Just to keep you going during the offseason
-Billy said we need to trade T-Mac. I said we need to trade T-Mac. The Rockets are trying to trade T-Mac. I'm glad we're all on the same page.
-We're still in win now mode. Fortunately for us, there are some less-than-intelligent GM's in the NBA. Possibly even more fortunately for us, Daryl Morey isn't one of them. Good things happen when your management is smarter than everyone else's.
-James White, inspired by Trevor Ariza's stellar play in the postseason, is hard at work trying to become a contributor on the Rockets next year.
-More talk about trading Mcgrady.
-Hoops World is doing an immediate needs series for each team. We're not on there yet, but we should be by either Monday or Tuesday. Keep checking. I'll probably post a link to our actual article when it comes out, this is just a heads up.
-It's good to know Yao's enjoying his summer.
-Nothing to do with the Rockets, especially since we don't have a draft pick, but still a beautiful, beautiful thing.
-Hopefully not.
-Another Mcgrady rumor, but one that I don't like. Why the hell would we do this again?
-We're nearing the NBA Draft so there's probably somewher around 4,327 mock drafts available for you to read if you want to find them, but if you're really, really lazy, this one's just a click away. And the first five picks of this one. And this one. Let's try to maintain a hold on things until next Thursday.
That's all for now, keep checking back when you're bored. And I mean really, really bored.
Showing posts with label Rockets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rockets. Show all posts
6/18/2009
Yao Demands Freedom
Well not quite. But he took the first step. Yao suggested that the Chinese national team should focus on finding and developing younger players, or, in other words, leave him the hell alone. We all know that Yao cares too much about China and means too much to the country to demand a break from his national team duties, but this is a good start for the Great Wall. For years we've complained that playing for China in the summers has been wearing down on Yao, and, most importantly, those precious feet, but nobody's been able to do anything about it. Not Yao, because he's too loyal, and not anyone else, because we don't want to be taken from our homes at 2 A.M. by seven men in black masks.
But in all seriousness, I'm glad that Yao is finally starting to find ways to avoid or at least cut back on his playing for China. My favorite quote of the article is when he says "I've seen many players still playing in the national team at the age of 30. But it was different that they did not play in a league as intense as the one I do," or in other words, "If I keep playing for you there's a good chance my left foot is going to fall off."
I know, it's not like Yao is going to be refusing to play for China anytime soon. He means too much to the country to do so, and we understood the circumstances when we drafted him. That doesn't mean it's any less painful to wonder if rest in the offseason would have helped every time he goes down with an injury. But as of now, I'm happy that Yao's going to have a full summer of rest to get ready for next year, and hopefully this is the first step towards many more summers of recuperation for him.
But in all seriousness, I'm glad that Yao is finally starting to find ways to avoid or at least cut back on his playing for China. My favorite quote of the article is when he says "I've seen many players still playing in the national team at the age of 30. But it was different that they did not play in a league as intense as the one I do," or in other words, "If I keep playing for you there's a good chance my left foot is going to fall off."
I know, it's not like Yao is going to be refusing to play for China anytime soon. He means too much to the country to do so, and we understood the circumstances when we drafted him. That doesn't mean it's any less painful to wonder if rest in the offseason would have helped every time he goes down with an injury. But as of now, I'm happy that Yao's going to have a full summer of rest to get ready for next year, and hopefully this is the first step towards many more summers of recuperation for him.
6/16/2009
So It Ends
So, here we are. The NBA season has come to an end. A new champion has been crowned. The slew of awkward interactions and hugs between people who most likely have never spoken with one another has come and gone. Phil Jackson's bizarre "X" hat with Chinese characters on it was unveiled for the world's enjoyment/horror. (I understand the "X" is for 10 championships, but I'm just wondering how long ago they made the hat. Is it from 2004? Have they just been holding it until he finally won his 10th championship? Or was it made this year? How much of a role did he have in designing the hat? Did he know that it existed before they won? Wouldn't that have just put even more pressure on him to win? What would they have done with it if the Lakers had lost? Two months from now would some poor Nigerian be wearing a Phil Jackson celebratory hat? I need answers.) Questions about Phil Jackson's headgear aside, we've got some recapping to do.
First things first, I'd like to (admittedly begrudgingly) congratulate the Lakers. You know, giving credit where credit is due, not being a sore loser, things like that. They won an NBA Championship. Something only 14 teams have done before, something they've done for the 15th time. That's a hell of an accomplishment, no matter how hated they might be for it. As much as I've berated and ridiculed the Lakers this season, seeing the pure emotion coming from team as the clock hit the triple zeroes was special. The unbridled joy that comes from working through the ups, downs and turbulence of everything in between of an NBA season only to end up on top reminded of why I watch basketball, even if it was coming from some of my least favorite living creatures on the planet. And I know, the same reaction comes from every team in every sport after they win, and it's usually even more fevered and excited than the Lakers' celebration, but it's still always a spectacle to see. So without any more smoke-blowing, I'll run through a few personalized congratulatory paragraphs before getting to my conciliatory (what a word) speech for the Magic.
Kobe Bryant-Go to hell. Take your trophy, under-bite-face and inhuman shots and go to hell. Leave Vanessa here though. But in all seriousness, Kobe Bryant deserves this. He is probably one of the five most hated people in the world, endlessly yells at and belittles his teammates and is most likely impossible to play with, but he deserves it. Not just the hate, but the championship as well. I know how every single media member has written about how much he wanted this title, but there's a reason for that. It's true. From his newly created angry wolf-man face to his performances on the court, everything about Kobe this postseason has screamed desperation. Desperation to finally get that 330 pound apostrophe-named monkey off of his back. Desperation to cement his legacy as one of the best players ever. Desperation to take a team that is actually his own to the top of the mountain. And it was never more evident than the end of Game 5, when he started jumping up and down with his hands in the air with a few seconds left and then started doing the Jordan Fist Pump While Jumping Extremely High over and over again. And of course when he nearly cried when being interviewed after receiving the Finals MVP trophy. Kobe Bryant wanted this championship. More than that, he needed it. He needed to validate himself. He needed to prove to himself that he could do it. He needed to be able to tell Shaq just exactly how his ass tastes. And he did it. Congratulations Kobe. Now get the hell out of my life for the next four months. Please. Don't ask questions, just do it. Disappear to some island and enjoy this, but more importantly, don't force me to see you until training camp.
Pau Gasol-One of the few Lakers that I'm actually happy for. After taking nonstop criticism since last summer for being "soft" when he never really deserved it, Pau showed us why he's the second best center in the NBA. Sorry Dwight, but this Finals demonstrated to us that you're not quite there yet. Pau's willingness to guard virtually anyone, his tenacious, relentless covering of Dwight Howard and his typically brilliant offense in the final five games of the season cemented his status as anything but "soft". He's versatile, extremely talented and a whole hell of a lot more fiery than anyone could have guessed, and he deserves this championship as much as anyone on the Lakers.
Lamar Odom-A man whose play was inconsistent enough that a doctor wrote an article theorizing that his affection for candy was the reason why he seemingly randomly disappeared in games. A man whose infant son died a few years ago. A man who for so long had physical gifts that in no way matched his desire or focus to play basketball. A man who, after Pau and Kobe, took the most criticism for the Lakers' loss to the Celtics last year. And deservedly so. But he, like nearly every other Laker, redeemed himself this year. In the Finals he was involved, interested, and, probably most importantly, effective. He showed us that somewhere in that immensely talented 6-11 frame is an actual beating heart pumping blood through a living, breathing human being. A shocking revelation, if you ask me, but a well deserved championship for the "Candyman."
Phil Jackson-Yes, he had Michael and Scottie, Shaq and Kobe, and Kobe and Pau/Lamar/injuries to Yao, Mcgrady, Ginobili, Nelson and Garnett. You know what else he has? 10 NBA Championships. As a coach. That's 10 more than me and good enough for the most in NBA history. Greatest coach of all time? Luckiest coach of all time? Does anyone really give a damn?
Derek Fisher-For all my jokes about you being half-dead, utterly useless and a disgrace to the good people of Little Rock, Arkansas (that last one's new), you came through when it mattered the most. After sleepwalking through nearly the entire length of the playoffs, you were brought back to life in Game 4 and hit the two biggest shots of the NBA season. Now you'll get to slack through another full year without being benched or called out by your teammates. Congratulations. Not just on the championship, but on buying yourself an extension on your career. Have fun getting burned by Aaron Brooks, Chris Paul and Deron Williams next season.
Sasha Vujacic-Cheer up Machine. I know you didn't have the ideal series. I know you didn't score in the NBA Finals. I know you probably hurt the Lakers more than you helped them. But you're still my favorite Laker. Keep your head up, one day you'll be a star. In hindsight, probably not. You lack a variety of fundamental basketball skills necessary to be a successful NBA player. But at least you're a winner. And not Sun Yue.
And finally, to the Lakers team as a whole. You took shots all year for not being focused, for being too soft, for not showing up every night and for being a bunch of arrogant pricks who were hated by nearly every one outside of Los Angeles, but you still ended up winners. It probably didn't happen the exact way you wanted it to, but, it usually never does. And, like they say, the ends justify the means. And your means have been justified. You went from the peak of peaks in 2000-2002 down to the bottom of the league and eventually and into basketball hell for a few years by making the playoffs consistently but never contending, and lost last season in the Finals. And now, you're here again. The top of the mountain, the end of the road, whatever you want to call it. You're NBA Champions.
But here's where the real work begins. Now you have to go and do it again. Teams will come at you harder, contenders will be healthier and you'll still have to find the fire and will to compete every night. Do that, and you make the leap from champion to dynasty, from great to legendary. So enjoy these next few months, because come November, the grind starts all over again.
And if you think I'm being nicer than usual to the Lakers, you're right. As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to respect this team. Because no matter how hard it is to like them, you can't deny that they have been through a lot. And before you pounce on me, remember the struggle that is Lamar Odom's life, Derek Fisher's daughter and of course, Kobe's rape-trial that still (understandably and deservedly so) haunts him to this day. I'm not supporting Kobe, but even the most stubborn Laker-hater will admit that he's been through hell, even if he brought it on himself.
So yes, in a twisted, mind-boggling way that even I don't fully understand, I'm happy for the Lakers. Yes, I'd rather be saying this about 29 other NBA teams, but I'm not sure those 29 other NBA teams merit having this said about them. Well, at least 28 of them. If anyone's been through more than the Lakers, it's the Rockets. But the middle of a paragraph in the middle of an article is no place for that. That deserves it's own, very, very lengthy post. And if you think I'm saying all of this about the Lakers so that I can generate some good karma for the Rockets next year, you're spot on. Partially, at least. But to make a long, tedious story short, be proud, Los Angeles. You're champions.
Kobe made some questionable facial expressions during the Finals
And, to be cliché, for every winner, we must have a loser. Unfortunately, the loser this year was the Orlando Magic. A very good team. A great team actually. A few inches either way and they would have been up 3-1 in this series instead of down. If Courtney Lee had hit a difficult layup (something he does frequently) and Fisher hadn't made a 3 (hardly a stretch, he had missed 5 times in 5 tries up to that point) this would have been a very different series. But he didn't, he did, and it wasn't. Still, there's nothing to be ashamed of there.
Orlando, you went at least a round farther than most people had you going. You lost to an extremely talented, hungry and more experienced team. You beat the team with the best record and best player in basketball during the regular season. And you did all of this without your All-Star point guard. (And on the bright side, you won a game this time. That's one more than you did against us. At this rate, you'll win a championship in your third Finals appearance after this. So if you get to one every 15 years, you'll be champions in 45 years. Congratulations to the Orlando Magic, your 2054 NBA Champions. Book it.)
But I'll stop being an ass for a few sentences. If may ask one thing of you, it's this: remember this feeling. Especially you, Dwight. Remember how it feels to be a loser after getting this far. Remember the pain, spend nights staying up thinking about it, let it eat away at you. You're 23, you'll get a title soon enough. But not without the right amount of desire. And if this doesn't give you the fire needed to win the last game of the NBA season, then nothing will. So, if you've learned nothing else from this series (And you should have learned a lot. Mainly, Dwight, that you need to developed at least three more reliable moves in the paint. Which would bring your total to three. But that's a topic for another day.) learn how it feels to be a loser. It happened to the guys you just lost to last year, and as you can see, things worked out pretty well for them. So keep all of these emotions with you. Not just for next year or until you win a championship, but for your whole career. Let it push you to get better. Remember that a little passion goes a long way in this league. Keep at it, and soon you'll be on the other side of this result, celebrating with Bill Russell and popping champagne the way Kobe and company are right now.
Remember that to get to the top, you have to start from the bottom. You have to stumble along the way. You have to be knocked down in order to be able to get back up. You've got the falling down part mastered, now it's time to see if you can rise up after it. Have a restless, sleepless, frustrating four months. Some day, it'll all be worth it.
And finally, congratulations to the Houston Rockets. Not only did we take the Lakers to more games than any other team did, we also were, in my opinion, the main reason for their victory. Without our series, they never would have realized that they had to bring their best effort every single game in order to win. You're welcome, L.A. Send us a few of those championship rings and we'll call it even.
Which brings us to the end. 30 teams, 82 games and then 16 more teams each trying to win 16 more games. A lot of basketball, a lot of moments to remember. There was Wade's resurgence (Yes Dwyane, it's your house), Lebron's dominance, Kobe's elbows and some great commercials. We had a spirited run and won 1-3 more games against the Lakers than most people expected us to and were their toughest out in the postseason. And, most importantly, we made it past the first round. Suck it, Tracy.
But now we enter the long dark that is the NBA offseason. Sure, we'll have the draft, and yes, hopefully there will be some blockbuster trades or free agent signings, but for the most part, we're on our own now. Completely on our own, trying to keep it together for four months before basketball starts once again. Check back here for updates on the Rockets, ideas and propositions from two of the finest basketball minds you'll ever come across (Yes, I'm talking about myself and Billy. Try not to laugh) and if some groundbreaking, earth-shattering, other-adjective-that-describes-our-planet being-torn-apart event happens in the NBA. It's been a fun postseason, and we'll be back stronger than ever next year. Which really isn't saying much, but still. Enjoy the summer. And, just for the hell of it, go Rockets.
First things first, I'd like to (admittedly begrudgingly) congratulate the Lakers. You know, giving credit where credit is due, not being a sore loser, things like that. They won an NBA Championship. Something only 14 teams have done before, something they've done for the 15th time. That's a hell of an accomplishment, no matter how hated they might be for it. As much as I've berated and ridiculed the Lakers this season, seeing the pure emotion coming from team as the clock hit the triple zeroes was special. The unbridled joy that comes from working through the ups, downs and turbulence of everything in between of an NBA season only to end up on top reminded of why I watch basketball, even if it was coming from some of my least favorite living creatures on the planet. And I know, the same reaction comes from every team in every sport after they win, and it's usually even more fevered and excited than the Lakers' celebration, but it's still always a spectacle to see. So without any more smoke-blowing, I'll run through a few personalized congratulatory paragraphs before getting to my conciliatory (what a word) speech for the Magic.
