The Only Lakers-Rockets Prediction You Need To Read

Please Ron Ron.  Keep talking.  I'm begging you.

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Don't Let Me Do It To Ya Dunny, Cause I Overdo It

Waldini:

I'm trying to figure out what was dumber....Darryl Morey's pre-game comments about the Laker offense not being so good when Battier is guarding Kobe or Artest in-game tactic of telling Kobe he didn't want any of him.

God Bless the Houston Rockets. The organization and fans have been personally providing comic relief for me since '98 :-)

Let me get back to searching for T-Mac's game...been pretty difficult to find for the past couple years

B. Reed:

Yeah the 4th quarter was pretty ugly when # 24 started to get busy. That's my issue with T-mac. When the game is on the line or it comes to the 4th quarter, you can count on #24. You can't say the same for T-mac or really even LeBron. You can't crown the kid king when Basketball's absolute best #24 has yet to abdicate the thrown.

Comissioner Stern:

Saw the last quarter of the game, but tivo'd it so i'll watch it again sometime today...I heard Artest shook the Black Mamba from the tree and paid a big price in the 2nd half!!!! LOL Ron Ron is too much of a vet to be doing sh*t like that...as KB24 stated "he knows better"!! LOL (qoute of the year)! Read more!

Favorite Playoff Moments - 1995 Western Conference Semifinals

Once again kids, it's time for another Waldini's favorite playoff moment. It's the '95 Western Conf Finals between the Suns and Rockets. The Rockets came back from 3-1 to win the series. This clip shows the infamous Mario Elie kiss off but what I remember most about this series is AC Green, the original 40 year old virgin and resident religious buff, declaring the series over when Phoenix was up 3-1. After they lost, Kenny Smith dropped the classic response to AC, "AC may be religious but he ain't a prophet". CLASSIC

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Waldini Wonders

Waldini:

Just a few playoff thoughts from the wknd....

- The West was billed as the gauntlet of all gauntlets in terms of playoffs. As of today, 3 of the series are 3-1 and one is 3-0. TNT is pissed b/c their slogan "We know drama" isn't happening in the West

- The East is going as expected. Only one series is competitive and I think Detroit has finally realized they are in the postseason

- I know Miami started it a few years ago but must every home team deploy the one color team shirts for motivation? It hasn't helped the underdogs in this series. Tell the marketing depts to stop the madness

- It's not the 80s but cats are definitely trying to act tough this postseason. West with the face tap to Dirk, Deshawn's takedown on Lebron, Dampier pushing Paul on a layup, etc. Trying to understand where it's coming from

- How are those trades in Dallas and Phoenix working out?

- If Josh Smith develops a consistent jumper it's over.....

- Funny how everyone piled on Billy King for supposedly making the Sixers a horrible team. yet they are tied 2-2 with the supposed heavyweight of the Eastern conference

Anyway, hoping for a Laker sweep 2morrow and Rockets/Mavs season ender on Tues :-)

Da Realist:

"hoping" for a lakers sweep? from what i understand, denver gave up at halftime of the last game.

and shouldn't you be hoping the rockets extend the jazz to 7 games? or even hoping they win? i don't know much about the jazz, but the rockets S-U-C-K. i would be the biggest rocket fan in texas if i were you. lol...

Waldini:

I was trying to sound like the pros when they are PC when they talk about their opponents being down even though everyone knows the end is near. The broom is coming out tonight. Tonight's top story: Lakers eat up the Chicken (Mc)Nuggets

I originally wanted Houston to win so that LA could be the one to end their season in the semifinals :-). But the Rocket fans started up their noise during the 1st round and I said ok, I just want them out, don't care if it's us or the Jazz

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Who Ya Got?: NBA Playoffs Edition (Western Conference)

LA vs Denver

Gangsta D: Denver can score, obviously, but can't[won't] play a lick of defense. If the Lakers shoot 30 threes a game, instead of pounding inside, Denver will hang around. If they handle their business, it's a wrap, and not even close. Lakeshow in 5

Waldini: Denver's got the offense but no defense. Lakers' defense isn't the greatest but for this series, it doesn't have to be. I'll give Denver a game for AI's heart. Lakers in 5

