Rockets 2009 Playoffs
 

You'll have to excuse me for being a negative nancy, but I foresee yet another early exit for the Rockets. They've been horrible on the road all year and I don't know if they have the talent or fire-in-the-belly to come back from being down 0-2. If they win one of the first two games, all bets are off and they have a good chance of actually winning the series, but otherwise I'm not so confident.

With our recent history you almost have to take a "I'll believe it when I see it approach". They were a .500 club on the road. Other than L.A. and San Antonio that's as good as the rest of the playoff teams. Portland is a better match up for us than some other team might be...say, Utah. Pryzbilla and Oden aren't going to give Yao many problems. Scola and Landry have done a good job on Aldridge. Battier and Artest can team up and make Brandon Roy's life difficult even if they don't shut him down.

I would prefer home court advantage, but I do like the match-up against Portland.

I think it will be 7 games, we win the series, and then we get to face the Lakers. I don't know, this team hasn't established consistency of play, but does seem overall better and on the road the past month or so.

On the one hand, it would be funny as hell after all the years of "Tracy McGrady can't get past the first round" banter to see the Rockets reach the second round with McGrady laid up. But the choke against the Mavs says all you need to know. The Rockets will take it to seven but lose a close Game Seven with the refs giving the Blazers some questionable calls. Book it.

Rockets in 6.

Wow. They were nothing short of impressive in game 1. 59% shooting! Great road win for the Rockets. Hopefully they'll keep playing like this.

I love watching Von Wafer play basketball. Verrrrrry entertaining player offensively.

the NBA is officially the worst officiated game in the history of the universe. That goes both ways too...every game I watch there are just so many terrible calls on both ends. It's the reason I hardly watch any NBA outside of the Rockets...even then I only watch bits and pieces until the end of the season/playoffs because it's just so frustrating to watch.

There were plenty of terrible calls that went against the blazers tonight too, so I'm not just being a homer.

Joey Crawford might be the worst of them all.

I love watching him too...I hope the Rockets can hold on to him.

MIGHT be? I've never in my life seen anyone take more joy in controlling a game. it's all about Joey. This is well-known by anyone who has ever watched game that he's officiated. I'll never forget about 3 years ago, I was watching a game with my girlfriend at the time (who was not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. "watching the game" meant "cuddle time"), and after 3 or 4 tempo-changing ticky-tack foul calls by Joey, she actually said, "why does that ref keep doing that? That guy didn't touch him. Does he just like to be on TV?" I said, "exactly, honey. Exactly." Even she understood, and this is a girl that thought that football games had innings. no lie.

As much as I hated to see last night's game slip away, i've still gotta say "mission accomplished." We took back home court, and decisively. even with Roy and Aldridge going off, we still were able to cut the lead to 2 with under 2 seconds left in a hostile environment. I think if we can come out aggressively in game 3 and pound them relentlessly, we win the series going away. Portland doesn't have an answer for Yao, so even if they do front him and take him away on the low post, just put scola at the top of the key and swing it around to him if the entry pass isn't there. he can knock down the J until they start closing out on him, and then Yao is free to repost. easy.

We won a game on the road. Now we just have to make sure they don't steal one in our place. I'm happy with where we"re at.

You're right about Scola, but they just need to keep the ball moving and not be so predictable in how they try and set up Yao. I actually think they should get Yao the ball in the high post some. He's not going to drive from that position much, but he can knock down the jumper. He's also a good enough passer that he should be able to get the ball to the cutters in a good position. From the high post he should be able to pass out and then quickly set up on the low block before they front him...as long as the guards can dump the ball back in quickly. they need to change up how Yao goes about setting up in the post so it's not so easy for defensese to set up. As much as anything that will also just let Yao get the ball in his hands, and keep him from getting so frustrated.

I was going to write about how lamarcus aldridge's quick feet and athleticism could get him around yao in time to front, but the second he drops down, you've got the lob for an easy layup set up right there, so I like it! get adelman on the phone.

They just need to change up how they set up Yao in the post. It's the same one or two sets every time. Just do something different every now and then to keep the D from getting into a rhythm.

