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a true compe or always finishes first in a circle jerk. unfortunately that's a loss.
wow, that was so edumacational
we'll see you in the playoffs beatch
a true compe or always finishes first in a circle jerk. unfortunately that's a loss.
Guess you haven't watched the Suns play the Rockets much.
What have you done lately against the Rockets
Thats what I thought. Here is a refresher for you.
sprinkle in some Franchise, Mike James, 35lb lighter and in shape Bonzi(that's right) and some Scola...Aaron Brooks in the near future while losing ONLY a shiity J. Howard.
And the Suns get worse and lose kurt thomas and are shopping whiny marion?
And, yes for some stupid reason deantoni had his starters in and they were trying, click on the video in this link, beatch. There will be more of that next year for you guys.
http://www.nba.com/games/20070416/PHXHOU/recap.html
Tracy McGrady wasn't afraid to exaggerate the magnitude of the Houston Rockets' 120-117 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
McGrady scored 39 points as the Rockets won their fifth straight and clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Houston also snapped a six-game losing streak to Phoenix and secured its best record since 1997. The Rockets will open the playoffs at home against Utah next weekend. McGrady has never won a playoff series in five tries, but his team will have the extra home game for the first time.
"This is one of the greatest accomplishments of my career personally,'' McGrady said.
McGrady also had 11 rebounds and nine assists and Yao Ming added 34 points and nine rebounds. When the final buzzer sounded, the Rockets celebrated at midcourt as the capacity crowd stood and roared.
"It is huge,'' said Yao. "We were so excited when the clock was running to zero. It feels like winning a playoff series.''
After the celebration, McGrady reflected on the season that started with a recurrence of his back problems. He missed seven games in December, then returned just before Yao broke his right leg. Yao missed 32 games, but McGrady helped the Rockets to a 20-12 record without him.
"Yao going down for 2 1/2 months put us in a situation to either move forward or really do something special in terms of keeping our head above water,'' McGrady said. "I didn't want that to happen. I took my game to another level, the guys stepped up and played extremely well.''
Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points and Shawn Marion added 27 for the Suns, who used their starters most of the game even though they had already clinched the No. 2 seed in the West. Steve Nash added 15 points and 15 assists.
"We want to win every game and keep playing well into the playoffs,'' said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni. "We're having fun playing and we'll keep playing that way.''The game had playoff intensity from the start, and despite building a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Rockets had to sweat out their first victory over the Suns in Houston since November 2003.
The Rockets led 118-108, but Leandro Barbosa started the Suns' last-ditch rally with a layup and a 3-pointer. Nash then intercepted a bad pass by Luther Head and found Stoudemire for a dunk to trim Houston's lead to 118-115 with 48.5 seconds left.
McGrady missed a 3-pointer and the Suns rebounded with one last chance to tie. Nash missed a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left, but the ball ricocheted off Head and out of bounds.
Stoudemire missed another 3-pointer and Marion tipped it in, but that only cut the deficit to one. Rafer Alston was fouled and hit two free throws for the final margin.
McGrady hit 14 of 31 shots and missed his first triple-double since 2003 by one assist. Yao was 14-of-20 and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
"Tracy played a great all-around game,'' Marion said. "When Yao got going, it was really hard to stop the tandem.''
McGrady scored 25 points in the fast-paced first half, smoothly sinking jumpers from every angle. Every time McGrady scored, the Suns answered.McGrady also had five assists in the half, the last to Yao for a hook shot with 5.2 seconds left before the break. Yao blocked a shot by Stoudemire in the closing seconds, but Stoudemire got the rebound and threw in a mid-range shot at the buzzer to cut Houston's lead to 56-54.
Stoudemire was 8-for-12 and scored 20 points in the opening half.
McGrady came up with the shot of the night a minute into the second half, driving past Stoudemire for an up-and-under reverse layup. Unfazed, Stoudemire responded with a mid-range jumper at the other end.
McGrady sank his second 3-pointer and Yao converted a three-point play to start a 19-4 Rockets run that broke a 66-66 tie.
The Suns rallied with Nash on the bench. Marion scored twice inside and James Jones hit a 3-pointer from the wing to cut Houston's lead to 93-86 with just under 10 minutes left.
Nash and Stoudemire returned after long rests with 7:03 left, but Head hit a 3-pointer and Yao scored inside over the next minute to push the lead back into double-digits.
The Suns mustered one more rally in the final minutes, but couldn't complete their second straight regular-season sweep of Houston
How does that answer my question of how the Suns are going to guard Yao and Tmac? I already knew that they could run and Amare would get his, but who's going to match up with Yao once the Rockets get the ball? Like a typical Sun fan you seem to forget that basketball is played at both ends. If Amare scores on the fast break, then Yao comes right back and posts Amare up, the Suns don't get an advantage.Guess you haven't watched the Suns play the Rockets much.
