BARKLEY BLAMES MATHIS IN POSTGAME COMMENTS!!

[alaskansnowman]

i was watchin INSIDE THE NBA on Tbs and they showed barkley's comments. I believe they were sort of like this:

"This was a very disappointing loss. But there's one reason that we lost this game: Mike Mathis. I hate his fu***** guts. He cost us the game. I hate that **********. And that's all i have to say"

Of course that wasn't theEXACT quote, but he did cuss a whole lot and say that Mike Mathis was the reason the rockets lost.

GOO BARKLEY!!

[Ace]

I sure hope he won't get punished too harshly for this...

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Francis+Charles+Dream-Pippen= Rockets 2000 NBA
Champions

[Francis3]

He will definetly get fined. Barkley is the man.

[bballfanatic]

Well, I still think it was a no call, therefore, a bad call. It was weak, and it probably did cost us the game.

But if Chuck would think about it, the free throws he and others missed clearly cost us the game. Of course, turnovers didn't help although I am not sure of the points the Suns got off of our turnovers.

As long as we cannot make free throws, we will be like Shaq and the Lakers - you can't win it all without making foul shots, especially down the stretch.

TAKE HEART, ROCKETS! Best game of the season so far.

[DAROckets]

DAMM,I just saw it on cnn si.mathis WILL screw us now.

[Francis3]

We will be like shaq and the lakers.

I WISH ... LAKERS ARE A GREAT TEAM AND I THINK THEY ARE PROBABLY THE BEST TEAM.

[ArmChair Coach]

In my theory, the reason why Shaq can't make his free throws is because he's not 2 feet from the basket and shoving everyone out of the way for the dunk.

[CaucasionSensation]

ArmChair, No it's first because he has giant hands, it's like you and me shooting a tennis ball. Second it's psychological. Shaq plays so many mind games with reporters when they ask him questions about free throws it makes you want to cry.

[JeffB]

It was a night when Barkley did so much to pull the Rockets to the finish line, making big plays down the stretch, piling up 22 points and 13 rebounds. But while he put them in a position to win the game, this was a spot where he ultimately lost it.

Barkley didn't see it that way, wishing instead that Mathis should have stayed behind bars on charges of tax evasion. Of course, if Cato or Carlos Rogers had made that unthinking play, we'd might have heard a lecture on the young generation.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/395797

[tinman]

This is how the old rockets lose games, the refs screw us. That was such bull, i've never seen someone call a foul on a box out from the free throw line when the game is on the line.

[gr8-1]

I remember one time, i think we were playing minnesota and charles said this : "Man, we did a great job tonight, considering it was 8 on 5 out there. " "Yeah that's right, its hard playing with the 3 blind mice out there." LMAO.

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"Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.

[treeman]

Bull*****. We had the chance... The shot just didn't fall our direction.

But I think we can all agree that this was a milestone: The Rockets are no longer a "bad" team in the NBA. From her on out everyone will play us as if we were a first-tier team.

For a reason. We ARE a first-tier team. Our record puts us at the end, but... Everyone in the league knows where we really are - and where we'll end up.

Every game we play from here on out, we'll have to play as if we're a winning team. That's how everyone else is going to play us....

Every win will be precious.

[rockHEAD]

Here come the fines!!!!!!!!

Pay up Chuck...


rockHEAD http://members.tripod.com/~HoustonRocketsFan

[Tb-Cain]

More than the Barkley call, I thought the way the referrees called Kidd's defense was ridiculous. Didn't they change the rules? It looked like Derek Harper on Kenny Smith out there. Francis shoots 2 free throws all night? Come on. As much as Kidd was molesting him and as much as Francis drove the lane, he only gets 2?

I thought that was much worse than what happened with Barkley.

That said, the Rockets lost the game at the line with their other players. It wasn't the refs fault we lost the game. Still, Francis should get a little more respect than that. Especially with him outplaying Kidd the entire game.

[Primetime]

I'm with the Chuchster on this. I know we should've won the game by hitting some FTs, but the call on Bark was bull*****. How does Charles get called for a fouls when all he did was quickly move out of the way of Longley who was leaning on him. Its similar to how Charles plays the matador defense and gets people to bust their asses with no contact.

Tb-Cain, you hit the nail on the head with the no fouls on Kidd assessment. The new rules apparently will not apply to Francis because he can't seem to get any breaks from the refs. He's getting no respect, yet he outplays any guard in his path each and every night. The hell with the refs, we're on the move behind some bad-ass play from the young guns.

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Look out, The Kid is about to blow up!

[4chuckie]

Francis I disagree with one thing:
"Barkley is selfish. He got the foul because he was trying to get 1 more rebound because he wants to win the rebounding title."

Don't you think he might have wanted the rebound to score to put the rockets up by 3?

I hope you were joking when you said he was selfish. The man has changed his game for the betterment of the team, and yet he gets ripped for playing hard.

