Chicago Bulls: 29-24 Houston Rockets: 32-24 Coach (Scott Skiles) 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 ? Mike James We?re losing again, we were hot 8 games, 8 wins now after the all star break we?ve lost all of our games, mind you we didn?t get blown out and we also don?t have Sura? This will be the second time these 2 teams face off against each other, it will also be the second game with our new additions! This should be a good game, Rockets have been playing quite poorly lately and the Bulls are just a great young team! Like I said in my earlier preview, the man I think we should watch out for us Ben Gordon, especially in the fourth quarter. Yao Ming played a poor game against the Jazz but before that he was really playing great! I hope that was just one poor game because he was really proving doubters wrong in the last few weeks? Mike James/David Wesley/Juwan Howard all these players need to have good games, if not good at least to their averages. I hope Mike James plays well again, in the article that Sniper posted he said that he relaxed in the second half and played a much better game, I hope he can stay relaxed the whole game (not to a point where he just sleeps on the court though lol!). Again I must say what has happened to Juwan? I mean he has become such a different player then we saw at the beginning of the season, at first he was standing between the ring and the three point line waiting to shoot now he?s fighting for offensive rebounds, tipping shots, drawing fouls, he?s a whole new player! Great to see? My Prediction: I never do em
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">This should be a good game, Rockets have been playing quite poorly lately and the Bulls are just a great young team!</div> I wouldn't say that the Rockets have particularly played poorly. They have gone down in close encounters to the league's elite after the allstar break (excluding our last game ugh!). We have fought hard and have just had luck working against us. Which is quite the opposite in our pre-allstar win streak where the rockets didn't work hard yet some how found a way to win. Interesting point dont you all think? Add the fact that Sura is out, and do you still think that the Rockets have played poorly? Well no matter what any of us thinks, the fact is that we are coming up with the big "L" as of late. But hey, If we play this way in the playoffs we may just be mroe successful with Sura in the starting lineup. As for this upcoming game, its tough to predict. Houston's morale is not where it was before the allstar break, and with the new additions, things can really go either way for us as the team chemistry is unpredictable. James did a great job last game and I think he can keep up the intensity, and the Bulls (as usual) are as young and inexperienced as a sacrificial virgin girl. So I say that Houston will come up with the goods. Don't even ask me for a score prediction lol.
The Rockets need this win. I would hate to see them down four in a row with the type of schedule they have coming up. We need every ounce of confidence and momentum, and it needs to start building now. Our next five games are: Wash, Dal, Sea, Phx, Sac. Don't want things to get ugly.
This will definitely be a close game. Both are pretty good teams but Chicago has been on the upswing while Houston has dropped a couple games. Once again, its athleticism against veteranship as these two teams face off. I can't stress this enough, but the role players definitely need to step up their game. While McGrady sort of has found a bit of his old rhythm back, Yao has lost a bit of his swagger. With players like James, Howard, Wesley, and Barry stepping it up, hopefully it will give the two stars some momentum and get them hot in the game. The most important thing Houston needs to do is- get a lead and keep the lead for the game. There have been so many games where Houston has not been able to contain teams during comebacks such as Utah or Seattle, its ridiculous. With Ben Gordon playing the sixth man, Houston definitely needs to watch out for some late Chicago come backs and shut the team down.
Good preview Dan Le. We definitely need to win this game to break our losing streak, and to gain some momentum in the month of March, where we have the toughest schedule in the NBA. If we drop this one, there is a very good chance that we might lose the next five games as well, and go on a nine-game losing streak to start our return from the All-Star break. We must keep Chicago, especially Chandler off the boards, and get big nights from Yao and McGrady. James has to bring more of a passing mentality to this game, rather than two days ago when he tried to take over down the stretch. Give it to McGrady or Yao and try to get open for threes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dakeem1:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say that the Rockets have particularly played poorly. They have gone down in close encounters to the league's elite after the allstar break (excluding our last game ugh!). We have fought hard and have just had luck working against us. Which is quite the opposite in our pre-allstar win streak where the rockets didn't work hard yet some how found a way to win. Interesting point dont you all think? Add the fact that Sura is out, and do you still think that the Rockets have played poorly? Well no matter what any of us thinks, the fact is that we are coming up with the big "L" as of late. But hey, If we play this way in the playoffs we may just be mroe successful with Sura in the starting lineup. </div> Yes I still do think we've been playing poorly, after an 8 game win streak to a 3 game losing streak, I say that is playing poorly, I know that Sura is out, and yes that factors alot into our losses, but we can't just blame that on everything, if he was out then T-Mac and Yao should be able to step up, that and it's not like Mike James played terribly in his first game, I don't want to argue but either way a loss is a loss.