Kobe Bryant-Go to hell. Take your trophy, under-bite-face and inhuman shots and go to hell. Leave Vanessa here though. But in all seriousness, Kobe Bryant deserves this. He is probably one of the five most hated people in the world, endlessly yells at and belittles his teammates and is most likely impossible to play with, but he deserves it. Not just the hate, but the championship as well. I know how every single media member has written about how much he wanted this title, but there's a reason for that. It's true. From his newly created angry wolf-man face to his performances on the court, everything about Kobe this postseason has screamed desperation. Desperation to finally get that 330 pound apostrophe-named monkey off of his back. Desperation to cement his legacy as one of the best players ever. Desperation to take a team that is actually his own to the top of the mountain. And it was never more evident than the end of Game 5, when he started jumping up and down with his hands in the air with a few seconds left and then started doing the Jordan Fist Pump While Jumping Extremely High over and over again. And of course when he nearly cried when being interviewed after receiving the Finals MVP trophy. Kobe Bryant wanted this championship. More than that, he needed it. He needed to validate himself. He needed to prove to himself that he could do it. He needed to be able to tell Shaq just exactly how his ass tastes. And he did it. Congratulations Kobe. Now get the hell out of my life for the next four months. Please. Don't ask questions, just do it. Disappear to some island and enjoy this, but more importantly, don't force me to see you until training camp.
Pau Gasol-One of the few Lakers that I'm actually happy for. After taking nonstop criticism since last summer for being "soft" when he never really deserved it, Pau showed us why he's the second best center in the NBA. Sorry Dwight, but this Finals demonstrated to us that you're not quite there yet. Pau's willingness to guard virtually anyone, his tenacious, relentless covering of Dwight Howard and his typically brilliant offense in the final five games of the season cemented his status as anything but "soft". He's versatile, extremely talented and a whole hell of a lot more fiery than anyone could have guessed, and he deserves this championship as much as anyone on the Lakers.
Lamar Odom-A man whose play was inconsistent enough that a doctor wrote an article theorizing that his affection for candy was the reason why he seemingly randomly disappeared in games. A man whose infant son died a few years ago. A man who for so long had physical gifts that in no way matched his desire or focus to play basketball. A man who, after Pau and Kobe, took the most criticism for the Lakers' loss to the Celtics last year. And deservedly so. But he, like nearly every other Laker, redeemed himself this year. In the Finals he was involved, interested, and, probably most importantly, effective. He showed us that somewhere in that immensely talented 6-11 frame is an actual beating heart pumping blood through a living, breathing human being. A shocking revelation, if you ask me, but a well deserved championship for the "Candyman."
Phil Jackson-Yes, he had Michael and Scottie, Shaq and Kobe, and Kobe and Pau/Lamar/injuries to Yao, Mcgrady, Ginobili, Nelson and Garnett. You know what else he has? 10 NBA Championships. As a coach. That's 10 more than me and good enough for the most in NBA history. Greatest coach of all time? Luckiest coach of all time? Does anyone really give a damn?
Derek Fisher-For all my jokes about you being half-dead, utterly useless and a disgrace to the good people of Little Rock, Arkansas (that last one's new), you came through when it mattered the most. After sleepwalking through nearly the entire length of the playoffs, you were brought back to life in Game 4 and hit the two biggest shots of the NBA season. Now you'll get to slack through another full year without being benched or called out by your teammates. Congratulations. Not just on the championship, but on buying yourself an extension on your career. Have fun getting burned by Aaron Brooks, Chris Paul and Deron Williams next season.
Sasha Vujacic-Cheer up Machine. I know you didn't have the ideal series. I know you didn't score in the NBA Finals. I know you probably hurt the Lakers more than you helped them. But you're still my favorite Laker. Keep your head up, one day you'll be a star. In hindsight, probably not. You lack a variety of fundamental basketball skills necessary to be a successful NBA player. But at least you're a winner. And not Sun Yue.
And finally, to the Lakers team as a whole. You took shots all year for not being focused, for being too soft, for not showing up every night and for being a bunch of arrogant pricks who were hated by nearly every one outside of Los Angeles, but you still ended up winners. It probably didn't happen the exact way you wanted it to, but, it usually never does. And, like they say, the ends justify the means. And your means have been justified. You went from the peak of peaks in 2000-2002 down to the bottom of the league and eventually and into basketball hell for a few years by making the playoffs consistently but never contending, and lost last season in the Finals. And now, you're here again. The top of the mountain, the end of the road, whatever you want to call it. You're NBA Champions.
But here's where the real work begins. Now you have to go and do it again. Teams will come at you harder, contenders will be healthier and you'll still have to find the fire and will to compete every night. Do that, and you make the leap from champion to dynasty, from great to legendary. So enjoy these next few months, because come November, the grind starts all over again.
And if you think I'm being nicer than usual to the Lakers, you're right. As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to respect this team. Because no matter how hard it is to like them, you can't deny that they have been through a lot. And before you pounce on me, remember the struggle that is Lamar Odom's life, Derek Fisher's daughter and of course, Kobe's rape-trial that still (understandably and deservedly so) haunts him to this day. I'm not supporting Kobe, but even the most stubborn Laker-hater will admit that he's been through hell, even if he brought it on himself.
So yes, in a twisted, mind-boggling way that even I don't fully understand, I'm happy for the Lakers. Yes, I'd rather be saying this about 29 other NBA teams, but I'm not sure those 29 other NBA teams merit having this said about them. Well, at least 28 of them. If anyone's been through more than the Lakers, it's the Rockets. But the middle of a paragraph in the middle of an article is no place for that. That deserves it's own, very, very lengthy post. And if you think I'm saying all of this about the Lakers so that I can generate some good karma for the Rockets next year, you're spot on. Partially, at least. But to make a long, tedious story short, be proud, Los Angeles. You're champions.
Kobe made some questionable facial expressions during the Finals
And, to be cliché, for every winner, we must have a loser. Unfortunately, the loser this year was the Orlando Magic. A very good team. A great team actually. A few inches either way and they would have been up 3-1 in this series instead of down. If Courtney Lee had hit a difficult layup (something he does frequently) and Fisher hadn't made a 3 (hardly a stretch, he had missed 5 times in 5 tries up to that point) this would have been a very different series. But he didn't, he did, and it wasn't. Still, there's nothing to be ashamed of there.
Orlando, you went at least a round farther than most people had you going. You lost to an extremely talented, hungry and more experienced team. You beat the team with the best record and best player in basketball during the regular season. And you did all of this without your All-Star point guard. (And on the bright side, you won a game this time. That's one more than you did against us. At this rate, you'll win a championship in your third Finals appearance after this. So if you get to one every 15 years, you'll be champions in 45 years. Congratulations to the Orlando Magic, your 2054 NBA Champions. Book it.)
But I'll stop being an ass for a few sentences. If may ask one thing of you, it's this: remember this feeling. Especially you, Dwight. Remember how it feels to be a loser after getting this far. Remember the pain, spend nights staying up thinking about it, let it eat away at you. You're 23, you'll get a title soon enough. But not without the right amount of desire. And if this doesn't give you the fire needed to win the last game of the NBA season, then nothing will. So, if you've learned nothing else from this series (And you should have learned a lot. Mainly, Dwight, that you need to developed at least three more reliable moves in the paint. Which would bring your total to three. But that's a topic for another day.) learn how it feels to be a loser. It happened to the guys you just lost to last year, and as you can see, things worked out pretty well for them. So keep all of these emotions with you. Not just for next year or until you win a championship, but for your whole career. Let it push you to get better. Remember that a little passion goes a long way in this league. Keep at it, and soon you'll be on the other side of this result, celebrating with Bill Russell and popping champagne the way Kobe and company are right now.
Remember that to get to the top, you have to start from the bottom. You have to stumble along the way. You have to be knocked down in order to be able to get back up. You've got the falling down part mastered, now it's time to see if you can rise up after it. Have a restless, sleepless, frustrating four months. Some day, it'll all be worth it.
And finally, congratulations to the Houston Rockets. Not only did we take the Lakers to more games than any other team did, we also were, in my opinion, the main reason for their victory. Without our series, they never would have realized that they had to bring their best effort every single game in order to win. You're welcome, L.A. Send us a few of those championship rings and we'll call it even.
Which brings us to the end. 30 teams, 82 games and then 16 more teams each trying to win 16 more games. A lot of basketball, a lot of moments to remember. There was Wade's resurgence (Yes Dwyane, it's your house), Lebron's dominance, Kobe's elbows and some great commercials. We had a spirited run and won 1-3 more games against the Lakers than most people expected us to and were their toughest out in the postseason. And, most importantly, we made it past the first round. Suck it, Tracy.
But now we enter the long dark that is the NBA offseason. Sure, we'll have the draft, and yes, hopefully there will be some blockbuster trades or free agent signings, but for the most part, we're on our own now. Completely on our own, trying to keep it together for four months before basketball starts once again. Check back here for updates on the Rockets, ideas and propositions from two of the finest basketball minds you'll ever come across (Yes, I'm talking about myself and Billy. Try not to laugh) and if some groundbreaking, earth-shattering, other-adjective-that-describes-our-planet being-torn-apart event happens in the NBA. It's been a fun postseason, and we'll be back stronger than ever next year. Which really isn't saying much, but still. Enjoy the summer. And, just for the hell of it, go Rockets.
6/15/2009
Turkish Delight
A friend suggested this to me and I like the idea: we should trade for Hedo. Over the last two years he's shown us how special of a talent he is, and our fourth quarter problems would be solved. Because, like I've said so many times before on this forum, Hedo has no problem taking big shots. It would most likely have to be sign-and-trade, as Hedo wants to opt out of his contract this summer. So the Magic resign him and we trade for him. Or we move like hell to clear cap space for him. But the main problem with all of this is that if the Magic can resign Hedo, there's no real reason as to why they would trade him when they just went to the Finals without their starting point guard. Unless they have some unexplainable desire for a Tracy Mcgrady comeback in Orlando. And speaking of the Finals, we'll have a recap up soon. After that, it's on to the NBA Draft and the usually pointless jumble of trade ideas that accompany the NBA season ending.
6/02/2009
I Had A Dream
Last night I happened to have one of the most beautiful, uplifting dreams I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. If you're wondering, it did have to do with the Rockets. Specifically, it was about Tracy Mcgrady.
The dream began about halfway through a Rockets game. I think we were playing the Pistons, or at least a team with similar uniforms to the Pistons. For the sake of making this dream as realistic as possible, let's assume it was the Pistons. But this wasn't just any Rockets game, this was Tracy Mcgrady's first game back from his microfracture surgery. The dream began with the commentator, I think it was Jeff Van Gundy (I actually have no idea who it was, I just want it to be Van Gundy) saying how many doubts there were about Mcgrady's phsyical ability and whether he would ever return to his pre-injury form.
On the first play that I "saw" Mcgrady drove into the lane. But instead of settling for a jumper or passing it or turning it over like he normally does, he kept going once he got inside the three point line. And going and going and going. And he rose up and tomahawked it on Rasheed Wallace. The next play he caught it as he was posting up on the left block, spun towards the basket and dunked it again, making Antonio McDyess the next Shawn Bradley. That's probably the third or fourth time I've used that link on this blog but I could care less.
There were a few more plays in my dream, he hit a jumper from the right wing, a pull-up three and another athletic layup, but is was the last play that stuck with me. The shot-clock was winding down (Another added detail, just like the Jeff Van Gundy one. Humor me. Please) and the ball was kicked out to Mcgrady at around the three point line. He attacked the basket, rose up, contorted his body in the air to move the ball away from both McDyess and Wallace, and dunked it with both hands. And then he did Dwight Howard's post-dunk move and hung onto the rim while lifting both legs up as he tried to put his manhood in both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess' mouths. At the same time. At that point, Jeff Van Gundy just kept saying "He's back, he's back. Tracy Mcgrady is back."
Then I woke up, realized that Mcgrady's health depends on his work ethic and that even if he does manage to find enough inspiration to put in 6 strong months of rehabilitation, there's still a great chance he'll never get back his lost athleticism and quickness. Damnit. Damnit, damnit, damnit.
The dream began about halfway through a Rockets game. I think we were playing the Pistons, or at least a team with similar uniforms to the Pistons. For the sake of making this dream as realistic as possible, let's assume it was the Pistons. But this wasn't just any Rockets game, this was Tracy Mcgrady's first game back from his microfracture surgery. The dream began with the commentator, I think it was Jeff Van Gundy (I actually have no idea who it was, I just want it to be Van Gundy) saying how many doubts there were about Mcgrady's phsyical ability and whether he would ever return to his pre-injury form.
On the first play that I "saw" Mcgrady drove into the lane. But instead of settling for a jumper or passing it or turning it over like he normally does, he kept going once he got inside the three point line. And going and going and going. And he rose up and tomahawked it on Rasheed Wallace. The next play he caught it as he was posting up on the left block, spun towards the basket and dunked it again, making Antonio McDyess the next Shawn Bradley. That's probably the third or fourth time I've used that link on this blog but I could care less.
There were a few more plays in my dream, he hit a jumper from the right wing, a pull-up three and another athletic layup, but is was the last play that stuck with me. The shot-clock was winding down (Another added detail, just like the Jeff Van Gundy one. Humor me. Please) and the ball was kicked out to Mcgrady at around the three point line. He attacked the basket, rose up, contorted his body in the air to move the ball away from both McDyess and Wallace, and dunked it with both hands. And then he did Dwight Howard's post-dunk move and hung onto the rim while lifting both legs up as he tried to put his manhood in both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess' mouths. At the same time. At that point, Jeff Van Gundy just kept saying "He's back, he's back. Tracy Mcgrady is back."
Then I woke up, realized that Mcgrady's health depends on his work ethic and that even if he does manage to find enough inspiration to put in 6 strong months of rehabilitation, there's still a great chance he'll never get back his lost athleticism and quickness. Damnit. Damnit, damnit, damnit.
5/21/2009
Why Mcgrady Has To Go (And Various Thoughts From The Conference Finals)
I noticed a few things in Billy's article and in the Conference Finals that I'd like to share with you. One of them was his blatant misspelling of the word "bait" (he spelled it bate). Another was the comments about how Mcgrady can still help us. I love Mcgrady and argued for him all year until the microfracture surgery, but I don't think that he will ever suit up for us again.
First things first, I understand how good Mcgrady is. I remember that he average something like 24-7-7 during our winning streak last season, I remember his 40 in Game 6 of the Utah series. I also know that you don't go from scoring 40 in your last game of a season to averaging 15 a game the next season naturally, so obviously something was wrong this year. Ideally he has fixed whatever the problem was and will come back fully healthy, but his ability is not the problem anymore (and to be truthful, it never was, it was his commitment to working, but that's another story for another day). In fact, I'm almost sure he's going to go back to averaging 20 points a game, but that's not why he needs to leave our team.
Whether it's true or not, the seed has been planted in every Rocket's head that the team is better without Tracy Mcgrady. For the record, I don't think we are. Yes, we played better without him. We also had a healthy Artest and Battier as well as a newly unleashed Aaron Brooks. Don't forget that when you talk about how we "don't need" Mcgrady. But no matter what the truth is, the Rockets now think they don't need T-Mac. Yes, the Houston Rockets now believe we don't need our supposed savior, the man who was going to take us back to where the Dream took us, the man who "just sucked the gravity right out of the building." The man who beat the Spurs in the greatest comeback in NBA history. Now that we won a playoff series without Mcgrady, the doubt has been solidified. (In an unrelated note, the commercial for "The Hangover" just came on. There is absolutely nothing, and I will repeat, absolutely nothing, more bizarre than Mike Tyson singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.) But that's neither here nor there nor anywhere in the vicinity of either of those two places. The point is, Mcgrady will not be able to just walk into practice now that the Rockets "know" that we are better without him. That is the kind of mental damage that cannot be repaired. Bridges have been burned, and I believe it's time for both parties to move on. Not because it's the best option, but because we have to.
