Yao being reported to be out for the Playoffs by Espn. http://www.kirotv.com/sports/19418343/detail.html
Rockets played strong without Yao, won by 10 today. They were up by 29 in the 4th period, shots quit falling and Lakers started hitting 3's. Aaron Brooks and Battier stepped up big. Bad news, Artest was cold as ice. I could turn that around though, because if the Rockets could win without Yao and with Artest cold as ice, if Artest has a decent outing next game, they should still be able to hang with the Lakers. I like Adelman a lot better than Van Gundy as the coach. The Rockets personnel man looks to have done a good job assembling the pieces of the team. All role players except for McGrady and Yao, but they play well together. That's paying off with McGrady and Yao both out.
Looks like Kobe had 15 points on 17 shots compared to the scrub getting 23 points on 12 shots. :grin: Should be a fun series even without Yao now. Different Rockets players keep stepping up. It's like a guessing game because the Lakers don't know who's gonna have a big game from the Rockets.
Ok, I am going to comment on the Denver buzzer beater since it is on TV every 30 minutes or so. Sure the refs could have called a foul but it was not as clear as some are saying. I can understand the no call in this situation. When the player tried to foul Melo he put his hands up which is the universal sign that he is pleading to the refs that he did not foul. Carlisle was also on the sidelines with his hands up the entire possession. If you intend to take a foul a HC should be screaming it from the sideline before the ball is passed into play and during the entire play until the foul is called. All this should be done after talking to the refs during the timeout. It is not like the HC was not right at the spot where Melo was trying to create space to take a shot. Get your head in the game instead of just standing there with your hands up. I think the bigger issue is the NBA admitting to making a mistake. This is happening all the time now and I am sure the integrity lost during the ref gambling sting has something to do with it, who knows. However, I think admitting to a supposed miss call actually damages the refs integrity even more so in this situation.
The Mavs player quit playing. Carmelo didn't. This only made what would have been a 4-1 series into a 4-0 series, so its really not THAT big an issue. If the Mavs wanted less time on the clock, then tell Dirk to not shoot a fadeaway with 6 still left on the shot clock like he did in Dallas' last possession.
OK, this has nothing to do with the playoffs, but I didn't know where else to put it. First of all, let me preface this by saying that I'm a HUGE Knicks fan. Grew up a Knicks fan. When I saw this picture I was shocked. Have any of you seen how quickly Charles Oakley has aged? Here is what he looks like now:
