To beat the Celtics, a win against LA is imperative

jakedasnake · Mar 13, 2008

Dei said:

Our starting 5 is actually pretty huge:

6'2 Rafer Alston
6'8 Tracy McGrady (some say he's as long as 6'10)
6'8 Shane Battier
6'9 Luis Scola (without shoes! he uses his euroleague height)
7'6 Ming Yao

Now, our bench is absolutely puny:

Regular rotation:
6'1 Bobby Jackson
6'6 Chuck Hayes
6'9 (with shoes; rounded up) Carl Landry
6'3 Luther Head
7'2 Dikembe Mutombo

Others:
6'6 Mike Harris
6'10 Justin Williams
6'10 Steve Novak
6' (lol) Aaron Brooks
6'3 Steve Francis

Average roster height : 6'7 (according to espn.com)

Our starting 5 (healthy roster) is as good as any in the league. The bench plays really well using certain combinations. We have a depth chart of:

Alston - Jackson - Brooks
McGrady - Head - Francis
Battier - Novak
Scola - Landry - Hayes - Harris
Yao - Dikembe - Williams

Ideally, we won't have to dig deep into our bench unless the matchups are in our favor. Unfortunately, with Yao and Landry being out, a lot of our shorter bench players will be seeing more time. The past 8 games, specifically, we've been able to get away with 3 guard set-ups, moving Tracy and Shane to the 3 and 4. The strong passing game, so-so opponents (we dodged Dirk and West; would you even consider Denver a contender?), and hot hands hid the physical and athletic deficiencies.

However, against a tall, tall, young and athletic team like the Lakers...

They have an average height of 6'8. The 1" advantage over our average height doesn't seem much - one thing though, we have Yao Ming. Take 6" off of Yao (and maybe some inches off from Deke too) and we'd get several 6'10 forwards and 6'6 guards who would've went Top 5-8 in the draft easy.

In a team that has a 6'6 Kobe Bryant as their 4th(!) shortest player... I just hope it won't look like bullies beating up a bunch of kids, esp. down low. We don't have Yao to lock the inside. Dikembe's only going to do so much and who will we have inside to defend consecutive 6'10 - 7 footers? Chuck Hayes? Our guards will have to jump, jump just to get their shots against 6'7s who will have the legs to chase them around, as well as the vertical and the wingspan.

I'd be absolutely heartbroken if I watch that game just to see the Rockets get destroyed. EVERYBODY's gonna be on our asses. I'm hoping not. And from the looks of it, this team doesn't look like it'll go down easy. I'm just worried, even with all the "looking at the next game" talk, that they're starting to slack. Seeing Rafer Alston, rather than Rafer Alston <3, out there shooting is really . I'm really counting on Scola's experience with winning to keep the ship straight. For some reason, I'm just reliving Game 7 of last year at the back of my mind: everybody was actually happy in the plane back to Houston.

Anyway, here's what I think's gonna be vital against the Lakers:

Excellent passing game - getting enough space for our dimunitive sharpshooters
DEFENSE
T-Mac - please, Jesus, save yourself. If the Rox lose to LA, kiss your short-lived media love goodbye.

Now, do ya'll miss Gerald Green?
Click to expand...

I trust Chuck Hayes completely. I hope Landry plays but even if he doesn't, Hayes will have to play big minutes because he can guard ANY of their big men. His quick hands, strength, tenacity, and overall awareness for the ball are just of big of assets over height. I don't know why some of you even consider us getting blown out in that game. It should be a close battle.

battousai · Mar 13, 2008

I think the hawks are like a small version of the lakers. We see how we needed landry in that game.

If we have landry vs the lakers than we are ok and a win is possible. without landry i just don't see it. They will roll us over in the paint and kobe killing us from the outside.

Lakers is a great team, but without byrum, gasol is playing the center and his game fits more like a PF. Withour quicker guys, we can beat odom and gasol in the middle.

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To beat the Celtics, a win against LA is imperative

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