As Rockets is likely to face Utah jazz again, I think it makes sense to have some analysis of Utah. First of all, Utah had most easy bucks in the whole league. Most of them came from an open dunk or layup under the basket. Their key strategy is penetration without ball. When someone holds the ball and stands, all other players take turns to seek advantage in the paint area. Double team is dangerous. Secondly, if the foremention thing doesn't work, the player who holds the ball will pretend to penetrate, but only D. Williams has the ability to really penetrate (Boozer will also do it, if it is close enough). They actually still look for a pass, either a open 3 point or a layup. Last, if the ball is missed, they all go for the offense board. They are really good at second chance. This also gives them a lot easy baskets. So, bear this in mind. Utah is a very principled team. They are seldom force a shot. They are always looking for an easy shot. No double team, protect the paint, second chance points are keys to the victory.
ronnie brewer is always open. always. we better not underestimate that kid. he is explosive, and will make double teams pay. he is their carl landry. and you are right. they like to have a big guy, either okur or ak47 stand around wit the ball and just wait for the cutters. for some reason, i don't think their defense was as good as last season, so i'd think we'd be able to score alot easier, plus with a new coach. this team won't go down easily, so lets hope our coaching staff is ready.
Umm what analysis do we need here? We all remember last years play and painful exit. All we need to know is that Adleman's offense is better than JVG's and if we hold them with our defense we are gonna outscore them. No more slam the ball to Yao or let T-Mac take the jumper. Ughh.
it's basically the same team as last year. is there anything new to analyze except for the fact that kyle korver can hit threes.
To me it all comes down to tonight's game, a win tonight and we don't know who we face in the first round, a loss and we probably face Utah. DD
I think Utah has one of the best homecourt advantage in the playoffs. I hate to say it, but their fans are more rabid and hardcore than our fanbase, and coupled with that "mile-high" like feel (like the Broncos's stadium), opponents tend to struggle there, especially offensively. Prime example was no other than against us last year in the playoffs. Tmac, for the first time in his deep playoff career succumbed to the pressure and jeers of that crowd. I for one think it was mostly due to the atmosphere of that court-hell I even felt suffocated when I watched it on TV (but maybe thats just me). When Tmac shoots less than 40% in the playoffs, you know somethings wrong. I for one hope we do not get matched up with them again, although we have improved tremendously in our personnel and toughness, which we sorely lacked last time, especially at the four and five position (no offense to Yao).
I would say Utah is the best offensive team in NBA. Like OP says, the Jazz score a lot of points in the paint with layups and dunks (i am not sure where the Jazz rank in point in paint, but they should be #1, I think). Jazz also gets a lot of 2nd chance points from offensive boards (top 5 in offensive boards). The Jazz DON'T take a lot of 3 pointers (UNLIKE the Suns and Lakers) Utah is an athletic young team. All the players can dunk. Even Ronnie price can dunk . Holy smoke! D-Will, Boozer, & AK47 are all good passers. Most of the passes to the cutters come from D-Will from the top, AK47 from the wings, and Boozer from the post. D-Will can also drive and kick. The young Jazz are very active and keep cutting. But their defense is MIA sometimes. So, it depends if the Jazz can tighten up their defense. If the Jazz can do that, they are hard to beat. Against the Jazz, how to clog the paint is the most important part of defense since the Jazz dont shoot a lot of 3 pointers.
The key to their offense is illegal screens. Watch every pick they make, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Especially the ones off the ball.
The Jazz are phenomenal at home. I think they lack focus on the road so they lost to alot of bad teams. But they also beat Boston in Boston, and they beat us too. If we play them again, I think it will go 7 games again, but ultimately I think we can beat them this year because: 1. T-Mac this year > T-Mac last year I say this because he is going to the hoop more often, I know his scoring is down, but he's been alot more aggressive this year than last + he hasn't had to carry the load as much this year with Yao out as his teammates have stepped up big time. However, this lingering shoulder injury really has to get better and soon. Ultimately, how well he plays will determine how far we go. I expect T-Mac of 04-05 this year in the playoffs. 2. Houston bench >>> Utah Bench Carl Landry is healthy again. Bobby Jackson is the scorer off the bench we thought we had in Mike James, and Chuck is his usual self. Novak could be huge in dropping 3s. We could put Novak on Korver when Novak is in, since Korver isn't really a threat to drive or post-up. Hopefully Brooks will get some run too. 3. RA > JVG RA has shown a willingness to experiment with the rotation, and is alot more creative offensively, plus the Rockets are outstanding defensively already. Add the fact that we can switch very quickly on defense and that should help us avoid wide-open 3s by Okur, as our 4s are more than quick enough to come out and contest his shots. I'm not sure Deke would play a whole lot in this series, maybe if Millsap is in and Okur is out.
He was better last year. The rest of our cast is better this year. If RA uses his bench we have a chance.
The series will be decided by which team gets the calls, meaning whether Tmac gets superstar treatment on his drives, whether Boozer gets superstar calls down low, and whether we get called for defensive 3 seconds or they get whistled for illegal pics all game long. Basically, it all depends on who Stern wants in Round 2.
I think playing Utah is probably the best matchup although they have more talent. Utah runs their system to the utmost and when they need a play, they have williams and boozer. My problem with this series is when harrpring comes in against the small guys in the backcourt. Harpring is a tough matchup at the 3. He plays hard, he's tough and he's skilled.He had some good moment last yr against the rox. I think this will be huge. The only way houston wins any series is if tracy plays elite. All this releying on the teammates is true, but tracy is going to have to put his signature on every game. Rookies normally struggle away from home during the playoffs. Even guys like Battier,head, and alston struggled away from the TC. Every playoff series is going to be heated. Its a hard task for the rox, but they will give their best. Utah has more talent and most times talent wins out. We will see though.
Trick is, if we get the 1 seed(and beat Denver) then we would play the warriors. Unless the Warriors fall again.
what's wrong with playing the warriors? we beat them during our slide after the streak. now we're regaining our groove again? i think they have no chance. adelman has said repeatedly he's not worried about the warriors b/c he's the master of those types of teams. regardless, the warriors or denver are our easiest matchups right now simply b/c they have zero discipline and play zero defense. i don't think about if we lose and the world will diss us (there are no easy matchups right now). i want the best seed and that's the #1 seed. i want us to continue our momentum and thinking we are the best team (mentally) and we will play well thinking like that.
I want the Jazz's heads on a stick. I want payback against them. This team is FAR better then last year's Rockets team, and I think Utah is about the same talent wise, but more experienced. Would be interesting, but it would be sweet to get T-Mac and the Rocks to the second round by sending the Jazz home.
He wasn't at all. He wasn't as agressive as he is now. Don't look at his PPG, the only thing he needs to do it to shot fts better than 69%
His shot was going in more consistently last year. The difference between him this year and last is that his athletic ability is semi-back this year. He isn't going to get shut down by people like Derek Fisher/Giricek (I know they aren't on the Jazz anymore). His first step/hops will make scoring alot easier now than it was last year.
