11/10/05 - [Rockets @ Miami] - Preview & Postgame <div align="center"> @ <font color=""Red"">Houston Rockets</font> (1-2) @ <font color=""DarkRed"">Miami Heat</font> (2-3) Regular Season Game <font color=""DarkRed"">AmericanAirlines Arena</font> Thursday, November 10, 2005 - 7:00 p.m. CT National TV: <font color=""Red"">TNT</font> Starting Lineups: C - <font color=""Red"">Yao Ming</font> PF - <font color=""Red"">Juwon Howard</font> SF - <font color=""Red"">Ryan Bowen</font> SG - <font color=""Red"">Derek Anderson</font> PG - <font color=""Red"">Rafer Alston</font> C - <font color=""DarkRed"">Alonzo Mourning</font> PF - <font color=""DarkRed"">Udonis Haslem</font> SF - <font color=""DarkRed"">Antoine Walker</font> SG - <font color=""DarkRed"">Dwyane Wade</font> PG - <font color=""DarkRed"">Jason Williams</font> Coaches: VS As HOU Coach (97-70) <font color=""Red"">Jeff Van Gundy</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Stan Van Gundy</font> (103-65) As MIA Coach</div> <div align="center">As a competitor, nothing is worse than losing to your brother. Even though the Van Gundys may not say it, they both want to win this game badly. Right now the Van Gundys have very similar teams. They both have a injured superstar, and they both have a team with chemistry issues. The Rockets just don't seem to know how to play without Tracy McGrady. The offense has been poorly run by the Rockets which has led to poor shooting. The Heat on the other hand are playing better than the Rockets, but they still have team issues. Mainly between their new players. Centers: VS (19.7ppg, 9.3rpg, 4.0bpg) <font color=""Red"">Yao Ming</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Alonzo Mourning</font> (10.3ppg , 7.5rpg, 3.3bpg) This was supposed to be another Yao/Shaq matchup. But an injury to Shaq will force us to wait until late January. But that's fine, the Rockets could use any advantage they can. Alonzo won't be able to stop Yao 1on1. If Alonzo wants any success defending Yao he will have to defend the entry pass instead. In the last couple of games teams have doubled Yao to deny him the ball. It has worked so far. When Yao needs to fight just to get the ball it forces him to rush his shot. So against the Heat Yao will need to get into postion early, and the guards will have to do a good job giving him the ball if they want Yao to have a good game.</div> <div align="center">Power Forwards: VS (8.3ppg, 7.7rpg, 0.0bpg) <font color=""Red"">Juwan Howard</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Udonis Haslem</font> (10.3ppg, 7.8rpg, 0.3bpg) Juwan Howard has finally found his shot. Howard struggled in his first two games, but he started hitting his shot in the game against the Magic. Howard and Haslem are very alike. They can both hit the open jumper. So the matchup between these too will be decided on the player who makes the most shots. Small Forwards: VS (1ppg, 1.3rpg, .32bpg) <font color=""Red"">Ryan Bowen</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Antoine Walker</font> (17.5ppg, 8.0rpg, 0.8bpg) With trigger happy Walker in the game you can expect the defense of Ryan Bowen to be matched up with him. Bowen's only job will be to shut down Walker. Walker has the size advantage. So it may be a better strategy for Walker to back down Bowen to get his points. You can also expect Walker to leave Bowen alone on defense. Ryan isn't know for his offense, so he will need to try and hit every open shot he gets. And he will get alot of open shots. Shooting Guards: VS (10ppg, 3.0apg, 1.0spg) <font color=""Red"">Derek Anderson</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Dwyane Wade</font> (24.5ppg, 7.8apg, 2.0spg) There's really not much Derek Anderson can do against Wade. What Anderson needs to do is keep Wade from penetrating and force him to shoot from the outside. But that's easier said than done. On offense Derek needs to find some consistency in his shot. Hitting 3 shots in a row is good, but not when you miss the next 6. Point Guards: VS (10.3ppg, 5.0apg, 0.7spg) <font color=""Red"">Rafer Alston</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Jason Williams</font> (10.5ppg, 3.8apg, 1.5spg) Rafer Alston and Jason Williams are two very similar players. They are both natural Point Guards who can also shoot. Whoever can set up their teammates better will win this battle. But Rafer may want to start scoring more. With T-Mac out of the lineup the Rockets desperately need someone else to step up. The Bench: VS The Rockets will need Jon Barry, Stromile Swift, and especially David Wesley to score off the bench. Wesley's shot has been missing in action since the preseason. If David doesn't get it going right away you can expect Luther Head to be brought in instead. As for the Heat their bench scoring consists of Mourning, Payton, and Kapono. But with Alonzo needing to start someone else will have to step up. Expect Wayne Simien to get more minutes.