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.
Showing posts with label yao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yao. Show all posts
5/20/2009
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
5/16/2009
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.
5/09/2009
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.
Yao Sprains Ankle
Yao has a sprained ankle and will be re-evaluated tomorrow before Game 4. We need him to play, and we need him to play well, so let's hope he's alright.
UPDATE: Yao will miss the rest of the playoffs with a hairline fracture. He doesn't need surgery, but our playoff dreams sure as hell do. Another year, another injury for the Great Wall. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I can't really describe how I feel right now, but if I had to it would be something like this: It feels like someone kicked me in the balls twice, punched me in the stomach, and then when I kneeled down from that, they kneed me in the mouth. And then they repeated the whole cycle. Twice. And it's not a good feeling. But that's neither here nor there.
And Yao, thank you for refusing to come out of the game last night till the end of the fourth even though you were visibly in pain. Thank you for coming back to play in Game 1 and winning the game for us. Thank you for leading us out of the first round, putting those days of depending on Mcgrady behind us. Thank you for showing us how it felt to be proud of your team again. Get well soon, we'll give 'em hell next year.
UPDATE: Yao will miss the rest of the playoffs with a hairline fracture. He doesn't need surgery, but our playoff dreams sure as hell do. Another year, another injury for the Great Wall. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I can't really describe how I feel right now, but if I had to it would be something like this: It feels like someone kicked me in the balls twice, punched me in the stomach, and then when I kneeled down from that, they kneed me in the mouth. And then they repeated the whole cycle. Twice. And it's not a good feeling. But that's neither here nor there.
And Yao, thank you for refusing to come out of the game last night till the end of the fourth even though you were visibly in pain. Thank you for coming back to play in Game 1 and winning the game for us. Thank you for leading us out of the first round, putting those days of depending on Mcgrady behind us. Thank you for showing us how it felt to be proud of your team again. Get well soon, we'll give 'em hell next year.
Throwback Day?
Since Sunday's Game 4 is as close to a must-win game for the Rockets as it gets, I was thinking that we could break out the throwback jerseys. We already are playing our song from the 90s, why not wear the jerseys from the glory days for one night? I'm sure the crowd would love it, and there are very few things that I want to see more than Yao in the red and gold. And none of those other things can be discussed outside of my head.
Hakeem, in all his knee pad-wearing glory
Hakeem, in all his knee pad-wearing gloryThe Successor
I saw this video a few years ago and fell in love with it. I forgot about it for a while, but Game 1 made me want to find it again. Enjoy, and if you don't want to watch the whole thing, 2:15-2:30 and 3:03-3:16 are my two favorite parts.
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