And aside from Yao, how are you going to stop Tmac? What about an in shape Bonzi Wells? Steve Francis will also take Nash off the dribble repeatedly. When these two teams meet the advantage will definately go to the Rockets simply because there are too many matchup problems, not to mention the Rockets can actually play d.
Silly Mavs-fan, the advantage gained is that since Phoeinx is more proficient at a fast paced game, there style of play will garner more attempts and more points unless Yao can impose his will defensively. Unlike Duncan, he hasn't proven to have the most stamina and as such, Amare running on Yao is still yet an advantage.If Amare scores on the fast break, then Yao comes right back and posts Amare up, the Suns don't get an advantage.
You really should learn to read before butting into other people's arguments. I already acknowledged that Amare's ability to run the break and take advantage of Yao's stamina is a major advantage. But the previous poster still failed to answer my question "How will the Suns stop Yao at the other end?"
Aside from that one matchup in Phoenix's favor, all other advantages are in Houston's favor.
Scola, Yao, and even Wells will have their way down in the post.
Francis has the quickness to take Nash off the dribble just about any time he wants.
The Rockets have more depth than the Suns
The Suns have no real answer for Tmac who doesn't seem to be bothered at all by Marion
Please...When the Rockets start seeding Top 3, then you can talk about them being a strong team. Scola-Projected to be good. Yao-will give as much as he gets(has positive AND negative connotations), Wells-Good when he wants to be(but 1 out of every 5 games doesn't really mean anything)
When last was Steve Francis quick? Also, having Francis take him off the dribble to take what is probably a bad shot plays right into his opponents hands. DISCIPLINE, not something "Franchise" does well.
T-Mac an amazing player, when he can stay on the court. Health and consistency are 2 things that elude him during the season.
OH AND IT'S A FORUM and as such, anyone can pipe in with an opinion...like I just did.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious for that Mav fan.Couldn't have said it better.
What have you done lately against the Rockets
Thats what I thought. Here is a refresher for you.
sprinkle in some Franchise, Mike James, 35lb lighter and in shape Bonzi(that's right) and some Scola...Aaron Brooks in the near future while losing ONLY a shiity J. Howard.
And the Suns get worse and lose kurt thomas and are shopping whiny marion?
And, yes for some stupid reason deantoni had his starters in and they were trying, click on the video in this link, beatch. There will be more of that next year for you guys.
http://www.nba.com/games/20070416/PHXHOU/recap.html
Tracy McGrady wasn't afraid to exaggerate the magnitude of the Houston Rockets' 120-117 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
McGrady scored 39 points as the Rockets won their fifth straight and clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Houston also snapped a six-game losing streak to Phoenix and secured its best record since 1997. The Rockets will open the playoffs at home against Utah next weekend. McGrady has never won a playoff series in five tries, but his team will have the extra home game for the first time.
"This is one of the greatest accomplishments of my career personally,'' McGrady said.
McGrady also had 11 rebounds and nine assists and Yao Ming added 34 points and nine rebounds. When the final buzzer sounded, the Rockets celebrated at midcourt as the capacity crowd stood and roared.
"It is huge,'' said Yao. "We were so excited when the clock was running to zero. It feels like winning a playoff series.''
After the celebration, McGrady reflected on the season that started with a recurrence of his back problems. He missed seven games in December, then returned just before Yao broke his right leg. Yao missed 32 games, but McGrady helped the Rockets to a 20-12 record without him.
"Yao going down for 2 1/2 months put us in a situation to either move forward or really do something special in terms of keeping our head above water,'' McGrady said. "I didn't want that to happen. I took my game to another level, the guys stepped up and played extremely well.''
Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points and Shawn Marion added 27 for the Suns, who used their starters most of the game even though they had already clinched the No. 2 seed in the West. Steve Nash added 15 points and 15 assists.
"We want to win every game and keep playing well into the playoffs,'' said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni. "We're having fun playing and we'll keep playing that way.''The game had playoff intensity from the start, and despite building a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Rockets had to sweat out their first victory over the Suns in Houston since November 2003.
The Rockets led 118-108, but Leandro Barbosa started the Suns' last-ditch rally with a layup and a 3-pointer. Nash then intercepted a bad pass by Luther Head and found Stoudemire for a dunk to trim Houston's lead to 118-115 with 48.5 seconds left.
McGrady missed a 3-pointer and the Suns rebounded with one last chance to tie. Nash missed a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left, but the ball ricocheted off Head and out of bounds.
Stoudemire missed another 3-pointer and Marion tipped it in, but that only cut the deficit to one. Rafer Alston was fouled and hit two free throws for the final margin.
McGrady hit 14 of 31 shots and missed his first triple-double since 2003 by one assist. Yao was 14-of-20 and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
"Tracy played a great all-around game,'' Marion said. "When Yao got going, it was really hard to stop the tandem.''
