<div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets (0-1)</font> at <font color="blue">Mavericks (0-1)</font> Saturday, November 4th, 2006 Toyota Center, Houston 7:30 CT; NBALP </div> [div=50%] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="blue"> <font size="1">(Jason Terry, Greg Buckner Josh Howard, Desagan Diop, Dirk Nowitzki)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Dirk Nowitzki - 21.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Dirk Nowitzki - 11.0 RPG Assist Man: Jason Terry - 4.0 APG The 'X' Factor: DeSagana Diop (3.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 3.0 BPG)</font> [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="red"> <font size="1">(Rafer Alston, Kirk Snyder Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Shane Battier) </font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Tracy McGrady - 25.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming - 9.0 RPG Assist Leader: Tracy McGrady - 9.0 APG The 'X' Factor: Shane Battier (11.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 1.0 BPG)</font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="red">Battier Stays On the Court</font> - Dirk Nowitzki is without a doubt the biggest threat the Rockets will face tonight on the offensive end. Shane Battier is the Rockets' premier defender and he'll be counted upon to guard the all-NBA forward. Although Battier's defense on Dirk was underwhelming in the first round of the playoffs last year, he can shut Dirk down. Battier needs to stay out of foul trouble (5 fouls in 32 minutes against Utah) and stay on Dirk.[*]<font color="red">Yao Takes Over</font> - Although the Mavericks have two very good defensive centers in Diop and Erick Dampier off the bench, Yao has proven that when he is focused, he can take over any game, no matter who's guarding him. Against the Jazz, Yao was an ultra-efficient 8-12 from the field, but 12 shots isn't going to cut it against the Mavs who will almost certainly top the 100 mark.[*][*]<font color="red">TMac Attacks</font> - It's safe to say Tracy McGrady often rises to his best against the Mavericks. Few can forget the 48-point effort against Dallas two years ago, then the playoffs series in which McGrady played like a man possessed in a losing effort. Against the Jazz, McGrady was quite passive, and he'll need to attack the rim more tonight. Putting Nowitzki and the Mavs' centers in foul trouble will be very important to the Rockets' chances of winning the game. The Rockets also have a few good shooters on the perimeter. If TMac can draw defenders in, he could kick it back out for an open three. 9 assists, like against Utah, can come easily.[*]<font color="red">Start Well</font> - Against the Jazz on Wednesday, the Rockets got off to a horribly slow start, and found themselves at one point down by 20. Although they made a late push to make the game interesting at the end, the Mavericks are not a team who will allow the Rockets to come back so easily again. Houston will have to play consistently for all four quarters and never fall behind by a large deficit.[*][/list] <ul>[*]<font color="blue">Attack Yao</font> - In Jason Terry, Devin Harris and Josh Howard, Dallas has three very potent weapons to attack the paint. If the Mavs can get Yao Ming into foul trouble and onto the bench as a result, they'll find the Rockets much easier to guard on the other end.[*]<font color="blue">Keep Everyone Rested</font> - Dallas has an impressive bench and can go two-deep at every position. Their best way to beat the Rockets would be to employ a running game, which could easily tire their starters out. This is where the bench comes to play. Avery Johnson will need to rotate his players when needed so the starters can be fresh for the fourth quarter.[*][*]<font color="blue">Contain TMac</font> - Greg Buckner is starting for the Mavs for solely defensive reasons, and starting him could be well-justified if he can shut Tracy McGrady down. It's likely that Buckner, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse will have the duties of guarding TMac tonight. They'll need to be careful to not allow McGrady an open lane and force him to keep shooting on the perimeter. While that may not even work (TMac can go on a streak and sink 4 threes in a row. Ask Tim Duncan), it definitely would be better than letting TMac dunk on Diop like he did Shawn Bradley.[/list] <font size="3">Prediction</font> Both teams lost their season-openers, and both are title contenders. It'll be tough to envision either of these teams going 0-2 to start the year, but the Rockets are at home with 50 Red Rowdies cheering the team on. While Dallas is an impressive road team, the fact that the Rockets are playing to their home fans for the first time this season should give them enough motivation to not lose the game. Rockets: W, Mavericks: L
IT'S ROWDIE TIME!!!!........I've been looking forward to this date, since I won my tickets......we'll make sure to make it loud tonight......we have something special planned for every mavs fan that we run in to....lol. But as far as the game goes, I think the Rockets will be up for this one....I'll say Rockets 101 and Mavs 98.
Great preview Locke. I agree with all of your keys to the game for both the Rockets and Dallas. Especially the first 3 for the Rockets. Lets hope JVG set up a lot of plays to get the ball to Yao. <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">IT'S ROWDIE TIME!!!!........I've been looking forward to this date, since I</div>bought my tickets I'm so excited. This will be my first Rockets game ever. I really hope we win. I can't see Dallas going 0-2 to start the season, but I can see Houston going 0-2 since we are known for slow starts. Somewhat worries me, but lets hope that's not the case.