I've got tickets for tonight....and the clock is moving way to slow.

Ready to eat my crow. Did anyone see the post-game presser with Yao and Artest after Game 6? They're a regular comedy act.

The highlight was when a reporter asked Artest about taking a dive into the crowd after a loose ball and he said "Well, I've gone into the stands before..."

and after the laughter died down he said "one guy even offered me a beer. Yeah, he wasn't trying to throw it at me."

Back in the 80s, if you wanted to go anywhere important in the Western Conference, you had to beat the Lakers so I'm not intimidated by playing the Lakers but I think the loss of Motumbo makes them thin along the front line and they can't afford to get Yao in foul trouble.

Finally, LOL at McGrady. The Rockets advance when he's not in the lineup. I guess he was the problem the whole time.

It's great to see the Rockets get a little more success finally. Nice to see Yao and Arteste get some success and then be able to enjoy it and relax. Having Scola and Battier helps a lot. VonWafer becoming the crowd favorite. Two point guards getting more muture each game. Good depth coming in off the bench. Pretty good coaching as well. Fairly good basketball to watch. So, if we can get the LA series to 7, who knows what can happen.

I think the rockets best hope for winning this series is to try to win it in 6 again... if they can win just one of those first three games in LA then we'll have a good chance of pulling it off. Its possible that theyll win it in 7, but I see 6 to be more likely to happen.

I agree. I think whoever wins this series does it in 6, and that's for either team.

wow, just an amazing win by Rockets in Game 1 with LA. Yao, Arteste, Brooks, great games and the whole team did really well. that was exciting to watch.

Yao's return from injury was simply legendary.

It's nice to know he simply knocked knees, but that was a looooooong commercial break before we knew anything other than Yao in pain laying on the floor.

Not a Willis Reed moment, but he showed me some stones last night. Jeff Van Gundy always talks about how Yao cares, and how bad he wants to win, and I see it more and more. This team showed grit all year, the battle with injuries, and last night taking back the lead in the 4th quarter.

Kobe, besides being an adulterer, is a punk/loser after rubbing his junk on the head of Battier. I have zero respect for crap like that.

Congrats to the Rockets on their big road win. That was a gutty performance. Our ace in the hole may be Adelman's experience going against Phil Jackson and the Lakers so often while coaching in the Pacific Division all those years. He knows what the Lakers will do probably better than anyone. From there, it's a matter of getting his players to recognize and execute.

Artest also seems to be the x-factor we didn't have in past seasons.

Kobe, now added to my Malone, and Stockton hated punk list. And LA floppers, deserve to loose. poor coaching control by whats his name in LA.

Poor coaching control for LA??? What do you call it when adelman gets yelled at by a scrub like Von Wafer on the sideline in the middle of a playoff game.

Houston just lacks the offense to win this series. Too much dribbling around in the 4th quarter tonight. And it was done for sure after Artest was unlucky enough to have his "I got hit in the throat" motion look like an "I'm gonna kill you" motion.

Houston plays very hard but is outgunned here. I'll take money it doesn't go past 6. The only drama left is who the first Rocket to beat up Sasha Vuajic will be.

Most of the time I feel the Yao bashing we hear a lot is unwarranted. However, I can certainly see why people get upset with him. Yes, he got into early foul trouble, but he played like a total wimp last night when he was in game and has got to be one of the weakest (especially in the hands) big men of all time. Get a frickin' contested rebound or hold onto the ball in traffic once in awhile, Jeezus! Adelman should have just left Landry in the game and only put Yao in to spell him when got tired.

I disagree the Rockets are outgunned by the Lakers. The Rockets problems were mostly self inflicted last night. The ~19 turnovers, missed FT's, and over-dribbing is what killed them - not LA's offense or overpowering play. They can let Kobe get his points, but they cannot let the others like Odom and Gasol get easy baskets. Yao was letting them do whatever they wanted to in the paint and was pretty much a stiff.

