<table class="gamePreview"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2" class="center">October 30, 2007 @ 10:30pm EST Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA TNT and KCAL</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="center"> Houston Rockets (0-0)</p> </td> <td class="center"> Los Angeles Lakers (0-0)</p> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Projected Lineup</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="roster"> <td> Alston #12 - McGrady #1</p> Battier #31 - Ming #11 - Scola #4</p> </td> <td> Fisher #2 - Bryant #24</p> Walton #4 - Brown #54 - Turiaf #21</p> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Season Stats</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="seasonStats"> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong">Scoring</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Field Goal %</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">3-Point %</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Rebounds</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Assists</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong">Scoring</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Field Goal %</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">3-Point %</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Rebounds</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Assists</td> <td>N/A</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>2006/07 Team Leaders</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="seasonStats"> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong">Bryant</td> <td>Bryant 31.6 PPG</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Odom</td> <td>Odom 9.8 RPG</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Bryant</td> <td>Bryant 5.4 APG</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong">Ming</td> <td>Ming 25.0 PPG</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">Ming</td> <td>Ming 9.4 RPG</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong">McGrady</td> <td>McGrady 6.5 APG</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Key Matchups</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="keyMatchups"> <td>Turmoil, drama, and distraction have surrounded Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers the entire summer. The key match-up tonight is going to be which Kobe Bryant shows up for the LA Lakers. If team player Kobe shows up the Lakers have a legit chance to beat the Rockets and get the season started on a positive note. Team player Kobe is the guy who can break the defense down and make the game easier for his teammates. Team player Kobe is also the guy who will spend his energy on defense and lock his man down. Kobe needs to play efficient basketball, get to the free throw line, and produce a stat line somewhere around 25/7/7 and keep TMac in check at the same time.</td> <td>Every Laker fans worst nightmare tonight will be pre-season Kobe Bryant showing up. If Kobe plays in a funk, takes bad shots early in the clock and plays matador defense the Lakers are going to lose by 20 points to this Rockets team. He's been publicly criticized by both the owner, Jerry Buss, and now his head coach Phil Jackson on his commitment to the organization and to his teammates. Charles Barkley ripped Kobe about the way he's handled himself and he'll be ready to take more shots at Kobe during the pre-game, halftime, and post-game show if Kobe doesn't give it 110% tonight.</td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Keys to the Game</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="keyStrategy"> <td> <ul>[*]Control The PaintThe three-headed monster (Kwame-Bynum-Mihm) must outplay Yao Ming tonight or at least neutralize his presence on the inside. The Lakers have to control the glass and not allow Yao Ming to get easy dunks or put backs in this game. Once Yao gets going and the Lakers are forced to double team it just opens up the perimeter for all the 3 point shooters the Rockets surround Yao with on the court. Kwame has to body up on Yao, but not get into early foul trouble by reaching in or playing overly aggressive in the post. The Lakers cannot afford their centers each getting two quick fouls like they were prone to last season. [*]Take Care Of The Ball - The magic number for turnovers is going to be 17 for this Lakers ball club. They were careless with the basketball during pre-season and the excuse was "experimentation." They better be done with experimenting and be sharp with their passes and decision making tonight. Nothing needs to be forced against this Rockets team, because they are one of the better defensive units in the league and have the ability to gamble on defense with Yao Ming's shot blocking ability. The Lakers cannot over dribble and hold onto the ball. THe Rocket guards love coming from the blindside to knock the ball loose and usually leads to a fastbreak layup on the other end. [*]Don't Settle 3-PointersThe Lakers cannot be intimidated by Yao tonight and must take at him and force him to foul or get out of the way. Last year the Lakers and Rockets had games go down to the wire because of all the momentum shifts. When the Lakers stopped attacking and started settling for jumpshots, the Rockets would fight their way back and comeback from a double digit deficit.[/list] </td> <td> <ul>[*]Feed YaoThe Rockets new look Princeton offense should give the Lakers a lot of difficulty tonight. The Lakers defensive rotations are terrible and getting Yao off early will put Houston in the driver's seat. Yao Ming dominated the Lakers last year with efficient scoring and plenty of trips to the foul line. The Rockets have to get him the ball early and often and force the Lakers to start double teaming Yao in the post. [*]Push The BallAnother weakness of the Lakers team is transition defense. The Lakers don't have the team speed at the forward and guard positions which should give the Rockets a lot of opportunities to get out and run. The Lakers are most prone to this when Kobe forces up a bad shot and his teammates get caught watching him while their man leaks out and creates two on one situations for the defender. The Rockets are very good at rebounding the ball and looking up court. They should be able to win the points off turnovers and fastbreak points against the Lakers if they stick to their game plan. [*]Pick on LukeThe Rockets had plenty of success against Luke Walton last year when they went small. Luke didn't have the speed or athleticism to guard his man and the Lakers weren't able to hide him on defense. The only time Luke had success was when Chuck Hayes was in the game, because Hayes wasn't a scoring threat. However, when Luke had to defend TMac or any of the other Rocket wing players he was dominated.