# SW Division Preview: Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets



## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

*Probable Starters





































 Alston | McGrady | Battier | Howard | Ming

Key Reserves
























** Head | Snyder | Mutombo*
*Head Coach*: Jeff Van Gundy

* 2005/06 Record*: 34-48 (.415)

*2005/06 Record against Dallas*: 0-4
Dallas 102, Houston 93 (without McGrady)
Dallas 103, Houston 76 (without McGrady, Yao)
Dallas 95, Houston 81 (without McGrady)
Dallas 88, Houston 72 (without McGrady)

*Key additions:*



Shane Battier
Vassilis Spanoulis
John Lucas III
Steve Novak
Kirk Snyder
*Significant Losses
*

Stromile Swift
David Wesley
*Perceived Depth Chart
PG: *Rafer Alston / Luther Head / John Lucas III
*SG: *Tracy McGrady / Vassilis Spanoulis
*SF: *Shane Battier / Kirk Snyder
*PF: *Juwan Howard / Chuck Hayes / Maciej Lampe
*C: *Yao Ming / Dikembe Mutombo


The Key for Houston this season: Simply put, the Rockets need to stay healthy if they want to compete. Last season, McGrady played 47 games and Yao played 57, thats 60 games missed between them. In 2004/05, when they took us to 7 games --> McGrady and Yao missed a combined *6 games. *

I really think they took a step forward in the offseason, they got a great role-player in Shane Battier who is there to do the dirty work; which is defend and rebound. He is quite content not being the first option, as shown in Memphis, and can work well when McGrady or Ming get a double team (open three's). Battier can also defend Nowitzki reasonably well (as good as one could hope).

The Rockets also got some much needed depth in Vassilis Spanoulis, the Greek god, Kirk Snyder and John Lucas. Hopefully Bob Sura isnt injured this year either.

I think their year hinges on McGrady's health, but from all I've heard he's healthy. They are a good a team as the one who we met in the playoffs two years ago, if not better. Yao's improved a lot since then, but so have we.

We have Diop who can kind of muscle Yao, and we have guys like Josh Howard or Greg Buckner to put on McGrady. I think where we win the game is Jason Terry-v-Rafer Alston, Terry always seems to come away the winner and has a high percentage shot against the Rockets. 

I will do the next team in a few days, I'm not going to stick to a schedule because I probably can't stick to it. 

What kind of effect do you think Houston poses on Dallas and the Southwest Division. Think they are a threat to Dallas? Where do you think they will come this season?

​


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

If health is not an issue, I will find myself really enjoying this rivarly. 
At first, I wouldnt expect too much as the season begins, since with the new additions, and TMac back in the lineup, this team would have to "mesh". Whereas Dallas pretty much has the same core elements from last season

Great topic!
:biggrin:


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## Saint Baller (May 3, 2006)

I was thinking about doing something like this because I saw it in the Spurs forum, Tersk mind if I help you out?

And to topic, I do think they will be a better team 50+ wins if McGrady is healty. Yao has gotten better but we have gotten alot better down low and I think he won't pose much of a threat unless he starts going a little bit to the mid post and starts shooting from there.

I don't think we will have a huge problem against them though, seeing as when Battier played Dirk when he was in Memphis Dirk beat him down with 31 points a game, so I dont think scoring will be a problem. On defense, I think we will have a problem with defending T-Mac but if we keep switching legs with Buckner and Josh then I think we can not make him explode, for Yao I think just putting bodys on him like we did against Shaq will be able to stop him.

All that being said, I don't think they will impose a against us when we play them, but I do think they will impose a threat on our seeding. Because I know a healthy T-Mac and Yao can definitly win 50+ but I think they have the potential to win 60, threatening our position.

I like this rivalry, and it is a fun one... Especially since when we came back down 0-2.


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

I love seeing these two teams play. It sucks though because even though the Mavs are my favorite team, the Rockets are up in the top 5 too, but Im still gonna pull for the Mavs even though I love TMac. Hopefully eveyone on the Rockets will stay healthy so we can watch a quality series.


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## L (Sep 20, 2005)

Houston Rockets are one of the most underrated teams in the league imo. When they are healthy, they are a top 5 team in the league imo. They got two guys that need to be double teamed, and Head was a very good player last season. Battier is the perfect for this team. Pure hustle and defensive type of guy and a good shooter. Thyey still lack a pg and depth is still a issue though.


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

The Rockets might be better this year, but they haven't solved one of their main problems:shooting. That's what stagnated their offense last year. They have greats in isolation and on the block (Mcgrady and Yao respectively), but they don't have people who can score the quick point otherwise. Howard and Rafer have shown themselves to be capable of it, Howard moreso recently, but he's also getting up there in years. You don't know how he will perform this year.

They should be better on defense, with a true shutdown perimeter defender in Battier. That should help Yao look better, lightening his load as far as penetrators. They really messed up though not getting him any help, trading the only decent power forward they had. He's going to have trouble again this year in the post, though his scoring looks to take a boost being the only option inside. Likewise his good passing ability allows for him to pass out of the double teams, where their few shooters will likely be open and ready. 

