Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland Everything went right for the Rockets tonight, and still the game was close in the 4th. I just don't see both Przy and Oden both getting in early foul trouble in every game of a 7 game series. That was the difference tonight.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland oden and joel definitely can't negate yao. whoever has homecourt would win a series between the two teams.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland to say that the rockets are inconsistent in the context of a series due to yao's injuries and fouls really makes no sense at all. yao rarely misses time in games due to foul trouble and his injuries have not been the reoccurring type. it's not like he's got a bad ankle or back or something that is going to just continually be a problem. the real question mark with the rockets is whether they can consistently commit to playing through yao. at times they get away from that and the results really never are good. artest is the worst guy at doing it. he's really the key for the rockets. if he controls himself, no team is going to have any easy time against the rockets in the playoffs, but if he gives away a couple of a games in a series due to dumb play, that's going to be hard for the rockets to overcome.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland Some of you really crack me up with all of your no respect crap. Portland is 1 Chris Paul injury away from being 0 for the season against good teams from the west on the road. Our most important players have never been to the playoffs before, and you are whining about someone saying a team like the Rockets would beat us in the playoffs? Of course they would. Most all of the teams would IMO. Our home record has been great, but the playoffs are different.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland The game that I saw yesterday was very simple! The Rockets bumped us all over the court and we didn't bump back! Houston led by Re Arrest Ron Artest set the tone. Every time B Roy got the ball he bodied him and it worked. Houston is a mans team and Portland is still looking for momma on every hard foul. Guess what guys???? It's not gonna come in the playoffs!!!! This is what an experienced team brings. They know how to get us out of our game. Portland last night showed why they are the youngest team in the league. Portland only gets better by going through this experience and learning that teams like Houston are only beaten when it's taken from them through force!!! That's why we drafted Oden and that's why it's great we have Joel, but B Roy and LA are going to have to get NASTY out there and throw that "AW SHUCKS" mentality in the trash and go for the juggler! That's who Houston is with Shane shots to Rudy's back Battier, to Artests assaults on B Roy to Yao hanging on our centers. Rick Adelman knows our team is young and he's going to show just how through these tactics. Our boys can help themselves by attacking the shit out of slow ass Yao and getting him into foul trouble early and making their damn free throws. It's also time to bring in Bayless on Wafer and body this kid into the ground. Tired of Von having career nights on us! GEEEZZZZZ!!! Wafer is running around Blake and Sergio, Bayless should be brought in just to foul this kid and get him out of his game. The only way Ptown beats the Rockets is if the Blazers come into this series knowing it's a cage fight and who draws first blood wins. That must be the mentality, or we go home!
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland The Rockets would win in 5 games. We don't match up with them well at all. -Pop
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland Roy and Aldridge have become pretty adept at drawing ticky-tack fouls on opponents. I'd go so far as to say that Roy is getting superstar treatment on a Dwayne Wade level. But Houston is so good defensively, and Artest/Battier/Yao have such defensive reputations, that they don't seem to get that love from the refs as much. We actually do have a defender who can play just as physical as anyone on the Rockets' roster--Greg Oden. He just needs another year or two of seasoning before refs let him get away with things that Artest does. Anyway, I still like our odds of beating this team. Houston really only plays well one way--through Yao. And Yao really isn't very mobile, so it's not like he's going to adjust much. In a 7 game series you can make adjustments to take Houston out of its game, and we have three guys (Przybilla, Aldridge, Oden) that make us more equipped than anyone to adjust to them. On the other end, they really don't have anyone who can guard Aldridge. They are a bunch of 6'6 to 6'8 guys that Aldridge can shoot over all night. If they put Yao on him he'll just go around him and draw fouls. If they double him then you have to deal with Roy. Portland can adjust to Houston. But I really don't think Houston can adjust to Portland.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland It is a funny thing - I think the Rockets will prevail in a series against the Blazers, this year - but if they do not go against each other - I think the Blazers have a better chance of going deep in the playoffs than the Rockets. Strange that. As for Houston playing only one way - not exactly true. Brooks runs circles against both Blake and Sergio - and I trust Adelman to adjust to this in a 7 game series if Yao is somehow neutralized.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland I would have to say that Avery is probably right as long as Portland doesn't have home court. Some of the key guys off the bench only play well at home(Oden, Rudy, Sergio). If Houston has home court advantage they would win in 7 games. I don't think anyone is going to beat Portland at home during the playoffs.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/04/06/houston-the-trail-blazers-have-a-problem/ Houston, The Trail Blazers Have A Problem 8:50 AM April 6th, 2009 by Hank Stern Phoenix’s loss yesterday to Dallas meant the Trail Blazers made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Congrats! But after watching Houston out-tough Portland hours later, the Blazers sure better hope they don’t draw the Rockets in the first round. In addition to the ability of both Ron Artest and Shane Battier to guard Brandon Roy and Portland’s lack of answers for Yao Ming....... [video=youtube;I1StTXx-CUc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1StTXx-CUc&feature=player_embedded[/video] .....the video above certainly shows ex-Blazer Von Wafer certainly would have something to prove against his former team.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland True, Brooks is one of many quick short PG's who give Portland fits. But he's also a 40% fg shooter who doesn't look to pass. He's no Tony Parker or Chris Paul. It's like back in the day with Damon Stoudamire--he can beat you in a game or two, but in the big picture he's as likely to shoot you out of it. I actually like Brooks and have since his Duck days. But I really don't think the Rockets want the offense to go through him and Artest. Both of those guys absolutely kill ball movement. Scola is the x factor guy on that team to me. We have to sag off him to focus on Yao, and I seem to remember him being a pretty effective scorer for the Argentinian team when they needed him.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland Exactly. To me, Scola is the player that makes Houston so tough to deal with on offense. Obviously, Yao is their best player, but everyone knows about him and focuses on him. Artest is a mixed bag...sometimes he's a very effective offensive player, sometimes he tries to do too much and ends up a net negative. But Scola is both talented and heady...he kills teams that have to focus too much on Yao. Portland can't neutralize Yao...no team can. But if Przybilla and Oden can play him relatively tough, well enough that they can hold him to his season averages without needing double-team help, then Aldridge can stay with Scola and Portland has a chance to get some stops.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland One interesting twist McMillan had yesterday was how often you saw Aldridge covering Yao. It was a surprisingly effective strategy, because Aldridge is much more mobile and can front him more easily (and recover if the ball moves around to the back side.) Again, though, you have the problem of Przybilla trying to cheat off Scola, and being too slow to recover. Scola seemed to feast on midrange jump shots. I'd really like to see Aldridge front Yao with Oden behind him on Scola. Oden seems a step quicker than Przybilla, and has the leaping ability to alter Scola's jumpshot. We didn't really get to see that look yesterday.
Re: Avery - Houston would beat Portland It occurs to me how funny it can be when history repeats itself. This whole issue seems to harken back to the same problems we had in 2000 with the Lakers. Our PF (Aldridge/Sheed) abused their PF with length. Their center (Yao/Shaq) created all kinds of matchup problems that our slow-but-good center (Przybilla/Sabonis) never really could cover for. Often times it was their PF (Scola/Horry) who was the difference maker with their ability to hit jumpers and make the smart play. The more things change....
We do not want Houston in 1st Round Artest and Battier are in Roy's head. Scola does a decent job against LMA... and Yao would embarrass poor little Greggy in front of a national audience. I'd rather get the Spurs than the Rockets.