That being said, I would have advocated trading Mcgrady anyways. He is past his prime and his contract expires at the perfect time, as Billy just explained, which gives us a lot of options. Hopefully we can parlay (what a word) his contract into a star wing player and actually get somwhere next year. We'll keep you updated with news and our most likely worthless commentary on the matter as the offseason progresses.
And the Nuggets just beat the Lakers in Game 2. The series is tied at 1-1 with two games being decided by a combined 5 points. I'm going to put up a recap of the first two games of both this and the Cavaliers-Magic series on Saturday night, so I'll just make a few comments here.
-Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week. Yes, I know Kobe and Lebron have been playing, but the things Anthony has been doing are amazing. His offensive game is, since I really have no other word for it, perfect. He can score from inside, outside and everywhere in between. And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool.
-Chauncey Billups is missing free throws. It's probably nothing, but it's still something, if that makes sense. I don't like that he went 1-2 with 4 seconds left when making both of them would win the game. Things like that are what make good teams lose games they should win.
-J.R. Smith has been nonexistent. Actually, he's been existent, he's just been really, really bad. Horrendous even. Usualy out of control. Sometimes just stupid. He's been all of those things, but in all honesty, I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field.
-In Game 1, the Nuggets led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at the half, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In game 2, the Lakers led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at halftime, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In both games, Pau Gasol made more agonized faces than Yao Ming during an x-ray.
-The Magic are a very good basketball team. In case you missed Game 1, which you shouldn't have, I just want to tell you that it was not an anomaly. They won the way they usually do, Dwight dominating the paint, their shooters hitting 3s and Hedo "The Legend" Turkoglu running the show. And in all seriousness, "The Legend" should be Hedo's new nickname. He deserves it. Really. I'm dead serious. The point of this is that I think they will give the Cavaliers a fight, and while I still think Cleveland is going to win, (that Lebron fellow is not too shabby) I now think it's going to be in 7 games.
I'll post a deeper recap of what I saw in the first four games sometime Saturday, so that's another article for you to read. Or more realistically, another article for you to ignore. Happy Friday everyone.
Also, feel free to call out Billy about his Rockets Season Grades which were supposed to be "coming soon". If Mcgrady had the same work ethic as Billy there's no way he'd even be coming back next year, let alone returning to his pre-surgery form. Oh wait. Damnit. Forget I said anything.
First things first, I understand how good Mcgrady is. I remember that he average something like 24-7-7 during our winning streak last season, I remember his 40 in Game 6 of the Utah series. I also know that you don't go from scoring 40 in your last game of a season to averaging 15 a game the next season naturally, so obviously something was wrong this year. Ideally he has fixed whatever the problem was and will come back fully healthy, but his ability is not the problem anymore (and to be truthful, it never was, it was his commitment to working, but that's another story for another day). In fact, I'm almost sure he's going to go back to averaging 20 points a game, but that's not why he needs to leave our team.
Whether it's true or not, the seed has been planted in every Rocket's head that the team is better without Tracy Mcgrady. For the record, I don't think we are. Yes, we played better without him. We also had a healthy Artest and Battier as well as a newly unleashed Aaron Brooks. Don't forget that when you talk about how we "don't need" Mcgrady. But no matter what the truth is, the Rockets now think they don't need T-Mac. Yes, the Houston Rockets now believe we don't need our supposed savior, the man who was going to take us back to where the Dream took us, the man who "just sucked the gravity right out of the building." The man who beat the Spurs in the greatest comeback in NBA history. Now that we won a playoff series without Mcgrady, the doubt has been solidified. (In an unrelated note, the commercial for "The Hangover" just came on. There is absolutely nothing, and I will repeat, absolutely nothing, more bizarre than Mike Tyson singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.) But that's neither here nor there nor anywhere in the vicinity of either of those two places. The point is, Mcgrady will not be able to just walk into practice now that the Rockets "know" that we are better without him. That is the kind of mental damage that cannot be repaired. Bridges have been burned, and I believe it's time for both parties to move on. Not because it's the best option, but because we have to.
That being said, I would have advocated trading Mcgrady anyways. He is past his prime and his contract expires at the perfect time, as Billy just explained, which gives us a lot of options. Hopefully we can parlay (what a word) his contract into a star wing player and actually get somwhere next year. We'll keep you updated with news and our most likely worthless commentary on the matter as the offseason progresses.
And the Nuggets just beat the Lakers in Game 2. The series is tied at 1-1 with two games being decided by a combined 5 points. I'm going to put up a recap of the first two games of both this and the Cavaliers-Magic series on Saturday night, so I'll just make a few comments here.
-Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week. Yes, I know Kobe and Lebron have been playing, but the things Anthony has been doing are amazing. His offensive game is, since I really have no other word for it, perfect. He can score from inside, outside and everywhere in between. And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool.
-Chauncey Billups is missing free throws. It's probably nothing, but it's still something, if that makes sense. I don't like that he went 1-2 with 4 seconds left when making both of them would win the game. Things like that are what make good teams lose games they should win.
-J.R. Smith has been nonexistent. Actually, he's been existent, he's just been really, really bad. Horrendous even. Usualy out of control. Sometimes just stupid. He's been all of those things, but in all honesty, I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field.
-In Game 1, the Nuggets led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at the half, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In game 2, the Lakers led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at halftime, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In both games, Pau Gasol made more agonized faces than Yao Ming during an x-ray.
-The Magic are a very good basketball team. In case you missed Game 1, which you shouldn't have, I just want to tell you that it was not an anomaly. They won the way they usually do, Dwight dominating the paint, their shooters hitting 3s and Hedo "The Legend" Turkoglu running the show. And in all seriousness, "The Legend" should be Hedo's new nickname. He deserves it. Really. I'm dead serious. The point of this is that I think they will give the Cavaliers a fight, and while I still think Cleveland is going to win, (that Lebron fellow is not too shabby) I now think it's going to be in 7 games.
I'll post a deeper recap of what I saw in the first four games sometime Saturday, so that's another article for you to read. Or more realistically, another article for you to ignore. Happy Friday everyone.
Also, feel free to call out Billy about his Rockets Season Grades which were supposed to be "coming soon". If Mcgrady had the same work ethic as Billy there's no way he'd even be coming back next year, let alone returning to his pre-surgery form. Oh wait. Damnit. Forget I said anything.
5/20/2009
Just An Idea
Since the offseason for the Rockets has officially began, I've been spending some time on ESPN.com's NBA Trade Machine. Billy sent me a few trades earlier, but I'll let him post them. I was thinking about trading Tracy Mcgrady and his expiring contract for Kevin Martin, Andres Nocioni and his contract that nobody wants to pay, and some other filler, such as Beno Udrih. We would include Brooks in this trade if we had to (just listen to me before getting out the pitchforks and torches).
Now we would let go of Ron Artest and resign Von Wafer while also signing Ramon Sessions. For those of you who don't know, Sessions averaged 12 assists a game last April until being banished to the bench this year. He had some moments of brilliance (find them yourself) when he received playing time, but for the majority of the year his minutes were thrown around. He is a true point guard who can drive and dish, or in other words, another Kyle Lowry. Now I know that right now you're thinking two thoughts: "Why would we want another point guard who does exactly what our current backup point guard does?" and "Why the hell would be replace our starter with a clone of our backup?" I have three reasons:
1) Yes, he does do what Kyle Lowry does, but the thing is, he's better at it
2) If one Lowry is this good, imagine how dangerous two could be.
3) As much as I love Aaron Brooks, he's not going to become a superstar. He's very good now, and he'll probably get a little more controlled with experience, but it's going to take a while. We don't have time to wait for him, because let's face it, Yao's feet aren't getting any younger.
Yeah, Sessions would be in a fight with Lowry for the starting spot, but a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Or any team, for that matter. And if we had any money leftover, we could always sign Big Baby. So here's our new lineup:
Starters
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry
SG - Kevin Martin
SF - Shane Battier
PF - Luis Scola
C - Yao Ming
Bench
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry/Beno Udrih
SG - Von Wafer
SF - Andres Nocioni
PF - Carl Landry
C - Chuck Hayes (or hopefully even Glen Davis)
Now how does that team not win the championship? Assuming we were able to get Davis, we would have 10 players who would have significant roles on most NBA teams, if not be starters. It'd be very difficult for all of it to happen, but just imagine if it did. On that note, I'll leave you to ponder our potential greatness and/or why I have nothing better to spend my time on than hypothetical situations for a team that's already done playing. And if you still want to, you're now welcome to round up the villagers and storm my house to commit whatever vicious crimes, misdeeds, and acts of violence that you so choose to.
Now we would let go of Ron Artest and resign Von Wafer while also signing Ramon Sessions. For those of you who don't know, Sessions averaged 12 assists a game last April until being banished to the bench this year. He had some moments of brilliance (find them yourself) when he received playing time, but for the majority of the year his minutes were thrown around. He is a true point guard who can drive and dish, or in other words, another Kyle Lowry. Now I know that right now you're thinking two thoughts: "Why would we want another point guard who does exactly what our current backup point guard does?" and "Why the hell would be replace our starter with a clone of our backup?" I have three reasons:
1) Yes, he does do what Kyle Lowry does, but the thing is, he's better at it
2) If one Lowry is this good, imagine how dangerous two could be.
3) As much as I love Aaron Brooks, he's not going to become a superstar. He's very good now, and he'll probably get a little more controlled with experience, but it's going to take a while. We don't have time to wait for him, because let's face it, Yao's feet aren't getting any younger.
Yeah, Sessions would be in a fight with Lowry for the starting spot, but a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Or any team, for that matter. And if we had any money leftover, we could always sign Big Baby. So here's our new lineup:
Starters
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry
SG - Kevin Martin
SF - Shane Battier
PF - Luis Scola
C - Yao Ming
Bench
PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry/Beno Udrih
SG - Von Wafer
SF - Andres Nocioni
PF - Carl Landry
C - Chuck Hayes (or hopefully even Glen Davis)
Now how does that team not win the championship? Assuming we were able to get Davis, we would have 10 players who would have significant roles on most NBA teams, if not be starters. It'd be very difficult for all of it to happen, but just imagine if it did. On that note, I'll leave you to ponder our potential greatness and/or why I have nothing better to spend my time on than hypothetical situations for a team that's already done playing. And if you still want to, you're now welcome to round up the villagers and storm my house to commit whatever vicious crimes, misdeeds, and acts of violence that you so choose to.
5/19/2009
Series/Season Recap: I'm Not Complaining
Nor should I be. If there was one constant through all of the injuries, tough losses and elbows that made up our season and playoff run, it was the effort. There was never a night when you could say that the Rockets did not put in the most that they could. There were nights when you could say that our offense resembled a paraplegic trying to run a marathon (In other words, our efforts were futile. Also, yes, that was a cripple joke), there were nights when you could say that the only reason Ron Artest shot was to drive away every single fan and supporter he's ever had, there were nights when you could say that the Rockets were just not talented, athletic or big enough to win, but there were never, ever nights when you could say that we didn't play our hardest. And honestly, I don't care how bad a team does, ff they play with as much passion and pride as the Rockets did, I'll support them until the bitter, possibly embarrassing end. And I'm happy to say that that's exactly what I did. All the way up until the discouraging, 59 points-in-two-games end that we had at the hands of those damn Lakers. Which by the way is how I'm going to be referring to them for the rest of the playoffs. Those damn Lakers.
Series
In Game 7 and as a result in the entire series, the Lakers were the better team. Believe me, that wasn't easy to say. I spent a good 5 minutes typing, re-typing, wording and re-wording that sentence to find the least painful way to put it, and that was the best that I could come up with. The truth is that the Lakers have been better than Rockets all along, but there was no way in hell you were getting us to admit that while we were still playing them. Now that it's all over, I want to, no matter how grudingly it may be, congratulate the Lakers. In the NBA, upsets in the playoffs are hard to come by. In a seven game series, the team that deserves to win will usually win, and that's the way it should be. Despite all of their laziness, arrogance and downright hate-ability, the Lakers were the better team in this series. Now that that's out of the way, I'd also like to say that I've never seen a team with as poor a work ethic as the men in purple (hah), and I hope Denver hands their asses to them in the Western Conference Finals. If you think that's the Bitter Rockets Fan side of me speaking, you're damn right. As for Game 7, I think it's enough to say that I don't want to talk about it. I watched it, yelled at the television once in a while and ended up with my face in my hands wondering where we went wrong. The sad part is, I knew exactly where we went wrong. Our two best players were injured and we could not score the ball. And even though we faced obvious shortcomings and exceeded any reasonable expectations people might have had for us, the end of your season is always disappoiting. I know I said I didn't care what happened to the Rockets after Game 4, but the truth is I did. And no matter how stacked against you the odds are, losing the last game of the year always hurts. It hurts a little less because of what this team accomplished, but it hurts nonetheless. So what now? We take a few days to recover emotionally (done), analyze what happened (in progress), clean up our wounds and hope for next year. The problem is, that's what we do every year. And that's why a season in which we overachieve so much has to be put into context. Because as much as we want to say "If we pushed the best team in the Western Conference to seven games without our two best players" or "Imagine if we were just healthy for one year" we have to realize that that's what we say every year. What I'm trying to say is that before we start planning the 2010 championship parade, let's remember why we're sitting here reading/writing this instead of getting ready to play Denver. So mix little bit each of apprecation of a special season, understanding of what went wrong and cautious optimism and I think we'll be on the right track. Now about our season.
Season
For simplicity, I like to divide our season into three parts. First, there was the "We're Winning The Championship This Year Because Our Team Kicks Ass" section. That was followed by the "Oh We're F**ked" stretch, and then of course there was the season-ending "We Might Not Get That Far, But I Really, Really Like This Team" part.
Part One:
We started the year with the addition of Ron Artest and essentially Yao Ming to a 50-win team. In other words, the David Stern might as well have called of the season and handed us the trophy. There was no way Kobe, Scruffy and the rest of them were going to touch us. Our pre-season optimism soon faded away when we realized that Tracy Mcgrady was overweight and undermotivated (I know that's not a word), Ron Artest and Battier were injured, and that we just weren't winning that many games. Thus we entered phase two.
Part Two:
Tracy Mcgrady was playing every other game, Ron Artest wasn't sure when he was ever going to play and the Rockets looked lost. We didn't know what to do on offense, we weren't defending as well as we used to and we were looking at another disappoining season. Then Mcgrady announced that his season was over, meaning that our title hopes would be going to the same place the debris in his knee was: the toilet. On a side note, I don't think they actually discard of the waste from surgeries in the toilet that doesn't seem sanitary. Mcgrady's injury pushed us into the third and final division of our season.
Part Three:
Just when things were looking worse than Tracy Mcgrady's back/knee/shoulder/desire to actually be a winning NBA player, something clicked for the Rockets. In case you're wondering, that something was approximately 7'6" and had unworldly basketball talent. We started focusing on defense and running the offense through Yao. We traded Rafer Alston and handed the reigns over to Aaron Brooks and we were there. Suddenly we were kicking asses and taking names. But were mostly just winning basketball games. The city of Houston fell in love with these lovable overachievers and we won our first playoff series since the Dream was shakin'. And even though our season ended 7 games and one hairline fracture later, there isn't anybody who can honestly say they aren't proud of the way the Rockets carried themselves, stuck together and found a way to win this year.
Next Season
And as for next year, of course I'm excited. A new season, a new 82 games, a new playoff run, it's impossible not to be. But I'm also aware. Aware that we have suffered a major injury every single year since 2004. Aware of how dangerous it is to get too hopeful about this current Rockets team. Aware of how many times I've been let down before. Ideally, we find a way to get rid of Mcgrady for a star (Kevin Martin, anyone?), keep Artest and KEEP VON WAFER. But that's a topic for another day, and one that will surely be addressed on this very blog as the offseason continues. In the meantime, I'm sticking with the controlled optimism and hoping that we can find a way to put it together next year. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we've said it before, one simple statement still holds true: If we were completely healthy for just one year, there's no way we wouldn't win the championship. On that note, I'm done talking about the Rockets. At least for the next hour to hour-and-a-half.
