Who: Boston Celtics(19-19) vs. Houston Rockets(20-15) Where: Toyota Center When: January 11th, 2004 Time: 7:30 P.M. CST Coaches vs. Jim O'Brien/Jeff Van Gundy Probable Starters vs. Jiri Welsch/Jim Jackson vs. Mark Blount/Kelvin Cato vs. Chris Mihm/Yao Ming vs. Mike Jamesl/Steve Francis vs. Paul Pierce/Cuttino Mobley Rockets Outlook Offensively It is no secret that the weak link to the Celtics is their lack of a dominany post presence. This should play very well into the hands of the Rockets if they use it to their advantage. Offensively, they Rockets need to look down low tonight a lot. Expect Maurice Taylor and Yao Ming to get a lot of touches down on the block tonight. Without a post presence the Celtics will have to double team both of them eventually which leaves someone wide open on the perimeter. In the past the Rockets have gone to Yao early but as the game goes on they don't go to him anymore. The Rockets should go to Yao continueously all game long. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are poised for big games tonight. Lat year they averaged 57 points together in their two games against the Celtics. Rockets Keys to the Game Offensively: 1. Feed Yao and Taylor the ball the entire game - see above 2. Spacing - With a lack of a low post presence Boston will have to double. If there is good spacing between the Rockets players, when the kick-out happens from Yao then someone is wide open. 3. Limit turnovers - They did a great job against the Knicks lets hope they can do the same tonight 4. Don't give Boston a chance - The Rockets need to come out early tonight and establish the tempo as well as take Boston out of the game. the Celtics are one of 8 teams that has a winning record on the road. We need to not let them think that they actually have a shot at winning this game. Rockets Outlook Defensively The entire defensive scheme tonight is to stop Paul Pierce. If we stop him we will win the game, if we don't they have a good chance of winning the basketball game in the 4th quarter. Cuttino Mobley and Jim Jackson both need to give it everything they got on defense tonight and not allow Pierce to get going. As soon as Pierce puts the ball on the floor going to the basket, he needs to be double teamed immediatly. The Rockets have a serious size advantage tonight so we should be able to control the boards very well. I would actually consider playing a box and one defense tonight on Pierce. Rockets Keys to the Game Defensively 1. Stop Paul Pierce -see above 2. Force the other players to beat us - Lets face it besides Paul Pierce the Celtics really don't have a second option that can light it up except for Ricky Davis. 3. Control the Boards 4. Stay out of foul trouble My Prediction The Rockets have been plagued by inconsistant play all year. In Detroit, they absolutely get dominated then a few nights ago in New York they go on a 23-2 run at the start of the game. If the Rockets take this game easily they will lose however if they play their game then they will win. I think the low post presence of Cato, Taylor and Ming tonight will be too much for the Celtics to stop. Rockets - 95 Celtics - 87
Great preview, dex, I think Houston is going to take this one. As a team whole, they are obviously superior on the offensive end. I believe they are on defense as well, Boston never really had anyone for that. I have confidence that Mobley can shut down Truth if man to man is used, he did it to AI, surely he can do it to Truth. Boarding will be the key just like you said, I say Rockets by 6.
I see Houston getting this one too. The Celtics only rely on 3s, and Houston is among the best at allowing the worst 3-pt fg% for opponents. I expect Yao and Steve to have HUGE games, and I think JJ will hold Pierce to 18-20 points on like 7-20 shooting... Rockets 88 Celtics 77
I see us winning this one three. Francis will probably carry on his great play and get another 20-5-6 kind of night. Rockets by 8+.
Nice Preview Dex. I see the Rockets getting the W like evryone else but it ain't going to come easy. Yao has to come to play along with Steve, Mobley and the rest of the Rockets. If they come into this game lightly Paul and Ricky are going to take advantage of that and come big. But that's a real big IF so I'm going to say Rockets by 11.
Houston's big men will be the difference in the game. Boston has no answer for Yao Ming. If Houston sets the tempo of the game from tip off, they will easily take this one. Rockets by 5+
Well our defense and organization is already great because of Van Gundy so it's all a matter of making the shots and limiting our turnovers. If, our players will compete well on the offensive end, we'll definitely win this one. Anyways...anybody here have nba2k4? Do you know which roster jim jackson is at?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">Anyways...anybody here have nba2k4? Do you know which roster jim jackson is at?</div> I dunno about 2k4 but JJ is on the Houson roster in Live 2004.
Wow...Ming gets FIVE shot attempts...Celtics shoot 47%, 50% from 3...hell musta froze over...how do you go from killing the Knicks to losing to boston?? The inconsistency is killing me!! I also see Piatkowski's minutes dropping game by game...could he be involved in a trade since he has been nothing more than a mediocre shooter so far? I would've never thought that Jackson would be our 3-pt gunner instead of Pike.
