NBA Playoffs 2007: Round 1

[Black Lushus 0]

nah, he saw the foul in motion and was hoping to get Miller caught in the act.

 

 

okay, I'm grasping at straws...

[Ripper 0]

He was thinking "What kickass design should I get cut into my hair to celebrate this win"

[Black Lushus 0]

He was thinking "What kickass design should I get cut into my hair to celebrate this win"

 

"which 14 year old girls should I pick up on tonight?"

[World's Worst Man 0]

Fucking Raptors fall apart at the end of the 3rd and Bosh is playing like garbage on the offensive side of the court.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Oh Calderon. Oh Jose fucking Calderon.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Nets-Cavaliers. Fuuuun.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

The 1st round isn't over with? Yeah, it's probably a tired argument already. I thought waiting 2 days occasionally between hockey games was bad.

[Just John 0]

Nets-Cavaliers. Fuuuun.

 

You say that like Raptors/Cavs would've been really exciting.

 

Pretty good game in Jersey tonight. I think the Nets have a real shot of making the ECF.

[CanadianChris 0]

I don't know why they decided to only play three games a week, but it makes for really bad viewing. How am I supposed to care about a series when there's so much down time between games? There's no excuse for not playing every other day at worst.

[Just John 0]

They do it so pretty much every game gets on national tv. Frankly, I don't mind that since I like to see everyone play at least once. I'd rather wait 2 weeks for a series to end than only be able to watch the Heat, Suns, and Mavs series.

 

Though I wouldn't be upset if they sped things up by running parallel games on ESPN/ESPN2 and TNT/TBS.

[treble 0]

Well, the Raptors almost made me look like I knew what I was talking about.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

They do it so pretty much every game gets on national tv. Frankly, I don't mind that since I like to see everyone play at least once. I'd rather wait 2 weeks for a series to end than only be able to watch the Heat, Suns, and Mavs series.

 

Though I wouldn't be upset if they sped things up by running parallel games on ESPN/ESPN2 and TNT/TBS.

 

Big reasons why the play-offs are so drawn out these days

 

- ESPN and TNT splitting the games. If Turner still had the exclusive cable rights, they could show 4 games some nights between TNT/TBS.

 

-Also since the move to ABC, the first game of the Finals has a set date in June(Apparently done so the foreign press can plan ahead). Before, the Finals began as quickly as possible depending on how the play-offs played out.

 

This move also explain why the first round went to seven. Because in the first year of the new TV deal the Best of 5 first round took just as long as the current Best of 7 format. MY GOD was that year freaking horrible

[Guest Richard McBeef]

There should've been a maximum of four games every day until the round was over. That gets us done quicker.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

The finals begin June 7th?! That means the next 2 rounds are going to take even longer... and there's no "must show every game nationally" excuse.

[Just John 0]

Ok, if the Rockets lose this game, I'm placing the blame solely on Jeff Van Gundy and his terrible lineup choices. Houston is failing to accomplish anything with the normal Yao-centric lineup and gets down by 16. Then the small lineup comes in, gets stops, breaks down the Utah D, gets open looks, and cuts the lead to in half in just a couple minutes. Utah takes a timeout and so what does JVG do? Goes back to lineup that got us in such a big hole to begin with. Naturally, Houston starts giving up easy points and stalling on offense as Utah pushes the lead back to double digits.

 

T-Mac, Alston, Battier, Howard, and Hayes should be starting and playing most of the second half.

[Just John 0]

Season on the line and the Rockets give up 3 straight offensive boards. Pathetic. And that last attempted foul series? Jesus Christ. Those last two minutes were the definition of caving under pressure. Simply disgusting.

 

Sadly, T-Mac will get all the flack for this despite playing well. No one will question the coaching or Yao for not carrying his weight.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

They wasted 8 seconds in the final 10 seconds by not fouling. T-Mac and some other guy had Deron Williams SURROUNDED and just stood there. Either this was some ass-backwards plan, or T-Mac and the other guy completely caved under pressure.

 

i dunno what the rockets were doing on offense those last couple of possessions either.