Big win and confidence boost tonight. Does anyone know if Deng got hurt for Chicago (espn.com's box score says he started and played one minute). Incredible performance by Mike James tonight (11-15 shooting). I'm liking how James is having an instant impact on our team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Big win and confidence boost tonight. Does anyone know if Deng got hurt for Chicago (espn.com's box score says he started and played one minute). Incredible performance by Mike James tonight (11-15 shooting). I'm liking how James is having an instant impact on our team.</div> 37 seconds into the game he got hurt, stepping on Yao's foot. Nice win by the Rockets, let's hope we can keep the momentum in our favor. With the Wizard's coming up, let's see if we can build a new winning streak.
Amazing that Yao only logged 12 minutes all game due to foul trouble, and about 5 of those minutes came in garbage time in the fourth quarter. Mike James played excellently again, particularly on offense. Does anyone else see a striking similarity between him and Tim Hardaway as far as how they shoot and dribble the ball? His form on his jump shot is almost identical, and he displayed some amazingly quick crossovers as well during the game. He'll be a perfect sixth man for us going into the playoffs.
Yeah, when i think about it, he does. Great game by the rockets, and we should easily beat the wizards coming off a 30 point win and already beating them by 30 before the allstar break. James was awsome on the offensive side and on defense. He should be able to bring us around 12 points coming off the bench. He'll really be valuable as he is showing with the great ability on both ends of the ball. Yao really needs to get it together. He is always in foul trouble now on. We will really need him to step up and get those rebounds. Ever since sura is gone, we totallly suck on the boards and that is embarassing. We need our PG because he is that crucial to our rebounding.
Great win by the Rockets. This should stop the bleeding and bring back confidence in their game. TMac did a good job on making plays when the defense was on him. Looks like Mike James has adjusted himself well into the Rockets rotations. He did a nice defensive game as well as his offense. He's fast also for the young Bulls to contain. If James,Barry and Wesley continue their hot shooting touch, the Rockets would be hard to contain. Yao is already tall enough to stand still and just needs to raise his arms to change opponents shot. He should not do too much in defending and be wise enough to keep himself on the game. Anyway I hope they can continue their hot shooting tomorrow night.
Yay we beat the Bulls! our losing streak ends! good game too we beat them by 30 points (119 - 89) Yao only played 11 minutes due to foul trouble but still had 14 points! T-Mac had 32 points, but the player that was really outstanding in my point of view was the new addition Mike James, man this guy is awesome! 11/14 from the field including 4/5 from behind the arc!, does he really play like Tim Hardaway? because I love Tim Hardaway! lol!
i thought it was a great game and probbaly one of the better games houston has played so far i hope they can keep up the good work.
It was a great team effort. The starting lineup was just playing out of this world. Any game we can win with Yao logging 11 minutes, it's a huge success. Yao got some rest (not that he wanted to), and another game gone before Sura's return. We definitely needed this confidence boost going into a stretch of five games against great teams. The Wizards could prove to be a problem. They're great at home and Larry Hughes, a big part of their team, is expected to be back against us.
Definately a big win for us. It's good to see James provideing the fire power as well as the d. Let's just hope he can be consistent off the bench.
Once again, Yao was out but this time McGrady and James got into their rhythm. We completely killed Chicago on both ends of the floor. Yao is actually a pretty efficiently player I realized though, I mean the guy has a great field goal percentage and doesn't log that many minutes due to foul trouble. Still, I would have liked it a lot more if he didn't get into foul trouble as much. Man, Mike James is phenomenal! I didn't actually know he is that skilled on the offensive end, scoring and assisting. That was definitely a steal trading Gaines and two second round picks for him. However, I haven't been watching much games, so correctly if I'm wrong- is Mike James defense good or bad? Cause if he isn't that great of a perimeter defender, guards might be blowing past him and drawing charges on Yao. Perhaps thats why Yao has been in constant foul trouble- please correct me. Anyways, I hope McGrady and James can keep their game together and beat Washington tonight- it will be a big confidence boost going into some very tough games.