[/list] </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Prediction</h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="prediction"> <td colspan="2">Rockets over Lakers 125-118 -- The Lakers have too, many issues right now and I don't see any sudden changes taking place to fix that. The Rockets are the more talented team to begin with and they know how to take advantage of a team's mistakes. Without Odom, Kobe hurting physically and mentally, the Lakers are going to be overwhelmed. The Lakers explosive offense will keep the game close, but I see the game slipping away down the stretch.</td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4>Randoms</h4> I wanted to thank all the fire fighters, rescue workers, and police officers out there fighting the LA fires. They've put their lives on the line to protect our lives and homes. These folks are doing a great job of raising money so I wanted to give them some exposure for their cause. Fire Relief Campaign </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
I hope the Lakers could win and Kobe to have a bad ass game.Also I hope they win because I don't want Legacy to win on our bet we had...</p>
Hm, the infamous Kobe vs. Tmac matchup. This will be a good one.</p> I gotta give the upper hand to the Rockets, they have the better and deeper team overall. I don't know how the Lakers will be able to hold down Yao. The best way I could think of is...foul trouble.</p> And I agree, it will probably be a high scoring game. These teams have coaches with more of an offensive mindset, an the players as well.</p>
I say Kobe shuts all the critics up, but that doesn't mean his team is gonna help him, so let's just hope we play good team defense, rotate, and make open shots.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> So Scola will start at PF?</p> Houston will win.</p> Rockets 109 - 101 Lakers</p> </div></p> He's been playing with the starters during pre-season so I'm assuming he'll start tonight. I want the Lakers to win tonight, but realistically I don't see it happening. PJax just added fuel to the flames with this headline - Jackson: Kobe trade would be best sooner than later</p> </p>
Yao averaged 33.3 PPG and 10.3 RPG against us last season with Kwame Brown defending him the marjority of minutes. Is he really the best option out there? LOL.</p>
Lakers are playing pretty solid right now. They've kept Yao mostly quiet and they've shut down TMac pretty well so far. Their offense has looked a little stagnant in the early going, but that's to be expected. Honestly, I've been pretty shocked the by the mostly decent defense the Lakers have played. The Rockets had a terrible first quarter but are starting to get going here in the second, but regardless, the Lakers have played some pretty decent defense, so hopefully that sticks up. Now if only the offense can get it going....</p>
This is a very sloppy game. Obviously, that's sort of expected, being the first night of the season, but both teams need to take better care of the ball. The Lakers need some more movement offensively. Kobe is a one-man show right now, guys need to stop standing around.</p>
I tuned in with a few minutes to go in the first quarter. Like CBall said, this game is really sloppy and the Rockets look like chickens with thier heads cut off. I was shocked we weren't down worse considering over 10+ turnovers and shooting at one time I think around 25%. It took Battier a while to get going (missed first five shots). On an encouraging note, we are actually shooting the ball in transition and not pulling it out like we did under JVG.</p> Yao looks really uncomfortable in the high post and looks a lot more confident on the low block. On the Lakers side, Kobe had a great first quarters (13 points, 2 assists and no turnovers). He defintely slowed up in the second and made some very questionable decisions with the basketball leading to some turnovers. He looks like a one-man show and all the Lakers are doing is watching him do something. I would love to see some ball movement on thier part.</p> My prediction is the Rockets get this going in the second half and take care of business.</p>
Tie game! I like the makeup of the Rockets. They got a whole shitload of different players in the backcourt they could throw at you.</p>
The Rockets haven't really impressed me that much so far, but that may be because of the rust and everything. Keep in mind we are without our second best player in Lamar Odom, so even if we lose it's not the end of the world. Also, it's nice seeing Kobe leaving the distractions aside. He's had a pretty good half, along with Derek Fisher.</p> I do miss Smush Parker though. Whenever he was on the court, I would always think the myself, well, let's see, how long is it going to take before Smush fucks up again. With Derek Fisher, I can't play that game anymore </p>
Wow this is going to be a close one, hopefully Rockets can manage to get through this game victorous.</p>
Lakers have come out and looked sloppy so far in the second half. Kobe is trying too hard to be a one man show and the defense is lacking at the moment. They need to tighten things up defensively, Kwame needs to not be a moron, and Kobe needs to get other people involved.</p>
I can't help but notice, but it looks like Kobe is trying to tank and play bad bad ball dispite his injured wrist. He looks very half assed and making braindead plays.