(Our) Future
As for the rest of the playoffs and, more importantly, the future of Bring Back Novak, the tea leaves look good. We're hoping to keep running throughout the offseason and into next season, so don't forget to keep checking. Visiting hourly would be ideal, but we're just as happy with daily or even weekly. We're going to try our best to keep you updated on the Rockets actions/inactions during the summer and what we think about what they are doing/not doing/should be doing, but we're also going to expand to cover the whole NBA for the rest of the playoffs. As soon as playoffs are over we're going to go back to mostly being exclusively for the Rockets, but as of now we're a blog about everything NBA-related. Starting tonight. With the Western Conference Finals.
Nuggets-Lakers
Just to quickly preview the Lakers-Nuggets series, I want to say a few things about the Nuggets. If there's one team more inspirational than the Rockets, it's the guys the Lakers are about to be playing. They've overcome testicular cancer, drug suspension, a lack of mental stability, an angry coach and a major mid-season trade to become, in my opinion, the best team in the Western Conference. To put that in perspective, that's like if Lance Armstrong, Robert Downey Jr. and Mariah Carey combined all their problems into one person and still got over them. Also, is there any backup combination more badass than Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith? I'm excited to watch these guys for another possible 14 games, and am going to be pulling for them. Not just because they are playing the Lakers and not just because their tattoo total is far and away the most in the NBA, but because if anyone can appreciate a team fighting through obstacles it's a Rockets fan. So, as usual, I've got two words for you. They're not nearly as heartfelt, permanent or important to me as the other two, but they still stand for a sentiment that I hope you share with me. At least for the next 1-3 weeks. Go Nuggets
Series
In Game 7 and as a result in the entire series, the Lakers were the better team. Believe me, that wasn't easy to say. I spent a good 5 minutes typing, re-typing, wording and re-wording that sentence to find the least painful way to put it, and that was the best that I could come up with. The truth is that the Lakers have been better than Rockets all along, but there was no way in hell you were getting us to admit that while we were still playing them. Now that it's all over, I want to, no matter how grudingly it may be, congratulate the Lakers. In the NBA, upsets in the playoffs are hard to come by. In a seven game series, the team that deserves to win will usually win, and that's the way it should be. Despite all of their laziness, arrogance and downright hate-ability, the Lakers were the better team in this series. Now that that's out of the way, I'd also like to say that I've never seen a team with as poor a work ethic as the men in purple (hah), and I hope Denver hands their asses to them in the Western Conference Finals. If you think that's the Bitter Rockets Fan side of me speaking, you're damn right. As for Game 7, I think it's enough to say that I don't want to talk about it. I watched it, yelled at the television once in a while and ended up with my face in my hands wondering where we went wrong. The sad part is, I knew exactly where we went wrong. Our two best players were injured and we could not score the ball. And even though we faced obvious shortcomings and exceeded any reasonable expectations people might have had for us, the end of your season is always disappoiting. I know I said I didn't care what happened to the Rockets after Game 4, but the truth is I did. And no matter how stacked against you the odds are, losing the last game of the year always hurts. It hurts a little less because of what this team accomplished, but it hurts nonetheless. So what now? We take a few days to recover emotionally (done), analyze what happened (in progress), clean up our wounds and hope for next year. The problem is, that's what we do every year. And that's why a season in which we overachieve so much has to be put into context. Because as much as we want to say "If we pushed the best team in the Western Conference to seven games without our two best players" or "Imagine if we were just healthy for one year" we have to realize that that's what we say every year. What I'm trying to say is that before we start planning the 2010 championship parade, let's remember why we're sitting here reading/writing this instead of getting ready to play Denver. So mix little bit each of apprecation of a special season, understanding of what went wrong and cautious optimism and I think we'll be on the right track. Now about our season.
Season
For simplicity, I like to divide our season into three parts. First, there was the "We're Winning The Championship This Year Because Our Team Kicks Ass" section. That was followed by the "Oh We're F**ked" stretch, and then of course there was the season-ending "We Might Not Get That Far, But I Really, Really Like This Team" part.
Part One:
We started the year with the addition of Ron Artest and essentially Yao Ming to a 50-win team. In other words, the David Stern might as well have called of the season and handed us the trophy. There was no way Kobe, Scruffy and the rest of them were going to touch us. Our pre-season optimism soon faded away when we realized that Tracy Mcgrady was overweight and undermotivated (I know that's not a word), Ron Artest and Battier were injured, and that we just weren't winning that many games. Thus we entered phase two.
Part Two:
Tracy Mcgrady was playing every other game, Ron Artest wasn't sure when he was ever going to play and the Rockets looked lost. We didn't know what to do on offense, we weren't defending as well as we used to and we were looking at another disappoining season. Then Mcgrady announced that his season was over, meaning that our title hopes would be going to the same place the debris in his knee was: the toilet. On a side note, I don't think they actually discard of the waste from surgeries in the toilet that doesn't seem sanitary. Mcgrady's injury pushed us into the third and final division of our season.
Part Three:
Just when things were looking worse than Tracy Mcgrady's back/knee/shoulder/desire to actually be a winning NBA player, something clicked for the Rockets. In case you're wondering, that something was approximately 7'6" and had unworldly basketball talent. We started focusing on defense and running the offense through Yao. We traded Rafer Alston and handed the reigns over to Aaron Brooks and we were there. Suddenly we were kicking asses and taking names. But were mostly just winning basketball games. The city of Houston fell in love with these lovable overachievers and we won our first playoff series since the Dream was shakin'. And even though our season ended 7 games and one hairline fracture later, there isn't anybody who can honestly say they aren't proud of the way the Rockets carried themselves, stuck together and found a way to win this year.
Next Season
And as for next year, of course I'm excited. A new season, a new 82 games, a new playoff run, it's impossible not to be. But I'm also aware. Aware that we have suffered a major injury every single year since 2004. Aware of how dangerous it is to get too hopeful about this current Rockets team. Aware of how many times I've been let down before. Ideally, we find a way to get rid of Mcgrady for a star (Kevin Martin, anyone?), keep Artest and KEEP VON WAFER. But that's a topic for another day, and one that will surely be addressed on this very blog as the offseason continues. In the meantime, I'm sticking with the controlled optimism and hoping that we can find a way to put it together next year. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we've said it before, one simple statement still holds true: If we were completely healthy for just one year, there's no way we wouldn't win the championship. On that note, I'm done talking about the Rockets. At least for the next hour to hour-and-a-half.
(Our) Future
As for the rest of the playoffs and, more importantly, the future of Bring Back Novak, the tea leaves look good. We're hoping to keep running throughout the offseason and into next season, so don't forget to keep checking. Visiting hourly would be ideal, but we're just as happy with daily or even weekly. We're going to try our best to keep you updated on the Rockets actions/inactions during the summer and what we think about what they are doing/not doing/should be doing, but we're also going to expand to cover the whole NBA for the rest of the playoffs. As soon as playoffs are over we're going to go back to mostly being exclusively for the Rockets, but as of now we're a blog about everything NBA-related. Starting tonight. With the Western Conference Finals.
Nuggets-Lakers
Just to quickly preview the Lakers-Nuggets series, I want to say a few things about the Nuggets. If there's one team more inspirational than the Rockets, it's the guys the Lakers are about to be playing. They've overcome testicular cancer, drug suspension, a lack of mental stability, an angry coach and a major mid-season trade to become, in my opinion, the best team in the Western Conference. To put that in perspective, that's like if Lance Armstrong, Robert Downey Jr. and Mariah Carey combined all their problems into one person and still got over them. Also, is there any backup combination more badass than Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith? I'm excited to watch these guys for another possible 14 games, and am going to be pulling for them. Not just because they are playing the Lakers and not just because their tattoo total is far and away the most in the NBA, but because if anyone can appreciate a team fighting through obstacles it's a Rockets fan. So, as usual, I've got two words for you. They're not nearly as heartfelt, permanent or important to me as the other two, but they still stand for a sentiment that I hope you share with me. At least for the next 1-3 weeks. Go Nuggets
5/18/2009
Heart of a Champion
That would not be a good way to describe my work ethic. The Game 7 and season recaps will be up soon. Just give me some time to overcome my depression.
5/16/2009
Game 7 Preview: Give 'Em Hell
That's all I'm ask of the Rockets tomorrow afternoon. Expecting a win might be pushing it and I am not going to risk tempting fate, so I'll settle for one simple request: give them a fight. A drawn out, exhausting, grind-it-out fight. Make them understand that we're not going to just go away. Let them know that we haven't gone through all kinds of bullshit, because that's the only way to describe what we've been through this year, so that we could fall flat on our faces against them. Show them that not everyone is going to politely step out of their way and watch while the NBA hands them the championship. Hit them first, hit them hard, and hit them again. And again. And again and again and again. And if they're able to take our best shot and move on, they deserve. If not, and we've seen that they can't, well have something special to talk about come Monday. With that out of the way, the most important Rockets game of the century is Sunday afternoon.
The Good
-The Rockets are confident. After a game like Game 5, that is huge. You can't let the memory something like that linger, and winning Game 6 took care of that for us. Now, we know that we can beat the Lakers, and we know that we can beat them at home. And we know that if Derek Fisher had played in Game 3 there's a good chance that this series would already be over.
-The Lakers are finally starting to doubt themselves. Even after blowing out the Rockets by 40 they found a way to lose by double digits two nights later. They're starting to understand that the Rockets are beating them because we are a good team, not because they are choosing not to try on certain nights, and it's starting to show. During a timeout in Game 6 Kobe grabbed Gasol's head and ruffled his hair while pushing his head down at the same time. I know what you're thinking: "That would never happen! I just watched 'Kobe Doin' Work' and he seems like a wonderful teammate. A real quality human being. He would never do something like that!" No. Not at all. Spike Lee just wants Kobe to Spike his Lee.
-We have nothing to lose. If we lose the game, we still won more games than anyone thought we would. We still already got out of the first round of the playoffs. We still showed the world how much of a little girl Kobe Bryant is. We can play freely, and that's always a good thing. The Lakers, on the other hand, are on the verge of crumbling under the weight of their own expectations, the expectations of the rest of the world and the fear the Kobe is going to put a brown bag over his head, go on a killing spree throught downtown Los Angeles and then kidnap Sasha Vujacic, leading to a King-Kong like showdown in which Kobe dangles Sasha off the roof of Staples Center while screaming at police to "Do it. Just do it." When you're playing a team that nobody expects you to lose to but that has already beaten you three times in the past two weeks, you're setting yourself up for trouble.
The Bad
-Joey Crawford is the head referee for game 7. Yes, the same Joey Crawford who asked Tim Duncan, Tim "I love everyone in the whole wide world" Duncan, if he wanted to fight. In other words, the NBA just told the entire greater Houston area to light itself on fire.
-The last time we played the Lakers in Los Angeles, we lost by 40. And even though it's not going to happen in Game 7, the point is that they were able to do it once, which means that they have the potential to do it again.
-Kobe Bryant is going to be mad. Which is bad for us, his teammates, and any unsuspecting girl within 3 miles of Los Angeles. This doesn't need any further explanation, we all know what Kobe can do. Let's just hope he doesn't do it.
The Ugly
Any game that has the possibility of making Yao this sad is a game I don't want to see
What Has To Happen
-Scola and Landry need to show up. Not just one of them, not just the other. Both of them need to play like they did in Game 6 for the Rockets to win. In a related sidenote, a nickname for Landry and Scola is in order. I tried to think of a few but I kept going back to "Two Forwards One Trophy," and that was disgusting.
-Ron Artest needs to realize that the Rockets are a better team when he's actually, you know, being a part of the team. And that means not dribbling the ball for 11 seconds and then taking a shot that actually could only be harder if he was trying to make the face that Yao is making above while shooting the ball.
-Aaron Brooks has to be aggressive. Like it or not, he's the best offensive player on our team when he's going. Yes, the best scorer on the Rockets is a 5-11, 160 pound, second year player who wears red suits and bowties to postgame press conferences. Things like this are why even playing in a Game 7 against the Lakers is an accomplishment.
The Point
This is it. A season's worth of injuries, trials, and unexpected wins comes down to one final game in Los Angeles. I know I said I don't care about whether or not we win another game after Game 4, but I lied. I want to win this game. Not just because I love the Rockets, not just because I never want to see Kobe Bryant win another NBA Championship, but because of how special it would be if the Rockets won Game 7. The Rockets and Lakers are mirror images of each other. For everything that's wrong with them, something is right with us. We suffer through injuries and losses every year while they get Pau Gasol handed to them halfway through the season. We play hard every single night in order to have a chance at winning, they coast through half of their games and take their talent for granted. Our fans actually know who's on our team, the fans at Staples Center wonder why stuff like this keeps happening. Our point guards are real NBA players, they have Derek Fisher and Frodo. What I'm trying to say is that I want to win Game 7 because we deserve it. Because if there's one team that should beat the Lakers, it's us. Because after going through the usual injuries and surgeries, we decided not to just let our season die. Because we kept fighting when, in all honesty, we should have stopped. Which is why, before the usual two, I've got three words for you. Give them hell. And of course, right now more than ever before: Go Rockets.
The Good
-The Rockets are confident. After a game like Game 5, that is huge. You can't let the memory something like that linger, and winning Game 6 took care of that for us. Now, we know that we can beat the Lakers, and we know that we can beat them at home. And we know that if Derek Fisher had played in Game 3 there's a good chance that this series would already be over.
-The Lakers are finally starting to doubt themselves. Even after blowing out the Rockets by 40 they found a way to lose by double digits two nights later. They're starting to understand that the Rockets are beating them because we are a good team, not because they are choosing not to try on certain nights, and it's starting to show. During a timeout in Game 6 Kobe grabbed Gasol's head and ruffled his hair while pushing his head down at the same time. I know what you're thinking: "That would never happen! I just watched 'Kobe Doin' Work' and he seems like a wonderful teammate. A real quality human being. He would never do something like that!" No. Not at all. Spike Lee just wants Kobe to Spike his Lee.
-We have nothing to lose. If we lose the game, we still won more games than anyone thought we would. We still already got out of the first round of the playoffs. We still showed the world how much of a little girl Kobe Bryant is. We can play freely, and that's always a good thing. The Lakers, on the other hand, are on the verge of crumbling under the weight of their own expectations, the expectations of the rest of the world and the fear the Kobe is going to put a brown bag over his head, go on a killing spree throught downtown Los Angeles and then kidnap Sasha Vujacic, leading to a King-Kong like showdown in which Kobe dangles Sasha off the roof of Staples Center while screaming at police to "Do it. Just do it." When you're playing a team that nobody expects you to lose to but that has already beaten you three times in the past two weeks, you're setting yourself up for trouble.
The Bad
-Joey Crawford is the head referee for game 7. Yes, the same Joey Crawford who asked Tim Duncan, Tim "I love everyone in the whole wide world" Duncan, if he wanted to fight. In other words, the NBA just told the entire greater Houston area to light itself on fire.
-The last time we played the Lakers in Los Angeles, we lost by 40. And even though it's not going to happen in Game 7, the point is that they were able to do it once, which means that they have the potential to do it again.
-Kobe Bryant is going to be mad. Which is bad for us, his teammates, and any unsuspecting girl within 3 miles of Los Angeles. This doesn't need any further explanation, we all know what Kobe can do. Let's just hope he doesn't do it.
