3/1 - [Game 60] Rockets v. Magic 7:00 EST

[TMACFORMVP]

No pictures.

Honestly, us on the road vs. an under .500 team means...

What to expect from Orlando/Rockets D

1.) Tobias Harris who is averaging 18/6 on terrific shooting after the trade will continue this trend.
2.) Al Harrington is back, and we've had a problem defending stretch 4's for years now. Expect Harrington to find his shooting touch against us, and drop 18+ points on multiple 3PM.
3.) Afflalo is capable of big nights, and if Harden is on him, expect him to be wide open from three all game. Even if Harden is not, our rotation D sucks, and expect Afflalo with 20+ points.
4.) I didn't even mention their best player, Vucevic should be a monster on the boards, and he even has a jumpshot which will draw Asik away from the basket.
5.) Harkless is playing well since the AS break. Nicholson is also a big that can score in a variety of ways...and expect him to dominate us inside like Henson did.

What to expect from Rockets/Orlando D
1.) Rockets to go up double digits at one point of the game.
2.) Lin to miss perimeter jump-shots.
3.) Delfino to continue his cold streak
4.) Orlando having a stretch where Vucevic on the inside, with Afflalo/Harris on the wings will slow down our offense enough as Orlando gets hot from open threes led by Afflalo and Harrington. This will spark Orlando's comeback.
5.) Expect McHale in a somewhat tight game to resort to having Delfino at the 4 again..and having him try to box out Vucevic, which will unfortunately result in numerous offensive rebounds for the Magic to have multiple opportunities to beat us.
6.) Thomas Robinson to miss 2 FT's.

And oh yea, Harden didn't practice, because he was banged up from the last game. Lin also might not play, but he reassured the media he would.

Could be without Harden, but not sure.

All in all, Lakers already as close as they've ever been. All they need is to be 1 game back to pass us on the final game of the season. We continue our play, it won't even come down to that.

Another let down is coming. Or is it really a let down when you just aint that good?

What sucks even more is, while I can't speak for all Orlando fans, I'm sure they wouldn't even mind us winning, if it meant a better chance at the Lakers/Dwight missing the playoffs. Ruining the hopes of not only Rocket fans, but the fans of many other around the NBA that would love to see the Lakeshow miss the post-season.

Loss.

[TMU]

Loss. Congratulations Los Angeles Lakers. Fire McHale and Morey. Hire JVG!

[rocketsballin]

first off, EARLY GAME FELLAS!

a loss to the magic? w/o jameer, glen and hedo? max is that you?
dayum son, you're way too pessimistic . this time you didnt even wait till the first quarter for your white flag statement. your pre game analysis is driving you crazy, you couldnt wait. its an early game too so this must be killing you










harden and lin questionable . even w/o harden we can still win. they dont have two of their best scorers. lin has shown he can take over. more shots for lin and hopefully dmo. dont forget we got the white lbj

[kam_soluusar]

I'm impressed T-Mac. Is Max holding you hostage, and typing in place of you? Come on, show a little optimism. We are in the playoff bubble. So we sucked for a couple of games. LA has sucked all year. Silver lining peeps.

[SOUL]

first off, EARLY GAME FELLAS!

a loss to the magic? w/o jameer, glen and hedo? max is that you?

people still list hedo as a threat.. he is horrible this year..

anyway, we've been playing no defense lately so you guys might put up 120.

[Dmes]

Asik doesn't neccessarily have to guard vucevic. when vucevic is outside of the paint trying to shot jumper, dmo should be on him.
Expect asik's offense rebounds to increase, because of dmo.
Dmo's post up takes about 3-4 s, this will give asik enough time to establish position under the rim. Moreover because shooting midrange jumper requires less power, missed shots will bounce close to the rim.
If dmo continues to set screen, asik will be able to stay close to the rim. Lastly if dmo consistently boxes out players, it will make easy for asik to rebound.

Games without a beard will give rockets a chance to show him that they can score and winwithout a beard. Maybe it will make him willing to play defense.

[Mr. E]

Going to try to get out of work early to watch the game. This slide needs to stop tonight.

[houstonredox93]

I want a big win tonight after the disappointment from the last 2 games. Also D-Mo needs to be in at te end of close games, not Delfino.

[Durant Durant]

good juju post. Win!

[zapatasblood]

Loss

[moofs]

Just to put a balance on the pessimism/optimism scales here, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Rockets win by 340.

[inquisitive]

let's take care of business tonite

[Zubby]

If Rockets don't win by double digits vs. the worst team in the league, then it is already a loss.
But a real loss would be the end.

This team will have gone to ****, slowly getting buried alive... yet everyone will stick around to the end.

Why can't we all just be band wagoners and join some other team, those band wagoners always look so damn happy!
Meanwhile my dumbass is upset because there is a chance the team won't exceed expectations.
I honestly believed this was a 9th place team at best and yet I'm still angry...

