<div align="center">http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d36/RocketsPreview/frontcourtver1.jpg"> [b]Rocket Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, and Yao Ming Here I present to you, the core of the Rockets, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. And, of course, Juwan Howard. One of the most dynamic duos in the league, McGrady and Yao have shown last season they can work together, and when they do, basketball is a thing of beauty. McGrady is one of the best players in the league, period. When he's hot, he's hot and nobody can stop him. One on one, McGrady can abuse the defense while when he's on defense, he has shown that he can effectively limit the other player's points to the minimal. Yao on the other hand, needs to worry about his foul trouble. Originally, he's a great scorer, perhaps the most effective in the league, and a pretty nice inside defender. Scarier than that is he's actually bulked up over the offseason and has improved his game in the paint. However, if he racks up three fouls by the middle of the half, don't expect Yao to be getting too many points. Next up, we've got Juwan Howard. An underrated defender, he's got a decent game with a mid range shot, one or two post moves, and rebounds here and there. In the last game, he was ice cold from the field, we'll see how he does tonight. Hornet's Frontcourt Bostjan Nachbar, David West, and PJ Brown After trading away Magloire, the Hornets' starting frontcourt is shall we say, depleted. After being traded by the Rockets to the then New Orleans, Bostjan Nachbar has been developing quietly on the young Hornets team. And so far, he hasn't exactly improved by leaps and bounds. He's still a decent shooter and a pretty good shooter. In other words, Nachbar is decent. West on the other hand, has matured quite well. From the opening two games, David West has shown he can rebound the ball well, put some points up on the board, and hold his own in the low post. Meanwhile, at last we come to the anchor of the Hornets- PJ Brown. Serving as the veteran leader for this squad, he brings some points and boards along with being the glue for the team. In opening night, he got a double double and put twenty points on the board for the Hornets. However, he's slowed down against Cleveland and put up much smaller numbers. Still, he's a force to be reckoned with. Great rebounder and great low post defender. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Must we really make a comparison here? We've got two all stars against a young squad coupled with a gritty low post veteran. Anyways, McGrady should be having a field day against Nachbar in this matchup while West and Brown potentially can be giving Yao trouble down low. Both are pretty good rebounders and might be outmatching us in offensive rebounds. Plus, Brown's physical play will be giving Yao fits down low and will be trying to limit Yao's points. The key here is for Yao to stay out of foul trouble first and foremost. If that happens, we shouldn't really have a problem as far as the front court is concerned. Houston Advantage. *Note- McGrady is questionable for the game due to back spasms. After Jon Barry stepped up on Wednesday against Kings, the Rockets prevailed. Every night it seems, a bench player steps it up and dazzles the fan with a great win. And indeed, the Rockets have deep and strong bench. Consisting of Wesley, Barry, Mutumbo, and Stromile Swift, they have everything. Rebounding? Check, Mutumbo's a beast. Shooting? Wesley and Barry cover that, although Wesley has not been impressing with his opening night performance. Meanwhile, Swift adds a bit of a spark. Powered by Speedy Claxton, Rasual Butler, Chris Andersen, and Desmond Mason, the Hornets' bench is surprisingly solid. They've got a nice rebounder/shotblocker, two nice wing players including an explosive Mason, with a decent backup point with Claxton. So who has the advantage here? Tough to say actually. Hornets have an incredible player in Desmond Mason, who has been benched for no seeming apparent reason. If he explodes tonight off the pine, his bench will prevail. Still, its hard to overlook the Rockets' depth. Even Advantage. Key Matchup Yao Ming vs PJ Brown Usually, you would be seeing McGrady's name here, but who wins this game really depends on the matchup between the centers. Brown will need to shutdown Yao down low, or at least keep him in foul trouble while Yao is going to have to fight for points and boards down low. Here's their projected stats for tonight's game- Yao Ming- 21 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block PJ Brown- 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists With new role players trying to find their places on the team, the Rockets will need good numbers from their two star players to win this game. After an uplift from Barry in their opening game, its obvious Rockets will need some role players to step up tonight. Most notably, Swift needs to play better defense and stay out of foul trouble while Wesley, Alston, and Anderson need to be shooting more effectively. Don't sleep on the Hornets. They're a different team from the last place team last season with Paul and Mason. Plus, out of nowhere, they can surprise us like they did against Sacramento. I predict a Rockets win, 99-87. </div>
Great preview, the graphics add a pleasant aspect to the viewing of the thread, and makes one want to keep on reading. Also some nice analysis on the matchups. The Hornets shut the Kings down in their season-opener, but came back down to earth after losing badly to the Cavaliers. In their first game on the road, the Hornets should not be taken lightly. They are a young team with no expectations of making the playoffs, and while they're bound to make rookie mistakes, they can also pull off a lot of upsets because of the 0 pressure to perform. The Rockets can't take this one lightly and have to come out ready to do business and not coast along and take a win for granted. If McGrady plays this game, he will undoubtedly have a field night as Bostjan Nachbar, as most Rockets fans know, is extremely weak defensively and foul-prone. However, when Desmond Mason checks in and switches onto TMac, much of the Houston advantage is taken away as Mason's bruising and frenetic defensive style might just re-aggravate some back problems for McGrady. If TMac doesn't play, then Anderson or Ryan Bowen will have to step it up in the starting role. Yao Ming against PJ Brown will also be a key matchup. Brown is not used to guarding players like Yao as he is a natural power forward, but Brown is a good defender who will give Yao some problems. Scrappy and smart, Brown gets his share of offensive rebounds and Yao will have to box out against him and make sure the Hornets do not get a lot of second attempts. The bench of both teams can produce and someone on the Houston roster will have to step up and guard Speedy Claxton. He's been a blister so far this season and the Rockets' best bet to match his quickness will be Luther Head. That is, if Head gets off the bench at all. The Hornets are too young and weak a team to be favored to win. While I think they can put up a fight, I just don't see the team winning. Rockets take it by 15 in a blowout.