[alfdogg 0]

This is only the second series ever where the home team won the first six games, and the road team won game 7. The other was the 1969 Finals, where the Celtics beat the Lakers. Russell's last year, Wilt's first on the Lakers, and featured the famous Don Nelson shot.

 

Carlos Boozer is incredible, he owned Yao this whole series.

[cabbageboy 0]

I think in a deranged way they were trying to go for a steal there, but never actually attempted any contact or steal.

 

Van Gundy should be gone after this series, he really should be. Not just this game, but overall for the Rockets and their style of play. There is no reason why this team shouldn't be scoring over 100 a night, yet they never scraped 100 in this entire series. That's embarrassing for a team with two alleged superstars (McGrady, Yao).

 

Further, I didn't understand the gameplan one iota down the stretch. Tracy McGrady has this albatross of never being able to get past the 1st round, so what do they do? Just give it to Yao on every possession, but aside from one time where he dunked on Okur he is content with shooting off balance jumpers and shit. The dude is like 7'6" and he's out there shooting jumpers rather than posting a guy and dunking on his ass every time. Nowitzki is more adept at being that hybrid player who can step out and shoot, but someone with Yao's size needs to post up. At any rate, they should have won or lost with McGrady down the stretch.

[Just John 0]

This is only the second series ever where the home team won the firstCarlos Boozer is incredible, he owned Yao this whole series.

 

Which begs the question: Why the fuck does JVG not do anything about it??? Chuck Hayes looked more effective on Boozer in his limited minutes than Yao did at any point in the series. TNT even had that graphic that showed the Rockets were doing better with Yao out. You'd think a Rockets assistant or Jeff would have taken notes on that as well.

 

Like I said, this loss is all on JVG and his refusal to make adjustments when there were clearly better options present. You can blame Yao too, but there's not much he can do if the coach is making him guard someone his skills aren't suited for. Too bad that bus Dirk just got thrown under will be swerving to hit T-Mac now.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

way too much emphasis being placed on T-mac and the first round. I think in crunch time, that effects everybody on the team, its on their mind. The longer this goes on, the worse it gets.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Doesn't hurt that the Jazz were obviously the better team the whole series.

[Ripper 0]

I won't say the whole series, but Kirilenko remembering how to play in game 4 made me think the Jazz would win this series and that Golden State is in trouble.

 

I feel sorry for Tracy Mcgrady. He has never gotten out the first round but you would be hard pressed to find a time that HE choked.

[Just John 0]

Doesn't hurt that the Jazz were obviously the better team the whole series.

 

They certainly had the better coaching. Bench was better too, but that goes back to JVG using too short of a rotation.

[cabbageboy 0]

As noted, the blame here has to go on Van Gundy. The Jazz were a more cohesive unit in this series, but in theory there's no way in hell they should be able to beat the Rockets. During this series I couldn't help but think that Van Gundy was the exact wrong guy to coach this team, since he's obsessed with this boring Knicks style crap that the Rockets aren't made for. I recall Skip Bayless ranting on Cold Pizza about how the Rockets seemed better off when Yao was hurt and Mutombo was starting. It seems absurd, but Mutombo is that enforcer type defensive center that fits much more with Van Gundy's aesthetic (which is to thug it up).

 

The Rockets are at heart a finesse team. Yao Ming is not a tough guy center and Van Gundy can try for years to make him one but it's not likely to happen. McGrady isn't that sort of fiery player that Van Gundy needs. What does it say that when the Rockets went small and played a more finesse style that suits them, they looked good in the series. Van Gundy can be a quality coach with a certain style of team, and the Rockets would be a very good team with a more uptempo coach, but the two just don't gel.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Van Gundy has resigned according to ESPN

[Just John 0]

Alright, part one of the offseason plan is now complete! Now it's time to get Rashard Lewis.

 

Brings up the question who will take the coaching job, though. I agree with the notion that Houston needs a more offensively minded coach. Is Rick Adelman doing anything?

[Guest Vitamin X]

I hear there's quite a few good coaches out there.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

The Jazz led at half all seven games. Rockets won by hook and crook with some Jazz choke sprinkled in at home and then got blasted in Utah.

Jazz were obviously the more athletic, more cohesive, more talented, better coached team.

 

And yes I am a Jazz fan, if it wasn't obvious.