Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers (16-16) @ (16-14) Friday, January 7th at 9:30 pm at the Staples Center on ESPN Starting Lineup- Position by Position Analysis vs PG- Bob Sura vs Chucky Atkins. Both of these players aren't exactly the best positions of the teams, so this probably won't be a deciding factor of the game. However, Bob Sura is coming off some nice performances and should have some momentum going in this game. In addition to that, he brings a three dimensional game- he can rebound, assist, and post up some points. Rockets Advantage. vs SG- Tracy McGrady vs Kobe Bryant. This will definitely be a close one. Two incredible star players facing off. However, I do think Bryant will play more aggressively due to the fact that he will be carrying his team. McGrady however, is a great offensive player, is arguably the best one on one player of the game, and had some great games in the last couple of nights. Watch them both to be hot and lighting up this game. Even Advantage. vs SF- Jon Barry vs Caron Butler. Two very different players here. While Jon Barry brings a more consistent three pointer, Caron Butler brings a lot of athleticism. Jon Barry will probably have trouble trying to keep up with Caron Butler, who can play much more physical and at a faster pace. Lakers Advantage vs PF- Juwan Howard vs Lamar Odom. Juwan Howard has been on the swing in the last few games. He's been getting more points and fighting for the boards more and it definitely shows more with his stats. Lamar Odom however, has always been a solid player. He grabs a ton of rebounds and can easily power his way in the low post. In addition to that, Lamar Odom is a much younger and more athletic power forward than can easily beat Juwan Howard endurance and speed wise. Lakers Advantage. vs C- Yao Ming vs Chris Mihm. Yao Ming has been having an inconsistent season thus far while Chris Mihm has recently been getting some attention since being on the Lakers. So far, Yao has been far too timid for many of the Rocket's fans liking, but nevertheless, with his wingspan and height, has the power to dominate the low post. Meanwhile, Mihm is a faster center but yet, does not grab that much rebounds, and that will ultimately affect his team. Rockets Advantage. Keys to the Game -Establish Yao in the low post. It's as simple as that. Aside from Odom, there really isn't a player that can stop Yao so there isn't a reason that he can't get some high stats this game. -Get McGrady hot early and often in this game. It's quite obvious whenever he gets his shot going, he completely changes our team's momentum and pace. In addition to that, he needs to do the best job that he can at defending Kobe and not get tired. All he really needs to do is get his hand up in Kobe's face and not let him take any easy shots. -Let Kobe score, just not any of the other players. Even if Kobe racks up over 40 points in this game, he can't beat the entire team by himself. That's why the Rockets need to defend players like Odom and Butler well so that the Lakers do not get the role players going. -Collective effort. Odom needs to be more aggressive. So far, many have questioned his aggressiveness in the Lakers lineup as the second scoring option. However, not only does Odom need to put a lot of effort into the game, but it goes the same for all the other role players. Kobe can't win it by himself, its as simple as that. -Control Yao and McGrady. Once these guys get going, there's no stopping them. If Yao controls the low post, there's very little hope for the Lakers to be getting much rebounds, so their going to have to be aggressive to the boards early. And if McGrady gets going, well you know what happens. -Watch the perimeter. With the acquisition of Barry and Wesely, the Rockets now have some pretty nice perimeter shooters. That's why the Lakers need to be careful with the double teams and not let players like them get wide open shots. Prediction: Rockets win 98-94.
Nice preview Aznxballer. As a Rockets fan, I certainly hope for a win, and this game is a must-watch because Laker/Rocket matchups will always be close and exciting. I predict a big game for Yao, McGrady and Bryant. We have to hope that McGrady doesn't get carried away and get into a scoring contest with Bryant, thus leaving Yao in the cold. If we can play like a team, the Rockets should have this one by 7.
