Why are you Rooting 4 Rockets

[Celtic]

Pretty simple, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the Lakers are all of our the enemy.

[D Dub]

I absolutely love Yao Ming.  He might be my favorite non-Celtic right now.

I really want to see him dominate this over-confident Laker team.  And I think he will continue to, LA has no answer for him.


That and I never need a reason to root against the Lakers.  Especially now that Bynum has developed that Kobe-like smugness.  Dude thinks he's the best center in this league despite having just played the first meaningful basketball of his career last night.  I want nothing more than to see Yao continue to abuse him.  Bynum doesn't have respect for the work it takes to be a great center in this league.

[fairweatherfan]

Second on the Yao - I'm not a huge fan of his game but I'm very impressed by what he's capable of doing at his size, and his general demeanor toward the game. 

Take last night - he banged knees with Kobe and looked like he might be badly injured, and was clearly in serious pain for awhile.  Instead of griping about not getting a call or complaining about the injury, he says, "Thank you very much for asking, but my knee is nothing to be worried about."  Good stuff.

As always though the main reason to root for the Rockets is because they're playing the Lakers.  The opportunity to see those punks fall on their face against a superior defense again has me salivating.  I still won't believe the Rockets will win until they win a 3rd game, but they've shown they can play with LA.

[Hoops]

two reasons i want the rockets to win....

1. they playing the lakers
2. i want them to advance without tmac (sooooo overrated...and has never made it out the first round)

Exactly my sentiments

[Drucci]

I like this Rockets team because they play solid D, and I like some of their players (Artest, Von Wafer, Battier and Brooks). Who knows, now that they have finally advanced beyond round 1 (without T-Mac) they may be unstoppable in the West.

Plus, it's fun to see the Lakers fans panic, because they are overconfident and they almost thought they would sweep Houston. Guess what? Defense rules against offense.

I'm amazed by the ESPN NBA homepage, though. The Lakers lost game 1 and you have the impression that they have been swept in this round. I mean, here are the links from the NBA homepage :

Code Red

    * Adande: Do Lakers still have it? »

    * Dime: Rockets on money in Game 1 »

    * TrueHoop: Rockets' D on Kobe key »

    * Chat with Tim Legler » Live

    * Rockets-Lakers series page »

  I guess ESPN, who was sure L.A had a ticket for the Finals, is beginning to doubt now, and I really enjoy it (plus, the C's loss is almost overlooked, which is unusual).

[twentythree9]

Yao is a monster!  You know the Lakers are in trouble when Gasol is complaining on EVERY SINGLE POSSESSION!  He made Perk look like a saint yesterday!

But I do like this Rocket team.  They're unselfish, play with a purpose and have that defensive intensity that the C's had last year but are lacking this year.

Piovtal game 2 tomorrow, you know the Lakers are going to come out firing!
I disagree with Jackson, though about that being as bad as the Lakers can play.  I don't think they were expecting to face a team that could match up with them size-wise and that was willing to play defense for 48 minutes.  If the Lakers aren't prepared, watch out!

[angryguy77]

Yao also picked us to win last year after the rockets were out. Got to love him for that.

[MaineBleedsGreen]

there are two teams I don't want to win the championship this season.


1) the Kobe's
2) the Lebron's

granted, both of those teams are much more then just their star players. and from a pure basketball standpoint I secretly enjoy watching the Cavaliers, but I'm not ready for Lebron to get his, and I never was (and never will be) ready for Kobe to get another ring.

[Mr October]

two reasons i want the rockets to win....

1. they playing the lakers
2. i want them to advance without tmac (sooooo overrated...and has never made it out the first round)

yup yup

[Mr October]

although i wont take the rockets chances seriously unless they lead 2-1, 3-1 or 3-2.

Right now i'm guessing the Lakers were half a sleep and Kobe was under the weather.

[kheeko]

I find myself rooting for the Houston Rockets for a couple a reasons.

1) Hate Hate Hate Celtics wannabees

huh whats this got to do with Rockets?

and everyone summed it up i cant stand the lakers, and luv yao

[BigAlTheFuture]

They are playing the Lakers and the Rockets are a very likeable team. I mean.. Yao Ming.. who can hate that guy?

[BASS_THUMPER]

i never liked la..i respect but dont like

i really dont care about the west..thats down the line

i care more about cleve and atl....they jus around the corner...more of a problem

come on atl!!!

[ToppersBsktball10]

I find myself rooting for the Houston Rockets for a couple a reasons.

1) Hate Hate Hate Celtics wannabees

2) Yao Ming is the best center in the NBA

2) Aaron Brooks is the scoring version of Rondo. They are so much alike. But one is a scorer while the other one is a defender/passer. Aaron can shoot the 3 ball, has a nice crossover, and can finish with BOTH HANDS. 

3) Bynum is a FRAUD

4) "Analyst" being wrong once again. Always love this.

5)  Ron's redemption. For years he was the dark-side of the NBA, rightly so. He finally put all that behind him, and people finally get to see the ball'er side of him.

yao could be averaging 40 ppg with that size

[ToppersBsktball10]

Reasons Why I want the Rockets to win
1 Cuz they're playing the Lakers
2Cuz they're playing the Lakers
3 Cuz they're playing the Lakers
4 so I could rub it in all Lakers fans faces
5 Sasha Vujacic
6 Sasha Vujacic
7 Shannon Brown could be a big difference maker if we were to meet them in the Finals
8 Sasha Vujacic
9 Because Jack Nicholson is an LA fan and he seems like an idiot even though i've never seen any of his movies
10 all of the above