just a tmac thing? If tmac was healthy would people say we'd beat them then??
I think flowers should be watered. Pets should be feed. The sky is blue except at night when its black A porsche 911 is a fast car
Okay true Rockets fan, you have the "Believe" signs hanging in your room at your moms house, but do you remember the significants of the signs? Do you remember how the Suns owned us in the regular season year after year, and how we went into Phoenix down 2-0 and pulled it out? "Realists" like you said it couldnt be down, just like national media says the same thing about this team. Whats the point of being a die-hard fan of a team if you dont believe on any given night your team can pull off the upset and prove everyone wrong. Do you get this mindset so you wont be disappointed? Thats not a "realist" mentality, in sports, we call that a "loser" mentality.
Whats wrong with wanting to avoid certain matchups. If I'm in a war, I'm not going to send in my infantry to get slaughtered by their tanks just to show I'm brave.
Comparing War with Basketball doesnt exactly work. Were talking about sports, a game. Havent you ever been involved with an athletic acivity/event where you know you "shouldnt" win, yet it just gives you the drive and the push to try that much harder to accomplish the impossible. Typically that is the mindset you think of with athletes, especially ones that do it as a profession. IDK, on paper it might be smart to avoid the situation entirely, but how does that prove that you are better then that team, because essenically all you did was hide from them.
My point exactly Javon.....we are a great team but some teams dont match up well, like the Lakers vs Bobcats. The Lakers cant seem to find a way to beat the bobcats despite having such a dominating season/record. Having faith is one thing, but being voluntarily blind is another. I like to look at the players, coaching and style of my team to determine my teams possibilities instead of referencing miracles.
Put tape over your "Believe" sign and throw the words "Due to my analysis I have come to the conclusion we might have a chance of winning this game" Just make sure you write really, really small.
Funny. Being honest with yourself should not be considered to be a 'loser' mentality. It should be called smart. For example, would you tell yourself, that if put in a ring with a professional boxer for a 10 round bout that you would win? And if you did tell yourself that, would you call it a winners mentality or denial and or delusion? Now I know the odds are better than that, but we have lost to this team enough for anyone without red rowdy colored glasses to know that a playoff series with them is not whats best for the team. I BELIEVE in reality....you BELIEVE in rarity
The matchups on Utah are indeed horrible though. We've had many experiences and this year its even worse. Boozer is well rested after his injuries and is just running into form. Unless Yao decides he can some how mark Okur out on the perimeter its not possible for us to have bad matchups against the Jazz. T-mac would only make it better if Artest was on the team. I wouldn't have confidence in a T-mac + Yao team beating Utah. Unless Yao was running into top form which he has never done against the Jazz
I definitely agree with you Stones bout the whole jazz-rockets matchup. and i do like the analogy given by the other poster whose name i cannot remember despite it being an often controversial "war/sports" analogy. many posters here know that the jazz-rockets matchup is not in our favor, but they're too proud to admit any differently. And in most cases, they have a right to say whatever they want because they have nothing at stake as the Adelman, Les, Morey, and the rest of the Rockets actually do. It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and say things that make you feel good because every internet tough guy will say "BRING ON THE JAZZ" and call out anyone who actually takes the time to think rationally. I believe that the Rockets can beat the Jazz, but I also believe there's a chance they'll lose. That's why we play the game, right? But, with all games, there's a little luck involved and there's a little strategy involved. Why face a team that historically the Rockets have major troubles with when they can face a team that the Rockets don't have major problems with just for the sake of reckless pride? It's just like if the Lakers suddenly start tanking games to get a lower seed and have a tougher road to the championship just because they want to prove their toughness. Irrational thinking really. But, hey if the Rockets do draw the Jazz, it won't mean that I won't "BELIEVE" because that's the life of a diehard Rockets fan.
looks like that "loser" mentality should be given to the 94 team as well? you mention the phoenix series and the "fact" that they owned us in the regular season? baloney We went 2-2 against them in 1993 and 1994 seasons and 3-1 in 1995. talk about ownage you mustve mistaken that with the seattle sonics....they owned us like utah has....did we face seattle in our championship runs?
IMO, its more of a Yao thing. With Yao out, Jazz cannot exploit the biggest problem in the rox defense. Making Yao defend outside the painted area. The only way of winning the Jazz is with Yao playing great on offense for 4 games. With the team able to contain boozer and okur at the same game. Certainly doable, but i rather take my chances else where.
oh and btw, our 95 team lost their last 3 games to allow lakers to take 5th seed and face 4th seeded seattle.. the team had "loser" mentality sure thing buddy
LOL...good one. I'm also of the opinion that this team can't beat the Jazz in a 7 game series. It's a mental issue more than anything.
i guess, i still think we'd beat Utah if we faced them this year. There's other variable involved than just regular season matchups. i dont even want to hear about the playoffs because there's no doubt we would have won last year with Yao and Rafer healthy. It's really amazing what one series can do. If we won that, none of these threads would appear, no one would act like us facing the Jazz is like being in a lake with Jason Voorhees. More than anything, fans forget this season our team is very different. just because we had issues again during the regular season with Utah doesn't mean we'll lose again in a series. We had players out, we had drama, we had inconsistency. This team isn't event he same team of 3 months ago. I haven't even mentioned the anger Yao has. Personally i think Yao would put up some very nice numbers against Utah. He may be soft at times, but there's no doubt he's competitive as hell and wants to beat them. He's twice as agnry as he's ever been. We have more talent, more athleticism, more offense. I can see why we'd be doubtful, to be scared of the jazz to the point that fans want to consider tanking games? To say we're definitely going to lose if we face them? That's just not knowing what kind of team we have here. We should still believe just because we're fans and i don't think there's a "being realistic" side to this. It's not like we're the hornets facing the Lakers and we're saying "we believe" just to be good fans although we're going to get kicked into space. Yes, matchups can be a bad thing, but matchups can be overcome, but going up against a better overall team is hard to overcome in a playoff series. The jazz are an EIGHT seed. They are a horrible road team. And they don't like to be pushed back. It's not impossible to beat them. the playoffs are a whole different animal.
