Even as the best two teams, there should be a significantly lower chance of that Finals match-up than all other possibilities combined. If people aren't taking STOMP's bet, it has to be because they suspect shenanigans. Or they're irrational.
How do you gameplan against the Rockets? I just wanted everyones ideas about how to beat the Rockets. Here are a few things I think, most are obvious. Front Yao. Last game LMA was the main guy, but Joel has expressed a passion for taking on Yao in the playoffs, and I think with his defensive talent and hunger be the guy, we start by letting Joel do his best. Letting Joel take care of Yao also lets LMA concentrate on scoring more and opposing PF has been a problem for Houston this year. If Brook or the other PG's start burning us, let Bayless have a defensive crack at them. Otherwise, switch Batum onto the PG. Run outlaw some at the PF spot. They have a hard time with athletic undersized Outlaw style PF's. Give some of your ideas or tell me that my thoughts are crap.
Re: How do you gameplan against the Rockets? Crap is a strong word. In general I do think fronting Yao is one approach that could yield some success ... as long as there is enough weakside help so he can't edge toward the basket and receive lobs from Brooks or Lowry, but honestly there really is no 'great' option, he's going to do some amount of damage no matter the defensive scheme. Honestly the best option might be Brandon drivin right into his chest and drawing the contact getting him in to foul trouble. As for Bayless, there's no way he gets thrust on to this stage unless Sergio gets injured and even then I wonder if Nate would just go to a 3 guard rotation of Blake, Rudy, and Roy, and might even lean on Nicolas to get some minutes at the two before he'd give Jerryd any burn. And finally, whatever position they have Outlaw playing at he's going to be counted on to take a lot of pressure off of Brandon since he's the only other player who can iso and create his own shot reliably ... if that's power forward or small forward it makes no difference, he's just got be aggressive every minute he's on the court.
Re: How do you gameplan against the Rockets? That's the baffling thing about it, though...lobs should defeat fronting (unless you double team him, back and front), but Houston never has any success with that. Yao also struggles to fight the fronter to get in front to receive a pass. Fronting has been a serious problem for Houston and that's a weakness Portland needs to exploit.
We could always try the LT approach and send hookers to opposing players’ hotels the night before the game.
Re: How do you gameplan against the Rockets? Frankly his hands suck. Watch him, he really struggles handling anything over his head. Secondly I don't think the Blazers will double him (at least not all game) Houston has some decent perimeter shooters in Battier, Artest and Brooks and if you give them an uncontested shot from behind the arc we won't last long. If Greg had his full explosiveness and leaping ability I'd like our chances a lot more, but as it is, we've got two somewhat slow bangers that yield 5-6 inches to the great wall of Yao, and he's shown pretty consistently that he thrives against guys like that. There's really no getting around it, Houston is just a matchup problem ... not insurmountable, but probably one of the two teams we didn't want to face in the playoffs (the other being Dallas).
I think the Rockets went into New Orleans and took down the Hornets without Yao. For some reason, they win no matter who is playing. The key to their success? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html
Here are the key's to the series with Houston as I see them. #1 Early lead. If we take them down 2-0 in the series by winning both of our home court games it should take a most of the wind out of their sails, turning this series from a 7 game grind fest to a 4-5 game breeze. #2 Role player performance. Roy says he has figured out their pick and role defense but if Rudy, Outlaw, and Blake are hitting open 3's and finding other ways to produce it's gonna make things a lot easier on our stars. #3 Defensive rebounding. Although we're known as the best offensive rebounding team in the league our big guys are going to have to crash the D boards, especially after Yao's shoots. His post up game can hurt but what really makes him productive is when he gets an extra shot or two on a possession. Whoever is on him will need to block out after a shot and the other players need to crash the boards. Some other items of note, defensive adjustments against Yao are going to be important. The faster and more effectively we deal with denying him the ball the more likely Artest starts shooting J's for the game. This would be a great series for Aldridge to prove he belongs in the all-star game next year. Defense on Yao (help or otherwise) and attacking the basket in the post against Houstons smaller PF's would be huge for us. I'd say getting somewhere between 25-30 points minimum is where Aldridge can decide the game for us.
Why the hell would Roy publicly announce that he's noticed a weakpoint in their defense? Keep it to yourself and scorch 'em, man.
some good suggestions and thoughts - but it's pretty hard to go past the 'score more points than they do' philosophy....
Yao will dominate Oden. Lol but forreal, I'm not here to trash talk or anything. Good luck to you guys in the series. You guys have a great 10 deep roster, with all players capable of doing something big. It'll all come down to matchups and who takes advantage. If Roy can get past Battier/Artest, and Outlaw/Fernandez come up big, then you guys may have a chance. If Yao dominates Oden, it's over. But good luck anways. My prediction is: Game 1: Rockets (Blazers first playoff game in like 5 years, it'll be new to them, they'll be nervous) Game 2: Blazers (close game) Game 3: Rockets (dominate at home) Game 4: Rockets (close game) Game 5: Blazers (7+ points) Game 6: Rockets (close it out)
On defensing Yao, try to play him straight up with Joel and put great pressure on the entry pass. And rebound. We need to be very agressive at all rebounds.
First off, that's a reasonable set of predictions. I only disagree with Game 1 (and Game 7, of course!). The Yao/Oden matchup is probably not as important as the Yao/Przybilla matchup, actually. Of course, Yao still gets the nod there, but it's not as wide a gap -- the Gorilla is playing some mighty solid ball, and he's crafty enough to hold his own. As far as nerves go, I agree to an extent. Still, with the way that the Blazers have been winning lately, I think their confidence will easily roll over and quell some of those early-playoff jitters. I see this one going to seven. Regardless, here's to a good clean series!
Actually, I think think it'll be the Yao/Aldridge matchup that's pivotal. We're at our best when Aldridge fronts Yao, because his length prevents the lob, and his quickness allows him to recover. Przybilla has never been great at fronting people. He does his best work near the rim, and fronting Yao will put him 17 feet away from the basket. On the other end, Yao obviously won't be guarding Aldridge. But Aldridge's ability to put up more points than Yao is going to be critical to this series.
I don't foresee any nerve problems. These kids have shown a remarkable composure and poise latley, not unlike the 1977 team.
I think the way to stop Houston on offense is to cover Brooks like a blanket. Really play pressure on-the-ball defense, even if you have to rotate our guards in and out to keep them fresh. Make the Rockets play with a short clock and force turnovers. Batum needs to carpet Battier on the wing as he's been a killer with that corner three. Force Artest to beat you. On offense we have to push, push, push and push some more. Force Yao to run. Brooks is quicker than Blake, but Roy is quicker than Ron Ron, Batum is quicker than Battier, LMA is quicker than Scola and Wheels is quicker than Yao, much less Joel or GO. I'd also like to see us play some small ball, with a three guard lineup, Travis at the four and LMA at the five.
Outlaw, Rudy, LA and Roy need to attack the glass early in the game and get Yao in foul trouble. Once that is established and he sits pound the ball into Greg and Joel in the second quarter. This will inturn draw their defense in, and we can go to work on the outside with Blake, Rudy, Travis and Roy. If we shoot jump shots in the early part of the games we will not win! Attack and be hard nosed is the only way the Rockets go down. Yao may be a great center but he's slow and fouls can get him. If he's gone, Oden and Joel can take over!