The Ugly
Any game that has the possibility of making Yao this sad is a game I don't want to see
What Has To Happen
-Scola and Landry need to show up. Not just one of them, not just the other. Both of them need to play like they did in Game 6 for the Rockets to win. In a related sidenote, a nickname for Landry and Scola is in order. I tried to think of a few but I kept going back to "Two Forwards One Trophy," and that was disgusting.
-Ron Artest needs to realize that the Rockets are a better team when he's actually, you know, being a part of the team. And that means not dribbling the ball for 11 seconds and then taking a shot that actually could only be harder if he was trying to make the face that Yao is making above while shooting the ball.
-Aaron Brooks has to be aggressive. Like it or not, he's the best offensive player on our team when he's going. Yes, the best scorer on the Rockets is a 5-11, 160 pound, second year player who wears red suits and bowties to postgame press conferences. Things like this are why even playing in a Game 7 against the Lakers is an accomplishment.
The Point
This is it. A season's worth of injuries, trials, and unexpected wins comes down to one final game in Los Angeles. I know I said I don't care about whether or not we win another game after Game 4, but I lied. I want to win this game. Not just because I love the Rockets, not just because I never want to see Kobe Bryant win another NBA Championship, but because of how special it would be if the Rockets won Game 7. The Rockets and Lakers are mirror images of each other. For everything that's wrong with them, something is right with us. We suffer through injuries and losses every year while they get Pau Gasol handed to them halfway through the season. We play hard every single night in order to have a chance at winning, they coast through half of their games and take their talent for granted. Our fans actually know who's on our team, the fans at Staples Center wonder why stuff like this keeps happening. Our point guards are real NBA players, they have Derek Fisher and Frodo. What I'm trying to say is that I want to win Game 7 because we deserve it. Because if there's one team that should beat the Lakers, it's us. Because after going through the usual injuries and surgeries, we decided not to just let our season die. Because we kept fighting when, in all honesty, we should have stopped. Which is why, before the usual two, I've got three words for you. Give them hell. And of course, right now more than ever before: Go Rockets.
5/14/2009
Game 6 Recap: Stunned?
Not me. I'm pleasantly surprised, but not stunned. You can never be stunned with these guys. When I say stunned I'm referring to the Lakers. And the media. And the rest of the world for that matter. But especially the Lakers. That means you Kobe. He'll bitch a little about the refereeing, yell at his teammates, sulk to the media, but the reality is that he didn't think this would happen again. One more time, him and the rest of the light bulbs (they turn it on and off, it's a pun) underestimated the Rockets and ended up getting embarrassed, smacked around and most importantly, beaten. And you can bet your ass that they're stunned.
The Good
-We won. They lost. Our season continues. The beat goes on. The wheels keep turning. No matter how many different ways there are to say it, the point is simple. We get to play one more game in the playoffs. And that's a good thing.
-Luis Scola finally showed up. As happy as I am about this, I'm still wondering why it took so long to finally happen. If you get drafted because you play a certain way, become a starter on a playoff team because you play a certain way and your team wins a playoff series because you play a certain way, why would you ever, ever stop playing that way? I'm going to include that Carl Landry also played a great game in here because they are inseparable in my mind. They're like Pinky and the Brain. Rob and Big. Starsky and Hutch. Kobe and absolutely nobody.
-The Rockets defense had another amazing night. Kobe took 27 shots and made 11 of them, which means we did very, very well. Battier played his usual defense on Kobe, Artest guarded him with his usual whatever-the-hell-Artest-does-things-with and Kobe looked mad all night long. I understand that he has a natural anger to him, but it looked a little worse yesterday. Or at least that's what I'd like to think.
The Bad
-The last time we had an inspiring, unexpected win at home, we lost the next game by 40. Because at the end of the day, when both teams put in the same amount of effort for all 48 minutes, the Lakers are a whole lot better than us. So we're hoping they don't come out as ticked off as they were in Game 5. Which, for the record, I don't think they will. Game 5 is not something that happens twice in a year, let alone in a week.
-Kobe is playing much more aggressively and is having an easier time getting to the basket. Without China's most talented 90 inches in the lane to stop him, Kobe was able to get to the basket and to the free throw line. This can't happen if we want to have a shot at Game 7.
-We let the Lakers back into the game in the third quarter. Unlike in Game 4, we allowed Los Angeles to get within striking distance after building a huge lead. It didn't hurt us last night, but runs like that are killer in close games on the road. Which, by the way, is what we're going to be playing in on Sunday.
We had a few more nits I could pick on, but at the end of the day, we won the game. And for the most part, we won it in dominating fashion, so I don't see the need to harp on what we did wrong for too long.
The Ugly
Billy told me not to use the blind people jokes anymore, so I'm boycotting this section for a little while. If it means anything, I would have used this picture and the caption would have read "Apologies to Jordan Farmar for leaving him out of yesterday's 'Clash of the Cochleas' between DJ Mbenga and Brian Cook.
What Happened
-For the third game in a row, the Lakers did not have an answer for Aaron Brooks. For the second time in those three games, the Rockets found a way to use that to our advantage. Brooks had 26 points, got to any spot on the floor at will and pushed Derek Fisher one step closer to finally giving up and retiring.
-The Rockets attacked the Lakers early and the Lakers collapsed. Sure, they made a half-hearted run in the third quarter, but for most of the game the Rockets did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We played with more intensity and aggression, and we all know what the Lakers do when teams play them tough. They lose, in case you didn't
-Odom, Bynum and Gasol were outplayed. The rest of the the Lakers bench (besides Farmar) played poorly. Derek Fisher just played. All of these combined turned the Lakers into the Stand Around and Watch Kobe-ers, and with Kobe having an off night, that wasn't going to cut it. Not against the Rockets.
The Point
Another game, another win, another one-sided fight. And we fough. All night long. Because that's what we do. Because that's who we are. A bunch of fighters. A bunch of scrappers. A bunch of tooth and nail, never-give-an-inch players who will take every punch and throw one right back. A bunch of guys who are just too stubborn to understand that this series is supposed to be over and that the Lakers are supposed to be waiting for the next round to start. For at least one more game, a bunch of winners. It defies all logic, and that's what makes it so beautiful. Nobody understands how the Rockets can ever be better than the Lakers when then Lakers are, for lack of any other way of saying it, much, much better than the Rockets. We try to analyze the games, the reasons we keep winning, what the Lakers could possibly be doing wrong and we all arrive at the same conclusion. It just doesn't make sense. And that's when you get to the point where all you can do is look at this team, throw your hands up in confusion and smile. The point at which you sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that it never ends. The point I've reached with the Rockets.
The Good
-We won. They lost. Our season continues. The beat goes on. The wheels keep turning. No matter how many different ways there are to say it, the point is simple. We get to play one more game in the playoffs. And that's a good thing.
-Luis Scola finally showed up. As happy as I am about this, I'm still wondering why it took so long to finally happen. If you get drafted because you play a certain way, become a starter on a playoff team because you play a certain way and your team wins a playoff series because you play a certain way, why would you ever, ever stop playing that way? I'm going to include that Carl Landry also played a great game in here because they are inseparable in my mind. They're like Pinky and the Brain. Rob and Big. Starsky and Hutch. Kobe and absolutely nobody.
-The Rockets defense had another amazing night. Kobe took 27 shots and made 11 of them, which means we did very, very well. Battier played his usual defense on Kobe, Artest guarded him with his usual whatever-the-hell-Artest-does-things-with and Kobe looked mad all night long. I understand that he has a natural anger to him, but it looked a little worse yesterday. Or at least that's what I'd like to think.
The Bad
-The last time we had an inspiring, unexpected win at home, we lost the next game by 40. Because at the end of the day, when both teams put in the same amount of effort for all 48 minutes, the Lakers are a whole lot better than us. So we're hoping they don't come out as ticked off as they were in Game 5. Which, for the record, I don't think they will. Game 5 is not something that happens twice in a year, let alone in a week.
-Kobe is playing much more aggressively and is having an easier time getting to the basket. Without China's most talented 90 inches in the lane to stop him, Kobe was able to get to the basket and to the free throw line. This can't happen if we want to have a shot at Game 7.
-We let the Lakers back into the game in the third quarter. Unlike in Game 4, we allowed Los Angeles to get within striking distance after building a huge lead. It didn't hurt us last night, but runs like that are killer in close games on the road. Which, by the way, is what we're going to be playing in on Sunday.
We had a few more nits I could pick on, but at the end of the day, we won the game. And for the most part, we won it in dominating fashion, so I don't see the need to harp on what we did wrong for too long.
The Ugly
Billy told me not to use the blind people jokes anymore, so I'm boycotting this section for a little while. If it means anything, I would have used this picture and the caption would have read "Apologies to Jordan Farmar for leaving him out of yesterday's 'Clash of the Cochleas' between DJ Mbenga and Brian Cook.
What Happened
-For the third game in a row, the Lakers did not have an answer for Aaron Brooks. For the second time in those three games, the Rockets found a way to use that to our advantage. Brooks had 26 points, got to any spot on the floor at will and pushed Derek Fisher one step closer to finally giving up and retiring.
-The Rockets attacked the Lakers early and the Lakers collapsed. Sure, they made a half-hearted run in the third quarter, but for most of the game the Rockets did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We played with more intensity and aggression, and we all know what the Lakers do when teams play them tough. They lose, in case you didn't
-Odom, Bynum and Gasol were outplayed. The rest of the the Lakers bench (besides Farmar) played poorly. Derek Fisher just played. All of these combined turned the Lakers into the Stand Around and Watch Kobe-ers, and with Kobe having an off night, that wasn't going to cut it. Not against the Rockets.
The Point
Another game, another win, another one-sided fight. And we fough. All night long. Because that's what we do. Because that's who we are. A bunch of fighters. A bunch of scrappers. A bunch of tooth and nail, never-give-an-inch players who will take every punch and throw one right back. A bunch of guys who are just too stubborn to understand that this series is supposed to be over and that the Lakers are supposed to be waiting for the next round to start. For at least one more game, a bunch of winners. It defies all logic, and that's what makes it so beautiful. Nobody understands how the Rockets can ever be better than the Lakers when then Lakers are, for lack of any other way of saying it, much, much better than the Rockets. We try to analyze the games, the reasons we keep winning, what the Lakers could possibly be doing wrong and we all arrive at the same conclusion. It just doesn't make sense. And that's when you get to the point where all you can do is look at this team, throw your hands up in confusion and smile. The point at which you sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that it never ends. The point I've reached with the Rockets.
Game 6 Preview: Nothing
Nothing needs to be said about this game. We all know the implications. We all know what's on the line. We all know how much this means to the Lakers, and we know how much more it means to us. We all understand what winning this game, and, unfortunately, what losing it would mean. We all understand what everyone thinks our chances are, we also understand that our actual chances are much better than that. We all want to win tonight. We all want to play one more game. We all want this miraculous, odds-defying, counterintuitive, sometimes even confusing and undeniably special run to continue. And that alone is saying enough about Game 6. But we have a few hours until 8:30, so I'm going to say more. A lot more. A hell of a lot more. Because we have a game tonight. Which also means we have a game to preview. To rephrase. We have an elimination game to preview.
The Good
-It can't get much worse than it did on Tuesday night. It might come close. In fact, it might get pretty damn close, but it won't be worse. And that's always something to take solace in. Because if things aren't getting worse, that usually means they're getting better. We will not have another performance like that on the defensive end. Our defense on Tueday night had more holes than Magic Johnson has white blood cells. Which isn't really saying much, but still. And yes, that was another HIV joke. Our offense, as problematic as it is, will improve. Even though we have our fair share of struggles scoring the ball, we'll shoot better than 5-29 from three, which should automatically improve our scoring.
-We're at home. Which, despite what you say about the Staples Center crowd, (they're dead, it's like there's nobody even at the game, I don't think they actually want to be here but it's an easy way to get on TV, Jack Nicholson has looked over at that 25 year old woman for the third time in 2 minutes and it's starting to make me uncomfortable, things like that) playing at home is always better than playing on the road. Playing at home means it's easier to work up that frantic energy that we are going to need to beat the Lakers, and that's a plus.
-The Lakers still have no answer for Aaron Brooks. He had a tougher time on Tuesday because of Gasol and Bynum clogging the lane, but in the second half he looked more like his usual, speedy, wind-up car self. The Lakers, and every other NBA team for that matter, have nobody quick enough to stay in front of him. When the other team has nobody that can guard you, that's usually a good thing for your team. What's not good for your team is when you decide to tell the oher team that they can't guard you again and again and again and again. I'm talking to you here Kobe. Enough with the "You can't stop me" stuff with Shane. We know you're good, but you also have the most unfairly talented team in the NBA behind you and are still struggling to beat a depleted, significantly less-gifted Rockets team.
-The worst, worst, worst case scenario is that we lose tonight. Which, like anything else, has a good side to it. Losing means less of Odom's nose, less of Vujacic's hair, less of the massive Pubic-Hair Beard/Fungus known as Pau Gasol (which I've actually come to enjoy), less of Andrew Bynum's towel waving (I can still make fun of him all I want. All he did in Game 5 was realize that since he is an NBA player who also happens to be taller than everyone else on the court, he should actually have a positive impact on the game) and less of Sasha and Shannon's Fellowship of Female Athletes, also known as the Lakers' bench. And no more Lakers means no more Kobe. Which means the female population of Houston can stop holding their collective breath. In case this needs clarifying, that was a reference to his sexual assualt case. As you can see, I'm pulling out all the stops tonight. It might be another five months before I can make these jokes again.
Side note: This has nothing to do with anything, but that new Jack in the Box commercial just came on. It's the commercial in which the guy asks for 99 tacos for two cents, and I have one question: is there any way this guy isn't a stoner? He sees a little pixie-version of Jack who he talks to, laughs like he's been hit in the head with an elbow from Kobe, and can't read the damn sign in the drive-through line. Which makes you wonder if Jack in the Box really had no other good ideas for a commercial besides a clip of a man in a car pretending to be under the influence that probably took 15 minutes to write, direct, film, produce and whatever the hell else they do to movies. But that's neither here nor there, so I'll stop now.
The Bad
-In case anyone needs to review, we lost by 40 the last time we played these guys. Which means that on some nights, they can be a lot better than us. A whole lot better than us. They dismantled us once, which means there's the chance they can do it again. In other words, the Lakers are still a very, very dangerous basketball team.
-Who knows what kind of psychological effects Game 5 had on the Rockets. I'm mentally scarred myself and all I did was watch the game, so I don't even want to think about how the players feel. Losing like that can be deflating. It can be will-breaking. In can be spirit-crushing. It can be a lot other things that involve some combination of a synonym for hope, a dash, and synonym for destroying.
-Ron Artest has had two "Hey, Yao, Mcgrady and I are the three best players on this team. Mcgrady is out, and now Yao is out. Which means...I'm the best player we have left?" games in a row, which is a bad sign. He needs to understand that we need him to play within the offense and maintain the flow of the game for us to have a chance.
-There's a small chance that Brian Cook might actually touch the floor. Which should never be possible in an NBA basketball game. Unless DJ Mbenga is also playing.
The Ugly
What Has to Happen
-This may seem like I'm taking the easy way out, but the Rockets' offense needs to show up. As I've said on multiple occasions before, our offense is our "go-to-guy" in the attempt at pregnancy that is a basketball game. So the Little Rocket (I like this one) needs to come up big.
