Houston, We Had A Dynasty - Officially Retired

[kibaxx7]

I may be taking this the wrong way, but it seems to me that you think I lost on purpose.

Lol no. Just for the sake of realism, I think it was nice that you had a loss.

[Murat]

Good luck at this series... I didn't follow this one for days...

[Martti.]

Axel13, well you did dedicate it to me.

[Axel The Great]

I may be taking this the wrong way, but it seems to me that you think I lost on purpose.

Lol no. Just for the sake of realism, I think it was nice that you had a loss.

If you think about it, this team went to 7 games against the Lakers without Yao in most of the games. So, sweeping through the Hornets and Blazers, with Yao and some effective scorers, I don't see why Martti. would complain about me winning so much. I basically swept two mediocre teams who were a one-man team most of the time.

Good luck at this series... I didn't follow this one for days...

Thanks Badger. It's nice to have a "special" reader.

Axel13, well you did dedicate it to me.

Well it was what you asked for, but I didn't lose on purpose though.

[Martti.]

I didn't mean you should lose for the sake of losing, just that a few losses wouldn't be the end of he world.

[Axel The Great]

Well, in my 2nd season 66-16 probably won't be reached again because it took me awhile to find the right settings in the beginning, that's why I started 12-0.

[Axel The Great]

2-game Recap

Houston Rockets 118-110 Los Angeles Lakers


Aaron Brooks was BIG this game!

This was a very action packed game. Hardly any defense was played, and it looked like it could go either way. The Rockets pulled ahead, but the Lakers would always find a way to get back into the game. The Rockets were able to close the game out with free throws, and this time Aaron Brooks didn't choke at the line! He went a perfect 6/6 from the line. Now up 2-1, the Rockets need to play better defense next game, and play with the same offense they played this game, and they could really make a push to get to the Finals.

SPOTG-

Aaron Brooks
25 points | 6 ast | 1 reb | 1 stl

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 28
Lakers: Ron Artest- 24

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming and Chuck Hayes- 9
Lakers: Andrew Bynum- 18

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 6
Lakers: Derek Fisher- 11

Box Scores-
30 29 29 30 118
29 24 29 28 110


Though K-Mart prefers to play offense, he played some great defense on Kobe, limiting him to 21.

Houston Rockets 102-89 Los Angeles Lakers


The Black Mamba's season appears to be coming to an end.

The Rockets played this game exactly how they needed to play it: with intense defense. They limited the shots Kobe took (limited to 17 points), and forced Derek Fisher and Ron Artest to take ill-advised shots. The first quarter was the difference in the game however. The Lakers got off to a bad start, shooting 34% from the field. Yao Ming came up big this game, after struggling all series long, he pulled down 17 boards, and had 15 points to go with that. Now that the Rockets are up 3-1, they will look to close out the series at home, and get to the Finals after 15 years of not being able to get there.

SPOTG-

Yao Ming
15 points | 17 reb | 3 ast | 1 blk

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 28
Lakers; Derek Fisher- 20

Board Crashers
Rockets: Yao Ming- 17
Lakers: Pau Gasol- 16

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 9
Lakers: Derek Fisher- 11

Box Scores-
25 28 29 20 102
16 27 28 18 89


Kevin Martin has brought more effort to these playoffs than Kobe.


With two 7-footers clogging the lane, perimeter shooting has been a huge key to unlocking the Finals for the Rockets.

Playoffs Watch-
CLE 2:2 CHI

[Keef]

Whoa chicago and cleveland going at it . Chicago vs Houston finals would be nice to watch.

[Andrew]

Seems you're Finals bound. I'm kind of hoping it'll be Cleveland that you'll crush once you get there.

[Helios3D]

Beat LA!

[lefisto]

I missed reading this for a week and now you are only one game away to the finals. Yao is totally dominating in this dynasty lol... I really wanted to see a Bulls - Houston face off again but it would be much nicer (and challenging) to face Cleveland.

[kibaxx7]

Houston-Chicago would be nice, like the mid-90's

[Axel The Great]

Whoa chicago and cleveland going at it . Chicago vs Houston finals would be nice to watch.

Houston-Chicago would be nice, like the mid-90's

I don't want to have to deal with Derrick Rose.

Beat LA!

I'm sure I can do so.

Seems you're Finals bound. I'm kind of hoping it'll be Cleveland that you'll crush once you get there.

