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Lakers can't compete with Rockets speed and defense. Lowry, Brooks, Hayes, Scola, and Landry with a good dose of Von Wafer and Artest.
By the way, Ron-Ron is going off for 40 pts. He won't have 2 cold shooting games in a row.
Lakers will win this game but the Rockets will win game 6 and game 7 will depend on how David Stern is feeling.
Lakers can't compete with Rockets speed and defense. Lowry, Brooks, Hayes, Scola, and Landry with a good dose of Von Wafer and Artest.
By the way, Ron-Ron is going off for 40 pts. He won't have 2 cold shooting games in a row.
Movement is stirring
Their last game against the Lakers was essentially a pass-or-fail test for the Rockets. They passed with flying colors
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
May 11, 2009, 11:57PM
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — The Rockets had one practice to change everything and save their season.
They didn’t know Yao Ming would be out for the remainder of the playoffs, but they were certain enough he would miss Sunday’s key Game 4 against the Lakers to know that in the span of a few hours, they would have to junk the offense that had been built around him and the opportunities that come in his orbit and replace them with something very different.
They would plug in a 6-6 center who does not shoot, put the ball in the hands of a second-year point guard who aspires to be the 6 feet tall he claims to be, and fire the ball around the floor until it found open shooters.
There was nothing in those orders the Rockets players hadn’t heard before, but with their best offensive player out, they still had to make enormous changes in priorities, and they would have to be far better.
Now, with the Western Conference semifinals tied 2-2 heading to tonight’s Game 5, the Rockets must do it again. And again.
The beautiful game
“It was a lot better,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “We really moved the ball. We had great spacing. And everybody made the extra pass. That’s the beauty.”
There have been few occasions when Adelman has been moved to call the Rockets’ offensive execution beautiful, but he got just what he envisioned when he told the Rockets on Saturday that Yao would be out and what they would have to do about it.
With Aaron Brooks putting up a career-high 34 points, the Rockets led by 29 before cruising to Sunday’s 99-87 win.
Even with Yao out and their top remaining postseason scorers, Ron Artest and Luis Scola, making a combined eight of 40 shots, the Rockets found open shooters in ways they hadn’t.
“In the two games before that, we started the games out with preconceived notions of what we’re going to do without even seeing what the defense is doing,” Adelman said. “You have to see what the defense is doing, and then you read that, react, and there’s always an option if they take something away. We did more (Sunday) of mixing things up where it wasn’t the same every time down the court. That made a huge difference.”
While Brooks’ quickness gave the Lakers trouble, especially with the lane left open by the absence of the Rockets’ usual low-post scorer, Shane Battier’s job did not change. However, Battier had a career playoff-high 23 points, making six of 12 shots, all but one from beyond the 3-point arc.
Battier often has said his field-goal attempts are a good measure of the quality of the Rockets’ ball movement. The benefits of that movement might have never been clearer than on Sunday.
“One leads to the other,” he said. “Usually when you have a great shooting day, it’s because you had good ball movement. When we hold the ball, those 3s are a lot more contested, and you don’t shoot as great a percentage. We have to shoot 30 or 40 3s to win this next game. That’s how we’ll try to make up for the loss of Yao’s points.
“The thing about ball movement, it’s contagious. When one guy does it and you have success, the ball seems to zip around a lot better. When you don’t see it out there, people are holding it; people are less inclined to do it.”
Tougher time expected
The Rockets expect their execuction on offense to become more difficult. The Lakers were uncharacteristically slow to help and rotate in Game 4. Brooks and Kyle Lowry got into the lane easily, beginning the series of passes that led to open shots.
“We controlled the ball and made the extra pass,” Brooks said. “(In Game 3) we tried to force things a little too much. (In Game 4) we got into the middle, and we kicked it out and got the ball moving. That’s what you have to do against this team. I think they’re one of the best teams one-on-one defending and one of the best team in post-up defense. We had to get in, swing the ball and get points that way.”
Adelman said the Rockets are prepared for the Lakers to improve defensively, knowing there are ways to counter the steps they expect Los Angeles to take.
“They’re going to try to jam it up,” Adelman said. “They’re going to try to keep us from getting to the basket. They weren’t as active as we’ve seen in the past. By being more active, they’re going to be better.
“They will pack in the lane. But if we do things right, they’re going to have a hard time cutting Aaron off. If you move people and move the ball, it eventually is going to come back to him, and he’s going to be able to attack. He may not be able to do it initially down the court, but that’s all right. Our whole point is not to try to attack them initially on one side of the court; it’s to move people and move the ball.
“I just think if we run our offense the way we’re capable of running it, we’re going to have answers.”
GO ROCKETS!
