<div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets (28-33)</font> vs <font color="yellow">Pacers (30-27)</font> Wednesday, March 8th, 2006, Toyota Center, Houston, TX 7:30 CT; Ch. 51 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 - 24.6 PPG Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming - 10.1 Assist Man: Rafer Alston - 6.6 APG The 'X' Factor: Tracy McGrady (24.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.9 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: 11.3, RPG: 4.0, APG: 6.6 Rafer's inability to play defense some games may cost us the Rockets, as the Pacers do have a "Crazy Euro-Man" on their squad. However, his penetrate-dish play is keeping the Rockets going, and especially Yao, who benefits HIGHLY from the breaking down of defenses. Against Tinsley, who plays somewhat similar to Rafer, he will have to keep him from attacking the basketball and dishing to guys, like Peja -- a bonafide ROCKET KILLER. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/david_wesley.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">David Wesley</font> PPG: 10.7, RPG: 2.7, APG: 3.1 After making some retarded plays against the Sixers, average against the Blazers, and lacking against the Wolves, Wesley will look to redeem himself, especially if T-Mac is deemed unplayable. Against the potent (violent too!), Steven Jackson, Wesley will have his hands full, especially if we find Jackson to be as trigger happy as he CAN be. </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: 24.7, RPG: 6.7, APG: 4.9 Well, it seems McGrady's back has acted up again. Unfortunately for us, he may not play in this game. The Rockets survived a lacking T-Wolves squad thanks to Yao, but a back-to-back, especially one on the road and one at home, will tire Yao out. If T-Mac plays, expect a big performance, and for him to shut down Peja. Well the latter might not go so well, but offensively he should be fine. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/yao_ming.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Yao Ming</font> PPG: 21.0, RPG: 10.1, APG: 1.4 Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present the NBA's BEST CENTER, and a Proud Houston Rocket. Ok, a bit of an exaggeration, but he is up there. What a past few games by YAO! Against the Pacers, he faces no real challenge on offense, and with is play as of late, defense shouldn't worry him either. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/juwan_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Juwan Howard</font> PPG: 11.1, RPG: 6.6, APG: 1.5 Juwan has found himself particularly open the past few games, and he's not doing so well. Stro was a much better fit with Yao against the T-Wolves, and made some far SMARTER (dare i say it?!) decisions. Against the Pacers, he will probably find himself open more often than not, as the front court will be concentrating on Yao. Defensively, the front court has not much to worry about. </font> [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="yellow"> <font size="1">(A. Johnson, S. Jackson, P. Stojakovic, J. Foster, S. Pollard)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Jermaine O'neal - 20.9 PPG Leading Rebounder:Jermaine O'neal - 9.8 RPG Assist Man: Jamaal Tinsley - 4.8 APG The 'X' Factor: Fred Jones (10.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.3 APG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/anthony_johnson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="yellow">Anthony Johnson</font> PPG: 8.6, RPG: 2.2, APG: 4.3 Johnson's strength has never been his shot, more-so his passing ability. He may not carry the ability to penetrate like Rafer does, but solely by looking at his assist numbers, he does get the ball somewhere. Playing against Alston, he will have to step his defense up, and hit more than a few open jumpers. However, if he is able to get past Rafer and force weak side help, Peja could have a shooting-clinic on us. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/stephen_jackson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="yellow">Stephen Jackson</font> PPG: 15.8, RPG: 4.0, APG: 2.7 Jackson's played with some winning teams, and some losing ones. Still, that does not change his game to a certain extent, and he has always been a potent threat on offense. Wesley has his hands full, but i fully expect him to match Jackson point for point. Jackson on the other hand, might see some time against McGrady, as Peja's defense is lacking.. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/peja_stojakovic.jpg[/imgl]<font color="yellow">Peja Stojakovic</font> PPG: 17.9 RPG: 5.7, APG: 1.5 Well, the world's greatest Rocket Killer, Peja can really turn it on against us. If you recall two years ago, when Francis and Cat were with us, Peja had been laying off the 3's from where the court said "Toyoto Center". Of course, now we have a better defender on him, and he won't be as potent. If T-Mac plays, we're in good shape on both sides of the ball. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/scot_pollard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="yellow">Scott Pollard</font> PPG: 4.0, RPG: 5.1, BPG: .37 Anyone know he still played? Just kidding, but still -- Pollard has been around for quite a while. There's nothing he can do to stop or nullify Yao except get him thrown out or fouled out (none of which Pollard would TRY doing). He just needs to get his rebounds and take what chances he gets. