<div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets (15-28)</font> vs <font color="blue">Grizzlies (28-15)</font> Monday, January 30th, 2006 FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee 7:00 CT; FSNSW and NBATV </div> [div=50%] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="red"> <font size="1">(R. Alston, D. Wesley, T.McGrady, J. Howard, M. Yao)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Tracy McGrady - 27.0 PPG * Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming - 9.00 ** Assist Man: Rafer Alston - 5.8 APG The 'X' Factor: Yao Ming (19.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.3 APG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/rafer_alston.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Rafer Alston</font> PPG: 11.8, RPG: 4.1, APG: 5.8 Alston's been stat padding since the last time I've done a preview. Every single one of his stats have been upped for the better, and if I was braggin' about him then, I surely will now. He had a great game against a solid Heat defense, and hopefully, he'll make some great passes to Yao tonight. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/david_wesley.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">David Wesley</font> PPG: 11.0, RPG: 2.7, APG: 3.2 Hopefully with Yao possibly returning, we won't see anymore of "David Wesley, starring in RAMBO." Nearly every game, he drives in with the audacity, thinking he will make his shot. He ends up either, A) Being fouled, not so much a bad thing .. Or Completely missing. Now, with Yao returning, Wesley has to be potent where only where he is a threat. And that's in the corner shooting. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tracy_mcgrady.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Tracy McGrady</font> PPG: 27.0, RPG: 7.0, APG: 5.1 After a string of not-so-good games, T-Mac will definitely be looking to deliver against a division rival. Playing against a solid competitor in Battier, Tracy will be pestered on defense more than he'd like, but nothing he cannot handle. I would expect a BIG night from McGrady </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/yao_ming.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Yao Ming</font> PPG: 19.9, RPG: 9.0, APG: 1.3 It's rumoured that Yao will start today, and I HAVE to be the first to re-insert him into the lineup. So here you go, Yao. Basing this on stats, the Rockets are a fantastic team with Yao back in it. We lose many, many, close games, and had we had Yao's 20 a game, we would blow the other team out. Just by stats, of course. Yao will be matched up against Wright, but Gas-hole might see some minutes against him, where Yao could do the bulk of his damage against Dirk's Dancing Buddy (Though Gas-hole is a Spaniard.). </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/juwan_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Juwan Howard</font> PPG: 11.7, RPG: 6.7, APG: 1.3 Juwan, actually, might see limited minutes in this game. Just for the fact that he will be a liability on defense, and rebounding. Hayes or Baxter might be thrown in for toughness, and it'll be interesting to see how either responds with Yao back in the game. But Howard, when playing, needs to draw Gasol out on D, to spread out the offense. And for the Love of God, Van Gundy, let Juwan set the picks, not Yao. Juwan's proved he can, let Yao work in the post, where he is dominant. </font> [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="blue"> <font size="1">(B. Jackson, E. Jones, S. Battier, P. Gas-hole, L. Wright)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Pau Gas-hole - 19.7 PPG Leading Rebounder: Pau Gas-hole - 9.1 RPG Assist Man: Damon Stoudamire - 4.6 APG * The 'X' Factor: Eddie Jones (13.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.9 APG)</font> <font size="1"> *Damon Stoudamire will be out for tonight's game </font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/bobby_jackson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Bobby Jackson</font> PPG: 11.9, RPG: 3.7, APG: 3.2 Bobby Jackson = Instant offense. But now, he finds himself starting, against a legitimate team. How he responds will be most interesting. On D, the Rockets should attack, attack, attack against him, and on offense, one should not leave him open, as he will hit his stride. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/eddie_jones.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Eddie Jones</font> PPG: 14.0, RPG: 4.0, APG: 1.9 He is the X Factor for the Grizzlies, not because he's inconsistent, rather, he will be seeing Tracy on Double Teams defensively, Wesley or Bowen on offense, and he HAS to respond well for Memphis to pull out a win. Hopefully, Wesley will match him in each of the categories, and let the game be won by Yao and McGrady. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/shane_battier.