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1:28	[Comment From Alan] Why aren't the Blazers hitting as many 3 pointers?

1:29

Joe Freeman - Good question, Homer. Here's what Adelman had to say about this very topic when I asked him at yesterday's practice:
"That’ll be up to you to find out. I’m not going to tell you how we’re going to do it. In some ways I don’t even know. Dikembe, against this team, you saw it in the first game how we used him, we felt he was going to be a real key guy for us. And not only on Oden or whatever, he was a very key guy at the rim. And when you lose him suddenly we got from 7-1 to 6-7. It’s a totally different scenario but we have to find ways to do it. We have to find ways to make it happen and we’ll see how it goes. I’m going to make some decisions and if that doesn’t work, we’ll go in another direction."

1:29	[Comment From homer] who are the rockets looking to fill in for mutumbo's spot ? what is their plan to stop roy and aldridge tonight?

1:30	Jonathan Feigen - Joe will likely weigh in on this one, Alan, but I can tell you that the Rockets like to run teams off the 3-point line and make them hit one- and two-dribble jumpers. The Blazers are very good at that so you might see the Rockets adjust and see if Portland is hitting 3s.

1:30	Jonathan Feigen - I'm pretty sure the Rockets will activate James White. He is unlikely to play, but he dunks well in warmups.

1:30	[Comment From Sofa] What will Houston do to counter-act the Trailblazers playing both Joel P. and Greg O.?

1:31	Jonathan Feigen - They have to hope that Carl Landry's quickness and mid-range shot is an answer to that. They don't have much choice. Chuck Hayes will likely get some time to try to keep those guys off the boards.

1:31	[Comment From wanderboy] J & J, you both called game 2 correctly during last live chat, predicting Blazers win by a small margin. what prompt you make that prediction? and how's your outlook for tonight's game?

1:31	Jonathan Feigen - Rockets by seven.

1:31

Joe Freeman - Alan ... The Blazers were simply awful in Game 1, missing 10 of their 11 threes. They improved in Game 2 (5 of 11). Part of the onus is on Travis Outlaw, who is 0-3... he has to get better. But I think a lot of the credit has to go to the Rockets -- three-point shooting has been a plus for the Blazers all season and the Rockets have taken that away.

1:32	[Comment From kc] In Rox practices, did they practice with Yao the fronting defense he'll always be confronted with? I can't help but wonder, because everytime there's a fronting on Yao, he's taken out of the game, period.

1:33	Joe Freeman - Kevin ... Outlaw is struggling, in part, because of the lockdown D of Shane Battier. That's not going to stop. That said, I do see Outlaw producing more in Game 3.

1:33	Jonathan Feigen - They work on that every day, every season, KC. There is a reason teams do that. Yao's a big guy, but he is not 14-feet tall, and that's how much of their defense Portland has devoted to stopping him.

1:34	[Comment From jmac25] is it just us in houston..or do even some of you blazer guys think pryzbilla flops entirely too much..we know shaner and scola do it..but come on...he is almost stockon like in his flopping prowess

1:34	Jonathan Feigen - You do what works.

1:34	Joe Freeman - Wanderboy ... I say Rockets take Game 3. Blazers have been brutal on the road against the best teams all season and I doubt that will change tonight.

1:35	[Comment From Ryan] It has been a nice transformation for Nic Batum. At the beginning of the season he was scrawny and quiet, now is much bigger and stronger. It has been really fun watching him guard Ron Artest. Do you think he has matched Artest's physicality?

1:36	Jonathan Feigen - Not his physicality, but he has played good position defense, which often leads Artest to over-dribbling and poor shot selection.

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