May 5, 200917 yr I loved it! Artest is playing great, Yao is playing great, and the Rockets are playing great. I hope they beat LA again in Game 2 :-)
May 5, 200917 yr Kobe had 32 (8 boards, 4 assists, 2 TO's). 14-31 from the field (1-7 from three) and 3-5 from the foul line. Kobe wasn't having any trouble getting his shots and he didn't play that bad. He just didn't play that great. The Lakers, overall, just came off as a little flat. They couldn't get any shots to fall...Gasol was 6-14 and Fisher was 3-10. The team was 2 of 18 from long range. Fisher, Vujajic and Ariza were a combined 0 of 10 and Kobe was 1 for 7. And, defensively, they didn't get it done. Brooks ate them up on penetration...I'd be curious to see how many layups he had. The Rockets are no pushover for sure. If they Lakers continue to play on cruise control, they'll be watching Houston in the conference finals. If they wake up and start playing with a little urgency, they can control the rest of this series. It's up to them. I think the Lakers will win this series in 6. Win game 2, split in Houston and win the last two. That's my prediction. I won't be worried until the Lakers see a two game deficit, i.e., if they go down 2-0 or 3-1. Then I'll be sweating it out. :lol:
May 5, 200917 yr ^ Agreed Kobe has more playoff expirence in his pinky then all the Rockets combined. I think they will be OK. No way they shoot like that again. They set the franchise record for 3 point FG % in the regular season. No reason to think they have another game like that. Kobe tried to keep them in it but Brooks keep running around fisher like he was a chair.
May 5, 200917 yr Just some facts. 1. The Rockets cannot beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. 2. They can however tire them out enough for the Nuggets to have a shot. There is no better defensive combo in the league for guarding a wing player than Artest and Battier. Brooks is quick enough to give Fisher fits. Rockets don't have the scoring to win the series though. 3. I think the Lakers once again showed their weakness, they cannot guard the post if a player is capable of stepping out beyond 10 feet. Garnett last year, Ming this year. Bynum is too slow (though he didn't play in last years playoffs) and Gasol is too weak. Yao is going to be a problem for them. 4. Ariza and Odom have to play better for the Lakers, which should not be a concern they have played well in most of the playoffs. 5. Rockets miss McGrady. He is the consistent scorer that would have given them a chance. I know he's never won a series before but he is a good player when healthy. Series goes to 6 games, Lakers win. They will find some offense and I think a few of their wins will be double digit victories.
May 5, 200917 yr ^ Agreed Kobe has more playoff expirence in his pinky then all the Rockets combined. I think they will be OK. No way they shoot like that again. They set the franchise record for 3 point FG % in the regular season. No reason to think they have another game like that. Kobe tried to keep them in it but Brooks keep running around fisher like he was a chair. I was more disappointed in the Lakers pathetic help defense than Fisher. If a guy is just too quick, then he's just too quick...the bigs have to provide some support and they didn't last night. Also, several shots rimmed out on them...seemed like things were just a little off. I especially noticed that Gasol just couldn't get that 15 footer to fall on the pick-and-roll with Kobe. I expect that to change. I expect the Lakers to play better defense and shoot better. If they do, Houston can't hang with them. It irks me to see the Lakers play like that in the opening game of a playoff series, but I'm hoping that will provide the wake-up call that they obviously need. I'm disappointed in the effort to date.
May 5, 200917 yr Did Chuck Hayes get any minutes last night? Six minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 steal. No shot attempts.
May 5, 200917 yr True but now the pressure is on the Lakers' shoulders not the Rockets. Plus, I believe, the Rockets are now 3-0 against the Lakers this year. Seems like the Rockets have the Lakers number and all the analysts seem to agree. Some teams are just the achilles heal for others based on their style of play. Seems the Rockets might be exactly that for the Lakers... :lol: :idunno:
May 5, 200917 yr 5. Rockets miss McGrady. He is the consistent scorer that would have given them a chance. I know he's never won a series before but he is a good player when healthy. . Myth. This is the first year Houston has made it past the first round. They've always played better when TMac was hurt.
