Houston, We Have A Problem

Only three teams in the history of the NBA have come back from down 0-2 after losing both games at home. And the Rockets have seen it happen upfront twice. In 1994, Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets lost two then rallied to win a Round 2 series against Charles Barkley's Suns. In 2005, it happened on the other end with Yao Ming's Rockets, when Dirk Nowitzki's Mavs overcame that 0-2 deficit in Round 1.

So the Rockets know very well it can be done. Too bad I am one who does not go against the numbers. It's time to pick on the Rockets.

James Harden. He has yet to have a decent shooting game, but The Beard knows that Game 3 should be treated as a do-or-die game. He has the potential to give you that 40 PRA in a bounce-back game. It is his team and he has to carry this team to defy history.

Dwight Howard. I rely on consistency over potential, and DH has been the beacon of consistency in this series so far. It seems that Coach McHale's strategy is Dwight-centric, which is just fine against the Blazers. I expect to gain PRA of high 30s from him.


Joakim Noah. The Bulls are another team who lost their two home games, and the Wizards have been surprising us. I already marked Noah for Game 3, but changed it because I think the Wizards are more likely to lose to the Bulls, than the Blazers are to the Rockets. If you disagree, I suggest you pick Noah and that is still a very fine choice.

As for the Raptors@Nets game, that's tied 1-1 and that series can still go the distance. So don't touch them this date.

So how about yours, a Bull or a Rocket?


Save 20% on Youth Jerseys through 4/14 at NBAStore.com

Comments

  1. Well, this one is the easiest choice I've had to make. The outcome of the games also make my Noah pick in game 2 look absolutely genious. Having picked, in order, Millsap, Jefferson, Conley, Noah and Walker, with Curry coming tonight, this pick is not a dilemma at all. Harden now, Howard for the elimination game.

    Knowing myself, I likely won't touch Raptors/Nets until the series is over. Too many good options to pick from. Unless the Raps go down 3-2 or 3-1 or all the other series end in 5, I'm just not likely going there.

    As for Chicago/Washington, too many question marks. I'm swinging for 30 PRA every 1st round choice and, other than the already selected Noah, I can't realistically expect 30 from anyone else. A few players have the potential to show it, but the chance of a bust is too high for me to risk a first. I want a bust who can still pull out 27 in a dud of a game (hello Kemba.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with Curry in a loss, mfari031.

      Delete
    2. I've also got Curry tonight & now Harden tomorrow. Hoping these two picks boost up my score nicely. Thanks a lot Dirk...

      Delete
  2. Gonna go with D12. Think Harden will step it up for Game 3 but Dwight has been more consistent. Gonna be tough though if both the Bulls and Rockets lose Game 3, they'll be facing elimination on the same night which would make this even harder than it is already with all the series tied right now....

    To sum it up: Crazy playoffs so far!! I'm loving it.

    Still hope the Warriors grind out the W tonight. Beat the Floppers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Silas, it's gonna be real hard without Bogut. And Warriors 2-1 will present challenges in DTTF as well. Good luck with your Warriors though. I'm yet to see the Splash Brothers make it rain.

      Delete
    2. I know, that's why I said "hope" ;)
      Wish they would beat them but for D2TF you gotta be realistic, so I'm simply staying away from picking from this series just yet.

      Delete
  3. Houston 'gave' me a problem.....
    .....
    ..... Wow. how a lot of people have gone from "IND is gone" to picking Hawk players.... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of news articles about that. But rarely has anybody saying Pacers will lose the series. Don't know why Pacers were being picked. Maybe Hawk fans.

      Delete
  4. Harden for me... It has to be a Rocket... Noah can be impredictible and any rocket should be more consistent.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well....
    ...........As the "cold pick" king... I'm running out of choices lol
    .....
    .....and being a THUNDER fan I hate to pick someone playing against them AND then root for them to rock the PRA lol
    .....All that being said I WILL be picking a Memphis player and will be taking Mike Conley.... I'm confident he will break the 30pra mark and keep me in the hunt....
    ......

    ReplyDelete
  6. going with Harden.. third time's a charm.. he can't be that bad for 3 straight games.

    By the way, we will have a chance to interview Gordon Hayward. Hope you can check our website for updates

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, yesterday the choice was Harden or Howard. I picked the wrong one. In other news, Aldridge continues his rampage, and now I have to eat a hat.

    Tonight it´s a coin toss between a Hawk (only Teague left) and a Warrior. While I don´t like to go broke on a team in a tied series with the Hawks I still want to see the first match at Oracle before picking any Golden Staters. So it will be Teague. Hope the Pacers win despite a Aldridge-esque performance by Teague.

