duncan228
03-29-2008, 12:10 PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5658085.html
Spurs get shot at Yao-less Rockets
Adelman's team has won 13 of 16 without star center
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Houston Chronicle
The Rockets, through no control of their own, ran down the checklist. One by one, they played the Western Conference playoff contenders without Yao Ming.
New Orleans. Dallas. Los Angeles. Golden State. Denver. The Rockets beat them all without Yao. They lost only to Phoenix and to Utah (when Yao was out with an upper respiratory infection before Dikembe Mutombo became a starter).
There is one team, however, conspicuously missing. Sunday, the Rockets face the San Antonio Spurs for the first time since Yao's injury was announced Feb. 26. The Rockets have won two of three games against the Spurs this season, and Yao was key to both wins.
When they play the Spurs in San Antonio on Sunday, they will face a different test of their retooled, Yao-less offense.
"Every time we played them, Yao's been a big factor in the game against them," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "Without Yao, we're going to have to try different things to see how we're going to play them, how we're going to defend them, what we're going to do offensively. Any time we play teams like this with a chance we may play them (in the playoffs), it is important to see what you can do."
The Spurs' traditional defensive excellence has been led by the ability of their big men to switch, help and clog the middle. Yao, however, could keep Tim Duncan or Fabricio Oberto occupied, while still producing offensively.
"It's much easier for them to freelance a little bit and come at our people if we drive, or play your shooters close," Adelman said. "It's a big difference without Yao. There's no doubt, they're going to be zoning up at the basket.
"We're going to have to be active, especially when Luis (Scola) and Carl (Landry) are on the floor together. They both have to be really active. We have to make them pay."
In the Rockets' two wins over the Spurs, Yao averaged 24.5 points and 13.5 rebounds, making 19 of 34 shots. When he struggled in San Antonio, scoring 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting with just nine rebounds, the Rockets lost 90-84.
Things have changed
Much has changed since then, with Scola moving in as the starting power forward and Landry a key man either off the bench or playing behind Scola. The Rockets are 25-5 with Scola starting at power forward, and 24-2 when Landry plays at least 11 minutes.
In the 16 games since Yao's injury, Scola has averaging 12.9 points and eight rebounds, making 52.9 percent of his shots. Landry has averaged 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds, making 68.6 percent of his shots in his nine games since the Yao injury.
Yet, as much as their improved scoring has helped fill the void of Yao's loss, they will be needed against the Spurs as much just to keep Duncan and the other San Antonio front-court defenders occupied.
"That's been pretty much every game we played without Yao," Scola said. "When you play with him, it makes everything much easier because nobody would leave Yao at any moment. You can go to the basket, and they're going to stay with him. You got a better chance to get free because everybody stays with him. Without him, it's more complicated, and this game is going to be more complicated.
"They have a really good team defense. We need to be active and keep moving, keep moving, keep moving and make them pay for the help they do."
The Spurs are seventh in opposing field-goal percentage, second in opposing 3-point percentage. Only Boston and Detroit allow fewer points per game.
The Spurs also seem to have begun their annual late-season kick, bringing a six-game winning streak into the game. That run has moved them past the Rockets into second overall in the Western Conference.
Champs for a reason
"There's a reason they've won four championships the last nine years," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "They turn it up down the stretch.
"So many things can happen in the final 10 games. It could be a potential playoff matchup, but we never go into a game saying we're going to see these guys later, we need to play better."
With the Western Conference playoff teams so tightly packed, it almost impossible to forecast first-round matchups, making a postseason meeting with the Spurs possible, and Sunday's game potentially key to playoff positioning.
"It's going to be difficult," Adelman said. "They're a good defensive team. It's a big game for them. We've beaten them two out of three times, so it is a big game for both teams (to determine playoff seeding tie-breaker). We're going to have to find ways to score against them. Yao was a huge factor. He was really a huge factor in guarding Duncan, too. Without him, it makes us a lot smaller, makes them a better defensive team."
The Rockets, however, have won 13 of 16 without Yao. This one, however, in many ways offers a different test than they have faced so far.
"We need to stay with our formula," Battier said. "Playing hard, playing together and trying to make them feel us a little bit."