McGrady scored 25 points in the fast-paced first half, smoothly sinking jumpers from every angle. Every time McGrady scored, the Suns answered.McGrady also had five assists in the half, the last to Yao for a hook shot with 5.2 seconds left before the break. Yao blocked a shot by Stoudemire in the closing seconds, but Stoudemire got the rebound and threw in a mid-range shot at the buzzer to cut Houston's lead to 56-54.
Stoudemire was 8-for-12 and scored 20 points in the opening half.
McGrady came up with the shot of the night a minute into the second half, driving past Stoudemire for an up-and-under reverse layup. Unfazed, Stoudemire responded with a mid-range jumper at the other end.
McGrady sank his second 3-pointer and Yao converted a three-point play to start a 19-4 Rockets run that broke a 66-66 tie.
The Suns rallied with Nash on the bench. Marion scored twice inside and James Jones hit a 3-pointer from the wing to cut Houston's lead to 93-86 with just under 10 minutes left.
Nash and Stoudemire returned after long rests with 7:03 left, but Head hit a 3-pointer and Yao scored inside over the next minute to push the lead back into double-digits.
The Suns mustered one more rally in the final minutes, but couldn't complete their second straight regular-season sweep of Houston
Says it all when that was their first win against the Suns since November of 2003.As to your question about what have we done recently against the Rockets, well we haven't been playing basketball since June
, so I don't think either team has proved anything yet.
Hmm, if the Rox can gel as a team seamlessly, and don't get struck by so many misfortune injury to their key players like what has happened in the past, i can see them beating the Suns in the post season. The Suns are great regular season team, but the Rox are more suitably built for playoff games. I still don't bear any respect to any run & gun team unless they got Magic spearheading the team.
And then Houston promptly choked a 2-0 lead away and faced another first round exit....
I think everyone is looking at last years team talent deficiency and transferring it to this years team. That at ude alone will be 6+ wins this season. Come in looking to kick the puppy and find a mother %$#^ing grizzly bear!! I believe that we will not only be tough but that either the Spurs Suns or Mavs will be sent home by us this year. I'd put money on it.
You're en le to your opinion no matter how right/wrong it is but we will see who's correct when the playoffs roll around. I wouldn't expect them to have a better regular season record than the Suns because Phoenix is a regular season team and the Rockets will need time to gel, but it will be interesting if these 2 teams meet up in the playoffs.
the point is, the last time they met the Rockets WON. K. now shutty.Says it all when that was their first win against the Suns since November of 2003.
expect more of that in the future
Having said that, I have a healthy respect for the Suns b/c they are a powerhouse and I understand where you would be confindent about them!
I think everyone is looking at last years team talent deficiency and transferring it to this years team. That at ude alone will be 6+ wins this season. Come in looking to kick the puppy and find a mother %$#^ing grizzly bear!! I believe that we will not only be tough but that either the Spurs Suns or Mavs will be sent home by us this year. I'd put money on it.
+ 1
Ofcourse, the Rox still have to walk the walk. Optimism is warranted, but the todays Spurs are still on the different league when it comes to post season basketball compared to these current Rox. They still need to get out of the 1st round first before justifying all the bragging out of their fans.
Ofcourse, the Rox still have to walk the walk. Optimism is warranted, but the todays Spurs are still on the different league when it comes to post season basketball compared to these current Rox. They still need to get out of the 1st round first before justifying all the bragging out of their fans.
yep
Ofcourse, the Rox still have to walk the walk. Optimism is warranted, but the todays Spurs are still on the different league when it comes to post season basketball compared to these current Rox. They still need to get out of the 1st round first before justifying all the bragging out of their fans.
Pretty confident for getting your ass handed to you in the first round of last years playoffs. Could easily see Dallas finishing third behind San Antonio and Houston in the division - Leaving you fighting for a 7th or 8th seed playoff spot.
Yes, Dallas beat the Amare-less Suns in 2006. The Suns beat down the Mavericks in 2005 and we had fun punishing you the last two games of the 2007 season. Phoenix can't wait to match up with Dallas again.
with all the spurs fans deal with in regards to fans of other teams... it's always nice when the other teams' fans fight eachother.
The Suns will be the biggest compe ion for the Spurs, they are the top two teams in the conference, then Dallas and Houston are right there just a bit below.
Dallas is soft, and they did not get better, Houston has all the talent in the world now, but too many NBA players on the Roster could create a chemistry issue, they have to get rid of one or two to keep the harmony IMO.
Also, the Suns could have won the championship last year if not for them getting their players suspended, so to me it is clearly the Suns.
DD
You know, some year the Spurs are going to decline, and it could be this year, all these extra games will take a toll.
If Duncan declines even a little the Spurs are not the same, he is the key and he can't go on forever.
I think the Spurs are still the top dog, but the rest of the west is nipping at your heals.
DD
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