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Shane Battier</font> PPG: 11.5, RPG: 4.9, APG: 1.8 The Duke-kid has had a pretty good NBA career so far, being very versatile for Memphis. He'll have to play his best against a top 5 player in the league in Tracy McGrady. Offensively, he will be of little notice, McGrady should out-do him in most areas of the game. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lorenzen_wright.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Lorenzen Wright</font> - PPG: 5.5, RPG: 5.8, BPG: 0.8 Wright's gonna have his hands full tonight. A rested Yao Ming, even not at 100% is a monster. If Yao plays, Wright will have trouble keeping up without using the Hack-a-Yao tactic. Offensively, whether Yao is in the game or not, he will be a non-factor, Deke puts up close to the same numbers. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/pau_gasol.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Pau Gasol</font> PPG: 19.7, RPG: 9.1, APG: 4.3 Here is the Grizzlies' version of a superstar. Gasol is one of the BIGGEST babies in the league, yet still manages a respectable 20-10-5. Playing Power Forward, he is much less likely to get hit as bad as Yao, but here's hoping Yao scores 50 on them, and Gas-hole in particular. </font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="red">Role players step up</font> - Step up by stepping down a bit. Yao will demand the ball nowadays, and the Role Players, Howard, Rafer, and Wesley in particular, need to give him the ball and "wait their turn." It is of dire importance to feed the ball to Yao if he plays, they need to recognize that.[*]<font color="red">Po-po-YAO</font> - So, if you haven't heard of Kevin Federline's excuse for a song, here you go. Back onto Yao, he needs to play big today, and hopefully he'll get over his toe issues in time for the game and play. I am not expecting much from Yao, as he is just coming back from injury, but a good game would reallllllly instill some confidence in this team.[*]<font color="red">Let the Stars to the Work</font> - We have two All-Stars, one of which is making a case for MVP. Give them the ball, feed them the ball, let them do the work. The Rockets need to let Yao and Tracy do their thing, the time of 15+ shots for ANYONE not named Yao or McGrady is slowly coming to a close. [*]<font color="blue">Make Yao's return seem like nothing</font> - The Grizzlies are gonna have to play their game, regardless of who the Rockets put out. Gasol and Jackson in particular need to have good games if this game is to be won. They cannot let Yao's return over-shadow their game plan, Fratello will probably beat that down into their heads.[*]<font color="blue">Keep Role-players out of sync</font> - The Rockets lost to a beatable Dallas team last year, just because the role players didn't do their job well enough. If the Grizzlies can make Yao and Tracy outplay them, this game will be much more winnable.[*]<font color="blue">Keep the Rockets in foul trouble</font> - We all know Yao has a problem with fouls. The best way to stop him is to make sure he doesn't play. And the only other way to do that without killing his toe is to keep him in foul trouble. The Back-court should draw Yao out on as many occasions as possible, and force him to play perimeter defense.[/list]<font size="3">Prediction</font> I think the Rockets can pull this one out easily if Yao plays. Feed Yao and McGrady first, and hit your open shots, and this game will be in the bag midway into the third. Rockets: 113 , Grizzlies: 102 <font size="1"> -All pre, and post-game discussion should go in here, thanks.</font>
I think it's overly optimistic to expect Yao to play big right away. He's always had conditioning and stamina problems, and after sitting out a month and a half without much practice at all, it might be as bad as ever. 20 minutes of effective play might be the best we can hope for right now. I wish JVG would start Hayes instead of Howard, but I know that's not going to happen.
Gas-hole. That makes my day, although Voodoo Child'll have something to say about it. It'll be interesting to see how Hayes and Yao co-exist down low. It's not as bad as having both Yao and Mutombo there, but it's not much better. Maybe we'll see Yao play on more of the high post? That'll make a lot of Rockets fans who say he's not being used right happy. The Rockets'll need Hayes and Baxter to provide the same energy they did in the past few games off the bench. Stopping Gas-hole is also key.
Good review, I think the Griz will take though. The only thing that is weird is Yao's face by Mutombo's name under front court.
It looks like JVG doesn't want to pair Chuck Hayes with Yao because of spacing issues. I really think that combination could work really well. Must we have Howard or Swift on the court at ALL times?