Da Realist: [How do you say Kobe eats a fat one Serbian?] *


NOLA vs Mavs

Gangsta D: This one I'm torn on. CP3 will DESTROY Kidd. The Hornets are on a mystical magical carpet ride, but is the ride about to come to a crashing halt? Dallas has been playing well of late, and Dirk has hit some big shots. The Hornets have some playoff experience, but are they gonna lean on Bonzi and Peja for guidance? Didn't think so. The Hornets will be a threat for years to come, but they bow out early this year. Mavs in 7

Waldini: One of the 2 WC 1st rd series I want to see. True, NO does have players with playoff experience but one of them is Mr April himself, Peja. It would be easy to pick Dallas b/c of this but I'm still not sold on Dirk being courageous for playing on a sprained ankle. Bottom line, he curled up big time in '06 and '07. Interesting series. Hornets in 7

Da Realist: [I'd rather watch "The Birdman" smoke a bowl, while Flavor Flav clips his toenails, then watch this travesty]


Suns vs Spurs

Gangsta D: Wow. Either Shaq or Duncan will be fishing before Memorial Day this year. Marinate on that one:) There's still plenty of enmity between these two teams, and it may be the most hard fought 1st round series. It's really a toss up for me. I have no idea who wins. If Manu is healthy, maybe the Spurs have the edge. On the other hand, the Spurs have no answer for STAT. Suns in 7

Waldini: The other WC 1st rd series I want to see. Shaq vs Duncan, Nash vs Parker, I expect a physical series again. Doubt there will be any hip check incidents like last year. Steve Kerr is about to find out if he is indeed an idiot or a genius. I tend to go with the former. Spurs in 6.

Realist: [I'm running out of ways of intimating that this shit sucks. How about...this shit sucks.]


Houston vs Utah

Gangsta D: Utah does NOT have homecourt advantage, even though they're the higher seed. They are physically incapable of beating good teams on the road. Houston plays tough defense and McGrady does enough to finally get past the first round. Rockets in 7

Waldini: The Jazz need HC advantage in every series but this one to have a chance. Who starts for Alston since he's out the first 2 games? Who's going to pick up the offensive slack besides T-Mac? This same matchup happened in the first round last year with Houston also having HC (and a healthy Yao). And Houston still lost in 7 at home. Utah wins, just can't figure out if it's 6 or 7 games. What the hell, Jazz in 7

Da Realist: [Do I have to say how much you suck when your season depends on Skip To My Lou being healthy? Didn't think so.]

*Realist continues his boycott against this bullshit we call the NBA playoffs.

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What's That ish You Smoking?

Da Realist:

Damn Skip got called out!

"Tracy McGrady is a great player. If I was Rafer Alston I'd probably ride his coattails too."

"I feel like you can make a statement with the way you play. But some guys like Rafer Alston like to run their mouth … that just added fuel to our fire tonight. D-West, that's my guy. For him to say he's not a star, I mean let's see what All-Star Game [Alston]'s played in."

"He had a tough time out there trying to stay in front of me, and that was the plan."

Waldini:

I don't know what has gotten into the And 1 Artist Formerly Known as Skip to my Lou. First, he tries to intimidate the Celtics before the game started by repeatedly pushing his elbow in Rondo's neck (drawing double Ts on both). Now he's mouthing off about the Hornets. He deserved Paul's response.

These are funny quotes from CP3 who continues to make it known he's in the MVP discussion too.

Gangsta D:

Skip just started to believe his own hype. He is who we thought he was.

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Hmm Hmm Good

Gangsta D:

Apparently it's crow, not revenge, that is a dish best served cold. I clowned a certain Volunteer loving Dallas resident, when he said the Rockets would make the playoffs without Yao. I wasn't convinced...to say the least. Well, seven wins later the Rockets are only 1 1/2 games out of 1st place. Hey, who knew?

But this brings up a bigger question. If the Rockets somehow get the #1 seed in the West, how is McGrady not a serious MVP candidate? Leading his team to the best record in the best conference without [arguably] their best player? You can't discount that can you? Does he move above either Kobe, Paul, or Bron?

Waldini:

I just don't have faith in Denver. They look and play great at home. But on the road, they are horrible. And the way Golden St has looked makes it even harder for them.

If McGrady gets the Rockets past the Lakers, Celtics next week, he has to be considered. That team is 1.5 games out of first right now. Right now, I don't think people have him in their top 10 which is crazy. I'm not the biggest T-Mac fan (skillwise, just as good as Kobe but lacks motivation and passion) but you can't tell me he's not playing better than Dirk, Pierce, Nash, Garnett at this point.

