No team ever is. Nobody becomes absorbed into losing. Those of you suggesting this make it sound like a slow gradual process that would take you forever to crawl out of. Players don't get insitutionalized like that. I dont see that with any team. Especially not the Rockets. Momentum swings in a heartbeat. It swings in a game. Even with the Bulls. They find some hope every night out, even if its fleeting. They find it. I think the example that people here will relate to the most is Clutch City. It took a five minute stretch during the Pheonix series to make believers out of the whole team. I'm sure everyone thought we were in a blackhole then. We weren't. We were one step away from going the distance. Losing does not become this endless void that sucks you in, and that you can't pull out of. You can get out quick. In a heart beat. Clutch City. Period. Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. -Shawshank Redemption (movie written by Stephen King, can you believe that!) [This message has been edited by PhiSlammaJamma (edited December 28, 1999).]
you're utterly missing Popeye's point if you're making comparisons to our championship years. there was no losing attitude then. And you're also missing the "black hole" metaphor if you don't think the Clippers are a perpetual losing organization of people biding their time trying to get out. What I really don't understand is taking a discussion out of context from one thread to launch another one. Please come join us in the original thread that Will started titled: "My observations at courtside in DC" That is where the discussion is getting a fair read!! [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited December 28, 1999).]
I will join you in a second, but my point here is that "the losing attitude" is a perception. It's not reality. Everyone thought the Rockets would lose another playoff series because they had this "losing attitude" about the playoffs, but only those in the Rockets inner sanctum truly believed. It's all perception. The CLippers do not have a losing attiude. They compete every night out. They just don't have the talent. They believe they can win. It's the fans that have lost the faith. I'm willing to bet on it. Now, I'll go read the posts to make sure I know what you're saying.
thx. you make some excellent points about perception (theory vs proof) that I agree with. i just don't like jumping from thread to thread when we have a perfectly good one going--which is increasingly rare to find on the internet.
