Mavericks/Rockets Game 2

[elindholm]

LOL, McGrady completely posterized Bradley in the first quarter. That was great.

 

[cly2tw]

I hope Dallas can get back to the series by winning this game. I'm more scared by the Yao/TMac explosion than any other team in the playoffs.

 

[Chaz]

I was more worried about Dallas when this series started but Houston has played very well so far.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

This is when I am very scared of the Rockets. If you let them hang around, you have to be terrified of Tmac in the last couple minutes.

You definitely have to put them away early, or at least get a nice buffer --- Or tmac will bury you, either with an assist or a bucket

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Like I said, never let Houston stay around.

Right on cue, Tmac burys them

 

[elindholm]

I don't see Dallas coming back from this. They don't have the heart or the leadership. Their best players in the second half were Terry and Dampier, and Johnson didn't even have Dampier on the floor at the end.

Let's at least hope that they can make Houston work hard for a few more games.

Yao Ming 13-14 from the field, LOL. The Suns can't do any worse than that!

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I would like the Mavs to make a series of it, just to tire the Rockets out more.

I am happy about the prospect of playing Houston though, I was almost certain it would be Dallas.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Houston worries me...man are they playing good right now...

Mike

 

[Cheesebeef]

T-Mac plus good defense scares the crap out of me - especially with a likely(and hopefullly playing) Shawn Marion.

That team is tough - good shooters, Yao at 7'6 frustrating Amare and a superstar like T-Mac - we're gonna have to be rolling on all cylinders to beat them.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I haven't wanted to bring it up, but even with how amazing Marion has been (and how much I like him) I still would have been happy had we been able to trade Marion/CJ for Tmac.

The suns would not have been as fun or exciting, and probably had a few less regular season wins. With that said, I would feel more comfortable in the playoffs with Tracey. I don't think he defense would be where it is right now, but I do believe his deflections would be near similar to Marion.

I don't really want to argue it either, just wanted to get it off my chest.

 

[Kolo]

I haven't wanted to bring it up, but even with how amazing Marion has been (and how much I like him) I still would have been happy had we been able to trade Marion/CJ for Tmac.

The suns would not have been as fun or exciting, and probably had a few less regular season wins. With that said, I would feel more comfortable in the playoffs with Tracey. I don't think he defense would be where it is right now, but I do believe his deflections would be near similar to Marion.

I don't really want to argue it either, just wanted to get it off my chest.

I heard it was Marion/JJ for McGrady, which would have made the decision far easier. I could be wrong.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I heard it was Marion/JJ for McGrady, which would have made the decision far easier. I could be wrong.

That is what they wanted, not what we offered.

We supposedly offered a package of Marion/CJ or Voskuhl

 

[fordronken]

I can really see McGrady getting extremely excited over a first round series victory and playing a lot worse in round 2.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I can really see McGrady getting extremely excited over a first round series victory and playing a lot worse in round 2.

why? Seems like a huge helping of wishful thinking there. Players who finally get a taste for winning seem to only get better and better.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I haven't wanted to bring it up, but even with how amazing Marion has been (and how much I like him) I still would have been happy had we been able to trade Marion/CJ for Tmac.

The suns would not have been as fun or exciting, and probably had a few less regular season wins. With that said, I would feel more comfortable in the playoffs with Tracey. I don't think he defense would be where it is right now, but I do believe his deflections would be near similar to Marion.

I don't really want to argue it either, just wanted to get it off my chest.

agree. Although with Marion healthy, I wouldn't be as concerned as I am now.

 

[fordronken]

why? Seems like a huge helping of wishful thinking there. Players who finally get a taste for winning seem to only get better and better.

Look, when your prime goal is getting out of the first round, you are going to have a let down of energy once it's accomplished. Remember when the Kings beat us to finally win a first round series? They acted like they'd won the championship.

Houston is not built well enough as a team right now to be able to take over games consistently without that emotional high. They rely too much on role playing shooters and an inconsistent big man.

I'm not saying they're as good as dead, I'm just saying that I don't expect the level of Tracy McGrady from these first two games in Dallas to emerge for seven games in the second round.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Look, when your prime goal is getting out of the first round, you are going to have a let down of energy once it's accomplished. Remember when the Kings beat us to finally win a first round series? They acted like they'd won the championship.

that was a YOUNG Kings team ripe with immaturity all over the place though. Not to mention they beat a pretty crappy Suns team that year.

