Houston and LA talk is back...

[SpursDynasty]

I'm sorry, I still don't buy into them....or into hearing predictions about Houston and the Lakers being in the 2nd round. Houston and LA win a couple of games again, and suddenly we're hearing talk about them again....

Houston and the Lakers will not be in the 2nd round. Dallas, SA, Utah, and Phoenix are the second round teams.

If anyone disagrees with me, which I'm pretty much used to, let us all know. Who will be the 4 second-round teams?

[mardigan]

I think that Houston can and will make it to the second round, especially because they might get the number 4 spot, theyare only a game and a half back from Utah, thats about it though

[Kori Ellis]

Mavs, Suns, Spurs, Rockets

[mavsfan1000]

Houston is for real. The Lakers aren't.

[1Parker1]

Mavs, Suns, Spurs, Rockets


:tu As much as I wish the best for Utah, I don't think they'll be able to counter the Rockets defense and Yao and McGrady (if both are healthy). Add to the fact that the Jazz haven't been playing that well for a month now, I think the Rockets have the best chance of "an upset."

[Roxsfan]

:tu As much as I wish the best for Utah, I don't think they'll be able to counter the Rockets defense and Yao and McGrady (if both are healthy). Add to the fact that the Jazz haven't been playing that well for a month now, I think the Rockets have the best chance of "an upset."

whs^

[Xylus]

I've got the Rockets over Utah, as well.

[mikejones99]

Utah vs Houston should be one hell of a series.

[Borosai]

Mavs, Suns, Spurs, Rockets

[Dave McNulla]

while houston can't get the fourth seed (short of the spurs losing about 10 more games), i think houston could have hca against utah as the five seed. utah isn't really a running team, which is what's needed to take yao out of the game. van gundy will put yao on boozer and hayes/howard on okur. i give houston the edge, even if they don't get hca.

no way the lakers can beat the spurs. phil jackson is an awesome coach, but not that awesome.

[Admidave50]

Mavs, Spurs, Suns, Rockets

Jazz is not playing that great lately and Yao & Tmac are back!

[RonMexico]

Rockets/Jazz series should be great.

[samikeyp]

Mavs, Spurs, Suns, Rockets

[phyzik]

Mavs, Spurs, Suns, Rockets

My heart wants to agree with that....

My gut says Recent history of Rockets injuries and choke jobs (past several years) = first round disappointing exit, its like they are jinxed or some shit and its really sad.

We will all be in a better position after a few more days to determine if Utah is for real and the Spurs dont choke in cruise control mode.

[Roxsfan]

My heart wants to agree with that....

My gut says Recent history of Rockets injuries and choke jobs (past several years) = first round disappointing exit, its like they are jinxed or some shit and its really sad.

We will all be in a better position after a few more days to determine if Utah is for real and the Spurs dont choke in cruise control mode.


Is that want you want?

Afraid they may give your spurs a run for their :greedy

Past perf. does not dictate future perf. :nope

[Jimcs50]

If Yao ever gets the calls, that he is not getting now, then Houston can beat Dallas in 2nd round as well.

[Rummpd]

8th seed comes close to shocking Mavs = I am calling it now!!!! (Then if it gets close, Dirk's certain part of anatomy may shrink again??)

(Would not gamble on this, but would love to see it and if GS plays them it could well happen that they get a real scare put into them!)

[AFBlue]

Houston is being heavily overvalued in this thread and Utah is being heavily undervalued.

He may be 8 inches shorter than Yao, but Carlos Boozer is the best post player on either team. Add the late-game play of Okur and Fisher and you've got one hell of a playoff team.

[bdictjames]

Utah vs Houston should be one hell of a series.
Most competitive series in the whole WC, I say. Biggest possibility of an upset.

[Dave McNulla]

Houston is being heavily overvalued in this thread and Utah is being heavily undervalued.

He may be 8 inches shorter than Yao, but Carlos Boozer is the best post player on either team. Add the late-game play of Okur and Fisher and you've got one hell of a playoff team.
boozer isn't going to be able to post up yao.

[ManuMagic]

while houston can't get the fourth seed (short of the spurs losing about 10 more games), i think houston could have hca against utah as the five seed. utah isn't really a running team, which is what's needed to take yao out of the game. van gundy will put yao on boozer and hayes/howard on okur. i give houston the edge, even if they don't get hca.

no way the lakers can beat the spurs. phil jackson is an awesome coach, but not that awesome.

Utah is in the 4th seed and Houston can take that. They can't get the 3rd seed from the Spurs.

[AFBlue]

boozer isn't going to be able to post up yao.

He's quicker than Yao and he's a crafty post player. Again....being undervalued.

[mardigan]

Ill take T-Mac over anyone the Jazz got

[phyzik]

Is that want you want?

Afraid they may give your spurs a run for their :greedy

Past perf. does not dictate future perf. :nope

It does pertaining to injury prone players that are still on the team.... you look at these guys the wrong way and something breaks/sprains.

[AFBlue]

Ill take T-Mac over anyone the Jazz got

I may take T-Mac over any player the Jazz have and I may take T-Mac + Yao over any two players the Jazz have, BUT I'd take the Jazz Starting 5 over the Rockets Starting 5 ANY DAY.

[sandman]

Utah is in the 4th seed and Houston can take that. They can't get the 3rd seed from the Spurs.