If tmac imposes his will, everything else will go well. I'm not worried..L.A are in a slump lately and kobe isn't getting any answers from any of his teammates. I think without Mihm L.A would be the worst defensive team. We have scorers now..Wesley and Barry will get a lot of open shots..we're a different team now..I;m pretty confident of a Win. We played pretty well against the suns ..we r a much improved team ..unlike what others thought of the trade.. I've always thought these trades would make us better and it did make us better. I think we will have this one with a comfortable 10 pts
^Well Kobe plays very good defense as well, but yeah, I agree. Our defense... could be better. I think the Lakers will win this. Why? They've lost two in a row, they cannot afford another and because Kobe will be looking to send a message. You know Tracy and Kobe are always gonna be playing great when they square up together. I would think the Rockets want this win too, defeating the Lakers would increase their chance of playoff birth. And possibly open the railroad of a remainder of a season above 50%. I expect Kobe and Tracy to shine, honestly i'm not expecting a whole lot from Yao but he could explode, and with that I want to see at least four of our players above fifteen points. This should mean that Kobe is getting his teammates involved, with that comes assist... and if he stays agressive, he should get more rebounds. The last few games Kobe has got hardly any rebounds and assist compared to what was a 7 reb and assist per game, it has dropped to the high 6 now. Lakers 97 - Rockets 92. Nice preview, by the way.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dan Le:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah i think Mcgrady will be moved up to SF and Wesley will play SG...</div> Who knows? If the Lakers start Caron Butler at small forward, Van Gundy might start Barry because his size would make guarding Butler easier. Wesley, at 6-1, will get posted up numerous times and would be a big hole defensively. It's all a matter of strategy, although Wesley did start the last game against Phoenix.
T-Mac vs Kobe round 1. I was thinking and its funny how McGrady wanted to get himself a good teamate (yao) and how kobe wanted to be the only superstar and create his own legacy. Yao needs to have a good game and aslong as T-Mac stays close and even with Kobe, rockets easily win. Rockets win 96-83
Obviously Kobe is going to want to come out and prove that he's got Tracy's number, and if Tracy buys into the challenge and Yao is left standing around watching, the Rockets will lose. Bryant and Odom will almost certainly get their's, so the Rockets will HAVE to counter that with Tracy AND Yao, no question. I predict Tracy and Kobe to play generally even, Odom should get his against Howard and Taylor, and Yao will get his points but struggle to grab rebounds against the more agile Mihm and with Odom lerking near the paint. Unfortunately, I predict a Laker win: 97-92.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">Who knows? If the Lakers start Caron Butler at small forward, Van Gundy might start Barry because his size would make guarding Butler easier. Wesley, at 6-1, will get posted up numerous times and would be a big hole defensively. It's all a matter of strategy, although Wesley did start the last game against Phoenix.</div> Jon Barry isn't much taller than Wesley, and he's not nearly as strong. Barry got burned on postups multiple times against Richardson in the last game, while Wesley avoided that. Besides, I don't think Van Gundy would tinker with the starting rotations because of Caron Butler. He's not that good an offensive player to warrant that. Also, if size was really a concern, JVG would have Sura matchup against Butler defensively. Edit: I checked and Jon Barry is actually 6'5 which is surprising. The way he plays, I thought he was more like 6'3. Still, I don't think he'd do a better job of defending Butler or Bryant than Wesley.
It would be an exciting game featuring Kobe vs TMac. Keys to the game for the Rockets to win are, to contain Kobe and defend well against Odom. Butler and Cook are not to be taken for granted. Cook causes some mismatch because he can stretch defenses with his good three point shooting ability other than that he's a worst defender. Yao might be able to collect a lot of fouls from the Lakers big men just like what he did last time around. I wish Yao would step up during road games. The Rockets must first set the tempo in order for them to control the game. The Lakers are not good anymore in overcoming large deficits ever since Shaq was gone. Rockets by eight.
I hope we do win this, we need it, last time we faced the lakers and we didn't have T-Mac, Yao really stepped up and took over, I hope he shows the same energy as he did last time and T-Mac just plays well, if that happens we have a guaranteed win, I think we'll win it 96-88...