What if I say:
Francis is selfish, he was driving trying to win the Rookie of the Year Award. If he wouldn't have twisted his ankle on the way down, we would have won.

Just joking, but Chuck continually plays hard. Quit ripping hard effort, if you want to rip on Chuck you can do it on shot selection, but not on an rebounding effort.

[Joe Joe]

If Bark gets the rebound,
Game over, rockets win.

There is no selfishness there.

[JeffB]

I feel that had one of the young bucks committed that foul, Chuck would have given a sermon on the necessity of playing smart basketball. He would have shook his head in shame and cursed at the sap who committed the error. I can just imagine what he would have said had Francis, Cato or Rodgers made that play. Since Chuck is the one who made the mental error (by creating a situation for that call to be made) it is Mathis’ fault. Chuck ought to just admit he had a mental lapse and would have been better off not tugging on Longley’s arm. Chuck had a good game (minus the ill timed 3 point attempts) and fought hard. I am not trying the bash the guy, but I do feel there is an element of hypocrisy in all this. Chuck is guilty of what he was criticizing his fellow teammates for doing yet he isn’t just taking responsibility for the mistake. Instead he is blaming the ref. (Who was doing a bad/inconsistent job anyway.)

[DaDakota]

JeffB

You hit the nail on the head. Chuck should never have put himself in that position. I mean WHO cares if we miss at that point? There were only 3 seconds left and the Rockets were up by 1. I like our chances in that scenario.

DaDakota

[DREAMer]

Caucasionsensation,

1.) I bet I could shoot FTs with a tennis ball better than Shaq can with a basketball.

2.) His hands aren't that big. It's more like us shooting with a WNBA ball, or one of those mini-balls. Tennis ball, ha! If it really was because of hand size, then why does Muggsy Bogues shoot 82.4% for his career? Isn't he shooting one of those big red kick balls, comparatively?

I think the reason most tall players don't shoot FTs well is because of their height. Shorter players have to put arch on their shot, while taller players (6'10"+) tend to shoot their FTs flat. But, there's not excuse for anyone to shoot under 60 - 65%. That's just a lack of effort, desire, and practice.

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I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem.

[JeffB]

I keep hearing that Shaq puts a lot of effort into improving his FT shooting. LA players have said that Shaq works hard at improving his FTs and that it is not uncommon to see him hit 20 in a row during practice. The problem is during game time. His mind just cripples on him. Nick Van Excel said that Shaq gets a bad rap for not practicing when in fact he does. Nick the Quick and EJ say the problem is psychological. Also, Phil Jackson is supposed to be working with Shaq so that he doesn't lock up at the line because the big guy really does have a nice touch on his shot and it makes no sense that he performs so poorly. After one game this season Jackson refused to comment on Shaq's FT woes because the whole situation is embarrassing to him despite the self-deprecating humor Shaq spews in public.

[bballfanatic]

Wow, a $20,000 fine! That's more than Shaq got for hitting Barkley! Gotta say on the replay, lol, I felt kinda sorry for that old ref - Chuck was chewing him out and he looked like he was sort of a broken man. BUT I'M WITH CHUCK ON THIS ONE - A DEFINITE NO CALL. Wasn't much of a foul; otherwise, they should have called the foul on Mobley going for the winning shot at the end of the game. He was fouled too. We would have won then too had they made the call. Screwed twice!

I think it's unfair to say Barkley would be complaining if one of the younger players had gotten this foul on Longley instead of him. Blinebury isn't always right - unless he's talking about Pippen, lol.

Actually, all Barkley has said about the new generation concerns the beepers, t.v. and showing up late for the plane. He has not to my knowledge downed anyone for their play on the court. All he has said about our team was early in the season that we were kind of bad and made a lot of mistakes. Rudy also said we kept making the same mistakes over and over. I think Chuck included himself in that analysis. That is not blaming anyone.

Also, I don't think the Rockets are viewed as a top-tier team. We know they are a lot better than their record. Other teams probably just think all they have to do is play hard in the 4th quarter. Sadly. But I have hope because we played great against Phoenix. Freaking free throws killed us.

[jscmedia]

Phoenix didn't win, we lost. Missed free throws. And Charles, I'm sad to say, got suckered into the stupid foul by Luc Longley, for crin' out loud ! WIth 3 seconds left, and leading by one, hit the shot or scramble for the ball, but don't stick your arm out into the lane fool...

[Finalfantasy]

CB is right, that SOB definitely screwed the Rockets. That ref Mathis was fired becuase of his ethics and now he is back in the league. What a sucker.

[Air Francis]

Barkley is selfish. He got the foul because he was trying to get 1 more rebound because he wants to win the rebounding title.

Then, he is so pissed off at his dumb play that he blames the ref for the game. What a joke. This is Barkley-ball at its finest!