If I understand the seeding correctly, a division winner cannot be seeded lower than 4th, regardless of records. However, HCA is determined by records, not by seedings, so the Rockets would be the 5th seed but have HCA over the Jazz if they finish with a better regular season record. The only top 5 teams that have a chance of changing seeds over the final stretch of the season is if the Spurs make up three games on the Suns and take over the #2 seed.

[mardigan]

I may take T-Mac over any player the Jazz have and I may take T-Mac + Yao over any two players the Jazz have, BUT I'd take the Jazz Starting 5 over the Rockets Starting 5 ANY DAY.
As a whole yeah, but as many teams have proven, a couple superstars is sometimes all you need to win a series

[AFBlue]

As a whole yeah, but as many teams have proven, a couple superstars is sometimes all you need to win a series

Tell that to Derek Fisher.

If it weren't for him, the "star-studded" Lakers of 2004 wouldn't have even made it to the finals...and even then, they lost to the solid TEAM, the Pistons. Yao is not as dominant as Shaq was in those days and T-Mac is not as dominant as Kobe was (though that's close)....plus both are injury prone, and in Tracy's case the nagging kind can be the worst in a 7-game series.

[DOMINATOR]

If it weren't for him, the "star-studded" Lakers of 2004 wouldn't have even made it to the finals...and even then, they lost to the solid TEAM, the Pistons. Yao is not as dominant as Shaq was in those days and T-Mac is not as dominant as Kobe was (though that's close)....plus both are injury prone, and in Tracy's case the nagging kind can be the worst in a 7-game series.
yeah T-mac is injury prone Yao is just unlucky with injuries and boozer is always injured too.
good PG's always kill the rockets and thats the main thing im concerned about.

[itzsoweezee]

I'm sorry, I still don't buy into them....or into hearing predictions about Houston and the Lakers being in the 2nd round. Houston and LA win a couple of games again, and suddenly we're hearing talk about them again....

Houston and the Lakers will not be in the 2nd round. Dallas, SA, Utah, and Phoenix are the second round teams.

If anyone disagrees with me, which I'm pretty much used to, let us all know. Who will be the 4 second-round teams?

you're completely wrong about the rockets (they'll probably beat utah), completely right about the lakers (they're much worse than the team they were when they beat the spurs twice this year).

[LEONARD]

Houston - YES
Kobe - YES

[mardigan]

Houston - YES
Kobe - YES
8th seed-YES

[nkdlunch]

I'm sorry, I still don't buy into them....or into hearing predictions about Houston and the Lakers being in the 2nd round. Houston and LA win a couple of games again, and suddenly we're hearing talk about them again....

Houston and the Lakers will not be in the 2nd round. Dallas, SA, Utah, and Phoenix are the second round teams.

If anyone disagrees with me, which I'm pretty much used to, let us all know. Who will be the 4 second-round teams?

I would not guarantee anything in this Stern's NBA. You do realize the fucking heat won last year right?

[Dave McNulla]

Utah is in the 4th seed and Houston can take that. They can't get the 3rd seed from the Spurs.
three of the top four seeds go to division winners, which will include the jazz. the fourth is going to the spurs for their record.

hca goes to the team with the better record, which could be the rockets over the jazz.

[Dave McNulla]

He's quicker than Yao and he's a crafty post player. Again....being undervalued.
i don't think so. a quick person can run around the base of an umbrella, but the umbrella is still above him. yao is going to eat his lunch.

[J.T.]

Kobe's hot streak came against shit defenses. Not to take away from what he did, but he won't average 40+ ppg against us in the playoffs. Nobody can "shut down" Kobe, but keeping him under 30 points is something I would consider as "contained".

Of course, he can score 40ppg against us and Lakeshow can still lose the series. Just ask Amare. But I wouldn't roll the dice on that. I think Manu can play D well enough on Odom to make Kobe have to win the game by himself and I like our chances when it's basically a 1 on 5 game.

I don't know what I want for the first round. Playing LA to show how they can't beat us in April without Shaq or getting that 2 seed to play around with Denver for four games. I'll sleep on it.

[AFBlue]

i don't think so. a quick person can run around the base of an umbrella, but the umbrella is still above him. yao is going to eat his lunch.

Boozer is quick AND CRAFTY, which means he is good at getting defensive players to commit and draw fouls. What good would Yao be if he was on the bench with foul trouble? And as big as Yao is, he's not a dominant defensive presence....an opposing player can get the best of him.

[Roxsfan]

It does pertaining to injury prone players that are still on the team.... you look at these guys the wrong way and something breaks/sprains.


thats just stewpid :p:

[Roxsfan]

i don't think so. a quick person can run around the base of an umbrella, but the umbrella is still above him. yao is going to eat his lunch.

+1

[Roxsfan]

Boozer is quick AND CRAFTY, which means he is good at getting defensive players to commit and draw fouls. What good would Yao be if he was on the bench with foul trouble? And as big as Yao is, he's not a dominant defensive presence....an opposing player can get the best of him.

He clogs up the lane and gets blocked shots when it counts. If he were officiated fairly, he would unstopable. That is a fact. Playoffs will be a test for Yao b/c he will be played physically and he needs to be the aggressor and get to the line. 86% from Goodwill. :smokin