The Rockets should win, whether McGrady plays or not. It'll be interesting to see if Yao can continue to his strong play into his second game. Game to game consistency was sometimes an issue with him. He's always played well against Sacramento since they don't double team and Brad Miller is such a poor defender. We'll see how he does against different styles of defense as the season progresses. NOK's quick guards will give the Rockets some trouble, just as last year. But the Rockets should win -- I'll say 89 to 81.
While I really want the Rockets to win with or without Tmac, I'm kinda concerned that we won't be able to keep up with the NO's faster, athletic players. They did beat Sacramento in their first game and yes, I'm aware that they got creamed by the Cavs, but that's because the Cavs were faster, more athletic and just plain better than the Hornets *cough*Lebron went off *cough*. However, that being said, I'd be disappointed still if we lose our 2nd game... Anyways, go Rockets!
I dont think TMac will be suiting up tonight but it wont be a problem...Wesley or Bowen will just have to step in and be productive...I'm predicting a 102-91 Rockets win...I think, if McGrady is out, it'll be a good test to see how the Rockets play and if they can get some confidence with McGrady out of the lineup...
It's not so important game, i just hope for Stro and the other new guys to get into business, you know, find their part in the team plays, to know when to take the shot and when to find other players on the court. if Tracy fill any difficult to play i would like not to compromise him in a game like this...
with or without t mac i think we got this one. I hope swift and howard step up and bring in points from the PF spot. I think they will be the difference makers in this game. final score: rockets win it 87-72 (my final score on nba live 06 hehe)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Proz4k:</div><div class="quote_post">It's not so important game, i just hope for Stro and the other new guys to get into business, you know, find their part in the team plays, to know when to take the shot and when to find other players on the court. if Tracy fill any difficult to play i would like not to compromise him in a game like this...</div> True it's not an important game, but at the same time if we lose this game it'll be kinda disappointing to team morale you know? It's actually a must-win thing because since we're playing such a crappy team, it's a given that we should win, but if we don't it can haunt us back late in the season when we're fighting for seedings....
Awesome preview. Those graphics are sick and I can tell you put a lot of time into this. Even though McGrady will officially sit this one out (just on the ESPN Ticker) I don't think the Rockets should have any trouble in this one. Yao will have his way against the Hornets and should be able to fill the stat sheet tonight. I think this will be a blowout and it should be an easy win for Houston. 94-82, Rockets win.
http://www.nba.com/games/20051105/NOKHOU/preview.html Guys, check out the nba preview for the game..Brent I mean, Jon Barry is going to go crazy when he reads this
Not good. Rockets tied at halftime, 52-52, but good team effort, 4 men in double figures already. Anyway we should be winning, as we've only taken 3 less field goal shots than them but have had 15 more free throw attempts. The Hornets are shooting unbelievably well at 22-38 (57%). It's time to step up the offense.
Right now we have to reduce our turnovers and continue grabbing boards otherwise the Hornets will continue battering us.
Not really anyone is shooting particularly well, but Yao does have 18 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks so far. Fouls haven't particular problem with him this night, but he's shooting miserably, just 7-21. The game has been close all along and the Rockets are now down one with two minutes left to go. Derek Anderson (4-13), David Wesley (1-6), Stromile Swift (2-8) and Jon Barry (0-3) are big reasons why the game is so close at this point. The Rockets should have been putting New Orleans away early in the game.
Tough loss. No one in particular stepped it up when McGrady was out other than Yao who put up a horrible percentage from the field. Only Alston and Howard were actually decent but they really didn't help that much going down the stretch. We really need to watch our turnovers, that and our efficiency really killed us during this game. In his first game, Luther Head played pretty decent but just picked up fouls way too fast. But, that can be remedied so no big deal on his part. Lets pick it up for the next game.
Dang! We had a great big lead at 82-74, then make a 9-0 run and have the leade 83-82! Gosh! I can't take this...sniff...I guess Yao did get outplayed by Brown, cause Brown went 8-14 and Yao went 8-22. You guys were right. PJ Brown vs Yao Ming was the main matchup and it seems Yao lost it. Gosh! I still can't get over this.