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jeff_foster.jpg[/imgl]<font color="yellow">Jeff Foster </font> PPG: 5.6, RPG: 8.1, APG: 0.7 Juwan's offensive set is better than Fosters, for the simple fact that Foster plays better at center than Power Forward. Though the stats don't show it, Foster, to me, is a solid player. However, he will cause little trouble to the Rockets, and Howard should comfortably outscore him and keep Foster's scoring low. </font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="red">Yao! </font> - If the Rockets keep Yao in the game, we're good to go. As simple as that. There are no Pacers who will stop him and all he needs to do is stay focused, smart, and keep him stamina up.[*]<font color="red">Do not depend on T-Mac</font> - Whether he plays or not, the show must go on. The Rockets have to win this game regardless, or the playofs will be a distant memory. With O'neal out, the Rockets must take advantage.[*]<font color="red">Team Defense</font> - Defense when it counts is what has led the Rockets to a 13-4 record while Yao's been back. Let's keep it going. [*]<font color="yellow">Limit Yao</font> - Make sure Yao doesn't get his, which will be impossible, but yeah, you can try?[*]<font color="yellow">Front Court</font> - The Pacers need something out of their front court, whether it'd be defense or intensity, but they cannot let Yao go off for more than 30 this game.[*]<font color="yellow">Peja has to play</font> - The crazy-euro-man is driving this team right now, he needs to perform, whether T-Mac is in or nott. [/list]<font size="3">Prediction</font> Rockets are on fire, and will be in the playoffs. .Bank it. Rockets: 105 , Pacers: 91 <font size="1"> *All pre, and post-game discussion should go in here. Thanks.</font>
We'll really have to box out defensively tonight. Pollard, Harrison and Foster are all strong rebounders and Foster especially has a great nose for the ball. His defense on Yao will also be good if not outstanding, but my take is that Yao is on too much of a roll to be limited too much. Someone other than Yao has to step up and take some of the scoring load off him. Swift did some of that last night but with Stro you never know what you'll get. Howard or Alston will be the most likely suspect. I'm taking the Rockets in this one with another 25/12 game by Yao. Houston wins 98-90.
Good news for Rocket fans: Yao just drew too quick fouls on the Pacer's starting center, Pollard. His replacement is David Harrison, an inexperienced no name player who averages close to 3 fouls in 15 mins of play. Looks like Yao is well on his way to drop another 30 point game Dont see anyone on the Pacer bench that can guard him. If the Rockets can recognize this, the W is in the books.
Pacers lead 31-27 after the 1st, Yao with 13 points, 3 rebounds & 3 blocks already. Keep feeding him the ball!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KayJayNZ:</div><div class="quote_post">Rockets down by 9 at the half. </div> Just beileve, we can make a comeback.
Wow, Yao is having another phenomenal game. The third quarter's not even over and he already has 32 points. However, the fact that no one outside of TMac, Yao and Howard have scored more than 4 is very troubling. That's primarily the reason we're down 16 right now.
Tmac was on the bench the whole 3rd quarter and Swift has been there for sometime now. Did something happen to them? I demand an explanation becuase this is frustrating! Where is chuck Hayes?
Wow, what a comeback! 89-91 now, with 8 minutes left! Howard scored 8 in the comeback, and best of all, we did it with Yao on the bench most of the time! Yao now has 34, he could seriously threaten his own career high of 41.
OMG Turnovers and rebounding. PLease do either. Like 5 turnovers in 45 seconds and 4 offensive rebounds for the pacers in 10 seconds. Ridiculous
Ya We Got The Win!!! JK. I liked the fact that we got a win w/o T-Mac (to an extent) and came back without Yao. I still think we should be tanking games, but I guess anything could happen. I can't cheer against the Rockets, even if we were 20-40. If we beat Dallas (I think their next) then we should give the rest of the season all we got to make the playoffs. T-Mac needs to step his game up. His team is doing so great now, and if he plays like he played at the beginning of the season then our team would be unstoppable. PLEASE RECOVER ASAP. Damn 45 people on the board. Wins attract people in this forum.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YugoRocketsfan:</div><div class="quote_post">Just beileve, we can make a comeback.</div> My bad, that seemed to be pretty ugly at the end but the Rox hold on for a 103-99 win. Yao with another monster game, 38 & 10.
OMG is mcgrady not well again cuz he was on bench a whole lot. Great performance by yao keep it up. Stro was Ok interms of effort but needs to translate it to more points and rebounds.
yao > harrison+pollard......he scored doubled the points h+p scored...blocked twice as much as h+p..almost grabbed double as much boards...but played half the minutes h+p combined...amazing
Wow, hugh game by Yao Ming : 38pts, 10 rebs and 5 blks. However, there are good news and bad.... the good news, the Rockets won... the bad news, LAL and Sac won....; Utah is winning at the moment...(close game) to keep up with these 3 teams, we have to beat power houses...not an easy task, if we only beat the Pacers by 4
