| | It kind of makes me laugh how people are just writing off the Rockets and presuming LA is going to win this series. Just saw an ESPN interview of Magic Johnson and his take is the Lakers embarassed themselves. This is a series they OUGHT to be winning and the solution is for derek fisher and kobe bryant to show more leadership. LMFAO.
The Rockets are better without Yao, at least against the Lakers. Yao was decent in game 1 when they didn't front him but he was pretty useless in games 2 and 3. His +/- in game 2 was -29, the worst of any Rocket player. He simply could not get good position, Gasol usually beating him to his spots. If Yao can't establish himself in the paint, it's better for both the Rockets offense and defense to have another player who can move.
I really like the Rockets roleplayers. They're all athletic, strong, and have high basketball IQ. That combination allows them to have a defensive structure that is incredibly hard to penetrate. On offense, they have stupdendous ball movement and all the players (except maybe Artest) exercise excellent judgement when it comes to shot selection.
I'm reminded of the Mavs Warriors series of '07. Houston is just a really bad matchup for the Lakers and it's going to take more than "leadership" to win the series. On offense, Ron Artest commands a double team, they can't guard Brooks, and Scola is just manhandling Odom. Magic Johson talked about the Lakers having better talent and how Gasol & Odom should be salivating at the opportunity to play against a Yao-less rocket team but the Rockets have Chuck Hayes and Scola. Again, Scola owns Odom and Hayes is more than enough to guard Gasol who's really a PF anyways, not a true center. Magic thinks they ought to be abusing the Rockets at the center and PF position but he has no idea how good some of these unheralded names are. Then, there's Kobe. B/t Artest and Battier, the Rockets have two of the premier wing defenders in the game. They are not going to stop him but they can force him to shoot highly ineffient shots. Even in game 2, where he shot 12-20, those were all crazy trick shots from that outside. The law of averages tells us he can't keep that up. Hence the 7-17 performance tonight.
I really love the Rockets not b/c I'm Chinese and am a diehard Yao fan but b/c Daryl Morey is like the awesomest GM ever. Using statistical analysis, he's assembled a bunch of roleplayers from late first rounders that are good enough to challenge championship caliber teams. Imagine how good the Rockets would be if they had both a healthy TMAC and Yao. It is insane.
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| | Posted 5/11/2009 2:52 AM - 29 Views - 2 eProps - 2 comments
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