Jim Jackson is on the Kings roster in 2K4. I try to keep up with real transactions and ratings though, so I always load up my custom roster (if I'm not just continuing franchise mode), which consists of stuff like Davis in Boston, Walker in Dallas, Marbury in New York, Randolph with an overall rating of 86 instead of 77, etc. On a side note, out of curiosity I sim'd a pair of 82-game seasons with New York before and after the trade, and the Knicks won 22 more games with Marbury. Of course, this did take into account the game's rather realistic simulation for Antonio McDyess to go down for the season 15 games in :thumbsup: . <font color="Blue">In the future, lets stick to the topic at hand. We have a video games forum for a post like this. Thanks - dexter</font>
What a horrible game the Rockets played last night. They one again showed their inconsistancy to win games. They beat some good teams then lose to the bad ones, they beat some bad ones, then lose to some worse ones. It seemed as if the Rockets took this game way too lightly. They had horrible execution of offense, took horrendous shots, and played with zero energy. I think this game was the classic case of a team getting satisfied and thinking they are good, then they get comfortorable and they get upset. They post play for the Rockets last night was some of the worst I have seen. Yao Ming and Kelvin Cato were completely shut down on offense. Yao Ming took a total of 5 shots and ended with 6 points. You can give any excuse you want for how well the Celtics played great defense on the post however there is no excuse for Yao not to get 10 shots off a game. Not one. They also got killed on the defensive side of the ball. Jiri Welsch and Walter McCarty, the starting PF and C for the Celtics, each scored 21 points on offense. Frankyly, neither of these players should have broken 10 points. The one key to the game for the Rockets that I marked down was not to let Paul Pierce go off on offense. They failed at that as Pierce ended the night with 27 points, 11 of which were off of free throws. Celtics Players Stats Paul Pierce - 27 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assists Mike James - 3 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists Mark Blount - 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals Jiri Welsch - 21 points, 5 assists, 3 steals Walter McCarty - 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists Ricky Davis - 5 points, 5 assists Chris Mihm - 8 points, 5 rebounds Rockets Players Stats Steve Francis - 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 turnovers Cuttino Mobley - 15 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists Jim Jackson - 26 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers Kelvin Cato - 4 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists Yao Ming - 6 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block Maurice Taylor - 15 points, 4 rebounds Scott Padgett - 8 points, 3 rebounds Both teams shot the ball extremely well. The Rockets shot 43.% from the field while attempting 80 shots. The Celtics shot 47.1% from the field while attempting 68 shots. Both teams shot pretty equally from beyond the arc tonight as well, each shooting near 50% and making around 12 three's. The one shooting area the Rockets did get killed in was the free throw shooting. The Celtics shot 25 free throws to the Rockets 14. The Rockets committed 19 turnovers to the Celtics 14 and the Rockets out rebounded the Celtics big time 45-33. Rocket's next game is tomorrow night against the Wizards. Just a note that I will be unable to make a game thread for tomorrow's game so if someone would at least start a discussion thread about the game, I would really appreciate it. :mrgreen:
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting HoustonHoopa33:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow...Ming gets FIVE shot attempts...Celtics shoot 47%, 50% from 3...hell musta froze over...how do you go from killing the Knicks to losing to boston?? The inconsistency is killing me!! I also see Piatkowski's minutes dropping game by game...could he be involved in a trade since he has been nothing more than a mediocre shooter so far? I would've never thought that Jackson would be our 3-pt gunner instead of Pike.</div> simple, the celtics are much better than the knicks
i dunno if they're MUCH better...we beat a pretty good lineup (KVH, Houston, Marbury, Thomas) pretty handily, and honestly, the Celtics only have two legit scorers in Pierce and Davis, and Davis isnt even getting the 35-40 minutes he saw in Cleveland.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting HoustonHoopa33:</div><div class="quote_post"> I also see Piatkowski's minutes dropping game by game...could he be involved in a trade since he has been nothing more than a mediocre shooter so far? I would've never thought that Jackson would be our 3-pt gunner instead of Pike.</div> Pike hasn't shown much this season and with the Jim Jackson signing working so well, it shouldn't come as a surprise if the Rockets trade him for a stellar point guard. Personally, I'd like the trade because it would give Nachbar more time to develop and also give us some insurance if Francis goes down. Also, the Rockets do not need Pike's three-point shooting as we already have two good shooters starting in Jackson and Mobley and another one coming off the bench in Scott Padgett.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting HoustonHoopa33:</div><div class="quote_post">i dunno if they're MUCH better...we beat a pretty good lineup (KVH, Houston, Marbury, Thomas) pretty handily, and honestly, the Celtics only have two legit scorers in Pierce and Davis, and Davis isnt even getting the 35-40 minutes he saw in Cleveland.</div> Welsch is a very legit sccorer