The Rockets have Vets and play MUCH better D than those Kings teams and the biggest difference is T-Mac as the superstar versus Webber. T-Mac wants the ball at the end of games - Webber - the "leader" of those Kings teams ran into a corner and hid.

If the Rockets take this series - I guarantee you they don't act like fools as the Kings did.

JMO - But I'd much rather face that soft as hell Mavs team than the Rockets.

 

[jandaman]

If it ends up being a suns and rox series, I would hope we could contain T-Mac to not blow up 40 a game. And I dont want to sound pessimistic but a Rox and Suns series looks more favourable for Houston fans...

 

[George O'Brien]

I really thought Dallas would play better, but it obvious that Jason Terry is no Steve Nash.

I never assumed that either team would be easy. In general, I think the Suns chances against the Rockets are likely to be better because the Rockets need Yao on the floor. However, he looked winded trying to keep up with the Mavs who aren't even close to being as fast as the Suns.

 

[JCSunsfan]

That is what they wanted, not what we offered.

We supposedly offered a package of Marion/CJ or Voskuhl

Bet Orlando wishes they had taken that deal. Glad we didn't. Our rebounding would be horrible.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Bet Orlando wishes they had taken that deal. Glad we didn't. Our rebounding would be horrible.

Disagree. Our reabounding would be similar to what it is now. If Marion wasn't grabbing 11 a game, with McGrady grabbing 6 instead - I bet Amare would average above 10. Plus a couple other players would get small increases.

It could go down a slight amount, but I think it would just be redistributed instead.


I hear you cheese on Shawn being healthy, but like you have said it just points to him being soft at times. History says Marion will have a supbar playoffs, although game 1 looked good. Tmac is a gamer, and has pretty much always had great playoffs.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Disagree. Our reabounding would be similar to what it is now. If Marion wasn't grabbing 11 a game, with McGrady grabbing 6 instead - I bet Amare would average above 10. Plus a couple other players would get small increases.

It could go down a slight amount, but I think it would just be redistributed instead.


I hear you cheese on Shawn being healthy, but like you have said it just points to him being soft at times. History says Marion will have a supbar playoffs, although game 1 looked good. Tmac is a gamer, and has pretty much always had great playoffs.

nah - we're on the exact same page. With T-Mac - we'd crush everyone in the playoffs IMO. There wouldn't be one team I'd even think twice about. But - it didn't happen and we would have had to give up JJ likely in order to do it and that may have been too much. Although a core of Nash, T-Mac, Q and Amare would have been frightening as well.

I just hope Shawn gets some rest on Wednesday, we prevail and he comes back somewhat healthy. We're gonna need him at full strength if we're gonna beat the Rockets.

 

[George O'Brien]

I suspect that Orlando got greedy when they pushed to get JJ, but it's not clear Marion would be an all star on the Magic. Marion is ideally suited to the Suns, but might not have even started with Grant Hill and Dwight Howard at forward. D'Antoni is the only coach in the NBA who thought Marion could play power forward on a playoff team, much less the winningest team in the NBA.




I

 

[cly2tw]

I would like the Mavs to make a series of it, just to tire the Rockets out more.

I am happy about the prospect of playing Houston though, I was almost certain it would be Dallas.

You may well get your wish fulfilled. But what did they say about getting your wishes?

Let me reitereate my reasoning. On average talent, the Suns are as good as anybody if not superior. So, with teams without real superstars like Denver and Dallas, or even teh Pistons, our superior talent will prevail with no surprise. On the other hand, teams like Houston and Spurs and Miami scare me cos they all have superstars that are capable of willing through in the close games. I still consider my beloved Suns the favorite, but just less confident in their odds of winning out compared to the other teams.

Yao might get winded. But after 13/14 shooting, the damage is already done. We need Amare to have his outside game going like he did to Shaq, besides getting Yao winded with our speed.

 

[cly2tw]

I suspect that Orlando got greedy when they pushed to get JJ, but it's not clear Marion would be an all star on the Magic. Marion is ideally suited to the Suns, but might not have even started with Grant Hill and Dwight Howard at forward. D'Antoni is the only coach in the NBA who thought Marion could play power forward on a playoff team, much less the winningest team in the NBA.

True. Both Marion and JJ performed way better than they would on any other team because of the way Suns play.