Houston/Yao

[Reality]

In seeing the back n forth on whether or not Yao belongs in the "can't be traded" group, anyone notice what the Rockets have done the past two weeks?

Close games entering the 4th they are winning some with Offense.  Also cracking 100 several times.  I saw the ball moved around 6 times in one half court set, resulting in a score.
All of these are forbidden Jeff Van Grunty practices.  Wonder if Grunty is seeing the benfits of letting a team play offense?  Or if the players are simply tuning him out and playing flow offense on their own?  Winning 104-100 instead of losing 87-79 and proclaiming rrrrrrrraaaaaagh what tough D we played.

Go Rockets!  Keep it up.

Phil Winters coaching the Rockets in 2005-6?

[Lurker]

Shhhhh.  Keep it quiet.  You will upset all the Laker fans who BELIEVE that the Rockets aren't in the same league as their beloved ones.

[Guest_Randy]

Hate to break it to you guys but what Reality FAILED to mention is that the Rockets beat the Lakers by ONE point -- and that was without Kobe!  Hardly a remarkable feat!

Houston MIGHT have a GREAT shot at an NBA title this year but alas, they can't play the Spurs EVERY night, can they?   :rofl:  

[Lurker]

You mean those same Rockets that have moved up to the 6th seed while the Lakers are slipping closer to the 9th seed?

Those same Rockets that just LAST WEEK were soooo horrible...at least in the eyes of certain Laker fans?

Those same Rockets that have won 70% of their last 20 games as opposed to the 50% that the Lakers have won?

The same Rockets that now have a winning record BOTH at home & on the road?


Maybe the schedule is getting a little tougher for the Lakers now and they will open the eyes of their fans as to their real position in the NBA.  BTW how many teams have let Antoine Walker beat them this year?   :rofl:

 

[Guest_Randy]

How many games have the Spurs won without TD this year?  Umm, we all saw what happened when he went down when they were playing the Lakers -- it's a GOOD thing he was able to come back, huh?

Again, the Rockets won by ONE point over the Lakers who were, again, without their best player -- I bet Kobe makes the difference of one point -- don't you?  What am I saying, of course you don't because he isn't wearing a Spurs uniform!

The Lakers are trying to hang in there while Kobe is out and that's about the best they can do.  

Are you saying it would be impossible for the Rockets to lose to the Hawks if TMac were out?

[JoMal]

I still have to say it.

Where do the Rockets get off having two starters on the All Star team two years in a row?i

[westkoast]

Lurker you wont just give it up will you lol......For those that actually watched the game you would see that the Rockets, who according to Lurker are MUCH MUCH better than the Lakers, blow a 16 point lead in 10 minutes and won the game by 1 point because Odom decided Brian Cook was a clutch shooter.  Then to top it off Walton gets the rebound and bobbles the ball under the basket.  I hardly call that being ALOT better.

Randy...lets not forget that the ultra crappy Lakers were neck and neck with the Spurs when Tim Duncan went out with his Knee strain.  Even the largest Spurs nozer Barkley made a comment on the Spurs without Duncan.

[JoMal]

How come the Kings seem to be the only team that shrugs off injuries to key players without whining about "if so-and-so had only played, you'd be sooooo sorry......" schoolyard trash talk?

[Guest_Randy]

I still have to say it.

Where do the Rockets get off having two starters on the All Star team two years in a row?i

Jomal,

You can't see the Asian connection here?  They have CONTINUED to vote for Yao (and whoever else is playing with him) just because of allegiance to their countryman!  He certainly ISN'T the best center in the WC this year -- that would have to go to Brad Miller, IMO.

[rickortreat]

The one who's winning games for Houston is T-Mac.  The guy is unbelievable.  He can score from anywhere as well as drive the lane, pass and rebound.  

If Yao really was a decent top-ten player, they should be competing for the top seed in the West.

Houston has some other players as well in Barry, Wesley, Howard and Sura.  

Yao scores,  but he doesn't average 10 rebounds a game.  He also doesn't move quickly enough on defense.  He's not in great shape, or rather he's not very athletic or coordinated.

With all of that, when it's all said and done, the Rockets are a better team than the Lakers this year.  

[JoMal]

I still have to say it.

Where do the Rockets get off having two starters on the All Star team two years in a row?i

Jomal,

You can't see the Asian connection here?  They have CONTINUED to vote for Yao (and whoever else is playing with him) just because of allegiance to their countryman!  He certainly ISN'T the best center in the WC this year -- that would have to go to Brad Miller, IMO.

Yeah, Randy. Of course I can. The point is, this has limited the choices in filling out the West roster by leaving much more deserving players off the team. I like Yao. He is a decent player who certainly has opened the door to the East and China and is the perfect representative to his country.