Smith gives Rockets a shot
Yao’s absence surmountable, says TNT analyst
By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
May 12, 2009, 12:11AM
Having witnessed some fairly spectacular events during his career with the Rockets, TNT analyst Kenny Smith isn’t quite ready to include Houston’s Game 4 win over the Lakers in the team’s Improbability Hall of Fame.
Yao Ming’s absence after a season-ending foot injury, Smith said Monday, did not alter certain strengths by the Rockets — and weaknesses on the Lakers’ part — that remain in place as the teams prepare for Game 5 tonight in Los Angeles on TNT.
“I probably was one of the few people who thought (the Rockets) would win Game 4,” Smith said. “The advantages they had weren’t all Yao Ming. A big part was, but it wasn’t just him. … In a close game is where they will miss him, but the Rockets will be in every game.”
While Yao’s absence has reduced the Rockets’ margin for error, Smith said, it has not necessarily increased the Lakers’ chances to prevail in the series.
“The advantage (the Lakers) have is that Kobe Bryant is the best player on the planet. They have that whether Yao Ming is there or not there,” he said. “They had trouble posting Lamar Odom, whom Yao Ming did not guard, and Kobe Bryant does not go into the lane because the perimeter defenders are making him take jump shots, not because of Yao Ming.”
Smith said the Rockets now remind him of a Don Nelson-coached team, but with better physical strength among the big men.
“The Lakers have size, but they don’t have size and bulk,” he said. “So the same things that gave them problems last year in the Finals (against Boston) could happen, which is that teams can get physical with them because their big guys are so skilled.
“One way to handle skilled guys is to put them out of their comfort spots, and then you have a chance because you make things uncomfortable for them. That is what the Rockets are trying to do. The Lakers want to use their speed and quickness, and if they can do that, they probably can beat the Rockets easily. But it’s easier said than done.”
While Smith seems to have a good handle on things, his TNT counterpart, Charles Barkley, isn’t quite sure how the Rockets are keeping pace with L.A.
“Coach (Rick) Adelman, I don’t know what the you’re doing, but congratulations. Keep doing it,” Barkley said.
What is clear to Barkley is that the Lakers clearly lacked a sense of urgency in Game 4.
“The Lakers are guilty of having so much talent, they win because they are good, but they never play with a sense of urgency unless there is a (real) sense of urgency,” Barkley said. “In Game 3, there was a sense of urgency.”
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go lakers!
So this is the official game day thread correct? I need to know where to post.
lol competing game threads. Post here if you're not a Laker homer and Iron Mexican jinx thread.
Weak to spam the board with multiple game threads bc of supers ion. I will post in here. I hate the Rockets less than I hate the Lakers.
I believe this thread is OFFICIAL.
Any news on Odom? I am assuming he is a game time decision but he will play.
Hope Odom can play. The Lakers need him out there to rebound and run the fast break.
He's been due for a good game for awhile now.
Two threads is stupid...wtf is going on here?
Spamming is ok if you are Laker fan. They do not have any rules. It will be interesting to see if Phil pulls the plug on Fish early.
Lakers win by 10 + tonight. They will come out focused and ready to play.
That seems to be their MO after subpar performances.
Last edited by mytespurs; 05-12-2009 at 02:34 PM.
if rox wins this it will be on par with 2007 mavs warriors ... or better than that actually ...
have a feeling L.A will comeout strong tonight, even though Houston won game 4 I still don't think they have a realistic chance of winning the series.
I'm seeing a Game 2 repeat here. Lakers are going to come out on fire tonight.
bynum will get a double double. i think they need to take advantage of his size. also they need to put brooks on his ass every time he drives into the lane. cant wait!
Odom not playing is the BIGGEST thing i am worrying about. Bynum was benched because he was innefective against Yao and that leaves Hayes to guard Pau. But now that Yao is gone and if Odom doesn't start that means Bynum will.
The rockets will get destroyed by either one of them. If Odom doesn't play and Bynum starts its a 30 point blowout.
if its a game time decision it will be a game time decision
GOO ROCKETS!!!
you guys have alot of fans on your side tonight!
The only hope the Rockets have is if the Lakers/Kobe bail them out by playing dumb. If Kobe does not come out aggressive (and by aggressive I do not mean chucking up shots, I mean forcing his way into the paint) and if they do not pound the ball into Gasol/Bynum, the Rockets will be in the game.
It will be a close game if the Rockets have 0 turnovers
Dammit, the Rockets are the Charlie Brown's of the NBA. We never got to kick the football cause Lucy always pulls the ball away at the last minute (Yao, T-Mac and Deke going down), We get rocks for halloween and coal for Christmas. We'll get to the finals of the spelling bee and totally screw up the easiest word on stage. i before e except after c.
Why do you think so many people and fans are pulling for us. Everyone loves the underdog!
just found out odom will play. thats all i know
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