I'm not ready to move him past Kobe and Lebron yet b/c of the quality of opponents they have faced. But if they can post a decent record for this brutal stretch (Lakers, Celtics, Suns, San Antonio, New Orleans, Golden St) then I'll gladly sip on some sizzurp.....

Gangsta D:

Of course, there's twenty games left so McGrady could always get hurt:)

Waldini:

Well he was already hurt once but you know he's due for another 3-4 games out with a bad back stretch lol

Da Realist:

Oh please. Let's see what they do on Sunday. You don't think Phil, Kobe and company aren't looking forward to beating such a "good" team. lol... Houston ain't shit until they beat somebody when it counts. Nobody said Tmac wasn't a great "regular season" player.

By the way...did y'all see this article by David Dupree? This just confirms to me that most of the media covering basketball don't know a pick-and-roll from a tootsie roll. 32 games? If he can keep those averages for another 100 playoff games, get back to me.

Gangsta D:

Leave it to Realist to throw water on Houston's block party:)

True McGrady has nice overall numbers, but what percentage of those numbers were accumulated in blowout losses or in the first three quarters? A-Rod has good postseason numbers, but he usually fails in the "clutch" so he gets dogged. Not necessarily fair, but it is what it is.

Da Realist:

There was a time when someone could compare Tmac and Kobe without someone asking if that person was smoking CRACK. I remember...it happened.

Tmac ought to be ashamed. Not only has kobe found a way to niche his way into the discussion of all-time greats, but Lebron and Dwade have moved past him too. where is this dude's pride?

Waldini:

Well look at his family's (Vince Carter) history. That's all the info you need right there. They are both content with being good but not great even though they could have been great. Read more!

"My Life Has No Meaning"

Gangsta D:

God giveth, and he taketh....

KRIV-TV in Houston and The Houston Chronicle are reporting that Yao has a stress fracture in his left foot and the Rockets are expected to announce he will have season-ending surgery later Tuesday.

Da Realist:

They had no shot anyway.

Gangsta D:

They had a fighting chance. I didn't think they were gonna do real damage, but you never know. Now they have no shot. McGrady is probably crying and standing in a puddle of piss right now:)

Waldini:

They had a fighting chance to get to the conf semis but that was it. Tough break for them but they should still get into the playoffs.

Gangsta D:

You lose 22 pts and 11 rebs. No inside presence. You're depending on McGrady to lead you...in the west. And there's no guarantee that McGrady won't go down with a season ending injury. Think about that again. You really think they'll make the playoffs? lol

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Rocket Men

Gangsta D:

What am I missing with all the Houston adulation? People seem to think they can hang with Dallas and the Spurs. Based on what exactly? McGrady has never made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs and Yao can't stay healthy long enough to help in the playoffs. Now they get Rick Adelman and he's supposed to take them to the next level?!? I don't get it. How are they supposed to be so dope?

Da Realist:

Sometimes i wonder how some of the media get designated as basketball sages. most of them know nothing about basketball. there are a few...bill simmons knows basketball (although it's skewed through a celtic lens), scoop jackson (viewed through an individualistic street ball POV), stephen a smith (ass-kisser to the stars but knows a little bit) and retired players-turned-media like charles barkley and kenny smith. most of the rest don't know squat. most of them have agendas that are thinly veiled.

I read articles predicting the celtics to win the title this year (shaking my head), portland would have contended for the title if greg oden was healthy (did he win in the ncaa?) and even how THIS is the year mcgrady and yao ming become the next shaq-and-kobe.

As far as the rockets go, mcgrady doesn't even interest me anymore. he's a waste of talent. that boy has no fire whatsoever. and yao is too stiff to be a force. rick adelman is gonna get them to the promised land? he'll lead them to the 6th seed, that's where.

Waldini:

Both of you hit it on the head. I don't know how the Rockets even enter the equation. What has Rick Adelman done besides squander good talent (see '91 Blazers, '02 Kings) when he has it. If he's so good, why did the Rockets struggle to beat a mediocre Laker team last night. McGrady lost me in Orlando. Skill wise, he had a chance to be on par with Kobe. But he's completely unmotivated to do that.

Side note: Have things gotten so bad for Stevie Franchise that he's not even part of a rotation? Consider him done.

Media wise, I bought the SI Preview and they are in love with the Celts. I stand by my claim that they will make the Eastern Conf Finals at least. I want to pull for them cuz they got two South Cack boys on their team but people are quickly turning me to the dark side on them. Let those cats win a few games and do damage in the playoffs before we anoint them.

