[S.F. CHRON] Warriors might benefit most if Rockets capture top seed

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/16/SPT3VJOMS.DTL

Warriors might benefit most if Rockets capture top seed

Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle

Sunday, March 16, 2008

(03-15) 17:55 PST -- In a season that has confounded the experts' opinion at every turn, people have given up trying to figure out the Houston Rockets. At this rate, they could storm right through the season's final month and earn the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference.

It makes you wonder, though: Do they really want that? And could that be a nice development for the Warriors?

It seems likely that if the Warriors sneak into the postseason, it will be as the No. 8 seed. They would be heavy underdogs in a first-round matchup against either the Lakers or San Antonio, considered the strongest and most cohesive teams in the Western Conference since L.A. picked up Pau Gasol and Tony Parker returned to the Spurs' lineup from an ankle injury.

That was before the Rockets' winning streak, a remarkable 21 straight heading into today's showdown against the Lakers, but the Warriors always matched up well with Houston when Yao Ming was in the lineup. They'll get a radically different look Friday, when the Rockets come to Oakland, but seriously: Compared to the task of facing off against Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan, are the Warriors going to be intimidated by Tracy McGrady and his band of overachievers?

This is not to demean the Rockets in any way. "We have an amazing belief in each other and in our system," Shane Battier said the other day. "Nothing great is ever accomplished without those two things."

The Rockets play suffocating defense, superior to the Yao version when Dikembe Mutombo mans the middle (and that's no constant; Mutombo turns 42 in June and plays his best only in spurts). They whip the ball around the floor in selfless, carefree fashion. The often-maligned McGrady is having the time of his life, saying, "I love when people doubt me. I sit back and go out and do my thing. This has been a year where I've sacrificed a little bit of my game for the betterment of my team. But if I need to put the team on my shoulders and win a ballgame, I'm capable of doing that. I don't know why people think I can't do that." (Probably because he has never done that in the playoffs, where his personal series record is 0-6.)

The Rockets have some names crying out for recognition: Rugged Luis Scola, giving Kevin Durant some stiff competition for Rookie of the Year; Rafer Alston, the revitalized point guard; Carl Landry, the full-energy rookie forward out of Purdue; and the classy, team-oriented Battier.

Still, I'm betting that as far as coach Don Nelson and the Warriors are concerned, Houston can keep right on winning.

In the news

Today's Rockets-Lakers game won't be the same without Gasol, probably out at least two weeks with a sprained ankle, and coach Phil Jackson faces yet another shift in offensive strategy. It looks as if Jackson will be adjusting indefinitely, as Andrew Bynum isn't expected back until the second week of April. ... The Pistons were worried about Rip Hamilton, who spent a couple of weeks drifting between indifference and irascibility (too many technical fouls) and seemed distracted. "I don't know, you'll have to talk to him," said coach Flip Saunders. Hamilton wouldn't address the subject, but nobody was complaining Friday night when his shot clinched a win over San Antonio. ... Dallas has been a different, more effective team since Jerry Stackhouse took over at shooting guard. He takes some defensive pressure off Jason Kidd and puts Jason Terry in the comfort zone of coming off the bench. ... Within days of his arrival in Seattle from Cleveland, Donyell Marshall got into an argument with coach P.J. Carlesimo and found himself at the end of the Sonics' bench for four games.

In a season of small brushfires in Sacramento, coach Reggie Theus lost the respect of the team's most important player, Kevin Martin. Straying from the norm, Theus asked Martin to put his complaints in writing. The kid declined, choosing a face-to-face conversation instead, and the feud simmered down. ... Brandon Roy on the sight of Greg Oden working out with the Trail Blazers: "You can tell he's going to be something special, and you're thinking, it's going to be all right. It's going to be cool." ... Starting fives for the two other teams in Houston's company for winning streaks: 1971-72 Lakers (33 straight): Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Wilt Chamberlain, Happy Hairston and Jim McMillian. The 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20): Oscar Robertson, Jon McGlocklin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Dandridge and Bob Boozer.

Random thoughts

Paul, the magnificent second-year point guard, isn't going to come close in the MVP voting. He's playing at the highest level, but the real heavyweights - Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett - have a huge edge in experience, reputation and track record. Paul will have to wait his turn. ... Nice to hear Reggie Miller ridiculing the league's lack of proper playoff setup on TNT's broadcasts. Until the top 16 teams (by record) get in, the system is a joke. ... Can you imagine LeBron with some real talent surrounding him? The man lives to pass, to make teammates look good. He was that way even in high school. He'd much rather work within a five-man flow than take all the big shots himself.

The Utah Jazz were a massive disappointment on the road - losing at Miami, New York, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Chicago - until they handed the Celtics their worst loss of the season Friday night. ... It's easy to forget that Houston's Rick Adelman didn't even coach last year, after being fired by the Maloof ownership in Sacramento. You remember Joe and Gavin Maloof. They decided Adelman wasn't a winner, that he couldn't coach defense, and that Eric Musselman was the perfect replacement.

A Western Conference scout told ESPN.com that the Spurs' Manu Ginobili is "the best sixth man of all time." Not really. Ginobili is a gem (the way he forces the issue with that hard-charging lefty dribble, he falls somewhere between Goodrich and Sarunas Marciulionis), but nobody touches John Havlicek. The Boston Celtics' great was superior to Ginobili in terms of defense, versatility and clutch shooting, especially as the years went on (Havlicek eventually became a starter). ... There was concern about the Celtics' current bench until they picked up Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown. Now, their reserve unit may be in a class with Detroit's in the East. ... Critics have to get over the Suns' loss of Shawn Marion. Sure, they lost a lot of defense and fast-break energy. But Marion didn't want to play in Phoenix, not from the very beginning of the season, and neither management nor his teammates thought they could win the title without trading him.

Smart man: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who has virtually eliminated the morning shootaround on game days at home, and occasionally on the road. The shootaround is an excellent way to determine if any of your players like to stay up all night on a cocaine binge, but it's worthless on a team of straight shooters. In the words of Wilt Chamberlain: "I'm only coming to the gym once. You decide if it's in the morning, or for the game."

 

Current record against the Warriors:

11/29: L 94-113
12/31: L 95-112
1/29: W 111-107

We play them next on 3/21. I believe this game will give a better perspective of our matchup if we meet in the playoffs.

 

Disrespect like this gets me so fired up, can't wait for the Rockets to intimidate the (insert profanity) out of them on the 21st.