Rockets ONLY chance to be somewhat competitive against Warriors...

[existential]

McHale MUST replace Terry in the starting line-up with Prigioni. This is a key adjustment that has to be made, especially considering having to defend Curry.

Prigioni is light years the better defender, runs the offense so much more efficiently, and is the far better decision maker. He keeps the pace a bit slower as well, which helps the team stay more focused on both ends. Just a much better choice at PG than Terry at this point, it's not even close.

This will allow Terry to stay as fresh as possible coming off the bench. He simply can't defend at all and when he tries, he always fouls. His jumper has also been short throughout the playoffs, so they need to save his legs.

[ZetaPsi808]

sharp post i agree.

rockets will also have to play better defense than they did vs LAC

[Sledge187]

McHale is going to be tested in this series. How do guard one of the most explosive offenses of all time? Steph Curry may one day go down as the greatest shooter ever. There is a chance Beverly comes back for this series. Not a lot of people know this.

[leetreaper]

No brain surgery needed here, Terry is a clown and only good for a couple of 3's a game.

[existential]

McHale is going to be tested in this series. How do guard one of the most explosive offenses of all time? Steph Curry may one day go down as the greatest shooter ever. There is a chance Beverly comes back for this series. Not a lot of people know this.

i saw someone on Red94 mention that the other day in a random blog comment, but haven't heard anything since. he's still in a hard cast a/o now and game 1 is Tues.

[TwoWays]

It's was a good run from the rockets. Western conference finals is a damn good achievement, especially how it happened

[seaborneq]

Jason Terry has no business playing starters minutes at this stage of his career. Has even less business playing point guard. Needs to come off the bench and just shoot 3's. Shouldn't be running the offense.

[Ratpack]

Will probably leave terry in the starting lineup but keep a short least on him because how well Pablo runs the 2nd team and is a spark off the bench. If mchale wanted he should put brewer out there to guard curry and make harden the pg since brewer has the length and speed to guard curry

[BigDeem5]

Beverly may come back..

If they had Beverly, I think Houston had 45-50% chance.

Curry mismatch will be brutal w/ JTerry.

[Big Bear]

Tatddy just text me and told me i should poke the Warriors series price rather hard.

[Mr KLC]

Warriors swept the Rockets this year, but Howard didn't play in any of those games. Looking forward to seeing him butt heads with Bogut.

[existential]

Beverly may come back..

If they had Beverly, I think Houston had 45-50% chance.

Curry mismatch will be brutal w/ JTerry.

i'd give them a 35-40% chance with Beverley. his effectiveness will/would still be a huge question mark due to being out so long.. what kind of game shape can he possibly be in?

i'd give them about a 30% chance with Prigioni getting all starter minutes at PG. (something i'm not confident McHale will even recognize to do)

and Terry matches-up nowhere on defense. can't guard Thompson's size at the 2 (or Iggy's size when they play him at the 2). and Barbosa would blow right by him.

only Prigioni and Brewer have a small chance against Curry. Harden will inevitably have to guard him as well, since he's notorious for getting caught on switches.

[JMUplayer]

Isn't Prigioni like 40 years old...... that's your difference maker? shakes head.....

McHale is a clown coach

[YouHave2outs]

30% lmao. 40% with beverly hahahahahahahaha. what are you clowns smoking.

it's like 10% chance. 15% max.

[Mr KLC]

Wouldn't be shocked if they try to put Ariza on Curry. He's their best defender if Beverly is out.

[Auto Donk]

fck it, suit up Mario Elie..... I think that boy still has some game and more heart than this entire team combined.........let him gaurd curry.....

[jtoler]

Lol just no. Find it funny all of a sudden Prig is a great defender because he got two sneaky inbounded steals. He's too slow and is gonna get torched either way by all the Warriors guards. On the offensive side I do kinda like the idea of him starting. Should be a good series. I think I'd start him too.

[Mr KLC]

fck it, suit up Mario Elie..... I think that boy still has some game and more heart than this entire team combined.........let him gaurd curry.....

“Trevor Ariza hit the ‘Kiss of Death’ tonight,” Elie told reporters on the court afterwards.
Upon hearing of Elie’s complimentary words, Ariza was visibly flattered.
“Oh man, that’s a huge honor,” Ariza said with a laugh showing the level of respect and disbelief he had that his shot would be called as such. “That’s… that’s… he’s the man. I can’t… I can’t… no way. He’s the man. I appreciate the compliment, but much respect to him.”
It was clear how much respect Ariza had for Elie’s 1995 shot and for Elie’s compliment. Ariza’s version, his three-pointer on Sunday, certainly played a monumental role in helping the Rockets move on.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/17/elie-ariza-hit-the-kiss-of-death-tonight/#.VVkxIRgLtKU.twitter

[Auto Donk]

too lazy to go check it..... how were hardin's nos. vs. the warriors; tho if good, probably inflated due to no dwight in the line up......

[Auto Donk]

“Trevor Ariza hit the ‘Kiss of Death’ tonight,” Elie told reporters on the court afterwards.
Upon hearing of Elie’s complimentary words, Ariza was visibly flattered.
“Oh man, that’s a huge honor,” Ariza said with a laugh showing the level of respect and disbelief he had that his shot would be called as such. “That’s… that’s… he’s the man. I can’t… I can’t… no way. He’s the man. I appreciate the compliment, but much respect to him.”
It was clear how much respect Ariza had for Elie’s 1995 shot and for Elie’s compliment. Ariza’s version, his three-pointer on Sunday, certainly played a monumental role in helping the Rockets move on.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/...RgLtKU.twitter

I'm tellin' u, the Junkyard Dog still commands utmost respect.....

fck it, let his dick gaurd curry.........