Whatever team I face, both of those teams beat me once in the regular season, so I wouldn't be crushing anyone.

I missed reading this for a week and now you are only one game away to the finals. Yao is totally dominating in this dynasty lol... I really wanted to see a Bulls - Houston face off again but it would be much nicer (and challenging) to face Cleveland.

Thanks for checking in. Yao isn't performing as well as he did against New Orleans, but in Game 4 he showed true shades of a dominant center. Whatever team I face in the Finals, I'll be ready for them, but that's if I don't choke against LA.

[Axel The Great]

Rockets advance to the Finals!

Houston Rockets 101-89 Los Angeles Lakers


The Rockets' ability to shut down Kobe was crucial to the series, and that's what they did.

In a close contest, the Rockets were down by 5 after trailing by 9 in the first quarter. However, multiple And-1's by Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks brought them back in the game, and huge 2nd and 3rd quarter performances decided the winner. Kobe was held to only 20 points, thanks to some tough defense by Shane Battier. The deciding factor for the Lakers was Ron Artest. One could say that signing him in the off-season was a bad move. He went 0-6 from behind the arc, and 1/6 from the line. A true team killer, he could not stop Kevin Martin either. He was the reason LA fell behind by 18 in the 3rd quarter. Big for the Lakers though, was Derek Fisher, who had 21 points and 12 assists, and he helped narrow the 18 point margin down to 10. However, big man Yao crushed in this game, with game highs of 23 points and 18 rebounds. The Rockets showed pure dominance, and redeemed themselves from last year's elimination against the Lakers. They now go on to face the Bulls in the Finals.

SPOTG-

Yao Ming
23 points | 18 reb | 1 ast | 1 stl

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 23
Lakers: Derek Fisher- 21

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 18
Lakers: Andrew Bynum- 12

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 7
Lakers: Derek Fisher- 12

Double-Doubles-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 23 points 18 rebounds
Lakers: Andrew Bynum- 12 points 12 rebounds, Pau Gasol- 12 points 11 rebounds, Derek Fisher- 21 points 12 assists

Box Scores-
20 32 27 22 101
25 20 20 24 89


The Big 3 will stampede their way to a championship.


Jared Jeffries provided 11 points and 2 blocks off the bench. His defense worked wonders against Bynum and Gasol.

phpBB [video]

Yao hits the third three of his career.

CHI 4:3 CLE (article later )

Series Wrap-up: The Rockets started out this series with a loss, not being able to break Phil Jackson's Game 1 streak. However, they responded with 4 consecutive dominant wins. Why were they dominant? Even if Derek Fisher shot very well this series, the Rockets didn't care. An old man can't do everything. Kobe Bryant was shut down, and they allowed him to only 21.4 ppg. This is still pretty high, but Kobe came into the series averaging 25 ppg in the playoffs, and 27 ppg in the regular season. Ron Artest shot the Lakers out of this series, as shot selection became a factor. I bet he now wishes he was still with his old squad. The Rockets will now move on to face the Bulls in the Finals, whom eliminated LeBron James in the Cavs.

Finals preview is next.

[Bucket]

YEAH LA without Finals
Good luck against Bulls, 90th Rivalry rebirth.

[Axel The Great]

LA doesn't deserve Finals! Article about the Bulls-Cavs series next.

[Axel The Great]

RedNation News Article

No Ring For the King

Many of us can recall last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the Conference Finals, and leader of Cleveland LeBron James left the court without shaking hands with anybody. Again, this was a disappointment season for the so called "King" and his pawns, the rest of his Cleveland Cavs. The Chicago Bulls, whom are rivals with Cleveland, did the honors in putting the King in checkmate, and again, LeBron James was offered to shake hands with Derrick Rose, but LeBron just walked away, and was booed off the Quicken Loans Arena after all the hard work to get this far.

The Bulls overcame a 3-2 deficit in this series, and this isn't the first time they've overcame a deficit (refer back to the last article I wrote). "I don't blame him for being mad. Going through all that hard work to get back to the Conference Finals, only to get defeated by your rivals, is something that's heartbreaking. However, there is no excuse for him to not shake hands with the team that beats him. It's very unsportsmanlike," said K-Mart, who is enjoying rest in Sacramento before coming back to Houston for the Finals. "Like I said last year, if someone beats you up, you won't congratulate and shake hands with that person," said LeBron James, whom was brave enough to show his face.