May 5, 200917 yr Just some facts. 1. The Rockets cannot beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. 2. They can however tire them out enough for the Nuggets to have a shot. There is no better defensive combo in the league for guarding a wing player than Artest and Battier. Brooks is quick enough to give Fisher fits. Rockets don't have the scoring to win the series though. 3. I think the Lakers once again showed their weakness, they cannot guard the post if a player is capable of stepping out beyond 10 feet. Garnett last year, Ming this year. Bynum is too slow (though he didn't play in last years playoffs) and Gasol is too weak. Yao is going to be a problem for them. 4. Ariza and Odom have to play better for the Lakers, which should not be a concern they have played well in most of the playoffs. 5. Rockets miss McGrady. He is the consistent scorer that would have given them a chance. I know he's never won a series before but he is a good player when healthy. Series goes to 6 games, Lakers win. They will find some offense and I think a few of their wins will be double digit victories. Hard time buying all of these "facts." 1. Most likely Lakers win, but to anyone who thinks of themselves as unbeatable, fools gold. 2. Are you saying the Nuggets are a lock against the Mavs? Not a fact. 3. Fine, but Gasol isn't as bad as stated, his length is troublesome. 4. Ok 5. Um, NOT FACT. Seems to me they are better without him, don't remember seeing T-Mac in the 2nd round, um...ever.
May 5, 200917 yr Hard time buying all of these "facts." 1. Most likely Lakers win, but to anyone who thinks of themselves as unbeatable, fools gold. 2. Are you saying the Nuggets are a lock against the Mavs? Not a fact. 3. Fine, but Gasol isn't as bad as stated, his length is troublesome. 4. Ok 5. Um, NOT FACT. Seems to me they are better without him, don't remember seeing T-Mac in the 2nd round, um...ever. Not arguing what I said. The Rockets won't beat the Lakers, mark it down. AND I hate the Lakers. Nuggets will beat the Mavs. Book it. Not exactly going out on a limb but it is fact. Gasol got pushed around last year against Boston, you can't argue that. He is weak. Combo scorers like KG and Yao would give him problems. Are they better without him? We will see. I don't. It seems that either he or Yao is hurt at the end of every season, so they need to play together before I can make a judgement. I think it is a myth that McGrady cannot win. And even if he couldn't help them beat the Lakers, once again I will say, you cannot be a title contender in the playoffs without a legit go to scorer. Other than when he led the Magic to a 3-1 lead on the Pistons when was McGrady's team ever suppose to win a series? Upsets do not happen very often in the NBA due to the nature of long series play. Yao may be the most polished offensive post scorer in the league, but he cannot consistently score enough points to keep the Rockets in the game. Time will tell.
May 5, 200917 yr Not arguing what I said. The Rockets won't beat the Lakers, mark it down. AND I hate the Lakers. Nuggets will beat the Mavs. Book it. Not exactly going out on a limb but it is fact. Gasol got pushed around last year against Boston, you can't argue that. He is weak. Combo scorers like KG and Yao would give him problems. Are they better without him? We will see. I don't. It seems that either he or Yao is hurt at the end of every season, so they need to play together before I can make a judgement. I think it is a myth that McGrady cannot win. And even if he couldn't help them beat the Lakers, once again I will say, you cannot be a title contender in the playoffs without a legit go to scorer. Other than when he led the Magic to a 3-1 lead on the Pistons when was McGrady's team ever suppose to win a series? Upsets do not happen very often in the NBA due to the nature of long series play. Yao may be the most polished offensive post scorer in the league, but he cannot consistently score enough points to keep the Rockets in the game. Time will tell. Fact, these are not facts, they are opinions. And like I said before, the Lakers will most likely win, I even stated in a previous thread that I would be shocked if it wasn't Cavs-Lakers in the finals, hardly going out on a limb, but it is not fact. I really don't want to look it up but I'm quite certain McGrady has been on a higher seeded team in the first round more than just that one season. As far as your argument about a title contender I don't believe I even touched on that.
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