Chicago Bulls: 22-22 Houston Rockets: 28-21 Coach (Scott Skiles) *Edited* C ? Eddy Curry PF ? Tyson Chandler SF ? Luol Deng SG ? Chris Duhon PG ? Kirk Hinrich Coach (Jeff Van Gundy) C - Yao Ming PF - Juwan Howard SF ? Tracy Mcgrady SG - David Wesley PG - Bob Sura We?re hot, we?ve win four in a row, matches against Boston, Philly, Minnesota and the Lakers! All great games and exciting ones. To my knowledge these 2 teams haven?t faced each other yet this season, only in the preseason. This should be a seesaw match, Rockets have been great as of late and the Bulls although currently on a losing streak have been playing great! We really have to watch out for their sixth man Ben Gordon, an awesome rookie player, he has so many different ways to score, he?s also a streak shooter, once he scored 2 or 3 in a row, he?ll hit the next 10, somewhat like out very own T-Mac. Yao Ming has played quite well lately if this continues we should win this match, but that?s if he plays well and the Bulls force T-Mac to shoot contested shots. Again I have to say that David Wesley has been shooting the ball well (seems he only shoots well whenever I?m writing a preview the next game :S) Bob Sura is becoming more of that Triple ? Double threat he was last season, Juwan is finally becoming the PF we need, he?s rebounding a lot and playing with a lot of heart, he?s fighting for offensive rebounds and surprising his defender with quick spins into the paint. I never do predictions, but I hope we can win this (even though Ben Gordon is one of my fav players)
We're at home, the Bulls have cooled off lately, so the result should be pretty optimistic. We have to take advantage of the inexperience that the Bulls have, and also look to drain the outside jumper. The Bulls, though, have some nice wings and shooters, so we have to be careful on perimeter defense too. We have to guard well against the Bulls' long frontcourt and Chandler can get a whole lot of offensive boards if he's focused. If they take us down the stretch, keep the ball away from Ben Gordon at all costs. Rockets by 8.
Curry gets into foul trouble so hopefully Yao can get him into early foul problems but Chandler probably presents a more difficult matchup for Yao. They have a small backcourt so the matchups will be interesting to see with Houston's backcourt also being small. Overall I think they need to crowd the paint on D because their outside shooters can't shoot.. I believe Hinrich and Duhon both are shooting under 40% for the season. What they really need to watch out for is Ben Gordon off the bench - you remember what Dwyane Wade did to them last week??
Pretty nice matchup here. Although the Bulls are on a losing streak, here are two rising teams playing against each other so it should be an exciting game. The strategy for Houston here would be to crowd the paint well to not give them penetration and easy layups from the frontcourt- but also to force them to take the three pointers, which isn't their strong suit. Hopefully, McGrady will pick up his game since lately he hasn't been playing too well with a lot of inconsistent shots. But, I'm pretty sure Yao should be playing well in this game since he's playing against a relatively smaller defender who gets into foul trouble pretty easily. That's something he'll have to be worrying about as well. Fortunately Houston has some momentum going into this game and are playing at home. That tides are definitely in the Rocket's favor so we'll probably see a win tonight. Prediction- 104-95. Houston win
You cant sleep on this team, they've suprised everyone this year. This is a very young team and they do have the potential of beating us. But aslong as our vets play smart this should be a win. Houston with the win 96-89 AznxBaller: You forgot to finish your sig. lol
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">The Bulls coach is Scott Skyles, not Laurence Frank, btw. I'll say Rockets over Bulls, 86-84.</div> Oops lol forgot to change from the New Jersey game...
Eeek Bulls just beat the Mavericks, hopefully they don't start a new win streak now! but they might be gaining more confidence with that win...
Chandler was a monster on the offensive boards last night, seems like he should have a big night because Howard can't do much. I'd like to see Van Gundy play Mutombo on him so that at least he would have a worse chance of getting the offensive putback. Even play Yao and Mutombo together to counter Chicago's big frontcourt.
The Bulls scare me a little bit. They have good young talent at every position and a few good Rookies on the bench. After the win against Mavs, they have a chance against us. Our problem now is that we havn't played a few days now so we might have cooled off from our win streak. Lets hope thats not the case.
Does Yao believe in jumping? he just got dunked on by Deng and He had no responce. He just inbounded the ball like nothing happened. Does he get dunked on often?
Two words- Oh Yeah Two people that dunked on him of the top of my head- Stromile Swift Kobe Bryant That list goes on, but I don't really want to remember these things.
Why did we sign Rod Strickland. He has not helped our team out at all. We need to stick with Sura, and Barrett. Otherwise we played well in the first half, its just Strickland...
Good game overall by the Rockets. Good defense all game, and Good offense, though at points we slacked off alittle. The best thing that happen to us this game was Strickland getting injured. Hes a waste of Cap Space really. Mutombo made a good contribution off the bench, and Wesley is finally getting into a groove shooting. Hope we keep it up...
Mutombo got Nocioni and a little bit of chandler, great win for houston, keeps the winning streak alive.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KleinBaller08:</div><div class="quote_post">Why did we sign Rod Strickland. He has not helped our team out at all. We need to stick with Sura, and Barrett. Otherwise we played well in the first half, its just Strickland...</div> We're +7/48 min when Strickland has played, so I don't think you can say he hurt us. Strickland can't shoot the ball well and he doesn't run the floor very well anymore, but in every other respect he's simply better than Barrett because of his skills and experience. Even at 38, he has an ability to penetrate into defenses and finish or make a good pass inside, and he'll do it with less mistakes than Barrett. He's also a better rebounder (like Sura), and not as much a liability on defense like because he has good size. Basically, Strickland is a slightly slower version of Sura who's a better passer but doesn't have as good an outside shot. He's an asset, and I hope he can recover quickly from his injury.
Great win by the Rockets in a game featuring the oldest team in terms of average age and the youngest team in the NBA. Let's give a lot of credit to our veterans and bench players. It was them who started the run in the second quarter complementing their excellent defense with rapid scoring on the other end while TMac and Yao rested. At least Mutumbo fared well against Chandler. Had Deke played a lot of minutes he could have equalled Chandler's production. It's been nice to see to Rockets winning a long streak like this. I hope they can carry it well against the Pacers this coming friday. Remember that we also lost at home to them(Pacers) last season and won in their home game.
i went to this game tonight, and david wesley actually tossed his arm band to me after the game, i will have pics of it soon.