Why we hate Dallas: 2004-2005 Playoffs: Game 1 Game 2 Game 6 Rockets will win this one. Bonzi will play and do well, I fully expect a win and Dirk to get his butt owned over, and over, and over again. The Rowdies are ready, T-Mac is ready, Yao is ready. I agree with all your Keys, Locke. In order for us to win this game, we need to make it a possession dominant game, which we definitely can. Rockets 102 Mavericks 94 EDIT: The DREAM, represent us well, man -- some of us wish we could be there! I am sure you guys are gonna do us all proud, but don't get in "too" much trouble .
I was going to put a bet on the Rockets to win but I couldn't be bothered to go to the betting shop. If they win it will suck because I would have won money if I wasn't lazy.
<div class="quote_poster">Mag Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Why we hate Dallas: 2004-2005 Playoffs: Game 1 Game 2 Game 6 Rockets will win this one. Bonzi will play and do well, I fully expect a win and Dirk to get his butt owned over, and over, and over again. The Rowdies are ready, T-Mac is ready, Yao is ready. I agree with all your Keys, Locke. In order for us to win this game, we need to make it a possession dominant game, which we definitely can. Rockets 102 Mavericks 94 EDIT: The DREAM, represent us well, man -- some of us wish we could be there! I am sure you guys are gonna do us all proud, but don't get in "too" much trouble .</div> Bonzi is out with a groin injury or something of that nature, i hope Tmac shows Dirk the stuff this game and Yao shows Eric Dampier that he is the best C in this league. YEEEE
<div class="quote_poster">drunkenbarden Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Bonzi is out with a groin injury or something of that nature, i hope Tmac shows Dirk the stuff this game and Yao shows Eric Dampier that he is the best C in this league. YEEEE</div> He might still play, as taken by the Chronicle: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There was no decision Friday about when Bonzi Wells would make his debut with the Rockets, but there were signs he is getting close. "I felt good," Wells said after Friday's practice. "If I play is up to coach." Asked what he needs to do to demonstrate he is ready, Wells said: "I don't know, come out here and show him I can get through the practices and I can go hard. That's what I've been doing the past couple weeks. He's giving me indications he's kind of leaning my way, but until he gives me the OK, it's still kind of (uncertain). He's asking me how I'm doing, how my body's feeling." Coach Jeff Van Gundy did sound closer to giving Wells the call. "He is healthy enough," Van Gundy said. "In shape enough? Like I said, I don't think you're ever in shape until you start playing. When we do put him out there, he's just going to have to work through it. Obviously, it will probably be shorter minutes to start. I know everybody wants to know when, and rightfully so because he's a good player."</div> Link
HOLY SH1T For a change: JVG smiled T-mac drove to the basket Chuck Hayes started Rafer hit his 3 point shot. Battier made a difference.
I knew Alston would play well today. This was a very exciting game (for us at least). They could do nothing with Yao. When they went to zone def, our shooting destroyed them. Vspan looked pretty good, and Mutumbo still really needs to get it together.
Excellent game by the Rockets, and it was good that T-Mac got such a break, tomorrow he'll be ready to dominate as well. Yao did fantastic today, so many of the "non rebounds" he had were balls he got a hand on but allowed the guards to take it. I counted 2 times with McGrady, once with Snyder, and Rafer probably had a few from Yao as well. So consider that a double-double. He put in some good work, excellent shooting from the big fella'. And I was a Rafer homer all of last season, and it's good to see him get back into form. What a stat-line, everyone was hoping he'd get those last 2 boards, but he still did a fantastic job. Luther Head and Snyder did so well today, it's great to know we have such a good scoring punch. Bonzi Wells debut! And a good one it was, not really doing much except playing some hard defense and getting a good steal, but he'll work himself back into the rotation. Battier did excellent today, as did Mutumbo/Hayes. Though he didn't make it look sexy, Battier was all over the place, definitely redeeming himself in my eyes from his performance against the Jazz. He did get scored on a bit, but his effort was incredible. I was a bit mad at Deke for not handling the ball on 3 occasions in the late 4th quarter. A pass from Luther, a pass from Spanoulis, and an Offensive Rebound. But he had some great tips. Unfortunate game for Hayes, but he did great -- defending whoever he needed to, but he picked up a few fouls he shouldn't have. And our rookies! Novak with a 3 pointer and a nice little back door play. Spanoulis! I love the guy! Got to the line a few times, and then had the fantastic steal at the end to seal off a great victory. And T-Mac wasn't even included! The Rockets did well without him, and it's great to know we're no longer so dependent on him. We're set in the fact that we can go stretches of Yao dominating and T-Mac dominating, and hopefully tomorrow we'll see more of McGrady. If we establish Yao in the first half, and keep McGrady involved, we can compete in the third, and go-to one of them in the fourth if we need a dominant presence. It's a bit sad that they don't see a whole-lot of time together on the court, but that'll change once we start competing a bit more. Excellent win. If Rafer can continue this play, and Bonzi can get himself established, as well as the rest of the role players shooting this well, we will be set. Once Yao and T-Mac see more time together, they're inside-outside presence will only blossom. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play so much on the court together, but once T-Mac is feelin' his jumper like he was in 04-05, this team will be very, very strong.