We really need TMac to start taking over the game. I can't see it but it seems as if he's deferring to Yao and not doing well putting the ball in the basket. Yao, though, is playing great. Surprised to see Swift playing more than Hayes and Baxter not even playing. The duo have outplayed Swift in the previous two games.
why DIDN'T T-MAC WANT TO GET TO THE FREETHROW LINES, I UNDERSTAND THE GRIZZLES PUT GOOD PRESSURE ON HIM BUT HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THAT AND TRY TO GO TO THE LINE INSTEAD OF TAKING JUMPSHOTS
jesus... t-mac should go drive in more like kobe and iverson and get to the free throw line.. and i have noticed he has done a few extra passes witch he could've scored on but it was an ok game i guess
McGrady busted his nose a couple of games ago, and earlier in this game he got hit on it again. That might explain why he didn't drive in as much. Also, Memphis is just a very good defensive team. It's not so easy to drive into the lane against them.
I noticed that the Rockets have problems making their FTs. They have already missed a lot. In the last 5 games including tonight they only made 75 out of 115 FTs. Reliable FT shooters like TMac and Wesley have been missing lately. Swift seems to be passive playing against his former team. He looks lost and try to do too much fancy shots(yoyo layups/dunks that always misses)when all you need is just to go strong to the hoop. Like every Rockets games the opponent guards dominates again. It was Atkins turn this time. The Rockets seems to have a very very hard time guarding smaller players. In the last 3 games the Rockets are defenseless coupled with their bad shooting although they manage to get close in the end it's always too late.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NYCfinest123:</div><div class="quote_post">why DIDN'T T-MAC WANT TO GET TO THE FREETHROW LINES, I UNDERSTAND THE GRIZZLES PUT GOOD PRESSURE ON HIM BUT HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THAT AND TRY TO GO TO THE LINE INSTEAD OF TAKING JUMPSHOTS</div> I've been saying that for a while now........he takes WAYYY too many jump shots and it would'nt be so bad if they were midrange or open jumpers but sometimes the defender is all in his grill and he still jacks it up!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, McGrady HAS THE WORST SHOT SELECTION I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Blurr#7:</div><div class="quote_post">I've been saying that for a while now........he takes WAYYY too many jump shots and it would'nt be so bad if they were midrange or open jumpers but sometimes the defender is all in his grill and he still jacks it up!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, McGrady HAS THE WORST SHOT SELECTION I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!</div> It does get me mad, but you just have nothing to say when somehow he makes all those shots. With him, no shot is missable and whenever he makes it, you go from hating him to calling it a nice shot.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post">It does get me mad, but you just have nothing to say when somehow he makes all those shots. With him, no shot is missable and whenever he makes it, you go from hating him to calling it a nice shot.</div> Not really, it's more like "Damn thank god he hit that!"and the thing about how no shot is missable, well look at his shooting % nuff said. see i'm not trying to say I don't like him or anything I just think he's way more effective when he drives the ball.
TMac is a rythm shooter. He has to hit two or three shots to really get the feel going. Then its lights out. When he misses a couple, I would rather see him post up then make a quick move. Yao finally back, and the same problems killed us. Shooting was ugly, they hit a dry spell on O, and they came out real slow in the 3rd. C.Hayes has taken Stro's spot I'm guessing, as the first in for J.Howard. Then I would see playing the matchup with Deke or Stro sub for Yao.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting moeinhouston:</div><div class="quote_post"> C.Hayes has taken Stro's spot I'm guessing, as the first in for J.Howard. Then I would see playing the matchup with Deke or Stro sub for Yao.</div> The problem is Hayes doesn't sub in for Howard right away (he goes in for Yao). It appears that JVG doesn't want to put Hayes and Yao on the floor together, which I think is a mistake. It's either Yao/Howard, Yao/Swift, Swift/Howard, Hayes/Howard, or Swift/Hayes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">The problem is Hayes doesn't sub in for Howard right away (he goes in for Yao). It appears that JVG doesn't want to put Hayes and Yao on the floor together, which I think is a mistake. It's either Yao/Howard, Yao/Swift, Swift/Howard, Hayes/Howard, or Swift/Hayes.</div> I assume it's not having enough time for both Hayes and Yao to practices together. I hope things would start getting better from now. Since we are the worst team in the west 15-29 and we can't get anymore worst than this, right? I guess the only way is to follow the Astros step making a great come back or follow the Texans step and try to win the jackpot and draft Adam Morrison or J.J. Redick if they were to come out of for the nba draft?
Morrison will come out most likely because he is having a monster season and Redick is a senior so I guess he has to.
JVG probably doesn't want to match Yao with Hayes because Hayes doesn't have the mid-range shot the other 2 PF's have which would make it easier for other teams to double Yao.