But All Star games should be left to the best and not loaded with players from a mediocre team. It just makes no sense to me.

[JoMal]

The one who's winning games for Houston is T-Mac.  The guy is unbelievable.  He can score from anywhere as well as drive the lane, pass and rebound.  

If Yao really was a decent top-ten player, they should be competing for the top seed in the West.

Houston has some other players as well in Barry, Wesley, Howard and Sura.  

Yao scores,  but he doesn't average 10 rebounds a game.  He also doesn't move quickly enough on defense.  He's not in great shape, or rather he's not very athletic or coordinated.

With all of that, when it's all said and done, the Rockets are a better team than the Lakers this year.

Agreed, McGrady looks like an All Star this year, but his team certainly does not look like even a viable playoff team, even after some significant wins of late.

But really, rick, so what if they are better then the Lakers are this year? They both are marginally better then the Clippers as well, but that is not saying much.  

[Guest_Randy]

But as long as the fans choose the All-Star Starters, you are going to continue to have fan favorites over deserving players.  I mean, otherwise, how does VC get the starting nod?  He wouldn't even PLAY if starters were chosen by what they've actually done on the court this year!

Rick, I guess you must have missed that game between the Lakers (who were without Kobe) and the Rockets (who were with TMac).  The Rockets won by ONE point -- hmm, bet ya Kobe gets more than one point, what do you want to bet?

[Lurker]

But as long as the fans choose the All-Star Starters, you are going to continue to have fan favorites over deserving players.  I mean, otherwise, how does VC get the starting nod?  He wouldn't even PLAY if starters were chosen by what they've actually done on the court this year!

Rick, I guess you must have missed that game between the Lakers (who were without Kobe) and the Rockets (who were with TMac).  The Rockets won by ONE point -- hmm, bet ya Kobe gets more than one point, what do you want to bet?

But how does having Kobe on the floor then impact the games of the other players?  Sure Kobe may have scored more than 1 point but I bet the rest of the team would have scored a lot less than they did.  And maybe they wouldn't have had enough touches to find their groove.  What ifs are fun.  Maybe McGrady is inspired by playing aginst Kobe and goes off for 50.  

But then you were the one in the other thread that said because the Lakers were 1/2 game ahead in the standings and had won twice head-to-head that they were SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than the Rockets.  And to cry "our best player is hurt" contradicts your stand so manty other times in the past that even a super computer couldn't tally up the total.

Now they are 2 1/2 games behind the Rockets, are struggling to win without Kobe...although record wise struggled to win with him....and your homerism won't relent.  Good to know that you're around whenever I need to fill up a slow day.

[westkoast]

But how does having Kobe on the floor then impact the games of the other players?  Sure Kobe may have scored more than 1 point but I bet the rest of the team would have scored a lot less than they did.  And maybe they wouldn't have had enough touches to find their groove.  What ifs are fun.  Maybe McGrady is inspired by playing aginst Kobe and goes off for 50. 

But then you were the one in the other thread that said because the Lakers were 1/2 game ahead in the standings and had won twice head-to-head that they were SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than the Rockets.  And to cry "our best player is hurt" contradicts your stand so manty other times in the past that even a super computer couldn't tally up the total.

Now they are 2 1/2 games behind the Rockets, are struggling to win without Kobe...although record wise struggled to win with him....and your homerism won't relent.  Good to know that you're around whenever I need to fill up a slow day.

First of all it effects the players quite a bit because they are not the focus of the defense. Second, he is one of the very best play makers in the game.  Third, alot of times players guarding other Lakers are so worried about Kobe they stop watching their man and it gives them a chance to dive to the basket.  Also, Kobe is much more clutch than Brian Cook who took the shot to win the game.   Last but not least  Kobe would have defended T-Mac instead of Caron Butler.  Kobe is a much better defender and I've seen him shut T-mac done a number of times late in the game (and at the same time drop 24 in a quarter).

Still...Just because Kobe would have scored more than 1 point doesnt mean they would have won.  We can play what if all night.  At the same time the Lakers are much better with Kobe on the floor on both ends of the court.  Dont see how you can deny that Lurker.  Thats like me asking you how Duncan makes his team better.

Lurker Randy never said SOOOOO much better.  He said the Lakers are better than the Rockets because they had beat them 2x this year.  Why is it when the Spurs beat the Lakers 2 years ago in their 4 game series that they were the better team than the Lakers.......but if the Lakers go on to beat the Rockets in their series they are not?  Isnt that how we always judge on how good/bad certain teams do against each other?  Why is it different now?  No one is denying the Lakers are having trouble playing consistantly.......the problem here is that people fail to realize the Lakers have 5 returning players from last year and the starting 5 right now never played together before this year.  In fact NONE of them were Lakers prior to this season.