Phoenix, Maybe?

[PurpleTestament]

Of the teams that could be matched up with us it seems the only one we've had success against recently was the Suns. A few weeks ago I would had retired this Rocket season early if I knew we had them in the first round but in light of our last game against them maybe they are the more favorable matchup? Adelman basically let Amare and Shaq do their business while trying to limit the backcourt. That's not a bad strategy for one game but Steve Nash was way off and I'm not sure that will continue.

I'm not totally against a matchup with Utah but after they nailed us to the wall last night maybe we want Phoenix?

[Texas Longhorns]

I'd rather have Utah than PHX, if we do have Utah, that means we will have homecourt.

[TMACFORMVP]

I was really thinking about this last night, and came up with no conclusion.

I think Shaq and Amare with Nash getting them the ball would really wear us down in a 7 game series. We're not going to hold them to under 90 points like we did when we faced them a week ago and I don't trust our offense enough to really compete and win against them. But one positive with facing Phoenix is that Mutumbo's effectiveness would take full place in this type of series where he'd be able to guard Shaq and be that interior presence that makes us a much better defensive team.

Allowing Mutumbo to play which he wouldn't really be able to do against Utah effectively makes us a better defensive team and it depends on which team scares you more offensively with the Jazz and the Suns, I'd actually think Utah might give us more offensive problems considering they have Okur to space the floor and new additions like Brewer with his slashing and Korver with his shooting.

Then comes the McGrady factor. Who would he play better against? Utah can at least put Brewer and Kirilenko on him who are regarded as above average defenders while Phoenix who really only has Bell that's known for his defense and he gives up a lot of height. We also saw they had some trouble stopping McGrady just coming off the screen and rising up. But on another point of view, McGrady who already never considers attacking the rim would think even more against Phoenix with Shaq and Amare in there opposed to Boozer and Okur who are considered lousy defenders.

Another thing is that Landry is our x-factor. When he plays well, we play well and the fact that since coming back he's only had two good games, it was against the Suns and the Warriors. Both teams that are similar offensively and not the strongest of rebounding teams. We are ranked #1 in total rebounds while the Suns are ranked #21 (they're obviously more improved though with Shaq so it's a bit mis-leading) but if we can take advantage of that especially Landry I might start to lean towards Phoenix.

I think Phoenix is the better team but they have their weaknesses which can be argued that is our strengths in terms of rebounding and defense. Posting this really confusing post that I really don't understand myself somewhat makes me lean towards Phoenix assuming we have home-court advantage because I feel we could somewhat take advantage of their weaknesses more than against Utah. Unfortunately though I think both series ends in the same result. A first round exit.

[dontel]

I was really thinking about this last night, and came up with no conclusion.

I think Shaq and Amare with Nash getting them the ball would really wear us down in a 7 game series. We're not going to hold them to under 90 points like we did when we faced them a week ago and I don't trust our offense enough to really compete and win against them. But one positive with facing Phoenix is that Mutumbo's effectiveness would take full place in this type of series where he'd be able to guard Shaq and be that interior presence that makes us a much better defensive team.

Allowing Mutumbo to play which he wouldn't really be able to do against Utah effectively makes us a better defensive team and it depends on which team scares you more offensively with the Jazz and the Suns, I'd actually think Utah might give us more offensive problems considering they have Okur to space the floor and new additions like Brewer with his slashing and Korver with his shooting.

Then comes the McGrady factor. Who would he play better against? Utah can at least put Brewer and Kirilenko on him who are regarded as above average defenders while Phoenix who really only has Bell that's known for his defense and he gives up a lot of height. We also saw they had some trouble stopping McGrady just coming off the screen and rising up. But on another point of view, McGrady who already never considers attacking the rim would think even more against Phoenix with Shaq and Amare in there opposed to Boozer and Okur who are considered lousy defenders.

Another thing is that Landry is our x-factor. When he plays well, we play well and the fact that since coming back he's only had two good games, it was against the Suns and the Warriors. Both teams that are similar offensively and not the strongest of rebounding teams. We are ranked #1 in total rebounds while the Suns are ranked #21 (they're obviously more improved though with Shaq so it's a bit mis-leading) but if we can take advantage of that especially Landry I might start to lean towards Phoenix.