"It really makes you feel unwanted when, you work hard to defeat the best player in the NBA, only to have him disrespect you that way. To have as big an ego to not shake hands with a player who's still learning from the NBA is just disappointing," Derrick Rose was interviewed on the topic. "It doesn't really matter, I'm still going to the Finals, and hopefully win another championship since the great Michael Jordan for my hometown team."

With yet another disappointing year, the Cleveland Cavaliers' future remains very foggy, and the King will have to look for pawns and knights in the NBA to help him to finally checkmate that elusive ring. The Chicago Bulls will face our Houston Rockets in the Finals, a Finals that's sure to be very intense. Coverage during the Finals will be coming from us in the next few weeks.

[Bucket]

Bulls have a Boozer?

[Axel The Great]

No, I started this in May, so everything is how it was before the season ended.

[Bucket]

Bulls in Finals, without Boozer.

[kibaxx7]

Retro Finals Good luck man, can't wait!

[Clutch]

LA's gone!?

In my eyes that's, "Mission Accomplished!" whether the Finals pan out or not

Now... BEAT THE BULLS! (for daring to win a title w/o Mike, Scottie & Phil)

[Lamrock]

Wow. What an easy finals match-up!

[Axel The Great]

Bulls in Finals, without Boozer.

This should be another sweep.

Retro Finals Good luck man, can't wait!

Olajuwon vs. Jordan. More like Yao vs. Rose.

:shock: LA's gone!?

In my eyes that's, "Mission Accomplished!" whether the Finals pan out or not

Now... BEAT THE BULLS! (for daring to win a title w/o Mike, Scottie & Phil)

Yeah, they are finally gone! YES!!!

I don't think the Bulls will be as much trouble as LA.

Wow. What an easy finals match-up!

Cleveland would've provided a suitable Finals.

[Axel The Great]

NBA Finals 2010 Preview



This is the Final series of the season. In what seems to be an easy championship win for the Rockets, both of these teams have won championships with their best players as leaders of their respective team. These two teams tied the season series at 1-1, Chicago winning the last time in OT. With a significant win-loss margin (Bulls went 49-33, getting a second seed), the Rockets are the favorites to win this series. The Bulls have made history these playoffs, winning a series while down 0-3, and taking down LeBron James after trailing 2-3. This is the first time these two teams have faced off in the Finals, the Rockets seem to have more advantages, I will get to that later.


The Starters

C Brad Miller | PF Joakim Noah | SF Luol Deng | SG Kirk Hinrich | PG Derrick Rose

The Bench

Jannero Pargo | Devin Brown | Hakim Warrick+ | Acie Law | Joe Alexander | Ronald Murray | Taj Gibson

IR

James Johnson | Chris Richard | Rob Kurz


The Starters

C Yao Ming | PF Luis Scola | SF Trevor Ariza | SG Kevin Martin | PG Aaron Brooks

The Bench

Shane Battier | Chase Budinger | Jordan Hill | Jared Jeffries | Kyle Lowry | Donte Greene | Chuck Hayes

IR

David Andersen | Jermaine Taylor

The Keys to the Series-
Chicago Bulls-
The Bulls will have to depend on their backcourt in the offensive end, Derrick Rose leads this team in scoring at 22 ppg. If Rose produces, and Kirk Hinrich finds his rhythm, the Rockets' defense will need to step up. Also, the Bulls have a rebounding machine in Joakim Noah, and a deteorating Brad Miller, who can still play some defense. The Bulls have caused some upsets these playoffs, and are looking to cause another one here, and also will be looking to win their first championship without Michael Jordan.

Houston Rockets-
The Rockets have come a long way. After 15 years, they are finally back in the Finals. How? They've capitalized on every teams' weaknesses. They took down CP3, B-Roy, and the Black Mamba to get this far. The Rockets don't have size advantage in the Point Guard position, but they do, however, have size in the frontcourt. Yao Ming will be able to contain Brad and Joakim himself, but if he can get help from Scola, or the multiple bigs from the bench, this will be Sushi for Yao. There is no significant superstar for Shane Battier to guard, but he can be matched with either Hinrich or Rose. With the Bulls' mediocre bench, the Rockets' main key to winning this series and the championship is getting the Bulls in foul trouble, and that's exactly what they did against the Hornets and the Lakers. This should be an interesting series, and the winner will win their first championship without their best franchise player.