Spurs get shot at Yao-less Rockets
Adelman's team has won 13 of 16 without star center
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Houston Chronicle
The Rockets, through no control of their own, ran down the checklist. One by one, they played the Western Conference playoff contenders without Yao Ming.
New Orleans. Dallas. Los Angeles. Golden State. Denver. The Rockets beat them all without Yao. They lost only to Phoenix and to Utah (when Yao was out with an upper respiratory infection before Dikembe Mutombo became a starter).
There is one team, however, conspicuously missing. Sunday, the Rockets face the San Antonio Spurs for the first time since Yao's injury was announced Feb. 26. The Rockets have won two of three games against the Spurs this season, and Yao was key to both wins.
When they play the Spurs in San Antonio on Sunday, they will face a different test of their retooled, Yao-less offense.
"Every time we played them, Yao's been a big factor in the game against them," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "Without Yao, we're going to have to try different things to see how we're going to play them, how we're going to defend them, what we're going to do offensively. Any time we play teams like this with a chance we may play them (in the playoffs), it is important to see what you can do."
The Spurs' traditional defensive excellence has been led by the ability of their big men to switch, help and clog the middle. Yao, however, could keep Tim Duncan or Fabricio Oberto occupied, while still producing offensively.
"It's much easier for them to freelance a little bit and come at our people if we drive, or play your shooters close," Adelman said. "It's a big difference without Yao. There's no doubt, they're going to be zoning up at the basket.
"We're going to have to be active, especially when Luis (Scola) and Carl (Landry) are on the floor together. They both have to be really active. We have to make them pay."
In the Rockets' two wins over the Spurs, Yao averaged 24.5 points and 13.5 rebounds, making 19 of 34 shots. When he struggled in San Antonio, scoring 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting with just nine rebounds, the Rockets lost 90-84.
Things have changed
Much has changed since then, with Scola moving in as the starting power forward and Landry a key man either off the bench or playing behind Scola. The Rockets are 25-5 with Scola starting at power forward, and 24-2 when Landry plays at least 11 minutes.
In the 16 games since Yao's injury, Scola has averaging 12.9 points and eight rebounds, making 52.9 percent of his shots. Landry has averaged 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds, making 68.6 percent of his shots in his nine games since the Yao injury.
Yet, as much as their improved scoring has helped fill the void of Yao's loss, they will be needed against the Spurs as much just to keep Duncan and the other San Antonio front-court defenders occupied.
"That's been pretty much every game we played without Yao," Scola said. "When you play with him, it makes everything much easier because nobody would leave Yao at any moment. You can go to the basket, and they're going to stay with him. You got a better chance to get free because everybody stays with him. Without him, it's more complicated, and this game is going to be more complicated.
"They have a really good team defense. We need to be active and keep moving, keep moving, keep moving and make them pay for the help they do."
The Spurs are seventh in opposing field-goal percentage, second in opposing 3-point percentage. Only Boston and Detroit allow fewer points per game.
The Spurs also seem to have begun their annual late-season kick, bringing a six-game winning streak into the game. That run has moved them past the Rockets into second overall in the Western Conference.
Champs for a reason
"There's a reason they've won four championships the last nine years," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "They turn it up down the stretch.
"So many things can happen in the final 10 games. It could be a potential playoff matchup, but we never go into a game saying we're going to see these guys later, we need to play better."
With the Western Conference playoff teams so tightly packed, it almost impossible to forecast first-round matchups, making a postseason meeting with the Spurs possible, and Sunday's game potentially key to playoff positioning.
"It's going to be difficult," Adelman said. "They're a good defensive team. It's a big game for them. We've beaten them two out of three times, so it is a big game for both teams (to determine playoff seeding tie-breaker). We're going to have to find ways to score against them. Yao was a huge factor. He was really a huge factor in guarding Duncan, too. Without him, it makes us a lot smaller, makes them a better defensive team."
The Rockets, however, have won 13 of 16 without Yao. This one, however, in many ways offers a different test than they have faced so far.
"We need to stay with our formula," Battier said. "Playing hard, playing together and trying to make them feel us a little bit."