MuthaFunka said:

Not based on what I saw last night. In the regular season, the Lakers blew the Rockets away each fourth quarter and went 4 - 0. They did it by changing the Rockets' tempo - they made the Rockets rush everything.

Last night, the Rockets imposed their will on the Lakers. The Lakers could not get them out of their game. Adelman pushed all the right buttons. Aaron Brooks made D Fish look like an old, old man. Lamar Odom was so slow, I wanted to offer him a walker. Bynum was no factor at ALL. Gasol looked like he was the one with the flu.

And Kobe? Until the end of the game, dude had 30 points but only one free throw. He could not or would not drive the lane. The Rockets cut off every path he had. Kobe went off with jumpers, and you know what? I'll take my chances that he doesn't hit 13 out of 15 every night (or whatever he shot in the 2nd half. Dude was on FIRE).

The Rockets won and did not use Scola or Battier to any great effect on offense. Nor did Von Wafer do much. The Rockets have many more arrows in their quiver.

And Yao Ming is the freaking MAN!

Hey, by the way - how about my man Rafer Alston? Anybody here want to amend the way they feel about him NOW?

What does the Rockets performance really say about Tracy Mcgrady?

RodeoSchro said:

1 game. Kobe was sick. The rest of the team had an off night...and the Rockets barely won. I see a 15pt+ blowout Game 2. My only concern is Yao out manning Pau. When YAO mans-up over your Big...that's pretty sad.

Graycap23 said:

Nothing. If we had a healthy TMac right now, we'd go 16 - 0 in the playoffs. Well, OK - 16 - 2.

All joking aside, no one on the Rockets ever criticized TMac's ability or heart. There are lots of reasons why he didn't get out of the first round, and some of them were his fault.

But I'd take a healthy TMac in a split second, and I bet everyone on the Rockets would, too.

MuthaFunka said:

Pau Gasol better get used to it.

RodeoSchro said:

I like Tmac, always have. I hope the Bulls pick him up.

RodeoSchro said:

But that would take away from Yao's touches. Rockets are better off emphasizing the big man.

MuthaFunka said:

I wouldn't exactly call Pau a 'big'. He may be seven feet, but the boy is soft.

uPtoWnNY said:

Soft and plays like a 6 footer.

Can anyone please explain this fine?

Karl: Fine on Martin out of line

DENVER -- Denver Nuggets coach George Karl disagrees with the $25,000 fine given to forward Kenyon Martin, calling it "way out of line and crazy."

Martin was punished by the league Monday, the day after knocking Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki to the court in Denver's second-round, series-opening win. The flagrant foul occurred with about six minutes left in the first quarter.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Denver.

RodeoSchro said:

Naw, Yao better get used to Bynum real soon.

uPtoWnNY said:

He makes Elmo look like Tupac.

MuthaFunka said:

I have the feeling that Bynum is all hype, but we'll see.

You know, he can't stop Yao when Yao posts up. And I'll give the Blazers credit, they really fronted Yao well, especially Pryzbilla. But even that didn't work.

I think Yao is unstoppable. And he is the best free throw shooter on the team, and maybe on the playoffs.

RodeoSchro said:

I have no idea why you'd think that, especialyl when Portland stopped him in 1 of those games. No player is unstoppable.

Hawks thumped by the Cavs. There is no way we won't get swept if Joe Johnson keeps underperforming and Horford and Williams don't get fully fit and start contributing more. 5 down at halftime we were still kind of in it, but not really. You knew what was going to happen.

Graycap23 said:

Kenyon Martin is a modern day rick mahorn. Just worse.
Dude is the true basketball thug of the nba.
Remember the dirty takedown of tmac several years ago
when he played for orlando. The fine may have been a
little excessive but it was truly an unneccessary foul.

MuthaFunka said:

How'd it work out for Portland?

Sure, you can stop a player one quarter, one half, even one game.

But a playoff series can go seven games, and my point is that no one can stop Yao over the whole series.

Portland slowed Yao down, but when they HAD to stop him, they couldn't. That's what I mean by "unstoppable".

MuthaFunka said:

Since Jordan retired.....u are correct.

Graycap23 said:

Vernon Maxwell stopped the shit out of ol' 23. Rockets had a winning record against MJ during his time with the Bulls.

We beat them by 20 one memorable game. Jordan was stopped - by Mutha's definition.

By MY definition, I agree - Jordan was unstoppable.

RodeoSchro said:

When did this become about Portalnd? All I'm saying is, no player is "unstoppable" and especially not Yao, because Portalnd DID stop him one game.

phunkdaddy said:

Rhonda punched Miller in the mouth and blood was flowing.....no fine.

Graycap23 said:

Even Air Jesus Christ has been stopped, don't trip. I got the box scores to prove it.

MuthaFunka said:

So it's not possible 2 have an off game here and there?
Hell.....Ferrari's don't start sometimes.

This is how cold Jordan was:

At least at the time, Michael Jordan's score of 6 points in the Washington Wizards loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday of December 27nd was his lowest scoring NBA game. By doing so he ended a league record streak of 866 consecutive games with double-digit scoring.

In the next game two nights later he bounced right back with 51 points against the Charlotte Hornets.

Graycap23 said:

Then that Ferrari was stopped . That's my whole point. EVERY player has been stopped, whether it was due to a bad game, bad reffing, illness/injury, good/great D played on him - they were stopped. No player is unstoppable in ANY sport.

MuthaFunka said:

An off night is not the same as good defense. U tripping.

Graycap23 said:

Yes but rondo wears a boston celtics jersey and not a denver
nuggets jersey.

Graycap23 said:

See the bad boy pistons of detroit from 1987 to 1990.
You know back then rick mahorn didn't have any problem
clotheslining a MF. Ask dominique wilkins or coach
doug collins who got slammed over the scorers table
for messing with rick mahorn.
[Edited 5/6/09 11:04am]

phunkdaddy said:

Lol.....they stopped the team, not Jordan.