but who is gonna have homecourt advantange!???!!? thats where all the suspense is coming from... ahhhhhhhhhhh i just wannna know... and if bonzi wells will crack the rotation in time too... cause it would shure be nice to see him on the playoff roster...
i would not say that at all, the jazz have the second or third best home record in the league. having home court for them is a huge advantage and I hate to say it, but all there is in salt lake is the jazz so they usually have a pretty good loud crowd at their games. while they are a slightly above 500 team on the road they are great at home. i hate to think if the last game of the season will determine HCA but it just may. i still think the rockets can beat utah, but i would be a whole lot more confident if we had homecourt.
I don't see us catching the jazz. looking at their schedual... I can see them losing 6 more games. looking at ours... I think we'll lose 5 more. That still puts them at 53-29 and us at 52-30. They get home court.
Number one they are a YOUNG team in which most of the important players have never played at the playoff level yet so it is still in the air how they will react in the postseason. So if they do end up with home court in the series the pressure will be on them to pull it out. This year we went into San Antonio and reversed a regrettable historical statistic TWICE. Yes they took both games from us at home but we we're playing short handed on another team's court. --A team that is better than what their record shows, IMO. We all know that Tracy will take it to another level and Yao has definitely shown that he is on another plane when he's healthy. All this not to mention that the Rockets play best on their heels. Sure they won't be as favored if they are the visitors but then you put the Jazz in the precarious position of having to deliver when we know we have one of the five best guards in the league who has won ball games himself in Dallas. I'm not saying it's going to be a walk but if you're suggesting to me there’s a better matchup for the Rockets in the first round without us climbing in the standings then I'm all ears. The Jazz offensively are a pick and roll machine. Granted. They are the better scoring team. But they fit the protocol for a squad that we matchup well with since they play in the half-court. They live on layups and easy shots. If we even so much as disturb that by closing the lane and forcing them to shoot the series may very well only go to five games. That may not be imminent since Sloan is a great coach but if our defense is up to par we will be in GREAT shape. Some of our weaknesses on this side of the ball look more encouraging against them. We only have to play our game. We don't average many attempts at the line which will be important in the playoffs. Certainly, it's something we'll have to get better at and I'm sure as Yao gets back to form it'll improve but while we only get 23 attempts a game the Jazz give up 31. That's good for 30th in the league. An important thing for us is getting our outside shot going. We're 6th in the league for 3pt% right? They are a meek 34%. That's good for 28 in the entire league. The Okur factor could be an important one but not as much as it's been billed around here. He's their best outside shooter and he's only a hop and skip better than Rafer Alston at 38%. Yet, they have the second-best fg% at 48%. (We're first in opp. FG% limiting teams to 43%.) As expected they have a marginal advantage in most of the important scoring/passing stats. The thing I'm most concerned about is that their assist numbers (2nd) are better (as expected) but they don't turn the ball over nearly as much as we do. We'll definitely have to take care of it so Alston/Head will have to play under control. I don't think that should be expecting too much. They don't force many turnovers so it shouldn't be that big a disadvantage. Defensively, as anticipated, we lead a lot of the categories that matter. Neither team has a clear cut, far and away advantage. Well, unless you consider superstar prowess. Namely, we have two guys who in opposite times of the season we're both touted as strong MVP candidates. I don't know whom you want in the first round but I'm totally fine with Utah. If they get home court, I'm not going to be overly concerned with it. We've seen Tracy take care of business in Dallas being the underdog. I haven't a doubt in my mind he couldn't make that happen with an even better cast behind him. I'm not planning for Dallas yet, but I'm not in the least regretful that the Jazz are our first round opponent.
CHARLES BARKLEYS comments should be put on every locker when the playoffs begin...and more than likely we go up against Utah... I noticed we have 2 more games vs Utah... I say the first game we whoop there butts... but the second game... which happens to be the last regular season game... if nothing is up for grabs... we need to sit all the starters and rotational players... and have guys like vspan and Novak play... if our starters and backups dont have the gameplan down after 81 games... 1 more game wont make a difference... n
hah... no that's just pure observation. Ok I'll make it easier. IF the Rockets take both upcoming games against the Jazz, we will get homecourt. if we split, Jazz get it. I think they are deaper, but our 2 superstars should make up for that.
i cant decide obviously i want clippers to win for the obviously reason but i also want them to lose so that the Warriors can climb to the 8th seed and give Dallas a hard time.... i guess i will choose clippers just for tonight
jazz lose against the clippers... they will be 44-24 we are 44-25 looks like we are going down to the wire... for a 4th and 5th spot... unless Utah... continues its sub par play of late...
I am watching the Jazz-Clippers game too. Eventhough I am 'happy' that the Jazz are losing (so that we can get home court advantage), I am worried about one thing though. The Rockets will be facing the Clippers next week. Elton Brand looks like a monster (he is bossing Carlos Boozer around quite a bit). The other players (Mobley, Maggette) are stepping up their game. I hope this does not translate into a loss for the Rockets as well.
I had the same quagmire. But I'm glad the clippers won tonight. They can lose later, but we need homecourt as soon as possible.