-Aaron Brooks needs to be on fire from the beginning. And Luis Scola needs to play like he played from November-April, not like he has in the playoffs. Brooks needs to continue to get in the paint and run circles around the Lakers' big men and Scola needs to start shooting his midrange jumper before I start to shoot it for him. I'm not sure what that threat exactly meant, but it sounded manly and I just went with it. But for us to have a shot tonight, both Scola and Brooks need to have big games.
-The energy that has become as much a part of the Rockets' game as anything has to be present from the very beginning. Somehow, some way, the Rockets need to get motivated for Game 6, and that means forgetting about Game 5. In order for us to play our best tonight, we are going to have to move past Tuesday night. Once we get it out of our heads, we should be able to play the hustling, disrupting, frustrating defense that we're used to playing, and that effort should carry over to the offensive end.
The Point
We win tonight, we get another chance. We lose, our offseason begins. It doesn't get any simpler than that. And if nothing else, I want the Rockets to win so that I don't have to sit around for another month watching other teams play basketball. But there's plenty else. For starters, I really don't like the Lakers. If they're going to win, I want us to make sure we make it as hard as we can on them. And of course, I really, really like the Rockets. More than I dislike the Lakers. And even though it happens for 29 out of the NBA's 30 teams, watching your season end on a loss is always painful. You dwell on it, wonder what could have changed, and in our case, wonder why injuries always strike us at the worst possible time. And I would like to postpone that feeling for as long as I possibly can. On a lighter note, nothing is more exciting than an underdog beating a heavy favorite multiple times. If it happens once, it's a wake up call for the favorite. If it happens twice, the favorite has some concentration issues. If it happens three times, maybe the underdog isn't as much of an underdog as we all thought. I want nothing more than for us to push the Lakers one more time, to make them question their team, coaching, and heart once again. To leave the rest of the world asking each other what the hell just happened. To make me proud to love this team, even if it's for the last time this year. Now that that's all out of the way, I'll leave you with this. It's not much. It's actually just two words. But those two words can be oh-so powerful when you realize how much thought, emotion, influence, and meaning they have. When you realize that 18,000 people are going to be saying those words with you tonight. When you realize that deep down, there's no better, simpler way to explain how you feel. You probably already know what those two words are, which means you probably already know that I'm going to say them anyway. Go Rockets
The Good
-It can't get much worse than it did on Tuesday night. It might come close. In fact, it might get pretty damn close, but it won't be worse. And that's always something to take solace in. Because if things aren't getting worse, that usually means they're getting better. We will not have another performance like that on the defensive end. Our defense on Tueday night had more holes than Magic Johnson has white blood cells. Which isn't really saying much, but still. And yes, that was another HIV joke. Our offense, as problematic as it is, will improve. Even though we have our fair share of struggles scoring the ball, we'll shoot better than 5-29 from three, which should automatically improve our scoring.
-We're at home. Which, despite what you say about the Staples Center crowd, (they're dead, it's like there's nobody even at the game, I don't think they actually want to be here but it's an easy way to get on TV, Jack Nicholson has looked over at that 25 year old woman for the third time in 2 minutes and it's starting to make me uncomfortable, things like that) playing at home is always better than playing on the road. Playing at home means it's easier to work up that frantic energy that we are going to need to beat the Lakers, and that's a plus.
-The Lakers still have no answer for Aaron Brooks. He had a tougher time on Tuesday because of Gasol and Bynum clogging the lane, but in the second half he looked more like his usual, speedy, wind-up car self. The Lakers, and every other NBA team for that matter, have nobody quick enough to stay in front of him. When the other team has nobody that can guard you, that's usually a good thing for your team. What's not good for your team is when you decide to tell the oher team that they can't guard you again and again and again and again. I'm talking to you here Kobe. Enough with the "You can't stop me" stuff with Shane. We know you're good, but you also have the most unfairly talented team in the NBA behind you and are still struggling to beat a depleted, significantly less-gifted Rockets team.
-The worst, worst, worst case scenario is that we lose tonight. Which, like anything else, has a good side to it. Losing means less of Odom's nose, less of Vujacic's hair, less of the massive Pubic-Hair Beard/Fungus known as Pau Gasol (which I've actually come to enjoy), less of Andrew Bynum's towel waving (I can still make fun of him all I want. All he did in Game 5 was realize that since he is an NBA player who also happens to be taller than everyone else on the court, he should actually have a positive impact on the game) and less of Sasha and Shannon's Fellowship of Female Athletes, also known as the Lakers' bench. And no more Lakers means no more Kobe. Which means the female population of Houston can stop holding their collective breath. In case this needs clarifying, that was a reference to his sexual assualt case. As you can see, I'm pulling out all the stops tonight. It might be another five months before I can make these jokes again.
Side note: This has nothing to do with anything, but that new Jack in the Box commercial just came on. It's the commercial in which the guy asks for 99 tacos for two cents, and I have one question: is there any way this guy isn't a stoner? He sees a little pixie-version of Jack who he talks to, laughs like he's been hit in the head with an elbow from Kobe, and can't read the damn sign in the drive-through line. Which makes you wonder if Jack in the Box really had no other good ideas for a commercial besides a clip of a man in a car pretending to be under the influence that probably took 15 minutes to write, direct, film, produce and whatever the hell else they do to movies. But that's neither here nor there, so I'll stop now.
The Bad
-In case anyone needs to review, we lost by 40 the last time we played these guys. Which means that on some nights, they can be a lot better than us. A whole lot better than us. They dismantled us once, which means there's the chance they can do it again. In other words, the Lakers are still a very, very dangerous basketball team.
-Who knows what kind of psychological effects Game 5 had on the Rockets. I'm mentally scarred myself and all I did was watch the game, so I don't even want to think about how the players feel. Losing like that can be deflating. It can be will-breaking. In can be spirit-crushing. It can be a lot other things that involve some combination of a synonym for hope, a dash, and synonym for destroying.
-Ron Artest has had two "Hey, Yao, Mcgrady and I are the three best players on this team. Mcgrady is out, and now Yao is out. Which means...I'm the best player we have left?" games in a row, which is a bad sign. He needs to understand that we need him to play within the offense and maintain the flow of the game for us to have a chance.
-There's a small chance that Brian Cook might actually touch the floor. Which should never be possible in an NBA basketball game. Unless DJ Mbenga is also playing.
The Ugly
A battle between DJ Mbenga's (L) and Brian Cook's (R) ears would be a treat for NBA fans all over the world, but punishment for anyone with vision. Things just keep getting better and better for those damn blind people.
What Has to Happen
-This may seem like I'm taking the easy way out, but the Rockets' offense needs to show up. As I've said on multiple occasions before, our offense is our "go-to-guy" in the attempt at pregnancy that is a basketball game. So the Little Rocket (I like this one) needs to come up big.
-Aaron Brooks needs to be on fire from the beginning. And Luis Scola needs to play like he played from November-April, not like he has in the playoffs. Brooks needs to continue to get in the paint and run circles around the Lakers' big men and Scola needs to start shooting his midrange jumper before I start to shoot it for him. I'm not sure what that threat exactly meant, but it sounded manly and I just went with it. But for us to have a shot tonight, both Scola and Brooks need to have big games.
-The energy that has become as much a part of the Rockets' game as anything has to be present from the very beginning. Somehow, some way, the Rockets need to get motivated for Game 6, and that means forgetting about Game 5. In order for us to play our best tonight, we are going to have to move past Tuesday night. Once we get it out of our heads, we should be able to play the hustling, disrupting, frustrating defense that we're used to playing, and that effort should carry over to the offensive end.
The Point
We win tonight, we get another chance. We lose, our offseason begins. It doesn't get any simpler than that. And if nothing else, I want the Rockets to win so that I don't have to sit around for another month watching other teams play basketball. But there's plenty else. For starters, I really don't like the Lakers. If they're going to win, I want us to make sure we make it as hard as we can on them. And of course, I really, really like the Rockets. More than I dislike the Lakers. And even though it happens for 29 out of the NBA's 30 teams, watching your season end on a loss is always painful. You dwell on it, wonder what could have changed, and in our case, wonder why injuries always strike us at the worst possible time. And I would like to postpone that feeling for as long as I possibly can. On a lighter note, nothing is more exciting than an underdog beating a heavy favorite multiple times. If it happens once, it's a wake up call for the favorite. If it happens twice, the favorite has some concentration issues. If it happens three times, maybe the underdog isn't as much of an underdog as we all thought. I want nothing more than for us to push the Lakers one more time, to make them question their team, coaching, and heart once again. To leave the rest of the world asking each other what the hell just happened. To make me proud to love this team, even if it's for the last time this year. Now that that's all out of the way, I'll leave you with this. It's not much. It's actually just two words. But those two words can be oh-so powerful when you realize how much thought, emotion, influence, and meaning they have. When you realize that 18,000 people are going to be saying those words with you tonight. When you realize that deep down, there's no better, simpler way to explain how you feel. You probably already know what those two words are, which means you probably already know that I'm going to say them anyway. Go Rockets
5/13/2009
Game 5 Recap: Floored
There are some losses that should be talked about. There are some losses that can even help a team. You analyze them, see what you did wrong, make the necessary adjustments and come out better than before. Game 5 was not one of them. Game 5 was what happens when a more talented team that has underachieved for the length of the series plays up to their potential against a team that has been exceeding expectations for the better part of a year and finally slips up. The result was a massacre. A brutal, embarrassing, ruthless slaughter of the Houston Rockets at the hands of the Lakers. And quite frankly, I don't want to talk about it. To put it simply, the Lakers played the way people have wanted them to play all year, and the Rockets played the way our talent says we should. All year we have done more with less, and Tuesday night in Los Angeles we just couldn't keep it up. This is not a knock on the Rockets. We have done more than anyone not living in Houston even dreamed we could, and I'm proud that we were able to maintain it for so long. But the fact of the matter is, if you take the best two players of any team in the NBA they are going to suffer. It may not be immediately, but at some point in time, the team is going to struggle. Take Kobe and Gasol off the Lakers, they don't make the playoffs. Remove Pierce and Garnett from the Celtics, they lose to the Bulls in the first round. Take Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups off the Nuggets and you have another lottery-bound team. Take Lebron and his chalk off the Cavaliers and they probably don't even win 20 games. The point I'm trying to make here is that as Rockets fans, we should have seen this coming. Don't let Billy or anyone else tell you otherwise. A game like this was to be expected. When you don't have a go to player on offense, there will be nights when you struggle to score. When you play a ticked off, almost-unfairly talented team on that same night, 118-78 happens.
And I know it may not seem like it, but nothing in my recent memory has hurt more than typing that score, than watching that game. Nothing is more painful than watching your team get the life sucked out of it and hardly putting up a fight, but not because they don't want to, because they just can't. The Rockets as a team were dead by the end of the second quarter on Tuesday night. The effort and energy we put into each minute of every game finally caught up to us, and it was evident from the way we played. What resulted was something that I'm going to remember for a long, long time. It takes a lot for a game to make me feel the way I did after Game 7 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs, but Game 5 was able to take me back there. Seeing my team get beaten senseless, its face shoved into the dirt repeatedly with its opponent only stopping to gloat was able to take me back to that abyss, that continuous blackness, that feeling of sickness, hopelessness and utter depression all rolled into one, and I hated every moment of it. But deep down, I knew that I should have seen this coming. Which is why I have nothing to say about Tuesday night. I've said before on this very blog that no matter what happens from now until the end of the postseason, I'm proud of the Rockets for all we've been able to do with seemingly every break (a bad pun, I know) going against us. And that's not just this year, but last year. And the year before. And not the year before that, because we admittedly choked away the Dallas series, (with the help of some poor, poor refereeing. Enjoy your prison cell Donaghy) but the year before that as well.
But the point of all of this is that I'm not going to talk about what happened last night. I'm going to focus on another game against the same team tomorrow night, when we get another shot and the golden boys (get it? it's funny beacuse they actually wear gold) of the NBA. Tthat's the beauty of the playoffs. You're down one second and given new life in the next. And that's exactly how it should be. But back on topic, the question on our hands is a simple one: what do we do now? Do we lie down, admit that the Lakers are the better team and let them finish the series at the Toyota Center on Thursday? Or do we pull together for one last run, one last, confusing, logic-defying victory over a more talented, better coached, and honestly, luckier team? Knowing these Rockets, I believe it's going to be the latter. Now, more than ever, we need to feed off the doubts. The whispers, the "I told you so's," the previews of a Lakers-Nuggets Conference Finals. I don't care what happens in Game 7 if and when it happens, all I'm asking for is another "upset" tomorrow night. If for nothing else, just because I don't want to go back to that dark place in the back of my head just yet. For at least one more night, I want to feel the pride I get when our undersized, undermanned, under-respected, (I think I just made up a word) team beats a team it should have no business even having a close game with. And I know I'm not going to be saying this once we actually get there, but right now, screw Game 7. I just want to win Game 6. And by doing so, move on past Game 5. I don't want to think about what happened last night, I want to hope for what's going to happen tomorrow night. I want to Beat LA, even if it's for the last time this year. And I know I say this a lot, but I promise that I can't remember a time when I've felt it more than I do right now. Go Rockets.
And I know it may not seem like it, but nothing in my recent memory has hurt more than typing that score, than watching that game. Nothing is more painful than watching your team get the life sucked out of it and hardly putting up a fight, but not because they don't want to, because they just can't. The Rockets as a team were dead by the end of the second quarter on Tuesday night. The effort and energy we put into each minute of every game finally caught up to us, and it was evident from the way we played. What resulted was something that I'm going to remember for a long, long time. It takes a lot for a game to make me feel the way I did after Game 7 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs, but Game 5 was able to take me back there. Seeing my team get beaten senseless, its face shoved into the dirt repeatedly with its opponent only stopping to gloat was able to take me back to that abyss, that continuous blackness, that feeling of sickness, hopelessness and utter depression all rolled into one, and I hated every moment of it. But deep down, I knew that I should have seen this coming. Which is why I have nothing to say about Tuesday night. I've said before on this very blog that no matter what happens from now until the end of the postseason, I'm proud of the Rockets for all we've been able to do with seemingly every break (a bad pun, I know) going against us. And that's not just this year, but last year. And the year before. And not the year before that, because we admittedly choked away the Dallas series, (with the help of some poor, poor refereeing. Enjoy your prison cell Donaghy) but the year before that as well.
But the point of all of this is that I'm not going to talk about what happened last night. I'm going to focus on another game against the same team tomorrow night, when we get another shot and the golden boys (get it? it's funny beacuse they actually wear gold) of the NBA. Tthat's the beauty of the playoffs. You're down one second and given new life in the next. And that's exactly how it should be. But back on topic, the question on our hands is a simple one: what do we do now? Do we lie down, admit that the Lakers are the better team and let them finish the series at the Toyota Center on Thursday? Or do we pull together for one last run, one last, confusing, logic-defying victory over a more talented, better coached, and honestly, luckier team? Knowing these Rockets, I believe it's going to be the latter. Now, more than ever, we need to feed off the doubts. The whispers, the "I told you so's," the previews of a Lakers-Nuggets Conference Finals. I don't care what happens in Game 7 if and when it happens, all I'm asking for is another "upset" tomorrow night. If for nothing else, just because I don't want to go back to that dark place in the back of my head just yet. For at least one more night, I want to feel the pride I get when our undersized, undermanned, under-respected, (I think I just made up a word) team beats a team it should have no business even having a close game with. And I know I'm not going to be saying this once we actually get there, but right now, screw Game 7. I just want to win Game 6. And by doing so, move on past Game 5. I don't want to think about what happened last night, I want to hope for what's going to happen tomorrow night. I want to Beat LA, even if it's for the last time this year. And I know I say this a lot, but I promise that I can't remember a time when I've felt it more than I do right now. Go Rockets.
