:: |H|O|U|S|T|O|N| |R|O|C|K|E|T|S| 04-05 ::

[Webb]

"The 04-05 Rockets are on to the title"
words from the Rockets GM Ofer Yarkoni.
is he nuts??

The summer began with 2nd PG Mark Jackson retirement.
the veteran guard says: "yeah i have had it with basketball. and on this team, my chance for titles dosen't exist. so if giving up, why playing? I'm not gonna play for money like some other veterans...."

Those words, regarding the fact that a championship won't be seen soon in Houston, made some people in the Rockets managment very very angry, but mostly, hungry, FOR TITLE.

on the NBA Draft the Rockets got the no. 13 pick, who was used to choose PG Vonte Lawson, the next 2nd PG.
second round - the Rockets picked up another PG, Raymond Parker.
Raymond has been released a day after.

The summer went on with a big trade.
the Rockets traded M. Taylor, K. Cato and S. Padget to the Cleveland Cavaliers for PF Carlos Boozer and SG Anani Finley, the no. 9 pick.

|NeW SeAsOn|
The Rockets first game of the season was against the LA Lakers, last year champion, on the Staples Center.
with Karl Malone not playing anymore, and Shaquille O'neal losing fitness,
the Rockets knew that they can.

LINE UP - LAL
C Shaq
PF Medvedenko
SF George
SG Kobe
PG Payton

LINE UP - HOU
C Yao
PF Boozer
SF Jackson
SG Mobley
PG Francis

KEY PLAYER
The key player for tonight's game is Houston's giant, Yao Ming.
with bad preperation games by Shaq and recently rumors about him leaving the Lakers, Yao must show character and rip the big guy's game into tiny pieces and show that beyond using his physical adv., his can kill you when your not coming focused into the game. if the big guy kills Diesel, Houston are up for the grabs.

1st Quarter
the Lakers opened the game strong from beyond the arc and with 8 points by Kareem Rush and 7 by Kobe they finished the quarter with a 26-14 lead.

2nd Quarter
Shaq and Kobe got into foul problems, but it didn't affect the Lakers game and with alot of great help from Rick Fox they were up 45-34 at halftime.

3rd Quarter
the Rockets took advantage of Shakobe's sitting on the bench. Boozer started to dominate the boards and Stevie Franchise showed great penetrations leading to a 12-0 run and a 75-68 lead at the end of 3rd quarter.

4th Quarter
Shakobe got back into the game but Kobe was too cold to score from outside, while being blocked two times by JJ in the box.
Shaq has awake, but Clarence Weatherspoon (11 rebs) managed to defend him briliantly and with a late run by the Lakers the game ended with 101-97 W for the Rockets, who are now 1-0.

INTERVIEW Jimmy Jackson

Press: "Jimmy, you had a perfect defensive display today guarding Kobe Rick and Kareem keeping the three of them on 37pts together, could a display like today return?"
JJ: "I don't know. my legs are pretty much dying right now, and I don't think that those two will be able to guard on T-Mac and VC like they guarded today, but, who knows, maybe my strength is being saved for the big moments...."
Press: "....Playoffs?"
JJ: "Maybe, that depends on what they do on the less important games...."

STATS
POG - C. Boozer 8pts 25rebs 3blks
S. Francis 24pts 5ast
C. Mobley 19pts
Y. Ming 18pts 14rebs
G. Payton 16pts 10ast
K. Bryant 15pts
D. George 14pts 3\5 3pt %
S. O'neal 12pts 10rebs 5blks
J. Jackson 11pts 10rebs 7ast

That is it for the Rockets vs. Lakers matchup, stay tuned for more.

[mp3]

nice Dynasty
Boozer real had a good rebounding game didnt he , anymore updates?

[Webb]

I think that i'll stop this dynasty and wait to Ben's rosters to come out and start again...