As a side note, not factoring in Kobe and Gasol/Yao and Artest, I'd take the Rockets roster over the Lakers roster. If the Rockets take care of the damn ball they have a good shot at beating the Lakers, IMO.

That's the point. Kobe makes the difference. The Rockets only have one good one-on-one player and that is Yao and he is easy to deny and easy to double. That means the 4th quarter is spent with Aaron Brooks dribbling or Ron Artest shooting contested jumpers. Every once in a while it works (game 1), but you can't win 4 games like that.

The Lakers meanwhile just run their offense and if it doesn't work Kobe raises up for a 50/50 jumper over Battier or gets a teammate an open look. The Rockets may have the deeper roster (especially at PG) but it's irrelevant. They can't close because nobody on the roster creates shots. Maybe (and a big maybe) brooks in a year or two if he learns to stop dribbling so much and learns to run the pick and roll.

Don't forget the NBA is a fixed league. It's going to a Kobe-LeBron final. That's what the suits want and the order has been passed down to the refs to make sure it happens.

I really wish the NBA suits would look at the census data from China...Yao in the finals would be the best worldwide rankings the NBA has ever seen.

i never thought i'd say this, but watching artest dribble in traffic makes me miss mcgrady.

ugh.

i was thinking about that last night. Artest dribbling is like watching two fat people...well you know. He's just doesn't look graceful, or even athletic, when he's dribbling. He likes to dribble a lot and go nowhere while running out the shot clock slightly less than Mac. It's frustrating as hell, but at least he gives you consistent effort and defense...which is why i haven't gotten sick of him yet.

....oh and how is it possible that Joey Crawford still has a job, much less being assigned (rewarded) to playoff games. He freaking shoved a player last night. If a player, well most players, did that they would be suspended...Crawford will probably be calling games in the finals.

yes on balance, i don't miss mcgrady at all (always thought we was a liability) and think artest makes an important contribution.

i just wish they'd tell him not to put the ball on the floor when triple covered.

sort of like back in the day when drexler was raining - and missing - threes in the playoffs, and you just wanted rudy t to sack it up and remind him that outside shooting was not the reason he was on the team.

Well, the air certainly went out of this balloon now that Yao is out with a broken foot. I doubt it would happen but I'd love to see the Rockets goon it up for the rest of the series. Take every cheap shot at Kobe they can practically take.

I mean, Artest and Battier could certainly do something clever, couldn't they?

the only way I can describe that game is wow...I've always liked Battier, but after today he's way up on my list. Not just the threes he hit, but the way he was still fighting for loose balls after the game was basically over. He always does those things, but it was pretty special in this sietting.

yeah, poor LA, wonder what their excuse is now. Scola, Battier, and Artest are really solid and if Brooks is gonna shoot like this, who knows. Much bettter game w/o all the cheap shots.

Heard quite the interesting factoid this afternoon: Since the "malice in the palace" and the ensuing 1 year suspension, Ron Artest has had 15 technicals, 1 flagrant, and has been thrown out twice. Over that same time, Kobe Bryant has had 55 techs, 3 flagrant fouls, and has been run 4 times. Yet Ronny's the thug.

YeeHa, going to game 7, Rockets made it look good tonight. Scola amazing game. Landry showed up big. Brooks hit his shots. I really enjoyed the techical on punky , flopper Kobe.

if the rockets could lose artest, too, they night be a contender.

I'm proud of what the Rockets did this year, especially given the three key injuries. I am sure there will be some attempted trades and upgrades, but they gave us quite an entertaining show this year. Very good team comaraderie. I think Artest grew up a lot, was a model citizen, speaks well, played hard, had several very good games to help us win in the playoffs, and deserves to try and stay. And he had some frustrating overdribbling fits as well, part of being behind, wanting to win, contribute, and needs some coaching to correct, not to bad, all the guys had off games and on games, good shots, bad shots, good defense, and turnovers.

I congratulate the Rockets as well for their overachieving season. It shows the strength of the support players that they can still beat the #1 seed twice without their star players.

I think what the Rockets need to do next is realize it is fools gold to believe McGrady and Yao can stay healthy for an entire season and get rid of one or the other.