I predict yao will sit on Mihm and get over 30 points I predict T-mac will fly over Kobe and dunk on his head and get over 20 I predict Mutombo will swing his elbows and get 4 Lakers players and a $20,000 fine
I'm going to be worried if Yao starts playing like he did in 2003. Otherwise, I see the Lakers winning. I don't think the Rockets are going to put McGrady on Kobe...sorry guys, but I don't see JVG doing that for the simple fact that McGrady doesn't want to be used strictly for defense the entire game. Obviously, Kobe will have the ball 110% of the time due to everyone else being shut down as usual...so I'm not sure about working T-Mac every play.
Will the Rockets put T-Mac on Kobe defensively, or Wesley (or maybe even Sura?). I know JVG doesn't want to tire out T-Mac by putting him on Kobe, but I don't think Wesley or Sura have any chance of defending him well individually. We're going to have to double team him aggressively and make the others beat us.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">We're going to have to double team him aggressively and make the others beat us.</div> And this is where I think Houston will lose the game...on double-teams. That is...unless Yao is a monster tonight. The man needs to get mean and rip boards, score (DUNK), and defend the paint. For the Rockets' sake, Yao needs to stay with Mihm. If he leaves the paint on D, it's over guys. Mihm plays his best at home, and Kobe will find Chris everytime if he's open. Otherwise, I'm going to be upset if Yao goes off because this game will be all Rockets if that happens.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">And this is where I think Houston will lose the game...on double-teams. That is...unless Yao is a monster tonight. The man needs to get mean and rip boards, score (DUNK), and defend the paint. For the Rockets' sake, Yao needs to stay with Mihm. If he leaves the paint on D, it's over guys. Mihm plays his best at home, and Kobe will find Chris everytime if he's open. Otherwise, I'm going to be upset if Yao goes off because this game will be all Rockets if that happens.</div> My hope is that Kobe will be too caught up in trying to outscore T-Mac and he'll be reluctant to quickly give up the ball on double teams resulting in him forcing up tons bad shots and getting lots of turnovers. Isn't there also some sort of deal where he and T-Mac will donate $1,000 per every point they score in this game? I'm sure that's even more incentive for them to outscore the other. Chris Mihm had a terrible game last time he faced the Rockets (only 15 minutes played and 0 rebounds), but it's true that he plays better in LA. But I'd rather take my chances with giving Mihm a chance to beat us than playing Kobe one on one.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">And this is where I think Houston will lose the game...on double-teams. That is...unless Yao is a monster tonight. The man needs to get mean and rip boards, score (DUNK), and defend the paint. For the Rockets' sake, Yao needs to stay with Mihm. If he leaves the paint on D, it's over guys. Mihm plays his best at home, and Kobe will find Chris everytime if he's open. Otherwise, I'm going to be upset if Yao goes off because this game will be all Rockets if that happens.</div> Agreed. Mihm is a monster on the glass. I am predicting about a 23, 15 point game for Mihm. Kobe will get 30 points and about 9 assits.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sonics1:</div><div class="quote_post">Agreed. Mihm is a monster on the glass. I am predicting about a 23, 15 point game for Mihm. Kobe will get 30 points and about 9 assits.</div> Well, Mihm is a monster on the glass...when he tries...but he hardly ever does that. Sometimes, I get sick of watching him try and rebound the ball. But I'll give him credit for his inconsistency anyways; at least it happens every once in a while. I just think that he should be averaging just a little more than he is now (in rebounds) but I also see that Odom is pulling down around 11 a game, and Kobe at around 7...so it makes up for it.
I predict Yao will get 8 pts and 4 rebounds and 1 block.I predict T-Mac will make 15 free throws and finish with 32 points.I predict David Wesly will go 4-16.I predict Bob Sura will do nothing to help the Rockets.I predict JVG will regret losing Jim Jackson. I predict the Rockets lose by 12.
