Can the Rockets beat the Lakers?

[takeittothehoop]

I'm officially on the Rockets bandwagon seeing as in the Sixers are out.
Yao Ming FTW!!!


Seriously I'll take the Lakers in 6.

[jason816]

I have a question for Rockets fans:

What happens when Yao goes on the bench? Who is going to guard Gasol? Bynum? Odom? Powell? Mbenga? The Laker's length is going to prevail against the Rockets, even if Kobe has bad games. Offensive firepower is also key. The Rockets cannot match the Lakers on this front.

Lakers in 5.

You are acting like Pau Gasol, Bynum...etc. has unlimited energy and can play 48mins a game...

Powell, Mbenga...?! you acting like they are really some offensive firepower... yes, they have size, but you seriously think they can out-perform Landry and Chuck? i say they are even. actually, i think Landry will kick their butt.
besides, i hardly see them getting heavy mins. well, they have 12 fouls to give on Yao tho.

[amfirst]

People fail to see that team defense locks Kobe down or his shot is off. No one player can shut him down. The thought of Yao being the 2nd line of defender once Kobe gets around Battier or Artest, I doubt the Rockets can stop him.

[amfirst]

If the stars align correctly than yea maybe the Rockets get in some really lucky shots in the 4th and beat the Lakers, but it is a slim chance yet not impossible.

[SCY]

People fail to see that team defense locks Kobe down or his shot is off. No one player can shut him down. The thought of Yao being the 2nd line of defender once Kobe gets around Battier or Artest, I doubt the Rockets can stop him.

Stop, he isn't God. If this series had happened last year's playoffs everyone would be talking about how Battier had shut him down in the regular season. Just so happens Kobe has gotten the better of the Rockets D this season. To act like it's etched in stone he will do the same this series on the basis of a few regular season matchups is silly.

[TearDrop]

eh? Lakers front court dominating? this laker fans are thinking like yao is the only front court player in the rockets lineup. Scola is a very good PF, he showed that in the blazer series. Landry and hayes although undersized are decent PF who can guard the likes of odom or bynum. Besides bynum is not playing at his best and odom is more of a jump shooting bigman. The only player who poses a real threat in the front court is pau. If the rockets are able to shut him down, they are going to be okay in this series. Kobe? like some rocket fan said here, they rather have him shoot a ton of shots than the other players play great.

After the allstar break, Scola is consistently performing better than most power forwards in the league. Check his stat post allstar break and look at his points and rebounds. Landry is a step slower after the shooting. Both of them combined contribute alot of points and rebounds for the Rockets from the PF position.

[mbell75]

Scola is a good PF? Hes average at best. If Phil decides to play Bynum, Gasol and Odom at the same time, they will dominate the Rockets in the paint and on the boards.

[apesta]

As a Rocket fan, i really want this team to go far since they have made it out of the first round. But they will have to play some perfect basketball to beat the Lakers. I think Yao will average more points in this series because i dont think Lakers will double Yao as much as Blazers did. Its really up to his teammates to contribute both defense and offensively. Rockets have big problem with having droughts late in games. This is the biggest problem they need to adjust or else Lakers will kill them down the stretch. Most importantly is if Battier and Artest can slow down Kobe, then we can pull an upset. Artest just needs to control himself and not try to piss Kobe off like last time.

If Rockets are to win this series, i think it will be 7 games for sure.

[brantonli]

I agree that the Rockets are under rated.
I agree that their front line is equal to that of the Lakers.
I agree that their bench is better than the Lakers.

Lakers have Kobe.

Lakers in 6 or 7.

I would be extremely, extremely pleased with a 7 game series. Although the Rockets just aren't good enough offensively to defeat the Lakers (they are sure to front Yao, and Gasol/Bynum are more athletic than Pryzbilla so they can front more effectively and for longer). Hopefully Brooks won't get exposed on his defence, but the biggest worry is between Artest-Kobe. I wager tha in the first game Kobe absolutely destroys Artest for what he said and aims for at least 40 points (since Artest said nobody but Roy dropped 40 on him).

Artest really needs to shut up.

Scola is a good PF? Hes average at best. If Phil decides to play Bynum, Gasol and Odom at the same time, they will dominate the Rockets in the paint and on the boards.

You underestimate Scola on offense. He was voted as MVP twice in the bets European league for a reason.
Plus, let me break down how Scola did against Portland for you: Yao was being fronted, but he usually had a 2nd defender lurking behind him so they couldn't do a lob pass. In essence, he was 'double-teamed' (with 2 defenders concentrating on him). This leaves Scola completely wide open, or one of the Rockets three point shooters.

Now think of the Lakers. In order to counter Scola, you must (of course) put a man on him, but it also means going away from the very effective fronting of Yao, so while you might argue that they would 'dominate the paint', well Scola doesn't score in the paint, he prefers shooting 18 foot jumpers and the very occasional post up and hook shot. Scola is not as muscular, or athletic as any of the Laker's big men, but he's as crafty as hell and hustles with the best of them.

[Mrofir]

This houston team with Tmac of a few years ago would take the Lakers to 7 and possibly win.

Doh.

[GMAC]

Scola is a good PF? Hes average at best. If Phil decides to play Bynum, Gasol and Odom at the same time, they will dominate the Rockets in the paint and on the boards.

Average PFs don't win the FIBA World Championships MVP trophy

[jason816]

As a Rocket fan, i really want this team to go far since they have made it out of the first round. But they will have to play some perfect basketball to beat the Lakers. I think Yao will average more points in this series because i dont think Lakers will double Yao as much as Blazers did. Its really up to his teammates to contribute both defense and offensively. Rockets have big problem with having droughts late in games. This is the biggest problem they need to adjust or else Lakers will kill them down the stretch. Most importantly is if Battier and Artest can slow down Kobe, then we can pull an upset. Artest just needs to control himself and not try to piss Kobe off like last time.

If Rockets are to win this series, i think it will be 7 games for sure.

good point.

I hope Lakers is gonna play Yao with Bynum 1on1.. Bynum will be in foul trouble, take a good look at Blazers. When the refs cut the racist blood in them and start officiating the game straight up, Yao is deadly.

Let's go Rockets! steal Game 1 from LA!

[raptorfan_dr07]

It's going to be really tough for Houston to beat the Lakers although they have a shot. If they do win this series, I don't see them winning in anything less than 7. Houston needs to establish Yao early(like Game 1 in Portland) and keep going to him all game long. Nobody on the Lakers can stop him. He's a good passer and being dominant early on will get easy shots for the other guys like Shane Battier and Luis Scola(who is excellent at the mid range game). Ron Artest has to bring his A game as well. No forced shots, no dumb threes, he has take advantage of his size and get to the rim. I expect Trevor Ariza to be matched up with him and Ron's too big for him. Houston's also a solid team defensively, much better than Utah. If they struggle to score, they've got to rely on their defense to limit LA and keep them in the game. Portland's a solid offensive team and Houston did a great job keeping them under 100 points most of the series.

That being said, Lakers in 6. I just think LA is too big and too deep for Houston. The Rockets could have really used Deke in this series.

[Lamar Doom]

Rockets are a good squad but they're not beating the lakers this series because the lakers are better and have home court. The Lakers are going to win the NBA championship this year and you should all start getting used to that idea. We're just too good, too deep, and have too many options in a season with no other "great" team.

[NuggetsFan]

I don't think so, but I really hope they do or atleast push it to 6\7.



Looking forward to Battier\Artest guarding Kobe.