Official Game Thread: Memphis Grizzlies At Houston Rockets By Shooter

By Shooter

GAME: Houston Rockets(2-2) vs. Memphis Grizzlies(0-3)

LOCATION: Toyota Center, Houston

TIME: 7:30PM, November 9th


PROBABLE STARTERS
SF Jim Jackson/James Posey
PF Maurice Taylor/Pau Gasol
C Yao Ming/Lorenzen Wright
PG Charlie Ward/Jason Williams
SG Tracy McGrady/Bonzi Wells

This marks the second meeting in less than a week behind these two respected divison rivals. Currently the Rockets are riding a two-game winning streak that began with Friday?s 89-81 win against Memphis. The Grizzlies are currently 0-3, looking for their first win tonight on the road in Houston.


<u>Point Guard</u>
Both teams will go with their normal starters. The Rockets? Charlie Ward has played very well so far in the Rocket?s opening four games. Ward has shot well from 3-point range (8-19) and is proving to be a reliable player at a spot that was questioned coming into the season. Ward?s averages of 9 ppg and 3 apg have provided nice support to T-Mac and Yao?s accomplishments but Ward will have to do a better job containing and closing out on the Grizzlies? Jason Williams. Williams is a streaky perimeter threat who shot 3-8 from downtown in their first meeting. How he shoots and how well he plays on offense often drives the Memphis engine so it is significant that Ward stay in front and force Williams to the middle where he will have to force shots against the likes of Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo.

<u>Shooting Guard</u>
Rockets? guard Tracy McGrady has played very well in his first few games in red and silver. McGrady has averaged 23 points/game but coach Van Gundy must love his 30 free throw attempts so far this season. McGrady has provided a slashing/aggressive attack in the halfcourt offense that the Rockets sorely lacked last season. He also has shown a tendency to pass too much to try and accommodate his teammates, and he is shooting a healthy 42% from 3-point range.
The Grizzlies? Bonzi Wells is a lot like McGrady in that he loves to slash and attack, however he lacks the strength, height and athleticism. He is a good scorer though and McGrady must not sleep on defense or else Wells will make him pay. However, this position is too much of an advantage for the Rockets.
<u>
Small Forward</u>
Jim Jackson has been inconsistent in his jump-shooting for the Rockets and has shown an uncharacteristic trait of horrible passing. It seems like he?s trying to do more than he can but I expect Jackson to settle down and knock down his open shots. He did a nice job of guarding the Grizzlies? best perimeter player, James Posey, the last game. He limited Posey to only four shots in 20 minutes. He must do the same because Posey can be the difference in the outcome of a game. His slashing and aggressive defense sparks Memphis and he loves playing against the Rockets after they did not match his restricted contract offer from Memphis two summers ago. This position is pretty much a throw-up as to who decides to show up and play, and it could very well determine who wins and loses as well.


<u>Power Forward</u>
This is where the Grizzlies shine. Pau Gasol has played very well against the Rockets, and their last meeting was no exception. Gasol posted 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks and single-handedly kept them close late in the game. His versatility on offense (great shooting touch, deadly turnaround, nice passing skills) often throws the Rockets big men off guard and he has been a thorn in the Rockets? side for the past season or so. Rockets? starter Maurice Taylor must not only make Gasol play defense (where he is known to pick up easy foolish fouls) by scoring but also make a more concentrated effort to box out Gasol from picking up easy baskets on the offensive end. Taylor does not have the quickness to guard Gasol but he does have the strength and girth and he must use that to his advantage. The Rockets have done a horrible job on the defensive boards this season and Gasol can take advantage of that if Taylor and backup Juwan Howard don?t focus on keeping him out of the paint.

<u>Center</u>
Well it?s about time, isn?t it? Rockets? phenom Yao Ming finally turned in his first huge game of the season, turning in 33 points and 12 rebounds in their last game versus Sacramento. This is what fans expected all along and hopefully it?s a sign of how the offense will run. The Rockets need Yao to take atleast 20 shots a game. He still is showing a lack of aggressive on offense as he needs to realize that any shot within five feet needs to be a dunk and not a layup or jump hook. But he might be showing signs of turning around, and if so, that?s bad news for Memphis, where they will counter with the athleticism and energy of Lorenzen Wright. Wright is very much undersized against Ming (but then again, who isn?t?) and tried to use his reach and jumping ability to distract shots. He and Gasol did an admirable job against Yao the last game but expect things to be much different this time around.




<u>
Keys To The Game</u>
For Memphis, their strategy is easy. They forced McGrady to beat them the last game and held Yao down with constant double-teams and pressure. The only problem is McGrady did beat them, especially with his heroic third quarter. However, with the resurgence (hopefully) of the new Yao Ming, the Grizzlies might be smart to allow McGrady and Yao to get their numbers and just shut everyone else down. Force Ming to take over, which he has rarely shown, and force McGrady to get a lot of shots up for his points. Negate the 3-point shooters and constantly pressure the ballhandlers.
For Houston, they must focus on Pau Gasol and James Posey. They must double-team Gasol at all times and make him get out of rhythm. With Posey, force him to shoot because he can beat you with drives to the basket. The Rockets must also win the rebounding battle. The Grizzlies have a lot of energetic players who attack the boards, particularly offensively, and rebounding is a huge asset to their game plan. Control the boards and you?ll control the Grizzlies.



Outcome
Rockets 92
Grizzlies 86

 

Last time, Yao really struggled against Memphis. After a good outing against Sacremento, it will be interesting to see if his performance carries over against this team. If Yao continues to struggle against this team, that's cause for concern.

