Here is the Rockets preview from Rockets.com <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> <u>Houston Rockets</u> The Houston Rockets hit the road for the first time this season tonight when they visit the United Center to take on the Chicago Bulls. The Rockets are coming off a surprising loss Saturday night to the Memphis Grizzlies and enter tonight's contest with a 1-1 record. A major key in the Rockets attack will be the play of second-year center Yao Ming. Yao poured in 19 points and grabbed 10 boards in the loss to Memphis, and may be called upon even more tonight against the Bulls. Providing resistance to Yao down low will be Chicago's Eddie Curry. It will be fun to see Yao and Curry go at it tonight in the paint. Similar to Yao, Curry can score, rebound and be a force in the post. While Yao has a number of dazzling offensive moves, Curry relies more on his power to get going offensively. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley will need to have stellar nights to take some pressure off the Houston post players. Turnovers cost the Rockets tremendously in their last outing, and Francis and Mobley will have to take better care of the basketball in order to leave the Windy City with a victory. <u>Chicago Bulls</u> Chicago also has a talented backcourt with Michigan products Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford manning the guard positions. Rose is a high-scoring player who can play three positions on the floor. Rose was the Bulls leading scorer last season with 22.1 points per game. Whether the nine-year veteran starts at shooting guard or small forward, look for Rose to have the ball in his hands on many occasions. Crawford, who will start the game at point guard, is a young rising star. Crawford is inconsistent at times, but his ability to score and find the open man has earned him many minutes running the Bulls show. The Bulls come into tonight's game with a 1-2 record after getting blown out Saturday by the Milwaukee Bucks. While the Bulls have looked rather disappointing so far this season, the Rockets should not take them lightly. Chicago has juggled its starting lineup in the first three games with veterans Scottie Pippen and Kendall Gill both getting looks as a starter. Chicago is a hard team to figure out because Rose, Crawford, Curry and forward Tyson Chandler all have the potential to put up big numbers. </div> This game should be real entertaining to watch. The Bulls are a young team who have alot of talent and depth. Both teams have good outside players, this game will be fought in the paint. The key match-up tonight will be Yao vs. Curry. It will be a battle of power(Curry) vs. finess(Yao). "Will Jim Jackson be able to take Rose out of the game? is another important question that the Rockets will face tonight". Rose is only averaging 13 ppg coming into this game however that number is far less then what he is capable of. The PG match up is critical to the Bulls. Crawford must be able to handle the pressure that Stevie will put on him and he must make good decisions. The Rockets are determined not to lose to in a row. Losing two in a row then having to go face New Jersey would not be a good thing. I see the Rockets winning this game, 83-78 Key to tonights game for both teams = Control the Paint
Rebounds are to be had tonight... The battle of the below-average-rebounding, future perennial all-star centers. Who will get more rebounds? Stuart
Yao and Curry have a combined 4 rebounds at the half. Whats with these two and their lack of rebounding prowess?? Anyways, Yao is having a better game than Eddy at half, Yao has 10pts, 2rebs, 2asts whereas Curry has 0pts (0-6FG and 0-2FT) 2rebs and... thats it. Stuart
Ok. Its official. I am no longer going to try to guess the score of the games. The Rockets have proved me wrong everytime I attempt to guess it correctly, like on this game. What a fantastic game if you are a Rockets fan, we absolutely destroyed the Bulls. Yao Ming made Eddy Curry look like a Rookie. After watching the first two possesions of the game, you knew the Rockets were out to win this game. Unlike in the Grizzlies game, the bench of the Rockets actually showed up and produced. Our bench accounted for 35 points and shot 48 percent (13-of-27) from the field. If we continue to have this type of production from our bench, I think we can make quite an impact in the west. As Stevie Francis said, "We played the way we wanted to play. We got the ball to the open guy." The Rockets sure did that last night and they really impressed me.