5/12/2009
Game 5 Preview: Still Punching
And swinging. And hitting. And kicking and scratching and scrapping and and any other verb you can think of that means putting up one hell of a fight. Except elbowing. We don't elbow. We leave that to number 24. But the point is, the reason we've won two games in this series is because we have put in more effort in both of those games, and that's exactly what we're going to have to do tonight. The Lakers aren't going to play another game like they did in Game 4. Call it overconfidence, call it being poorly prepared, call it a bunch of overpaid athletes with a strong sense of self-entitlement coming out and playing like the game would just be given to them getting their asses kicked by a harder working team, but the Lakers are not going to play worse than they did on Sunday. Which most likely means we're going to have to play even better. With that in mind, we've got a big game to preview. A huge game really. Maybe even Yao-sized.
The Good
-Andrew Bynum does not look anywhere near fully healthy. When Yao went down I was worried that the Lakers would just pound the ball inside to Bynum and let him go to work. The good news is that Bynum's knee is in worse shape than Magic Johnson's immune system (yes, that was an AIDS joke). What does that mean? It means that we're not going to lose this series by the Lakers out-sizing us in the paint.
-Lamar Odom should miss Game 5. He hasn't really dominated in this series, but he's a big part of the Lakers' offense and can be very dangerous when he's at his versatile, involved best. When he's not interested he's deader than Derek Fisher, but he's still always a threat. Not having him should help our chances. On the other hand, this will probably lead to more shots of him and his massive nose on the bench. That's 3-0 in favor of those damn blind people.
-Ron Artest will not have another 4-19 night. It's as simple as that. Sure, he might go 6-19 or 7-19, but not 4-19. Call it confidence, call it blind faith, call it stupidity as a Rockets fan, but I refuse to believe that he will shoot that poorly again in this series.
The Bad
-The Lakers have Kobe Bryant. And in case anyone needs reminding, that is bad. Very, very bad. The only thing worse than Kobe Bryant is an angry Kobe Bryant, and that's what we're going to see tonight.
-There's always the chance that Phil Jackson decides to play someone with an actual heartbeat at point guard and give minutes to Shannon Brown. He was great in Game 4, and even though he mostly played in garbage time, having him running the offense is one hell of an upgrade over Dead Fish. That's Derek Fisher by the way. As for the movie, I've never seen it. I googled Dead Fish and that was the first result that came up.
-Once Pau Gasol realized that he is actually 6 inches taller than Chuck Hayes, he started to play him face up a little more. This could hurt the Rockets in Game 5 because if the Lakers start to use their size to their advantage, there's nothing we can really do about it. I know what you're about to ask: If the Lakers actually start using one of their obvious advantages that also happens to be one of our biggest weaknesses, it would help them? Really? I know, it's a novel idea. Someone call Phil Jackson.
-The Lakers are going to come out focused and aggressive. As Boston and Cleveland both know after losing both of of their meetings with the Lakers, when this team is playing hard they are very, very difficult to beat. The Rockets most likely aren't going to be able to open up another big lead early, so execution will be critical down the stretch.
The Ugly
Lamar Odom (M), and his nose that only a plane landing on it could love.
What Has To Happen
-The Rockets have to show up. For us to have a shot at this series, every single player on the team has to come to play every night. That means Ron Artest needs to play like he did in Games 1-3, which means operating within the offense and taking smart shots. Scola needs to step up and start taking his 20 foot jumper. Brooks has to have another game of zipping around, nailing shots and creating general confusion in the Lakers' defense. Rick Adelman needs to actually call a play once in a while. Aside from that last part, which was mainly just wishful thinking, all of these things can and have to happen for us to win Game 5.
-Battier has to defend Kobe. Not that this needs to be said, but I'll say it anyways. Kobe Bryant looked pissed off after Game 4. And I don't mean reglular, "I'm going to be a jerk to everyone because I'm Kobe Bryant" pissed off. I mean "I am going to put up 48 shots and take out that midget with an elbow to the head the next time we play these guys" pissed off. And that's bad. Which is why Battier has to come out ready to defend on every single possession. Not that he doesn't already. He'll come out feet shuffling, hands moving, and manual manualing. Not that manualing is a verb. I just wanted a way to bring up that book of his again.
-The Rockets need to come out with the same energy and attitude they played with in Game 4. The Rockets started Game 4 as the clear underdogs and that turned out to be a good thing for us. We played free, loose basketball and acted as though we had nothing to lose. Which was true. We also came out and played confidently, like we knew we could beat the Lakers. Which also was true. Now that there is a little more attention being paid to the other 11, non-Asian, non 7'6" members of the Rockets that carefree mindset might be a little harder to find in Game 5, but it's still vital if the Rockets want to get another win at Staples Center.
-I hate to repeat myself, but the Rockets' offense needs to work. When it works, we win (see Games 1 and 2). When it doesn't we don't. It's as simple as that. So don't stop whatever got Mr. Magic Marker up in Game 4. It seemed to work well.
-The Rockets bench needs to outperform the Lakers bench. If the Sasha-Shannon All-Girl Extravaganza outplays Landry, Lowry, Wafer and the rest of the lot, the Rockets could be facing some problems. The bench needs to bring the energy and up-tempo game it always does. On a related note, doesn't Sasha Vujacic seem like the type of guy who would name his "Big Man in the Paint?" If he actually did, I think its name would be one of these three gems: The Little Machine, The Slovenian Sharpshooter, Kobe, or my personal favorite, Sasha's Vujacic.
The Point
The Rockets have outplayed the Lakers through heart and determination in their two series wins, and that's what it's going to take to get another one. We cannot beat them on talent alone, and if the effort isn't there for a full 48 minutes, we are going to lose. Hopefully we can continue to do what we've done all year long, which is play hard and prove the doubters wrong. And no matter what happens in the next 2-3 games, I'm proud of these guys. If I ever have kids, when I take them to their first Rockets game, I'm going to have some stories to tell. First, I'll tell them about Hakeem and the championship runs that I was born just too late to understand. But right after that, I'm going to bring up this team. This team that lost it's best player last year and it's two best players this year, yet keeps on going. This team that makes me understand why people watch sports. Because despite all of the steriods, poor officiating, controversies and other problems (in other words, the bullshit we deal with daily as sports fans), something happens to make it all worthwhile. And that something is the Rockets. Last year, we lost our best player and went on to have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. This year, we lost our best player once again in the playoffs after losing our second-best player earlier on in nthe year, and what did we do? We went out and won. And that's why, no matter what happens tonight, Thursday, and possibly Saturday night, I'm proud of this team. That being said, let's not stop the punching after it's gotten this far. Go Rockets.
The Good
-Andrew Bynum does not look anywhere near fully healthy. When Yao went down I was worried that the Lakers would just pound the ball inside to Bynum and let him go to work. The good news is that Bynum's knee is in worse shape than Magic Johnson's immune system (yes, that was an AIDS joke). What does that mean? It means that we're not going to lose this series by the Lakers out-sizing us in the paint.
-Lamar Odom should miss Game 5. He hasn't really dominated in this series, but he's a big part of the Lakers' offense and can be very dangerous when he's at his versatile, involved best. When he's not interested he's deader than Derek Fisher, but he's still always a threat. Not having him should help our chances. On the other hand, this will probably lead to more shots of him and his massive nose on the bench. That's 3-0 in favor of those damn blind people.
-Ron Artest will not have another 4-19 night. It's as simple as that. Sure, he might go 6-19 or 7-19, but not 4-19. Call it confidence, call it blind faith, call it stupidity as a Rockets fan, but I refuse to believe that he will shoot that poorly again in this series.
The Bad
-The Lakers have Kobe Bryant. And in case anyone needs reminding, that is bad. Very, very bad. The only thing worse than Kobe Bryant is an angry Kobe Bryant, and that's what we're going to see tonight.
-There's always the chance that Phil Jackson decides to play someone with an actual heartbeat at point guard and give minutes to Shannon Brown. He was great in Game 4, and even though he mostly played in garbage time, having him running the offense is one hell of an upgrade over Dead Fish. That's Derek Fisher by the way. As for the movie, I've never seen it. I googled Dead Fish and that was the first result that came up.
-Once Pau Gasol realized that he is actually 6 inches taller than Chuck Hayes, he started to play him face up a little more. This could hurt the Rockets in Game 5 because if the Lakers start to use their size to their advantage, there's nothing we can really do about it. I know what you're about to ask: If the Lakers actually start using one of their obvious advantages that also happens to be one of our biggest weaknesses, it would help them? Really? I know, it's a novel idea. Someone call Phil Jackson.
-The Lakers are going to come out focused and aggressive. As Boston and Cleveland both know after losing both of of their meetings with the Lakers, when this team is playing hard they are very, very difficult to beat. The Rockets most likely aren't going to be able to open up another big lead early, so execution will be critical down the stretch.
The Ugly
Lamar Odom (M), and his nose that only a plane landing on it could love.
What Has To Happen
-The Rockets have to show up. For us to have a shot at this series, every single player on the team has to come to play every night. That means Ron Artest needs to play like he did in Games 1-3, which means operating within the offense and taking smart shots. Scola needs to step up and start taking his 20 foot jumper. Brooks has to have another game of zipping around, nailing shots and creating general confusion in the Lakers' defense. Rick Adelman needs to actually call a play once in a while. Aside from that last part, which was mainly just wishful thinking, all of these things can and have to happen for us to win Game 5.
-Battier has to defend Kobe. Not that this needs to be said, but I'll say it anyways. Kobe Bryant looked pissed off after Game 4. And I don't mean reglular, "I'm going to be a jerk to everyone because I'm Kobe Bryant" pissed off. I mean "I am going to put up 48 shots and take out that midget with an elbow to the head the next time we play these guys" pissed off. And that's bad. Which is why Battier has to come out ready to defend on every single possession. Not that he doesn't already. He'll come out feet shuffling, hands moving, and manual manualing. Not that manualing is a verb. I just wanted a way to bring up that book of his again.
-The Rockets need to come out with the same energy and attitude they played with in Game 4. The Rockets started Game 4 as the clear underdogs and that turned out to be a good thing for us. We played free, loose basketball and acted as though we had nothing to lose. Which was true. We also came out and played confidently, like we knew we could beat the Lakers. Which also was true. Now that there is a little more attention being paid to the other 11, non-Asian, non 7'6" members of the Rockets that carefree mindset might be a little harder to find in Game 5, but it's still vital if the Rockets want to get another win at Staples Center.
-I hate to repeat myself, but the Rockets' offense needs to work. When it works, we win (see Games 1 and 2). When it doesn't we don't. It's as simple as that. So don't stop whatever got Mr. Magic Marker up in Game 4. It seemed to work well.
-The Rockets bench needs to outperform the Lakers bench. If the Sasha-Shannon All-Girl Extravaganza outplays Landry, Lowry, Wafer and the rest of the lot, the Rockets could be facing some problems. The bench needs to bring the energy and up-tempo game it always does. On a related note, doesn't Sasha Vujacic seem like the type of guy who would name his "Big Man in the Paint?" If he actually did, I think its name would be one of these three gems: The Little Machine, The Slovenian Sharpshooter, Kobe, or my personal favorite, Sasha's Vujacic.
The Point
The Rockets have outplayed the Lakers through heart and determination in their two series wins, and that's what it's going to take to get another one. We cannot beat them on talent alone, and if the effort isn't there for a full 48 minutes, we are going to lose. Hopefully we can continue to do what we've done all year long, which is play hard and prove the doubters wrong. And no matter what happens in the next 2-3 games, I'm proud of these guys. If I ever have kids, when I take them to their first Rockets game, I'm going to have some stories to tell. First, I'll tell them about Hakeem and the championship runs that I was born just too late to understand. But right after that, I'm going to bring up this team. This team that lost it's best player last year and it's two best players this year, yet keeps on going. This team that makes me understand why people watch sports. Because despite all of the steriods, poor officiating, controversies and other problems (in other words, the bullshit we deal with daily as sports fans), something happens to make it all worthwhile. And that something is the Rockets. Last year, we lost our best player and went on to have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. This year, we lost our best player once again in the playoffs after losing our second-best player earlier on in nthe year, and what did we do? We went out and won. And that's why, no matter what happens tonight, Thursday, and possibly Saturday night, I'm proud of this team. That being said, let's not stop the punching after it's gotten this far. Go Rockets.
5/10/2009
The Dream
Something all Rockets fans should see at least once. The quality of the video leaves something to be desired, the quality of the play is just fine.
Game 4 Recap: Never Underestimate the Heart of a
Champion. And on Sunday afternoon, only one basketball team looked like champions. And it wasn't the team that has been predicted to win the championship by "experts" since the end of last season. It wasn't the team with the supposed best player in the world. It wasn't so-called deepest team in the NBA. It wasn't the team that barely lost in the Finals last year without their starting center, which everyone thought meant that there was no way they would lose this year. It was the team that has been doubted all year long. It was the team that was missing two of its best three players, a combined 45 million dollars a year. It was the team that came out and played inspired, smart, hard, free, emotional, prideful basketball. It wasn't the Lakers. It was the Houston Rockets. Those relentless, tenacious, persistent Rockets. I've never seen a team go through so much in one year only to bounce back stronger every single time. I don't give a damn if we lose Games 5 and 6 by 78 points combined, what the Rockets have done in this series and this season is more impressive than anything any other team has done all year long. Now that that's out of the way, on to business.
The Good
-Aaron Brooks played the best basketball that I've ever seen him play. With Derek Fisher's Dead Body guarding him, Brooks was able to get to the basket, find his teammates, and wreak general havoc. All 6 feet of him.
-The Rockets' defense. We played stifling, determined defense, holding the Lakers to 54 points in three quarters. Even though we let them back into the game in the end of the fourth quarter, but 45 minutes of lock down defense makes up for 3 minutes of falling asleep at the wheel.
-Shane Battier played the game of his Rockets career, scoring 23 points and playing his usual bothersome, effective, Kobe pamphlet-studying defense on Bryant that we've grown to love and expect from him.
The Bad
-Ron Artest's Hero Complex kicked in and he took some shots that made we want to rape a Coloradan. We won despite Ron-Ron, not because of him, and that can't happen again if we want to win Game 5.
-Pau Gasol scored 30 points, and even though some of them came in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided, he looked comfortable going against the likes of Scola and Hayes. In other Pau-related news, his beard actually covers the whole underside of his chin/neck, almost reaching his Adam's Apple. I'm starting to think it's more of a fungus than facial hair, and that it actually has a mind of it's own and is spreading by itself. For everyone with vision's sake, let's hope Pau regains control of his face. Until then, those damn blind people win again.
-I just insulted blind people and made fun of a sexual assualt case within two paragraphs of each other. Other than that, the Rockets played a hell of a game and I can't really find any more fault with it. We lost some of our intensity towards the end of the game, but that happens when you've been giving your full, unbridled effort for 3 and a half quarters.
The Ugly
Dick Bavetta (L), one of our officials for Game 4.
What Happened
The Rockets attacked the Lakers from the opening tip, beating them to loose balls, defending with intensity, and generally out-hustling the girls in purple for the duration of the game. I don't know if we were inspired by Yao, everyone counting us out, or Lamar Odom's nose, but the Rockets played with more effort than the Lakers, and that translated into the win. The Rockets were also on fire for most of the game. I compared the Rockets' offense to a man's Magic Johnson in the sense that it only needed to function for us to have a chance, and in Game 4 we found the Viagra. That might have been in poor taste, but I liked it. And spent 5 minutes on Google looking for a funny phrase for a man's little man, so you bet your ass I was going to use "Magic Johnson" once I found it. Back on to the point (it just happened that time), the Rockets dominated the Lakers today, and that's really all there is to say. I have a hard time nitpicking when we played such an impressive game, so I'm not going to try. Like Phil Jackson said in his post-game interview, "Give them some f*cking credit". So that's what I'll do. I'll give them some f*cking credit.