Good input Locke. I didn't watch the game, but from watching the highlights, it looked like the Mavericks just had an off night. They weren't able to handle Yao at all and a lot of players on the Rockets got involved tonight. It's games like these that show they can get back intp the playoffs.
Rockets kick Mavs ASS & how they did it. <div class="quote_poster">Ming637 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Good input Locke. I didn't watch the game, but from watching the highlights, it looked like the Mavericks just had an off night. They weren't able to handle Yao at all and a lot of players on the Rockets got involved tonight. It's games like these that show they can get back intp the playoffs.</div> You should've watched the game man. Head was doing what he does best. Battier played more than his share of defense and even drove to the basket on a few ocassions. Snyder played good defense and got some steals for fast-break buckets. Chuck Hayes played his heart out, played physical defense on Dirk underneath, unfortunately he got fouled out and when he was leaving the court ... he turned back, looked at the court, said "*****" and left the court ( ) He wanted to keep on playing bad. Alston played amazing, I got to see the AND1 side of him when he made that pass to Hayes. 14 pts - 12 assists - 8 rbs...not only that ... when stronger players posted him up and turned for the shot, he ripped them. .. Yao was just unstoppable. V-Span played well, he had some nice passes and nice drives. Novak - although he only got 2 shots, he made 'em both. Hit a 3, 1-1. Wells made his debut, not too shabby. Tmac started the game attacking the basket & I liked that. But, didn't play too much because the others were simply on fire. Dikembe was on the down-side, the dumbass just couldn't catch the passes (nice ones) from V-Span and Alston, although he did get couple of blocks and managed to run down the court waving his finger. Overall, Yao was just dominant. Rockets shot the lights out, especially from downtown. Alston had slick passes, including the AND1 pass to Hayes on which Hayes missed the layup on - and Alston IMPRESSED me the most out of all. The thing I liked the most about the Rockets was - Rockets ran the sh1t out of the Mavs. Sometimes it looked like the Mavs couldn't keep up and were tired. Rockets had good amount of fast break points. To put it in a sentence... Rockets gave Mavs a taste of their own medicine. Rockets maintained their amazing defense where they had a hand in the shooters face almost each Maverick possesion along with running the courts. Man, I loved Rockets play. Hope we have more of these games to come. I was let down from losing to Jazz - but man, this was badass.
I just got back, and damn that game was great! Yao dominated, and check out Alston's stats: <u>Alston</u> -14 Points -12 Assists -8 Rebounds -4 Steals -0 Turnovers
I went to the game and it had to be one of the best ive ever been to to. everyone was so into the game.
Just got back. Man that was a great game, I am glad I chose that one to be my 1st Rockets Game. I wont be able to talk for the next 3 days, but it will be well worth it. Everyone played great, except for T-Mac that is. Before the game I was telling my friends that It was Dallas and I just couldn't see them going 0-2, but I would be happy if we got to see the old T-Mac and if it wasn't a blow out. I got the exact opposite. They were like, screw that I want to see them win. <div class="quote_poster">TmacGarnett Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I went to the game and it had to be one of the best ive ever been to to. everyone was so into the game.</div> I didn't think so. This was Dallas, and home opener. The arena tended to get more quite as the game went on. Maybe I am thinking about playoffs. When everyone is on there feet the whole time cheering/booing.
Rockets waxed that A&% Skip looked great. Yao dominated. C.Hayes got the start but foul trouble looks like it will follow him TMac was able to take the night off 22min. 8 points Thats exactly what this team was put together to do and Bonzi isn't even involved yet. That horrible start cost them in Utah but the quick 12-0 start against Dallas was a great reassurance of what this team can do. Dirk and Howard had par games and now with the height and depth in the backcourt Stackhouse wasn't able to light us up. L.Head looks back on track and brilliant.
AWESOME game last night......Yao and Raefer were the biggest difference makers........Dallas doesn't have anyone that can stop Yao down low....this is why we had so many open looks at the 3 point line. One thing that really stood out to me last night, is that Dallas is still a jump shooting team....they don't really have anyone that can drive and breakdown a defense, and they have no offensive post weapons to counter the Ming Dynasty. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I didn't think so. This was Dallas, and home opener. The arena tended to get more quite as the game went on. Maybe I am thinking about playoffs. When everyone is on there feet the whole time cheering/booing. </div> Well the rowdies stayed loud......all in all I thought the crowd was pretty good last night, there were some people complaining that wanted us to sit down, but we decided to keep standing while being obnoxious....we tortured and swarmed EVERY dallas fan we saw........most of them were good sports about it, but one guy looked so depressed when he was walking to his car, that he just looked straight forward and didn't say anything...oh yes the Mavs do suck!