</div> <font color=""Red"">Prediction:</font> I pick the Rockets to win the game. I expect the Rockets to have a better shooting night and they will win it by playing great defense. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <font size=""5""> <div align="center"><u>Postgame Analysis</u></div></font> <div align="center">Starting Lineups: C - <font color=""Red"">Yao Ming</font> PF - <font color=""Red"">Juwon Howard</font> SF - <font color=""Red"">Ryan Bowen</font> SG - <font color=""Red"">Derek Anderson</font> PG - <font color=""Red"">Rafer Alston</font> C - <font color=""DarkRed"">Alonzo Mourning</font> PF - <font color=""DarkRed"">Udonis Haslem</font> SF - <font color=""DarkRed"">Antoine Walker</font> SG - <font color=""DarkRed"">Dwyane Wade</font> PG - <font color=""DarkRed"">Jason Williams</font> Centers: VS (24pts, 14rbs, 1blks) <font color=""Red"">Yao Ming</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Alonzo Mourning</font> (13pts , 9rbs, 3blks) Overall Yao Ming had the better game. He dominated the 1st half, and the Heat had no answer for Yao. But in the 2nd half Alonzo played Yao more physical, and fronted him. Alonzo's defense didn't really stop Yao. But it did limit his touches, and made him alot more tired.</div> <div align="center">Power Forwards: VS (11pts, 6rbs, 0blks) <font color=""Red"">Juwan Howard</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Udonis Haslem</font> (7pts, 7rbs, 0blks) For the 2nd game in a row Juwon Howard had his shot going in. Juwon only took 7 shots, but was able to make 5. He contributed well while on the court, and did his job. Haslem also played the way people expected. He scored a little less, but was able to score when needed. Small Forwards: VS (0pts, 1rbs, 2stls) <font color=""Red"">Ryan Bowen</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Antoine Walker</font> (8pts, 3rbs, 0blks) Even though Ryan Bowen didn't score a point in this game, the way he played still got him the victory over Walker. Bowen wasn't in the to score, he was in the game to play defense. And that's exactly what he did against Walker. He held Walker to only 8 points. Ryan's job was to deny Walker the ball and give him the least number of shots possible, and it worked. Walker only had 8 shot attempts, and he has averaged 15 this season. Shooting Guards: VS (20pts, 5asts, 1stl) <font color=""Red"">Derek Anderson</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Dwyane Wade</font> (25pts, 7asts, 3stls) Both players shot poorly, but were still able to score 20+ points. But Wade was able to make better plays down the stretch by giving his team open shots that took the lead away from the Rockets. Point Guards: VS (3pts, 5asts, 1stls) <font color=""Red"">Rafer Alston</font> / <font color=""DarkRed"">Jason Williams</font> (13pts, 4rbs, 1stls) Rafer Alston had an off night. He shot 1-9, and was able to hit 1st shot in the 4th qtr which kept the Rockets close. But Williams was shooting well all night, and was able to hit big shots in the 4th qtr. Those big shots gave the Heat the lead and they never took over from there. The Bench: VS For the Rockets Stromile Swift finally showed up. He was rejected twice by Mouring on dunk attempts, but Swift kept at it scoring 12 points all in the 2nd qtr. Also off the bench Wesley finally got his shot back. Well maybe just a little. He only took 2 shots, but made those 2 shots to end up with 6 pts. For the Heat Gary Payton was the scorer off the bench. The Rockets guards had trouble against Payton. Payton used his strengths to score the 12 points he had tonight.</div> <font color=""Red"">Result:</font> <font color=""Red"">The Rockets lose 88-84</font> Yao Ming played great tonight, but nobody else stepped up and helped Yao with some offense. Anderson did score 20 points, but he did miss 11 shots. The Rockets also shot a poor 62% from the free throw line, along with 16 turnovers. JuLiO-R-
very nice preview...I do think the Rockets will play better and be more focused on their execution, but I wont predict a victory...they cant beat a Hornets or Magic team, and you're thinking they're gonna beat a more talented, experienced Heat team? That might be a stretch... I predict the Heat win a close one, 88-83...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Houston:</div><div class="quote_post">but I wont predict a victory...they cant beat a Hornets or Magic team, and you're thinking they're gonna beat a more talented, experienced Heat team? That might be a stretch... I predict the Heat win a close one, 88-83...</div> Haha, yea I know. But I love the Rockets. I never bet against them. So I might as well tell everyone that in every single preview I do I'll predict a victory.
they can win but its giong to be hard.. once again this all maters on yao and how good our guards can guard wade... if we're goigng to let someone shoot it let it be walker instead of wade.... i'm not goign to predicet and prediction. i hope wesley and swift get going right now casue we need them badly...