The Point
The Rockets lost Yao, everyone thought this series was over, we came out and proved them wrong. If this storyline sounds familiar, it's because the same thing happened last spring. And this spring for that matter, except Yao was replaced with Mcgrady this time. No matter what happens after today I'm proud of the Rockets for finding strength in numbers when we needed it the most. I can't imagine what it feels like to go against a team that already might be better than you when you're healthy without your best player, but the Rockets do. And thanks to some hot shooting and tough defense, we now also know how it feels to beat that team. Game 4 went better than I dared to hope it would, but now comes the hard part. Stealing a game [again] in Los Angeles. But that's a different topic for a different day. Today, I'm glad we were able to keep this playoff run alive for a little longer and promise ourselves another game at the Toyota Center. The better team won today, it just wasn't the team everyone expected it to be. Go Rockets.
The Good
-Aaron Brooks played the best basketball that I've ever seen him play. With Derek Fisher's Dead Body guarding him, Brooks was able to get to the basket, find his teammates, and wreak general havoc. All 6 feet of him.
-The Rockets' defense. We played stifling, determined defense, holding the Lakers to 54 points in three quarters. Even though we let them back into the game in the end of the fourth quarter, but 45 minutes of lock down defense makes up for 3 minutes of falling asleep at the wheel.
-Shane Battier played the game of his Rockets career, scoring 23 points and playing his usual bothersome, effective, Kobe pamphlet-studying defense on Bryant that we've grown to love and expect from him.
The Bad
-Ron Artest's Hero Complex kicked in and he took some shots that made we want to rape a Coloradan. We won despite Ron-Ron, not because of him, and that can't happen again if we want to win Game 5.
-Pau Gasol scored 30 points, and even though some of them came in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided, he looked comfortable going against the likes of Scola and Hayes. In other Pau-related news, his beard actually covers the whole underside of his chin/neck, almost reaching his Adam's Apple. I'm starting to think it's more of a fungus than facial hair, and that it actually has a mind of it's own and is spreading by itself. For everyone with vision's sake, let's hope Pau regains control of his face. Until then, those damn blind people win again.
-I just insulted blind people and made fun of a sexual assualt case within two paragraphs of each other. Other than that, the Rockets played a hell of a game and I can't really find any more fault with it. We lost some of our intensity towards the end of the game, but that happens when you've been giving your full, unbridled effort for 3 and a half quarters.
The Ugly
Dick Bavetta (L), one of our officials for Game 4.
What Happened
The Rockets attacked the Lakers from the opening tip, beating them to loose balls, defending with intensity, and generally out-hustling the girls in purple for the duration of the game. I don't know if we were inspired by Yao, everyone counting us out, or Lamar Odom's nose, but the Rockets played with more effort than the Lakers, and that translated into the win. The Rockets were also on fire for most of the game. I compared the Rockets' offense to a man's Magic Johnson in the sense that it only needed to function for us to have a chance, and in Game 4 we found the Viagra. That might have been in poor taste, but I liked it. And spent 5 minutes on Google looking for a funny phrase for a man's little man, so you bet your ass I was going to use "Magic Johnson" once I found it. Back on to the point (it just happened that time), the Rockets dominated the Lakers today, and that's really all there is to say. I have a hard time nitpicking when we played such an impressive game, so I'm not going to try. Like Phil Jackson said in his post-game interview, "Give them some f*cking credit". So that's what I'll do. I'll give them some f*cking credit.
The Point
The Rockets lost Yao, everyone thought this series was over, we came out and proved them wrong. If this storyline sounds familiar, it's because the same thing happened last spring. And this spring for that matter, except Yao was replaced with Mcgrady this time. No matter what happens after today I'm proud of the Rockets for finding strength in numbers when we needed it the most. I can't imagine what it feels like to go against a team that already might be better than you when you're healthy without your best player, but the Rockets do. And thanks to some hot shooting and tough defense, we now also know how it feels to beat that team. Game 4 went better than I dared to hope it would, but now comes the hard part. Stealing a game [again] in Los Angeles. But that's a different topic for a different day. Today, I'm glad we were able to keep this playoff run alive for a little longer and promise ourselves another game at the Toyota Center. The better team won today, it just wasn't the team everyone expected it to be. Go Rockets.
5/09/2009
Game 4 Preview: Hoping Against Hope
By now, any Rockets fan has seen the news. Our talented, hard-working, oft-injured, 7'6" center from Shanghai will be out for the rest of the postseason. In other words, goodbye 2008-2009. I believe we will win tomorrow, but I do not believe we can win this series without Yao Ming. He is the best player on our team, and you don't beat a team that might have beat you healthy without the best player on your team. Yeah it sucks, but then again so does losing in the Finals, and you don' t see the Lakers bitching about not having their starting center last year. Wait..scratch that. Let the bitching begin. But like it or not, we have a game to play tomorrow. And that means we have a game to preview.
The Good
-For the second time in three games, Kobe Bryant had a poor shooting night against the Rockets. I have to attribute this to Battier and his pesky, relentless, Kobe-manual-reading defense. I don't see why this won't continue.
-We actually match up better against the Lakers without Yao. I am not saying we are better without him, far from it, I'm just saying that Pau has been playing Yao very well during the series, doing a much better job of poking the ball away from him and fronting him than I've seen from him before. On defense we also might end up putting Scola on Pau, which is a much better matchup for him than Odom or Ariza. Also, they could end up treating us to the greatest Spanish trash-talking matchup ever. How Scola's hair does against Pau's Pubic-Beard is key for us tomorrow.
-Derek Fisher is back. If we are to have a chance tomorrow, Aaron Brooks has to use his quickness to score, get in the paint, and wreak general havoc on the Lakers defense. That'll be a lot easier if Derek Fisher's Repuation As A Good Player is guarding him.
The Bad
-Yao Ming isn't playing. There's nothing to really say here, we know what he does for our team. Losing his 20-10 is going to hurt. Losing our 9,000 fans who watch basketball just for him is probably going to hurt just as much. So will losing his agonized facial expressions that I've grown to love. Nobody can make sitting on a bench look as painful as Yao can. Not only does losing Yao ruin this series for us, it ruins it for the rest of the league, the fans, and the Lakers. Beating us without our best player is not the same as beating us when we're at healthy, and you can bet your subscription to O, The Oprah Magazine that they wanted to beat us with our full team.
-The Lakers are still the best offensive team in the NBA. They actually played a pretty sub-par game against us Friday, with their two best players shooting a combined 15-39. Stopping them is going to be even harder without 7 and a half feet of China's hopes and dreams in the paint to contest their shots.
-Our offense has a tendency to stagnate, and without Yao we are going to be more prone to that. We can't let it turn into the Ron Artest show, and ball movement and smart decisions are going to be more important than ever tomorrow.
The Ugly
Vanessa Bryant. Not that she's ugly. She's actually far from it. I just want to remind everyone that Kobe cheated on this woman. Look at her, read that last sentence again, smile.
What Has To Happen
For the Rockets to win Game 4 we are going to have to do what we have done all year long, except we're going to have to do it better and without our best player.
First and foremost, the Rockets need to defend with intensity and hustle. No letting players get open looks like in Game 3, every shot needs to be contested for us to have a chance. Despite their best efforts to convince themselves otherwise in Game 3, Ariza, Farmar, Walton, and Odom are not three point shooters and we can't allow them to look like they are. A simple hand in their face will help with that.
We have to continue to out-rebound the Lakers. This is obviously easier said than done after losing Yao, but we still have to find a way to do it. Rebounding is going to have to be a more of a team effort. Every time a shot goes up, all five players on the floor for the Rockets have to box a man out. Landry, Scola, and Hayes are going to have to work especially hard tomorrow afternoon. Not that bringing the effort is ever a problem for these guys.
The bench has to step up. With Landry most likely becoming a starter, Lowry, Wafer, and Hayes are going to have to out-produce the Lakers' bench. Say what you want about their names, but Sasha, Shannon, and the rest of the girls can actually play some pretty good basketball. This seems like a good time to bring up that when asked about the craziest thing that ever happened to him as a basketball player, Sasha Vujacic recalled a time when a girl asked him to sign her panties. I don't really know how that affects Game 4 at all, I just think it's something you should hear. Anyways, the Rockets' bench has to outperform the Lakers', which is only made tougher by Jordan Farmar remembering that he is, in fact, and NBA player sometime during Game 3.
The offense has to work. Think of this game as a married couple's desperate attempt at having a child, with the Rockets' offense being the male's go-to guy. It doesn't have to work well, it just needs to function long enough to get the job done. I don't care how ugly and unsatisfactory it might be, the Rockets offense has to perform. Artest has to stay within the offense and take smart shots, which he has done a decent job of all series long. Battier needs to get more shots, and Wafer simply cannot go 2-10 again.
The Point
So here we are, punching just to have a puncher's chance. The Rockets have played through injuries all year, and we're going to have to do it again tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be hard, but so is everything else worth having right? Rudy Tomjonavich once told us to "never underestimate the heart of a champion," and the Rockets have proven his words time and again this year. We have played with heart and determination all season long and I expect us to play every second like it's our last tomorrow. Of course, I'd have a 7'6" heart with phenomenal basketball skills and footwork, but we have to work with what we have. We are going to have to play as a team tomorrow to win as a team, and luckily for us, that's what we do best. We can't control that the basketball gods seem to have a passion for kicking us in the shins, but we can control how much effort we put in tomorrow. Tomorrow, we play for pride, we play for the fans, we play for the chance to let Kobe know that the NBA Championship isn't just going to be handed to him. Just like that girl in Colorado wasn't handed to him. Uncalled for, I know, but I'm bitter and it made me feel better. Sexual assualt cases aside, tomorrow, more than anything else, we play for our franchise player, the man who led us out of the first round for the first time since 1998, the best center to put on a Rockets jersey since that guy we called The Dream. He fought through a knee collision that would have ended T-Mac's career in Game 1 and through a hairline fracture in Game 3 for us. I hate to sound sentimental, but tomorrow afternoon we're fighting for him. Go Rockets.
The Good
-For the second time in three games, Kobe Bryant had a poor shooting night against the Rockets. I have to attribute this to Battier and his pesky, relentless, Kobe-manual-reading defense. I don't see why this won't continue.
-We actually match up better against the Lakers without Yao. I am not saying we are better without him, far from it, I'm just saying that Pau has been playing Yao very well during the series, doing a much better job of poking the ball away from him and fronting him than I've seen from him before. On defense we also might end up putting Scola on Pau, which is a much better matchup for him than Odom or Ariza. Also, they could end up treating us to the greatest Spanish trash-talking matchup ever. How Scola's hair does against Pau's Pubic-Beard is key for us tomorrow.
-Derek Fisher is back. If we are to have a chance tomorrow, Aaron Brooks has to use his quickness to score, get in the paint, and wreak general havoc on the Lakers defense. That'll be a lot easier if Derek Fisher's Repuation As A Good Player is guarding him.
The Bad
-Yao Ming isn't playing. There's nothing to really say here, we know what he does for our team. Losing his 20-10 is going to hurt. Losing our 9,000 fans who watch basketball just for him is probably going to hurt just as much. So will losing his agonized facial expressions that I've grown to love. Nobody can make sitting on a bench look as painful as Yao can. Not only does losing Yao ruin this series for us, it ruins it for the rest of the league, the fans, and the Lakers. Beating us without our best player is not the same as beating us when we're at healthy, and you can bet your subscription to O, The Oprah Magazine that they wanted to beat us with our full team.
-The Lakers are still the best offensive team in the NBA. They actually played a pretty sub-par game against us Friday, with their two best players shooting a combined 15-39. Stopping them is going to be even harder without 7 and a half feet of China's hopes and dreams in the paint to contest their shots.
-Our offense has a tendency to stagnate, and without Yao we are going to be more prone to that. We can't let it turn into the Ron Artest show, and ball movement and smart decisions are going to be more important than ever tomorrow.
The Ugly
Vanessa Bryant. Not that she's ugly. She's actually far from it. I just want to remind everyone that Kobe cheated on this woman. Look at her, read that last sentence again, smile.
What Has To Happen
For the Rockets to win Game 4 we are going to have to do what we have done all year long, except we're going to have to do it better and without our best player.
First and foremost, the Rockets need to defend with intensity and hustle. No letting players get open looks like in Game 3, every shot needs to be contested for us to have a chance. Despite their best efforts to convince themselves otherwise in Game 3, Ariza, Farmar, Walton, and Odom are not three point shooters and we can't allow them to look like they are. A simple hand in their face will help with that.
We have to continue to out-rebound the Lakers. This is obviously easier said than done after losing Yao, but we still have to find a way to do it. Rebounding is going to have to be a more of a team effort. Every time a shot goes up, all five players on the floor for the Rockets have to box a man out. Landry, Scola, and Hayes are going to have to work especially hard tomorrow afternoon. Not that bringing the effort is ever a problem for these guys.
The bench has to step up. With Landry most likely becoming a starter, Lowry, Wafer, and Hayes are going to have to out-produce the Lakers' bench. Say what you want about their names, but Sasha, Shannon, and the rest of the girls can actually play some pretty good basketball. This seems like a good time to bring up that when asked about the craziest thing that ever happened to him as a basketball player, Sasha Vujacic recalled a time when a girl asked him to sign her panties. I don't really know how that affects Game 4 at all, I just think it's something you should hear. Anyways, the Rockets' bench has to outperform the Lakers', which is only made tougher by Jordan Farmar remembering that he is, in fact, and NBA player sometime during Game 3.
The offense has to work. Think of this game as a married couple's desperate attempt at having a child, with the Rockets' offense being the male's go-to guy. It doesn't have to work well, it just needs to function long enough to get the job done. I don't care how ugly and unsatisfactory it might be, the Rockets offense has to perform. Artest has to stay within the offense and take smart shots, which he has done a decent job of all series long. Battier needs to get more shots, and Wafer simply cannot go 2-10 again.
The Point
So here we are, punching just to have a puncher's chance. The Rockets have played through injuries all year, and we're going to have to do it again tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be hard, but so is everything else worth having right? Rudy Tomjonavich once told us to "never underestimate the heart of a champion," and the Rockets have proven his words time and again this year. We have played with heart and determination all season long and I expect us to play every second like it's our last tomorrow. Of course, I'd have a 7'6" heart with phenomenal basketball skills and footwork, but we have to work with what we have. We are going to have to play as a team tomorrow to win as a team, and luckily for us, that's what we do best. We can't control that the basketball gods seem to have a passion for kicking us in the shins, but we can control how much effort we put in tomorrow. Tomorrow, we play for pride, we play for the fans, we play for the chance to let Kobe know that the NBA Championship isn't just going to be handed to him. Just like that girl in Colorado wasn't handed to him. Uncalled for, I know, but I'm bitter and it made me feel better. Sexual assualt cases aside, tomorrow, more than anything else, we play for our franchise player, the man who led us out of the first round for the first time since 1998, the best center to put on a Rockets jersey since that guy we called The Dream. He fought through a knee collision that would have ended T-Mac's career in Game 1 and through a hairline fracture in Game 3 for us. I hate to sound sentimental, but tomorrow afternoon we're fighting for him. Go Rockets.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