I think Phoenix is the better team but they have their weaknesses which can be argued that is our strengths in terms of rebounding and defense. Posting this really confusing post that I really don't understand myself somewhat makes me lean towards Phoenix assuming we have home-court advantage because I feel we could somewhat take advantage of their weaknesses more than against Utah. Unfortunately though I think both series ends in the same result. A first round exit.:(

wow. after posting this long and finishing it up with that kind of conclusion. you deserve to hide yer face dude! its official yer now suffering from an acute iggymu syndrome.

[A.J.]

I would rather have Utah than Phoenix also.

[TMACFORMVP]

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wow. after posting this long and finishing it up with that kind of conclusion. you deserve to hide yer face dude! its official yer now suffering from an acute iggymu syndrome.

This has actually been my most un-pessimistic year being a fan.I just want to compete and at least shut up people that say we don't really deserve to in the position we are in with a chance at home-court in the West. That'd come if we gave a team of Utah or Phoenix caliber some trouble in the first round without arguably our best player. If we were to advance I don't even know what I'd say.

[PocketRockets]

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wow. after posting this long and finishing it up with that kind of conclusion. you deserve to hide yer face dude! its official yer now suffering from an acute iggymu syndrome.

So you honestly think we're gonna beat the Jazz? and you're on crack if you think we'll beat the suns. I know who i'll be cheering for and want to win, ROCKETS!!! But anyone that's played basketball knows you can get one maybe two games in a best of seven series against a better team, but you realistically can't expect to win the series. Both teams have big men that we can't handle, the Jazz just have less in Boozer and possibly Millsap (non-starter).

[kz1m9w]

I'd rather have Utah than PHX, if we do have Utah, that means we will have homecourt.

I'm not sure that bolded part is necessarily true.

Depending on the how the Suns, Rockets and Jazz fair in their final game, there were some (maybe 2?) scenarios where the Jazz would have home-court against the Rockets.

The Jazz board had a thread with an informative link laying out all the various possibilities: http://blogs.sltrib.com/jazz/

[Young_Star11]

I don't mind either!

[Texas Longhorns]

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I'm not sure that bolded part is necessarily true.

Depending on the how the Suns, Rockets and Jazz fair in their final game, there were some (maybe 2?) scenarios where the Jazz would have home-court against the Rockets.

The Jazz board had a thread with an informative link laying out all the various possibilities: http://blogs.sltrib.com/jazz/

Look on the general board where it has that one thread that says "Jazz in awkward position" and someone has laid out the possibilities. The only way the Rockets don't have home court is either 1) If we lose against the Clippers on Wed OR 2) If we play the Spurs (meaning they would have a better record because they would have beat Utah). If we play the Suns, we still get home court, if we play the Jazz, we get home court. So there it is.

[Shabi__5]

To I would rather PHX over Utah , Landry , Hayes , Scola all those hustle players can be more effective against PHX imo.

[dontel]

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So you honestly think we're gonna beat the Jazz? and you're on crack if you think we'll beat the suns. I know who i'll be cheering for and want to win, ROCKETS!!! But anyone that's played basketball knows you can get one maybe two games in a best of seven series against a better team, but you realistically can't expect to win the series. Both teams have big men that we can't handle, the Jazz just have less in Boozer and possibly Millsap (non-starter).

so what do you want me to do? just turn the TV off cause i know who's gonna win the series anyway? way to give me a whopping suggetsion mr. nostradamus!

[PhatPat23]

i believe a rockets win tonight guarantees us homecourt in the first round... can anybody confirm?

we win, spurs win, suns win -- homecourt v. utah
we win, spurs win, suns lose -- homecourt v. utah
we win, spurs lose, suns win -- homecourt v. phx (check the nba.com article about the 4-way tiebreaker)
we win, spurs lose, suns lose -- homecourt v. sas (i believe, based on our better head-to-head record, compared to SA in the 3-way tie)

anyone but the spurs is cool w/me, we'll have an outside chance, and should be able to goto six or seven, where anything can happen (i.e tmac catching fire and shooting over 50% for the first time in over a month)


EDIT: HOU wins, SAS lose, SUNS lose -- we start the playoffs in SA. we'd have the 4th seed, but they'd get the homecourt.

PHOENIX better take care of portland tonite.