Tonight's game is on Raptors TV, which means I finally get to see it! It'll be interesting to see how the Heat plan on challenging Yao. I expect Miami to establish Mourning down low early in the game and try to draw Yao into two quick fouls. Wade, Williams and Payton will do their best at attacking the basket and disrupting the Rockets' defense. Luther Head has played well so far in his two appearances and it would make sense to play him more so that his quickness can match up with the Miami guards. When it comes down to the final score, the Rockets will live or die by how well Yao Ming plays. This Heat team is just too strong and deep right now, even without Shaq and Posey, to lose to a depleted team like the Rockets at home. It will be a classic matchup, but I just don't see the Rockets winning. Heat by 9.
funny thing is, if shaq was playing tonight yao would probably have a better game. he usually plays his best against shaq while for some reason lesser centers sometimes get the upperhand on him.
The team doesn't have a natural scorer, JVG built it all around McGrady, and when he's out, Yao Ming can't lead an NBA team right now, Alston, Anderson and Swift are players a kind of role players alongside with a go-to-guy like T-mac. Jeff can't change his game style, and we can only wait for the return of the T-MAC.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">funny thing is, if shaq was playing tonight yao would probably have a better game. he usually plays his best against shaq while for some reason lesser centers sometimes get the upperhand on him.</div> Might be because Shaq obviously guards Yao one on one every time. Yao tends to turn the ball over when he's double teamed by many other teams. Also, a lotta teams will have a defensive minded center with only shutting down Yao in mind. Shaq has to work hard on his offense as well...
Van Gundy tried to establish Yao in the low post in the early going, but Yao picked up two quick fouls and is now on the bench. Juwan Howard is hitting the jumper tonight and rebounding well, but when Yao's out of the game the Rockets lack a main scorer. Anderson might fill that role, but I've observed he and Alston are forcing some shots.
the usual... Yao is on the bench with foul problems, and the backcourt can't seem to find the hoop. I hope Yao can stay in there in the 2nd half and get the thin Heat frontcourt (Mourning especially) in foul trouble. DA needs to start hitting some shots, he's shooting almost as bad as Wesley this season.
Yao turned it on in the second. He displayed aggressiveness and rebounded the ball well, especially his own misses. He also spotted Stromile Swift a few times; Yao just continues to amaze me with his court vision. Stro is attacking the basket strongly but he's forcing things a bit. 48-44 Heat lead at the half.
I dint expect the win, but my spirit still hasn't broken. I never really saw us as a for sure 1st seed team. I saw the potential, but it can't be accomplished this year with that SA line up. I know anything could happen but I really see us as a 4th seed team. Cheer up Rockets fans, T Mac will return sooner as each game passes by.
As always: in the 4th we were making stupid shots while J. Williams was killinkg us. Yao didn't get any good ball and I still have to understand why he was on the bench for the first 4,5 mins (in the 4th). Our newest guys are playing without intensity and I start to miss Mike James. Of course we cannot win any game if FT and 3pt pct is like that. The only good thing was Yao playing an excellent game and why not, I saw Derek Anderson to start understanding his role. The problem is Stro, actually he is a non player...
Nice preview and post game analysis Julio. As usual like the games against the Hornets and the Magic the Rockets lead the 4th but always losses on the end. It always have something to do with the opposing team's guards play. With the Hornets, Paul was the dagger, then came Magic's Jameer Nelson and then tonight with the Heat's 3 guards on the floor, J.Williams was on fire. You notice that these 3 guards(Paul,Nelson and Williams) didn't contribute well on the first 3 quarters but came alive during the 4th due to excellent dribble penetrations and plays of their teamates(Claxton,Francis and Wade). I hope JVG would improve his defense against opponent's guards. Yao had a good game but fell short again on the 4th. However it was not his fault it's just a matter of making good plays in the final few minutes but things went wrong when the Rockets couldn't find a good shot leading to forcing shots as well as two 24 secs. shot clock violations.
Yao was having a monster game where he had around 20 points just minutes into the 3rd quarter. Mourning couldn't guard him but as usual Houston guards weren't able to give Yao touches from the latter 3rd quarter on. They didn't run the offense through Yao and got burned. Wasted a great 3 quarters effort from Yao. On some possessions, Yao only got the ball with the shot clock winding down after setting many, many picks. Why didn't the Houston guards pass it in to Yao?