[existential]

Wouldn't be shocked if they try to put Ariza on Curry. He's their best defender if Beverly is out.

hah, thought about that for a split second, but then who guards Barnes/Green/Iggy at the 3? becomes a cluster of mis-matches at that point. you just can't go down that road..

[Mr KLC]

too lazy to go check it..... how were hardin's nos. vs. the warriors; tho if good, probably inflated due to no dwight in the line up......

About 25 points a game. I did make an error. Howard played in 2 of those games.

[broadway6]

Tatddy just text me and told me i should poke the Warriors series price rather hard.

ice house, poke it real hard

[Auto Donk]

About 25 points a game. I did make an error. Howard played in 2 of those games.

guess I'll go pull the head to head matches this year and last.... maybe see if there's any hope at all.....

hard to see this going longer than six, maybe even as short as five...... Rockets under McHale have no d.....

I hated that they got rid of Van Gundy, at least he mandated that the Rockets play d.....

[existential]

Lol just no. Find it funny all of a sudden Prig is a great defender because he got two sneaky inbounded steals. He's too slow and is gonna get torched either way by all the Warriors guards. On the offensive side I do kinda like the idea of him starting. Should be a good series. I think I'd start him too.

he's certainly not a great defender, but is much better than Terry. and he's vastly superior at running the point and keeping them focused on their sets, that's all. not that Prigioni could be some epic 'difference maker' who could propel the Rockets past the Warriors.

no one is saying that. some people would just like to see some semblance of competitive basketball in this series and the only chance of that happening is if he's the starter and gets the majority of mins at point (unless Beverley can go). realistically, Rockets might win 2 games if this happens.

[Mr KLC]

McHale has said Beverly will not play in the playoffs. I believe his cast comes off on the 20th. Wouldn't have near enough time to get into basketball shape.

[THam12]

I would put ariza on curry...
but then klay will have his way with his matchup. Put your weakest defender (harden) on barnes.

[dmncnlou]

Rockets in 6

[existential]

I would put ariza on curry...
but then klay will have his way with his matchup. Put your weakest defender (harden) on barnes.

Curry/Thompson alone averaged 47 pts against the Rockets in the reg season, so adjustments need to be made.

Thompson is 6'7" so Ariza/Brewer must rotate on him. while Prig/Brewer/Terry can rotate on Curry, that's just the way it has to be with Beverley out.

on defense, i'd matchup like this for the Rockets:

Curry/Livingston: Prigioni/Brewer/Terry
Thompson/Barbosa: Ariza/Brewer
Barnes/Iggy: Harden/Jones
Green/Lee: Smith/Jones
Bogut/Ezeli: Howard/Capela

[GoBlue77]

Rockets in 6

lay off the drug man

[JoJo5473]

Warriors swept the Rockets this year, but Howard didn't play in any of those games. Looking forward to seeing him butt heads with Bogut.

Actually Howard played in the last two games between these two teams, he even put up 23 points and 10 rebounds in the second last meeting, and the rockets had their full roster for that game including D-Mo, Beverly, Josh and Corey, everybody, yet they still got smoked on their home court losing by 25 points.

[JoJo5473]

McHale MUST replace Terry in the starting line-up with Prigioni. This is a key adjustment that has to be made, especially considering having to defend Curry.

Prigioni is light years the better defender, runs the offense so much more efficiently, and is the far better decision maker. He keeps the pace a bit slower as well, which helps the team stay more focused on both ends. Just a much better choice at PG than Terry at this point, it's not even close.

This will allow Terry to stay as fresh as possible coming off the bench. He simply can't defend at all and when he tries, he always fouls. His jumper has also been short throughout the playoffs, so they need to save his legs.

When Terry is in the starting lineup he is more of a shooting guard with Harden running the show, the opposing team has to pay respect to Terry's threes, which spaces the floor and makes it much easier for Harden to penetrate the defence with the ball in his hands. Terry's point guard role and responsibilty involves not much more than bringing the ball up front and giving it to Harden. Prigioni on the other hand is more of a traditional point guard who plays with the ball in his hands, and that takes the ball out of Harden's hands, which he is not comfortable with, it's just not his style. Also Harden likes penetrating and kicking the ball out to the shooters, and Prigioni is not a consistent shooter. And those are the reasons why Harden and Prigioni don't spend much time together on the court .

[jtoler]

When Terry is in the starting lineup he is more of a shooting guard with Harden running the show, the opposing team has to pay respect to Terry's threes, which spaces the floor and makes it much easier for Harden to penetrate the defence with the ball in his hands. Terry's point guard role and responsibilty involves not much more than bringing the ball up front and giving it to Harden. Prigioni on the other hand is more of a traditional point guard who plays with the ball in his hands, and that takes the ball out of Harden's hands, which he is not comfortable with, it's just not his style. Also Harden likes penetrating and kicking the ball out to the shooters, and Prigioni is not a consistent shooter. And those are the reasons why Harden and Prigioni don't spend much time together on the court .

Good point.

[jtoler]

Wonder if the media will remind everyone what Harden said before one of their games this year, saying the Warriors arnt even that good only to get smoked a couple hours later. Saw two of their games this year, Rockets just couldn't keep up, will be interesting to see McHale's adjustments.

[Sledge187]

Wonder if the media will remind everyone what Harden said before one of their games this year, saying the Warriors arnt even that good only to get smoked a couple hours later. Saw two of their games this year, Rockets just couldn't keep up, will be interesting to see McHale's adjustments.

I am convinced Earl Campbell was tag teaming your mom with Jeff Bagwell while Nolan Ryan filmed it. Biggest Houston troll.