Lakers - Rockets First Half Game 4

Is there a team more dislikeable than the Lakers? They come out and play like they don't care in a game when they could really put away the Rockets. I don't care if they're good or not, this team sucks.

I'm not convinced Battier's "hand right up in the face" defense is effective. I think trying to block the ball forces the player to adjust his shot more - if you're right there - the player sometimes has to arc the ball more and hence gets out of rhythm. The announcers are overrating the effectiveness of the hand in the face defense, the player knows where he is on the court and knows how to take the shot from muscle memory, not the vision. Plus, your vision will only be partially and momentarily obscured. Just watching Bryant shoot on Battier and I think he'd be better served getting the hand up near the ball.

PS - Yao played game 3 with a broken foot? Are you kidding me? I really like this Rockets team and am becoming a huge Yao Ming fan. Next year, if they can figure out how to give McGrady a more limited role, run the offense through Yao, this is going to be a seriously tough team to beat. McGrady, Yao, Artest, Brooks, Scola. That'll be the best starting five in basketball.

PPS - Kobe is saving his energy. This is smart. He is a smart player. Zidane did the same later in his career. A lot of talented older players do. Last year, he didn't need to save his energy. His legs are going.