We have two different teams. The team that shows up and plays defense and hustles for the loose balls and the other one.. Looks like the other one showed up again... dammit.
Battier is playing him as best you can, but he also has the help behind him to limit Kobe Bryant. The Rockets have 3 or 4 guys clogging the lane against Kobe and it lures Kobe into taking more jumpshots or forcing up a tough layup with 3 defenders on him. The Lakers can get around this playing inside-out basketball and moving the ball around. The Lakers abandon the basic fundamentals for some reason and it goes down hill from there. I think our team has ADD sometimes and complete lack of focus.
I don't think the Lakers suck...and I don't think it's because the Rockets are that good. I'll give them credit where credit is due, because they've played their asses off all series. But quite honestly, the reason why this series is going 7 games is because the Lakers get complacent and don't play to their ability. They absolutely remind me of the Pistons when they were going to 6 straight ECFs. They know their good and they know they have the superior talent, and because of this they don't think they have to put full effort in a game and end up giving games away because of this. This is what's happening in this series. There is no reason this series is at game 7, especially after Yao went down. I full expect the Lakers to show up in game 7 and I would not be shocked if they win the game by 20. If the Lakers show up and play like they can, the game could easily be a blowout. If they don't...well...it'll be interesting, to say the least.
I think Paul Pierce/James Posey did a pretty good job last year during the Finals, they put in the effort, but part of that also has to do with that Kobe only was aggressive and attacked the rim hard like a dozen times during the Finals. They wanted him to settle with jumpers, and he did.
I'm getting tired of hearing people bash the Lakers for losing two straight games against the Rockets at their home. The Rockets are a superb team in my mind. They have some excellent shooters and their defense is stellar. They didn't let Kobe virtually make any big shots last night. Their defense was great. To me, the Rockets are much faster without Yao. Another reason that I think contributed to the Laker's loss is the fact that after they were down by 16, Phil had finally decided to take a timeout. Clearly things were out of hand. He should have taken one earlier.
I think Shape cleared it up for me, but one on one I don't think there is anyone who is clearly better right now. Maybe Bowen a few years ago?
So do the Rockets. The Rockets lost 80% of Their games to sub 500 teams this season. They step up against the elite teams. Scrub teams lazy play is contagious.
It's not a matter of do the Lakers suck or are the Rockets just good... It's a matter of who has MORE HEART right now, and that is definitely the Rockets. I love the doozies from a couple nights ago. "NOW they've woken us up" -Ariza - oh really Trev? you mean, losing Game 1 at home didn't wake you up? What about getting blown out in Game 4, that didn't wake you up? gtfo here. "If they score, they score" -Phil Jackson. WTF? I guess defense wins championships is a myth. "I Love Game 7's" -Kobe Bryant - oh really Kob? Then where the fuck were you in the second half PHX 06 when I dropped $1000 on my Lakers only to see you guys get blown out. Just a bunch of talk from this team, that's all, no passion or heart, they better get their act together QUICK.