One thing I'd like to see the Rockets do is play more of a two man game with their offense. They have four good guys who can shoot midrange and are capable of posting up to various degrees in Mcgrady, Howard, Yao, and Battier. I think it would work especially well with Yao, having him out near the wing, drawing the defender quickly, allowing him to kick it out for a shot, or in the guards' case, maybe penetration. That's a good way to mask their deficient scoring.

As much as I dislike him, Mike James would've been the best fit for this team as is. The one thing they're truly missing is a pure spot up shooter, and James did that like no other last year. He'd thrive off of Yao and T-mac's kickouts. The closest I can think of is Luther Head, who I like, I'm just not sure he should be depended on for an aspect of offense if they want to really win. Right now, Alston and Mcgrady look to be the best from 3.

Speaking of T-Mac, he's a question mark this year. People are wondering how his back will be. I think he'll be fine. He probably won't be able to do the amazing athletic things he did in the past, but he doesn't necessarily need that, as JVG's stagnant offense calls for more of a cerebral, stationary game. He's still a top 3 SG in my estimation, so the offense should go through his hands. 

For right now though, I'd take my chances letting Yao be the first option on offense. His size, passing ability and skill in the post is too much to ignore, and too overpowering for about %99 of centers in the league. It stinks that their's no PF to help him down low, but I guess that's where his passing ability comes in. One thing that will help Yao is getting easy looks off of Mcgrady and Alston's penetration, something they're both willing to do. 

As far as how we play them, obviously the keys to shutting their already stagnant D down are stopping Mcgrady and Yao. For Yao, we have a lot of bigs, so we could go the route of drawing fouls, but that's not dependable. I think you just give Yao what he wants, as he'll probably just take it anyway, and work on shutting down the perimeter. I think what you do obviously is double Mcgrady and let them depend on Yao and the rest. You see how poor that team was last year without Mcgrady, let's make it happen again everytime we see him. We have enough perimeter players to at least put bodies in his way, and who knows how his back will effect him. 

The key matchup in this series is going to be Battier vs. Dirk, presuming that's where the matchup eventually goes. Whether or not Battier is capable of bodying Dirk is the key. If this is the case, we're gonna have to beat them with the pick and roll, allowing a lot of spot-up, top of the key shots. As long as Terry and Howard are respectable to good, we should at least be their with them. Dirk's play is what will take us over the top.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

This is going to sound really bad however, VSpan is described as a bull in the way that he plays. This is the bad part, hopefully, VSpan will take out some of the other PG's we play against with his agressive play.

I certainly don't wish for anyone to have a year-end or career ending injury but, I do think he might take some guys out during the course of a game.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

jdiggidy said:


> This is going to sound really bad however, VSpan is described as a bull in the way that he plays. This is the bad part, hopefully, VSpan will take out some of the other PG's we play against with his agressive play.
> 
> I certainly don't wish for anyone to have a year-end or career ending injury but, I do think he might take some guys out during the course of a game.


 that takes me back to sura tackling josh howard in the playoffs. hopefully vspan can provide something like that.


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

> _Houston Chronicle - _Free agent Bonzi Wells met with Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy and general manager Carroll Dawson on Monday at Toyota Center as the Rockets stepped up their long-shot pursuit of the veteran guard, Jonathan Feigan of the Houston Chronicle is reporting.
> 
> Though the Rockets are limited by the salary cap and some of their free-agent spending this summer, Wells has clearly not ruled out the Rockets while also considering the Nuggets, Heat and Bobcats.
> 
> ...


If the Rockets signed Bonzi, wow.

Alston/Wells/McGrady/Battier/Yao


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

Tersk said:


> If the Rockets signed Bonzi, wow.
> 
> Alston/Wells/McGrady/Battier/Yao


I think in that case Mcgrady would be better served as the two, and Wells at small forward. Wells is a much better rebounder, better from the postup, and a bigger overall physical package than Mcgrady. With his back injury, it might make more sense to put him at the less physical position. 

Further interesting is you putting Battier at the 4. I suppose the Rockets in theory should just place Battier at power forward, as Shane is the more appealing mismatch to have compared to Juwan Howard. I don't think it makes the most sense though, considering Battier is their best perimeter defender, and placing him in the power forward's slot in a JVG offense means he'll be turned into an enforcer. He's much more valuable at small forward, where he can guard the best perimeter player. 

I think would be most intelligent is holding competition for the 3 spot between Battier and Wells. Both are on the same tier as far as wing players, so it could go either way, and they set themselves up with a great 6th man. I think Wells would be the better option off the bench, as he's better creating his own oppurtunities to score, key to a 6th man's role. Luther Head will also be given less attention, and could possibly fall into the makeshift "shooter" role for the time being.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

What I would love to see is a full-strength Houston for one season!

Yao needs to make sure his foot holds up, and T-Mac needs to make sure he doesn't get "distracted" by his personal affairs on top of his back issues. His back might not be a problem now, but T-Mac looked completely un-motivated when he was on the court last season. Maybe he gave up early or just needed a little break from bball? I hope he got over that little "hump."

Rocket's roster right now looks great, with some weakness in shooting as _Dre_ pointed out.

When you have a HUGE guy on the inside and the arguable MVP of last year's All Star Game, you already have a pretty darned good scoring machine. Now you add a little Battier to the mix to improve the defense and outside shots.... That's not a team underrated by any NBA fan.

By the way, have you guys seen Lucas playing? There is a HUGE potential there...

:clap: Great thread!


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