The Rockets look to get back on the W side against the Mavs tonight at Big D. TV: TNT, Ch.51 (local) Radio: 610 Sports Radio (local) Probable Line-ups: <u>Point Guard</u> Dallas - Marquis Daniels Houston - Tyronn Lue One of the Rocket's biggest problem is at the point guard. Lue's fast paced style may not fit Yao, but he is the best we can do with so far. Daniels, an explosive 2nd yearer, not only outsizes Lue, but can out-muscle Lue both offensively and defensively. Advantage -- Dallas <u>Shooting Guard </u> Dallas - Devin Harris Houston - Tracy McGrady The two-time scoring champion has not played the way we all anticipated, but has carried the teams in clutch situations, as well as trying to assert everyone else in the offense. Devin Harris, a rookie to the game, is outsized by a good 5 inches, McGrady also out-scores him significantly. Expect McGrady to be getting a lot of touches with Harris on him. Advantage -- Houston <u>Small Forward</u> Dallas - Josh Howard Houston - Jim Jackson The season veteran (Jackson) will have his hands full containing the explosive Howard. Jackson however, has some oomph left in him and won't go down without a fight. Advatage -- Even <u>Power Foward</u> Dallas - Dirk Nowitzki Houston - Maurice Taylor Dirk will eat Mo alive if Mo keeps struggling. Expect the Mavs to go to him early and often, as Mo's rebounding and defense are wretched. Dirk may score in the 30s this game. Advantage -- Dallas <u>Center</u> Dallas - Erick Dampier Houston - Yao Ming According to Dampier, he is the second best center in the league, brushing aside the fact that Yao Ming is better. Yao will look to prove him wrong. Yao has good games against Dallas, and since he has been struggling as of late, don't be suprised to see high 20s and mid 30s from him today. Advantage -- Houston <u>Keys to the Game</u> -Don't let Dallas get the early 10 point lead. Whenever a team has a big lead, the Rockets battle back, only to fall short. Take control of the game, you win the game. -Control Possesion. The Rockets have to have around 70 possesions to win this game. Dallas plays up-tempo, so the Rockets need to keep getting the ball back, in order to keep up. -Yao + McGrady = Big Night. If these guys don't step up, the game is lost. Simple as that. Prediction - The Rockets should be fired up about todays game, but Dallas won't wanna turn away a home crowd. Dallas - 96 Houston - 90
Nice first preview magnomonkey. Mo Taylor will probably still start this game despite his horrible performance last game, simply because he is the only power forward on our team quick enough to guard Nowitzki. However, expect Weatherspoon to play 20+ minutes, simply because Van Gundy had virtually guaranteed him a chance this game. However, as optimistic as I can be, there will be no way for the Rockets to win this one. We're simply at a loss right now and the Mavs have too much firepower for us to contend against. Dallas by 7.
I expect a stronger effort from the Rockets in this game. I think going on the road can help them focus a bit more, and if they can pull out a win they'll come back and play more confidently in the home-stand. The important thing is to win some games and just get the confidence back. I'd honestly like to see Weatherspoon in the starting lineup, but it'll be tough for him to guard Dirk, who's the third best power forward in the league (no shame in that, when the top two are also the 2 best players in the league). We're going to have to employ aggressive double teams against Dirk and make their young players beat us. And I thought Marquis Daniels is the SG and Devin Harris is the PG. Anyways, I'm sure that's what the defensive matchup will be.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">I expect a stronger effort from the Rockets in this game. I think going on the road can help them focus a bit more, and if they can pull out a win they'll come back and play more confidently in the home-stand. The important thing is to win some games and just get the confidence back. I'd honestly like to see Weatherspoon in the starting lineup, but it'll be tough for him to guard Dirk, who's the third best power forward in the league (no shame in that, when the top two are also the 2 best players in the league). We're going to have to employ aggressive double teams against Dirk and make their young players beat us. And I thought Marquis Daniels is the SG and Devin Harris is the PG. Anyways, I'm sure that's what the defensive matchup will be.</div> Either way, the Mavericks won't be handing the game to the Rockets. And I don't believe in any guarantees of more effort anymore. The Rockets have lost four in a row and they haven't looked spirited in any of the. We're also against a Dallas team we've never played well against. No matter who we have on Nowitzki, it'll still be a mismatch because Weatherspoon gives up a good six inches and Taylor simply sucks at defense. Dampier might also overpower Yao down low simply because of his strength and his superior rebounding ability. I don't see any hope tonight.
Nice job magno. I think you'd replace me just fine (if not better) . Hopefully the Rockets can show some resistance here and try to steal one tonight..
Woohoo a fastbreak by Houston! haha it's nice to see T-Mac getting of to a good start. Their defense isn't to great but they are playing Dallas. Hopefully Houston can somewhat maintain this pace. I wanna see big games by stars. Go Yao Ming!
Finally a good rotations. Sura,McGrady,Jackson,Howard,Yao was good but Barret,McGrady,Jackson,Howard,Yao was the best combination, and even Reece Gaines got some playing time. Theyre playing good right now, hopefully they keep it up.
With the second quarter almost over, Rockets are down by two. McGrady already has 25 points and 5 assists, and Yao with 9 and 4. Both of them are on track for good performances. It seems like changes are underway, Howard and Sura started, Barrett and Reece Gaines got minutes, but Weatherspoon hasn't gotten on the floor yet. Isn't he going to get a chance?
Well he got 4 minutes, but all he did was get a rebound, non-factor, Maurice Taylor out rebounded him. Also as I said Sura didnt do anything, after hitting a shot to open the game. He had 2 points, 1 rebound, and an assist, not to add 2 turnovers. The team was must better with Barrett on the floor. The whole rest of the starting lineup played good too. McGrady is finally performing like needed, but Yao needs to step it up. Jackson could have done more also.
I like what the Rockets have done so far in the first half. They're playing with energy and confidence, and I think Van Gundy must have told them to just hustle and don't worry about making mistakes. Van Gundy looks to be giving EVERYONE a chance in this game. I still would have liked to see Weatherspoon at PF alongside Yao, but with Sura and Barret actually chasing down looseballs and everybody making a concerted effort on the offensive boards we're doing ok. If the Rockets can duplicate this effort in the second half, I'll be happy even if we don't get the W. It's a step in the right direction.
It's good that JVG has tried to unleash the players a little bit and givin Tracy more freedom to do what he wants to do. I am very pleased on how we're doing tonight even though we're down by 3 points going into the 4th quarter. Barrett is very effective and imo a better version of Tyrone Lue. I like it.
Never heard of Barret before they put him in the game. Boy that mans short, but yeah he has alot of speed and looks to be a far more effective overall player then Tyronn so far.
This game is close the score is tied with 27.2 seconds left and McGrady has another free throw coming up. Yao has fouled out so the rockets have to go to T-Mac for their scoring. Edit: McGrady missed his second free throw and the Mavs missed their shot at the other end. Houston rebounds and called a time out.
4.3 seconds left. Houston's ball. This is one of the more exciting games I've seen this season. Not only are we actually close to winning a game against a pretty decent team, I also have Dirk on my fantasy team heheheh... It's a tough situation for me, but in any case, GO ROCKETS!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Miami's Finest:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn T-Mac had 3 clutch boards after sura and him missed 3 times!</div> That play was crazy! I was jumping out of my seat every time he shot the the ball.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AA13:</div><div class="quote_post">That play was crazy! I was jumping out of my seat every time he shot the the ball.</div> Yeah I was jumping up and down with my gf.... Btw, Overtime.