    Tomorrow we have two series with the road team down 0-2. I picked Harden already so he will probably have a decent game, but I don´t like picking Howard when the Rockets might be down 0-3, so I will pick him tomorrow. I still think Noah might contribute if the Bulls are down 0-3.

    And let´s hear it for the Mavs, who could be up 2-0 if not for that cold stretch in the end of game 1. I hope Dirk will start to play at home and then it could get really interesting...
    even though I still favor the Spurs to win the series.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah...
    ............I've changed my mind.... I'm going cold :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm going with Lee today

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pick diversity. It's happening now guys. Good luck with your picks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've been following the blog in the shadows, interesting picks by some. everything is going to plan for me so far. the way i see it is bobcats get swept, wiz in 5/a sweep is possible aswell i just think 4th game bulls will win just because of the exp.

    hawks can knock out pacers in 6 but it comes down to them winning both home games, pacers have match up problems and i'm almost 90% sure hawks win both home games because pacers won't have the offense. if pacers win 1 on the road they'll win the series. the game the other day means nothing hawks sometimes quit in games and i think this was one where they're were just happy to get the first game and prepare for the home games, if horford was fit hawks would win series 100%.

    Spurs/mavs is going to 7 and always was they have big history and there's no favourite in that series, i would wait until the final few games to pick 1-2 from their teams as they don't really have any main pra guys they all get spread out evenly. dirk is the only pick from mavs and spurs have a few so hopefully it comes down to game 7 where you pick dirk and have all spurs left.

    houston are done they won't beat the blazers they're getting swept. mchale one reason and harden again choking in playoffs when he needs to be clutch and not in the regular season. d12 actually turned up for once. lillard is a ice cold killer, he's jordan lite thats the reason why they won't steal a game the guys clutch. houston have the better talent blazers have the better team.

    clippers should win but warriors can get streaky so no matter how well you play you could still lose. this is going 6/7 depending on todays game.

    thunder should win in min 6 they have the same problem as houston their coaches wreck their chances brooks is the reason why thunder go nowhere in the playoffs. the only other reason why they will fail is if westbrook gets hurt then grizz are winning. grizz could still come out on top this is the most evenly matched series of the lot.

    nets should win the next 3 games problem with them is they are major chokers and who knows what happens, raptors have talent but are inexp and it will be there downfall also kidd needs to play kg a little more not alot but a little otherwise raptors could still this because dwill and johnson are untrustworthy to put up the numbers like last game one of them needed a bigger game they would have won.

    this is how i see it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Stive08, good outlook of Round 1. This might be the busiest Round 1 since the inception of best-of-7. More bball, fans winning!

      Delete
  12. Yeah.. I switched from Conley to David Lee..... Brrrr :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lance stephens was owned by 0% and got a 38pra.... cold I SAY cold lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pacers lost. OKC lost. Some tough decisions up ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True. It will be both hard to stay the course and to switch.

      Delete
  15. I'm going to BANK with Chandler Parsons tomorrow night..... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm going cold.... I'm not going to roll(with the crowd) You know me... :) BTW are the points X2 in the second round and so on.... X3 and X4?

      Delete
    2. In Drive to the Finals the points are just x1 every round, so no need to hold onto the top guys. I like Chandler Parsons though. If you are going to go cold, you could do much worse. Tough not to pick the top guys at this stage though. Houston is on life support. I'm happy I can play Howard right away and not have to think about that series with Harden picked and a lot of series about to hit crunch time with perhaps George and/or Durant and Westbrook facing doom.

      Delete
    3. And Dwight is not so hot of a pick, only 14%. Noah is, at 23%. The idea of a cold pick is that the player still needs to be in top 2 at least of his team.

      Delete
    4. rockets will get swept

      Delete
  16. I dropped in the rankings with D. Lee only getting me a 25PRA...
    ..... Sitting at 224pts and ranked 1403...
    ..... I can't believe we are already picking our 7th player..
    To ad to the pain my Thunder lost... :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i picked lee aswell he did well to get 25pra which is good enough all you need is that because his highest pra will only be 10 more pra which is hardly a difference i would be more worried about the players you already chose that look like they'll go through to the next round. the average you need to score is between 25-30 pra this early

      lee sat out the 3rd qtr they went small he would have got 30pra atleast if he played so you can only blame jackson for that

      Delete
  17. If you predicted that Dunleavy explosion... wow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 0% owned. No way anyone would even think it, unless you have the Grays Sports Almanac.

      Delete
    2. Harden monster game but one thing is clear, Houston isn't winning this series. Sucks for whomever took parsons.

      Delete

Post a Comment