Rockets beat Lakers!

[Kaydow]

he hasn't and he won't. in the playoffs there is always a day between games and sometimes even two days. he'll get plenty of rest.

Well I guess we'll find out. If this series goes 7, it will be 7 games in 14 days. One day off between each game. And this after a rough and tumble series with Portland.

I actually hope you are right Rocketeer - I hate the Lakers. But I think you are kidding yourself if you think Yao can play 40 minutes/night game after game and not wear down - especially for a guy who isn't known for world class stamina.

Like I said - we'll see.

 

[mgb]

lol the refs just fucking LOVE Houston, I swear to god. 29-19 free throw advantage, 26-14 fouls called (almost DOUBLED), and this is IN LA. That is just ridiculous (and yes, I realize a lot of those were intentional fouls at the end of the game...it still favors Houston by a bunch). Of course it wasn't the only reason why LA lost, but it certainly contributed.

If this keeps up, you might as well stick a fork in LA. There hasn't been ONE game in the playoffs this year where they didn't get the whistles.

Hmmm, being so consistent you think it might have to do with their style of play?

 

[Iwatas]

I am totally rooting for the Rockets. I have always despised the Lakers. And the better the Rockets do, the better Portland looks.

iWatas

 

[¹²³]

My admiration continues to grow for Rick Adelman, who is probably the most underrated coach in the NBA.

I was thinking the same thing last night. He is a great coach but until he wins a championship I don't think people will give him the credit he deserves.

 

[LittleAlex]

Not necessarily. From what I saw the Lakers weren't making him work nearly as hard as Joel and Greg did by fronting him or us having an additional person shadow him.

Yao must think this last game was a vacation. Bynum and Pau didn't so much body Yao as lightly caress him. If it wasn't for Kobe's knee I am guessing Yao would have walked away from that game in better shape then he did in any one of the Portland games.

Lakers are STILL soft. That will bite them in the ass sooner or later. I am really hoping for sooner.

 

[boatsandstars]

Go Rockets!

 

[maxiep]

Just imagine how fucking raw we would be with a HEALTHY TMAC in the lineup! Wow, just wow.!

With a healthy T-Mac, you would be home watching the Blazers play the L*kers right now.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

It still all comes down to how the series is officiated and if Yao can stay in the game. If yes? I don't see how the Lakers can beat the defensive strengths that the Rockets possess. If it goes back to hand checking fouls and "Kobe Time" than this series could change in one game. We'll see!

 

[rocketeer]

With a healthy T-Mac, you would be home watching the Blazers play the L*kers right now.

with a healthy tmac, the rockets would have been the 2 seed and won 60+ games. but you are correct, the blazers and lakers would be playing right now.

 

[DaRizzle]

fuck this thread

 

[BlazerCaravan]

with a healthy tmac, the rockets would have been the 2 seed and won 60+ games. but you are correct, the blazers and lakers would be playing right now.

What I've seen of the team (admittedly, not a lot) makes me think this team performs better without T-Mac.

 

[Sedatedfork]

fuck this thread

Re: your avatar, what in the world is Kobe doing to Yao's little general?

 

[rocketeer]

What I've seen of the team (admittedly, not a lot) makes me think this team performs better without T-Mac.

tmac this season wasn't a healthy tmac. the rockets definitely were better this year without the tmac of this year, but had tmac actually been healthy that would have been a different story.

of course, that really makes wondering what would have happened with a healthy tmac irrelevant.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

tmac this season wasn't a healthy tmac. the rockets definitely were better this year without the tmac of this year, but had tmac actually been healthy that would have been a different story.

of course, that really makes wondering what would have happened with a healthy tmac irrelevant.

The terms "healthy" and "tmac" haven't been buddies for a while now, and likely won't be on speaking terms for another year at least. Artest brings 80% (average... dude's streaky) of Tmac's offense, and is a good on-ball defender to boot.

This team is more than just a "let's hope T-Mac comes back soon" lineup. They're taking it strong, and making a good case for the post-Tmac reality of the future.

 

[rocketeer]

The terms "healthy" and "tmac" haven't been buddies for a while now, and likely won't be on speaking terms for another year at least. Artest brings 80% (average... dude's streaky) of Tmac's offense, and is a good on-ball defender to boot.

This team is more than just a "let's hope T-Mac comes back soon" lineup. They're taking it strong, and making a good case for the post-Tmac reality of the future.

tmac of last year would have been enough for the rockets to win 60 games this season. like i said, wasn't there and doesn't matter.

and yes, the rockets are better than hoping tmac comes back to the team. i've said it since they got artest. that was the whole point. the team could survive without staying healthy because they had those 3 big time talents. all they needed was two of them and they'd be fine.

 

[mook]

The terms "healthy" and "tmac" haven't been buddies for a while now, and likely won't be on speaking terms for another year at least. Artest brings 80% (average... dude's streaky) of Tmac's offense, and is a good on-ball defender to boot.

This team is more than just a "let's hope T-Mac comes back soon" lineup. They're taking it strong, and making a good case for the post-Tmac reality of the future.

It's not about whether Artest is better than T-Mac. Artest would still be getting his minutes. As would Battier.

They'd probably just run Artest at PF a lot, or have Artest or Battier come off the bench but play nearly the same minutes (covering both SG and SF).

The big difference would be in minutes for guys like Von Wafer and Landry. Wafer had his moments, but if you took his minutes away and gave them to a healthy McGrady, Houston would've been an amazing team.

 

[MARIS61]

Yep. Tonight's loss by LAL helped with the healing process of losing the series against HOU. It makes me think we didn't lose because of a lack of poise or being a young team.

We lost because Nate had no faith in the players and style of play that won 54 games and HCA.

Simple as that.

 

[RudyFor3]

We only have ourselves to blame. Just one more win and were #2 seed and play #7 Hornets. With that being said, it was a great season and we were co-division champs.

 

[TP3]

We lost because our regular season style of play does not work in the playoffs and that is all we could play. There are only a few coaches who understand how to coach playoff basketball and Nate is not one of them yet. Next year, I am confident, he will be.

 

[TehChad]

Did you watch the game? Houston was aggressive and earned every foul.

..And? I never said Houston wasn't aggressive and didn't earn fouls. Re-read my post and try again.

Hmmm, being so consistent you think it might have to do with their style of play?

We are in agreement.

Consider this: During the regular season, Houston's opponents averaged 20.7 fouls per game, and Lakers' opponents an even 22. So how the hell in a tightly contested, close, hard-fought game like this do the Rockets get 6 calls more and the Lakers 8 calls less than their respective averages? Even if you don't include the intentional fouls late in the game, that's quite a spread. Just sayin.

And for the record, I could care less as to who wins this series. The only team I pull for in the NBA is Portland

 

[Shooter]

I could care less as to who wins this series. The only team I pull for in the NBA is Portland

Pulling for Houston IS pulling for Portland.