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Bill Laimbeer And The Lameness Of The '95 Rockets?

Gangsta D:

Why does Bill Laimbeer hold such grudges? lol

"I'm still glad that we didn't shake their hands," Bill Laimbeer said Wednesday. "They were whiners and criers. Piss on them."

Da Realist:

Thank you, D. That was the best read i've had in a long time. The Pistons were the reason we won 6 titles. We would have eventually won some anyway, but not 6. Adversity builds character. The Celtics, 76'ers and the Lakers taught each other how to win. The celtics taught the pistons. The pistons taught the Bulls.

There are no real obstacles out there right now. Now you win titles by default. The two NBA finalists lose in the first round. Somebody's going to win it this year, and probably lose in the second round next year.

The last time a team had an opportunity to go through a real obstacle on the way to the title was sacramento playing the Lakers. Ultimately they couldn't do it, but that was the last real time. Everything since then has just been blah...

Gangsta D:

Why is that the case? It can't all be blamed on free agency because the Kings and Lakers battled 5-7 years ago. Is this year just a fluke year or is it symptomatic of something larger?

Waldini:

Something larger. Look at last year. It was a foregone conclusion San Antonio and Detroit would meet again in the Finals. What happened? Spurs lose an improbable Game 7 to the so called "soft" Mavs and the Heat get revenge on Detroit in the Conf Finals. I think that Heat team is the most suspect champion since the '95 Rockets.

Expansion and free agency are the 2 biggest culprits. Makes it hard to build AND maintain a winner. Look at the Suns. If they dont win the title this yr or next yr, they're breaking that team up. Why? Too much dinero.....

Da Realist:

I don't understand your hate on the rockets. They were a good team. Very good. They beat san antonio and orlando, and didn't have home court advantage in either series. They probably don't get the credit they deserved because their titles came while mike was either retired or working his way back but olajuwon was a BEAST.

Both of our best teams would have had problems with the 95 rockets. Not saying the bulls or lakers would have lost, but they would have had PROBLEMS. They were better than the 92 knicks team that pushed us to 7 games, and they were better than both the 00 blazers and the 02 kings that pushed you to 7 games.

Waldini:

When I say suspect, I use it in the sense where a team wins a title out of nowhere. That '95 rockets struggled to make the playoffs and when you looked at the road to win the title from their perspective, the odds were stacked. They went through 4 teams that most pundits would pick ahead of them for that year to win the title. I respect what they did b/c they stepped up when no one else did. But if you look at the past champions of the previous 25 years, would you take THAT rockets team against? Stack them all up and I can almost guarantee you they lose in a 7 game series to most of the champions

I wouldnt compare the Rockets teams to the ones you mentioned below, b/c those teams didnt win anything. I only compare them to past and current NBA Titleists. If I started including teams that were great in the regular season but flamed out in the in post, then what about the '06 Pistons, '94 Sonics, '89 Cavs, '86 Lakers, etc. Too many teams and that becomes trivial.

Hate is a strong word.

Da Realist:

I'll leave the bulls and the lakers out of it (for obvious reasons), but i think they beat the '99 spurs, '03 spurs, '04 pistons, '05 spurs, and the '06 heat. I'm not sure if they would have beaten the 94 rockets or not, but '95 was the first time hakeem developed a mean streak. Think david robinsion...

Neither the 99 spurs or the 06 heat would have had a chance in hell.

The 03 and 05 spurs won because of tim duncan, but hakeem at his best is better than tim at his best. tim couldn't match up with the unbelievable skill level of hakeem and would have been put in foul trouble. Tim's slow and steady, fall-back-and-hit-the-corner-bank-shot approach wouldn't have caused foul trouble on hakeem. The spurs double-teaming would have left cassell, elie, drexler and a young horry wide open. And hakeem would have blocked most of parker's floaters and ginobli's layup attempts.

04 Pistons would have cause the most problems because they were more versatile. I still think hakeem would have eaten ben and rasheed alive, though. Ben is a good defender against big bulky slow centers. Hakeem was too agile. No lay-ups for rip hamilton or chauncy billups because hakeem was well known for his defense and blocking (the man owns a quadruple-double!)

They weren't as bad as their regular season record. They kicked vernon maxwell off the team and added clyde drexler. It took time for the pieces to jell. The record wasn't indicitive of how good they were. Read more!