 

Gasol With his extremly long arm and quickness, seems to give yao lots of problems

Yao has to get in the paint and overpower the griz players he should be stronger than anyone that will defend him on that team.

 

In paint, I'm guessing the Grizzlies will have an advantage unless Yao REALLY steps up like the Sacremento game and graps rebounds, something that will probably not happen because of Pau Gasol. In addition to that, Howard and Taylor aren't GREAT rebounders when having to guard Gasol, so I see Grizzlies having a slight advantage in there. Still, it looks as though the Rockets will dominant more with their guards with Ward and definitely McGrady. Charlie Ward is a pretty nice defender so he should keep Jason Williams as a streaker shooter and the McGrady and Posey is without a doubt for McGrady.

Rockets Win, 93-89

BTW Trip, nice preview, but I think you screwed up the Grizzlie starters names.

 

Oops, changed now.

And btw, I'd like to once again justify that this preview was done by Shooter and all credit should be given to him. I'm just the sucker posting it.

 

The Griz will be out for blood this time, but since this is a home game, I think Yao will step it up. I think Gasol wil be guarding him, and if that happens, then Yao will have a hard time getting arond him. A biut more brute strength is required, but Yao hasn't got that YET!!!

That bein said, T-MAc will shutdown who ever he guards (hopefully Posey), because i think JJ can do a better job on Bonzi.

Memphis have to contain Yao and the shooters. It could be a chance for JJ to shine, because Memphis might ease off him to apply more pressure on Tmac and Ward but I don't see them Containing Tmac, and there will be s few open looks for Ward to exploit.

HOU 91
MEM 87

 

Yao can overpower Gasol, He just has power him not finesse him

 

Well, Posey would most certainly be on McGrady. That will leave Bonzi Wells on Jim Jackson. Bonzi is not a really good defender, but can put points up in a hurry. We should have McGrady on him because Posey is more of a scoring threat than Wells is. Jackson did a great job on him last game and he should again. McGrady can stay on Wells, and just holding him to below 14 points will be a success. Whoever guards Gasol, though, will have to do a good job for us to succeed.

The Grizzlies have not won a game this year yet, and they shouldn't at our home turf. Therefore, it'll be Rockets over Grizzlies, 97-92.

 

Ah, finally another game. So...let's give these Grizzlies another loss shall we?

Who wants Memphis on a 0-4 streak hm?

Prediction:
Yao will have probably about 18-20 points, 11 rebounds I think. Hopefully the momentum from the Sac game will carry over. If not then...I guess Yao bashers will start filing in to call Yao inconsistent.
Mcgrady will do his thang. 24-28 points, 7 assists possibly?

Rockets take this one and go on a 3 game streak
95-86

 

Chances are that we're gonna win; we're at home with less pressure than the grizzlies..

 

We must not let up tonight. The Grizz basically have their backs against the wall and thus might take it to us hard. We have to be prepared in case they spurt out to a huge lead on an early start. If we can keep the first three quarters close, it'll be enough for a win.

 

Currently it seems that this game will stretch on with the scores pretty even. Juwan Howard is looking like he's having a good game, 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line for 10 points, leading us right now. Yao Ming needs to get more than the 6 he currently has though.

 

Rockets grind this one out by luck. Score is 90-87

Yao fouled out with 1 min to go and T-Mac got an injury and didn't play 2nd half.
Groin or hip injury i think, they had to send him to the trainer room to get some treatment. Hope it isn't serious, if it is then we have a poor chance of making playoffs.


BTW good win. Juwan carried us in the end with 20 pts, Yao also had 2 clutch plays that made our lead ever further. :thumbsup:
Too many TO's though. :thumbsdow

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BTW good win. Juwan carried us in the end with 20 pts, Yao also had 2 clutch plays that made our lead ever further.
Too many TO's though. </div>

definitely, can any of you give me some details about Tmac's injury, like how or what happened during the play? I didn't watch the game and just watched stats. Man this one was a tight one, Jim Jackson looks like he's stepping it up more and Howard looks like he still has something from those veteran years. Great win for us because not just two people aka Yao and Tmac contributed, but rather the entire team with alotta ppl having about 10 points.

 

I still can't figure out why the Rockets turn the ball over so much.
They are careless turnovers too, bad passes, offensive violations.

I remember last year in playoffs vs Lakers, last minute or so, rockets still leading, and Jackson literally through the ball right into Kobe, it wasn't even a play, just a simple pass. Kobe got an easy dunk.

The rockets survived today because of good rebounding and defense.

 

Yao again had a tough night against the Grizzlies. They are constantly swiping and swarming around him, and they make it very difficult for him to even catch the ball. I still feel the Rockets can do a better job spacing the floor before trying to drop the ball down to Yao, so that he doesn't have defenders blind-siding him.

 

T-Mac was limping at the end of the first half, He did play for awhile in the second half with the injury. But he was pulled in the 3rd quarter. I dont think it is anything serious. I doubt he will miss anytime.

 

Any update on him? (Tracy McGrady)

 

He said after the game that he's not sure if he'll be able to play against Minnesota. If its still hurting him, I say he should skip the game and try to recover. It would suck if he aggravated the injury.

 

Rockets win, 90-87. Dayum! My prediciton was off by one point.

So T-Mac was injured? Oh no. Well if he was playing through the injury for over a quarter then i guess it isn't all to serious.
When is the Minna game? Is it tomorrow? If so then T-Mac should sit out. I don't mind losing to a class act like the Twolves, it beats a 10 game losing streak because your best player (better than Yao too) is out.