F*ck my life
F*ck this team


plz win

[madbucky]

3rd straight game against an inferior opponent that we are supposed to beat... 3rd straight loss?

If Harden's knee isn't 90%, he should sit this game out. It'll be a good experience for the rest of the team to get their games going and not rely on Harden all the time.

We need a win today, because Utah is playing the Bobcats. Let's go Rockets!

[moofs]

If Rockets don't win by double digits vs. the worst team in the league, then it is already a loss.
But a real loss would be the end.

This team will have gone to ****, slowly getting buried alive... yet everyone will stick around to the end.

Why can't we all just be band wagoners and join some other team, those band wagoners always look so damn happy!
Meanwhile my dumbass is upset because there is a chance the team won't exceed expectations.
I honestly believed this was a 9th place team at best and yet I'm still angry...

F*ck my life
F*ck this team

plz win

We just shipped out a starter and in ... what, 2 or 3 new rotation players - one of whom is rawer than a fresh-from-the-butt egg.

And there's expected to be no lapse in continuity or growing pains?
I agree we should definitely beat Orlando, but even if we don't, not a huge deal.

Seriously, what's the REAL downside of happening to miss the playoffs this year?
I don't think we will, and I'd like to see us hit the playoffs a lot myself, but what's the downside?

[rocketsballin]

the downside is that we've spent so much energy and enthusiasm into believing we can make the playoffs. most of us will die a little inside if we dont make it

and its not hard. one of the easiest schedules post all star break. we all knew rockets would go through a rough patch after the trade. it shouldnt take more than two weeks to sort out the rotation.

[moofs]

the downside is that we've spent so much energy and enthusiasm into believing we can make the playoffs. most of us will die a little inside if we dont make it

and its not hard. one of the easiest schedules post all star break. we all knew rockets would go through a rough patch after the trade. it shouldnt take more than two weeks to sort out the rotation.

I think I look at basketball too functionally.

[Zubby]

If Rockets don't win by double digits vs. the worst team in the league, then it is already a loss.
But a real loss would be the end.

This team will have gone to ****, slowly getting buried alive... yet everyone will stick around to the end.

Why can't we all just be band wagoners and join some other team, those band wagoners always look so damn happy!
Meanwhile my dumbass is upset because there is a chance the team won't exceed expectations.
I honestly believed this was a 9th place team at best and yet I'm still angry...

F*ck my life
F*ck this team

plz win

We just shipped out a starter and in ... what, 2 or 3 new rotation players - one of whom is rawer than a fresh-from-the-butt egg.

And there's expected to be no lapse in continuity or growing pains?
I agree we should definitely beat Orlando, but even if we don't, not a huge deal.

Seriously, what's the REAL downside of happening to miss the playoffs this year?
I don't think we will, and I'd like to see us hit the playoffs a lot myself, but what's the downside?

82 games
The only downside is the fans having to cheer for yet another team in a position late in the year to make the playoffs/advance and fail... this time basically because guys who have been playing this sport for years can't do basic things like boxing out... I don't care how raw you are if you're 5th overall pick you should be able to box out a guy, instead of standing straight up and watch a guy come in and O rebound all over you.

Or the fact that only two players actually know how to run a fast break with numbers

Half the team likes to rotate on everything sometimes leaving the better player open

82 games in a **** season... thats a lot of games, it shouldn't take all of them for people to learn to do the basics... that's like 2.5 college years, no excuse to lose games off **** like that its a lil demoralizing.

But yea I guess no real downside, after all half the roster will be gone by the start of next year, its the way of the Rockets.



If they lose to this team that just got smashed by 2Pat and the Kings and have won like 2 games this past month, that is a lil pathetic... they are playing for nothing and have one of their best players hurt.

Yea it technically isn't a big deal either if they lose, I'm so use to saying there is next year, but in the back of my head I keep think playoffs = greater chance of a star coming here.

[Mr. E]

Seriously, what's the REAL downside of happening to miss the playoffs this year?
I don't think we will, and I'd like to see us hit the playoffs a lot myself, but what's the downside?

We don't convey our draft pick to Atlanta and end up picking #14 in what is widely regarded as one of the worst draft classes in some time. We remain with that pick over our heads, hurting potential future deals involving draft picks.

We need the playoffs this year.

[moofs]

Seriously, what's the REAL downside of happening to miss the playoffs this year?
I don't think we will, and I'd like to see us hit the playoffs a lot myself, but what's the downside?

We don't convey our draft pick to Atlanta and end up picking #14 in what is widely regarded as one of the worst draft classes in some time. We remain with that pick over our heads, hurting potential future deals involving draft picks.

We need the playoffs this year.

Ladies and gents, we have a winner.