TNT Barkley: I still think the Rockets are going to win this series

It's not important what Barkley said but how he said it....

It is so easy for the Chuckster to say such things without thinking deeply about it....

What if the Rockets win, there is a reason why they would have dismantled the Clips, have them figured out....

Chuck is just a lazy bum on some network and entertaining the audience

 

He picked the Clippers to beat the Spurs in round 1... and what happened?

 

Barkley? What the hell does he have to do with the Rockets?

I don't even acknowledge his status as an ex-Rocket after the bum started trashing us mindlessly, publicly because he claims Les owes him money which, at the time, he wanted credit for not taking/making. Trash.

A person who is willing to trash the team over disputed (probably illegal) deals with Les has no place with Rockets fans.

 

In 7 then

 

He go the Clippers right over the Spurs

 

I'm pretty sure Barkley doesn't necessarily believe that inside lol

 

He's not wrong. The Rockets can still win this series. Paul's hammy situation is no joke. But if the Rockets don't take something from Game 1, then this thing will be over quick. I try to look at the glass as being half-full when I can, and if there's one positive that can come from last night's debacle, it's that the team will learn that the playoffs are not like the regular season. If you don't come out and give 110% every single night, you're going to get your ass kicked no matter who you're playing and what the circumstances are.

The Choke City losses to Phoenix in 1994 were the best thing that could've happened to that Rockets team. It toughened them up, taught them that the NBA playoffs require 48 minutes of execution, gave them confidence that they could come back from any playoff series deficit(which was pivotal in the following season), and rallied the entire city behind the team(remember how they didn't even sell out Game 1?).

Maybe we'll look back a couple weeks from now and view this loss in a positive light. Maybe it'll be a necessary speedbump and learning experience for this group. On the flipside, we could look at it as the game that cost them the series and season. I guess we'll have to wait and see what this Rockets team is made of.

 

Chuck was a moron when he was against us, that doesn't change now that he's for us.

 

The team was just not ready. McHale is the players' coach, the guy who knows how to manage egos and get players motivated. He is nothing but that. He's not great defensively, offensively or tactically. His key strength is in the mental side of coaching, and this team came out looking like they found out they're playing at the opening whistle. Then they were acting like this is going to be an easy win. The only person who was ready for this game was Dwight Howard, and there were several instances of his teammates messing around while he tried to maintain his playoff composure.

This one's on Mchale. It was obvious in the first few minutes and even when they went ten points up - this team is not ready to beat the Clippers. Even at home. Even with Paul out and Rivers in. Even with the other team exhausted. Even with the other team not able to hack at will. We would have lost to the Sixers last night with the attitude we had.

This is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge screw up. All coaches screw up and that's generally ok, but the timing of this screw up is epic. There is no worse game we could have lost. I would rather have lost in the regular season and dropped a few seeds. I would rather than have let the Mavs come back and tie the last series. But to lose this particular game given these particular circumstances when things were so incredibly stacked in our favor - and the WAY we lost... it's on McHale, big time. He will fix what he screwed up but he's not a good enough coach overall to win this series anymore unless we get lucky somehow. Paul can take another game off and come back 100% healthy when we go on the road.

 

You make it sound like a daunting task. In the end, the Rockets are only down 0-1. Many, many teams have came back from down 0-1 in a series. So many.

 

Any positivity is welcome for me after that abysmal heartless showing.

 

It's not a daunting task. But it's gonna be tough. I think the problem is not so much the Clippers or the prospect of winning in LA(they did go only 2-2 at home against the Spurs in the previous round). The problem is with the Rockets. They're not playing well so far in the postseason. We've overlooked their mediocrity thanks to the relatively easy 4-1 win over Dallas, but we now have a 6-game sample to analyze and it's not good. The turnovers, missed free throws, lazy defense, mostly ice cold shooting from Terry and Ariza, T-Jones' disappearing act in 4 games, and Harden's passiveness are all major concerns. The Rockets cannot win this series(never mind any subsequent series) if at least some of these problems aren't corrected immediately.

 

Seriously.

Win Game 2.

Win one of Game 3 or Game 4

And then we are in perfect shape. Best of 3 with homecourt advantage.


The game last night was horrible. It was embarrassing and pathetic to watch. But the series isn't over. The Rockets don't need to trade all of their players. They don't need to fire Daryl Morey. It was one game. It was a game that we should have won. But it was still just one game.

It puts the pressure on us in Game 2. We cannot, cannot, cannot lose game 2 and go down 0-2.

But it was still just one game of a seven game series.

 

Its easily imaginable that we can take 1 of 2 in LA. Sure we lost ugly and and without Chris Paul, but at the end of the day its only a loss. Even if embarrassingly.

All year long we have been consistently responsive to losses the next game with the b2b spurs games being the only exception i can recall. I fully expect us to respong and come out blazing in game 2 and game 3 winning both.

If you didnt think this was going to be an ugly back and forth series similiar to the LAvsSA first rd series your mistaken.

Rockets just have to persevere through the hardship and rally around each other. Also, hamstrings are very lingering and from what i heard on the radio this morning cp3 was severely hobbled before last night.

It sucks giving away homecourt and it sucks cp3 will likely be afforded the luxury to miss an extra game but we still got this.

 

I don't doubt the Rockets can win in LA. But let's keep in mind the Clippers are now 3-1 on the road in the playoffs and were 26-15 on the road during the regular season which is tied with the Rockets for the 2nd best mark in the NBA. It's not like winning Games 2, 5, and 7 at home will be a picnic either. That's why last night's loss is so frustrating and potentially costly. This a damn good team we're facing and you can't squander opportunities like that.

 

Wow can't believe Chuck said that!!

 

I was thinking the same thing. I like Barkley but he hates on us all the time and now he is picking us. The bad part is having to listen to Cowherd at ten. He always hates on the Rockets especially Harden. I hate to say it but I have little confidence now. Still hope though.

 

After waking up and seeing the score this morning, I am cry.

 

PF position has been bothering Rockets for a dozen years......
TMAC and Yao with a decent PF would have won a championship, yes Scola is not bad, but too late....

 

The Rockets will win game 2 and split in LA. Or we will get swept and Mchale should be fired. LOL.