Tmac Benched (UPDATE - his lower back stiffened up on him)

well the problem is also that when he is able to get the ball, he isn't in a good position to make a shot, and he has to take a few moments to gather himself to pass it out, and that gives enough time for the defense to go back to their man....

it seems to me everytime a shot from outside goes up, a suns defender is all over them

 

again, that's not our fault. yao is just not quick or athletic enough. we accept yao's greatness w/ his skills, but we have to accept his shortcomings physically. just hope when we play suns, tmac can be the tmac of old b/c yao won't play many minutes.

 

yeah

can we get one plz?

 

By the way in situations like this, the Chinese media would be far more believable than the US media.....IMHO of course.

DD

 

so it doesn't look like coasting. DUH

 

Ahh, but the record is somewhat misleading, IMO. I think the Jazz and the Rockets are two incredibly close teams overall. Don't forget that we had our share of key injuries this season and if we didn't we most likely would be the 4th seed with a few games lead at that.

I don't think the Jazz are better than us, and I am a firm believer that the home court won't play too much into this series' outcome.

 

as much as u hate barkley, what he says about homecourt is true

when 2 teams that are so close to each other in terms of "greatness," homecourt doesn't matter.

but when 2 teams are farther apart (though we were the 5th seed, mavs were much more talented than we were) in talent, homecourt is crucial.

 

I have said many times that the Jazz matchup is a 50/50 tossup, but I think home court skus it about 10%.....

So 60/40 Jazz....

DD

 

If we're healthy, I would say it's 55%/45% in favor of the Rockets. The only thing that can tip the scales heavily in the Jazz's favor are injuries to our key players.

See, there is a method to JVG's madness, after all.

 

It seems like the Rockets play better on the road...a great example was the 05' series against Dallas when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead and lost twice at home.

 

i think w/ THIS team, they don't feed off the crowd very much b/c our crowd SUCKS. even v. utah, when the game was close at the end, the chant of "defense" was WEAK.

but also playing at home, there is more pressure to win to defend ur homecourt.

so i think playing on the road is good for this team. more chip on their shoulder. knowing there's less room for error. more focus.

 

I think we had a better cast around Yao-McGrady that year in James, Sura, and Barry.

It's weird I know because on paper we seem to have more depth/better talent, but I think those three players made us a higher IQ team and gave us more 'toughness' and swagger on the court than anyone we have now, plus they constantly lit a fire under Yao/McGrady and were those 'pitbulls' (MJ, Sura) that JVG constantly referred to as a necessity around our 'mellow' superstars.

I just don't find myself as confident with this squad. During that 2004/05 season, we had some stretches in which the team just really, really 'clicked' and played almost flawless...I haven't seen that from this current squad at any point of the season, it just didn't happen. I think we had better chemistry/commitment level that year and that was the only reason we hung around with an otherwise vastly superior team in Dallas, although they did blow the gates open in the 7th game.

 

Correctumundo!

That supporting cast was smaller but a better fit around Yao-Tmac. Current team is slightly better defensively but that team more than made up on offense.

You are also correct on the "pitbull" statement. Mikes James and Sura were bad@ss and would back down from no one. Hell even Jon Barry loved to trash talk. They were replaced with Rafer Alston who cannot deal with physical play, Shane Battier who has had a history of dissapearing in playoffs, and Luther Head who is still too young. Atleast Luther is clutch though.

As for the dicussion about Tmac........

Tmac is still recovering from an injured ego after that Kobe performance. He sustained psychological damage. Just go back and see the last play in the regulation when he went for the winning shot. He missed the shot and stood there, deflated, with his hands along his sides, while Kobe waved his fists.

Tmac has always been compared to Kobe by others and himself. He takes pride in his offense and his talents as he rightfully should. But he is also mentally weak and if you get physical with him he tends to wilt. The fact that Kobe lit it up on national TV while he struggled had an effect on him....namely, bruised ego. And if you are wondering, "what ego?!" just go back look at some of his quotes all year and most of his career.

There are two ways of dealing with this.....

1) Get things in gear and elevate his game in playoffs, like he usually does, and win a playoff series for a change.

2) Keep sulking and go into the Orlando quit mode.

I am hoping he grows up and goes with option 1.

 

lol, and the first play of OT, he scored on kobe

the things ppl think of nowadays

 

I am sure he earned a cookie for that. As for that bruised ego......

 

i'm just saying, if ur theory is correct, he couldn't have done that then right? and he calmly hit 3 fts in OT too?

my god, 30, 5, 10 + a bruised ego

 

Does a bruised ego mean he will never score again?

Now that would be tragic wouldn't it?

 

Oh hey look it's Zboy! Aren't you the guy that trashed Juwan Howard? Why is there no mention of J-Ho on your sig anymore? Did it have anything to do with the fact that he started playing well, especially when Yao got hurt?

Oh, OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

 

T-Mac faked his injury so it'll persuade JVG to give Bonzi some playing time! [/idiotic fan]

But seriously, if Bonzi does get time because of T-Mac's absence, then IMO, the injury would've helped us in the long term. By long term, I mean in May and June.

 

hey look it's Rockets64!!! Arent you the...... Damn I dont know who you are!!

As for JHo playing well..have you been watching him brick lately? May be you just got too excited. *snickers*

But I give credit where it is due. JHo and Mutombo did a great job while Yao was out. Let's hope he gets some of his magic back before playoff starts and ESPECIALLY when playoffs start....because lately he has regained his *form*.

Did you seriously expect me to applaud Juwan all the while before, while he layed brick after brick? *laugh* I am terribly sorry but to me, Rockets team comes first!

BTW, maybe if you curb your enthusiasm and think a little....your theory does seem logical, does it not? Why would I be critical of a player when he is doing well?? The fact that I was critical before should tell you something...

You are most welcome!!