...and is it possible to develop it? In all the hype about McGrady, Yao, or even Lebron, all we hear about is their superior talent or skill. But that has nothing to do with being a champion. Michael Jordan did not dominate into his late 30s because of his physical attributes; it was mental. He came to win every night. He worked hard in the offseason to develop his body and add dimension to his game. He would find or create slights to motivate himself to perform consistently at a higher level. You rarely heard about the Bulls coming out flat because Jordan would regulate. (same for Bird, same for Magic) I know I sounds like a bandwagon jumper, but I am not. I am an out-of-towner and see the Rockets on TNT, ESPN, and now - Telemundo - whenever I can. I do not know if my sample of games that I have seen this year is representative, but the Rockets seem flat and listless all too often. In particular, I like, but worry about McGrady's game. He is a bonafide scorer and has proven to be unselfish, but look at him! He has all the tools - speed, court vision, long arms - to play Kirelinko-like D. Why don't we see it? Do you see this attribute - killer instinct - in McGrady or Yao? Why are we so reliant on a Sura, a role player, to provide some toughness on our ball club? Yao and McGrady seem too passive to lead our team. Can you win it all when your two best players are so passive?
I really believe that Bobby Sura is the heart of this team. We need T-Mac and Yao but Sura keeps up moving and focused. James - Sura - Wesley - Barry is a great rotation at the guard spots. I like Sura and Wesley starting but James gives us the ability to cut back on Sura's minutes to keep him healthy for the playoffs. Besides PF (I am not counting on anything from Baker we are starting to get some depth.
I think anyone with a killer instinct is a clutch player. T-Mac's appearance is very deceiving, he's definately a clutch player if he's in the zone. I think to bring some toughness and killer instinct onto this team we might consider singing Van Exel, he would be a good finisher in the 4th quarter. Go Rockets!
The problem is that we don't have the killer instinct as a team. One or two players can have it and it won't matter that much. We need to come out as a team and put opponents away.
I agree and also disagree. Take Jordan for example, he was the killer instinct of that whole team. What he did was he set the tone and passed it onto the others. IMO, the problem we have is we lack a true team leader. Yao will probably never assume that role, so it should fall onto McGrady. Only concern I have with McGrady is that he's too lay-back and doesn't seem to wanna take that role. Can you imagine having Kobe on our team and leading us on the court? Don't get me wrong, T-Mac's my favorite player in the league. I just wish he'd set a better example of leading the team. I hate to compare him to Kobe, but I love how Kobe takes on challenges and always wants to shut down opponents' top scorers. That sets the tone on the court and makes the whole team wanna play harder. Step up McGrady! Go Rockets!
I don't think it's possible to develop a killer instinct if a player hasn't shown it after being in the league for years. Bob Sura isn't a star player but he comes close to having a killer instinct. His contributions are valuable but we can't become a championship team unless Yao and McGrady take charge.
maybe vin baker? ok just kidding....all of our guards and deke...maybe padgett too. the rest need to step up in that area.
JVG He's the only one who has the instinct who's not on the disabled list. That's what's missing on this team. Supposedly, from Newsday, it was reported that the Rockets were highly covetting Kurt Thomas on the Knicks. But Isiah would only deal MoT for Vin Baker and Moochie. I think had we gotten Kurt Thomas we would have gotten the "mean streak" back in this team that is so sorely needed. Mike James seems like a hard-nosed player but I don't get the feeling that he's intimidatingly mean. Do you? theSAGE
Well, Deke's got it defensively... lest we forget his 'one man wrecking crew' vs the Bulls. If only we had a power-forward like that...
Rockets 88, Knicks 86 HOUSTON — Moochie Norris made a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, and Houston dealt New York its third straight loss. Norris, who had 13 points, was called for an offensive foul with 13 seconds to play. That led to Allan Houston's basket, which gave the Knicks an 86-85 lead with 7 seconds to play. The Rockets worked the inbounds pass to Steve Francis, but he got bottled up near the basket and passed to Norris, who was alone in the corner. After his winning shot went through the net, Norris went over and jumped atop the scorer's table. Kenny Thomas scored 24 points, and Francis 19 for the Rockets. Houston led the Knicks with 28 points, and Mark Jackson scored 14. But Latrell Sprewell, who came into the game as the Knicks' leading scorer with a 20.1-point average, shot just 4-for-15 from the floor and scored eight. New York has lost five of its last six games and dropped to 4-11 since Don Chaney replaced Jeff Van Gundy as coach.
Bobby Sura is the Mario Elie of this team. If he treats anyone on this team in a mean way, even Yao or TMac, it is because they deserve it. And it sounds from one of TMac's recent quotes that he understands the importance of Sura's meanness. Bobby Sura, the X Factor. Maybe we can build a core of mean players we call "The X Men"?
bottlerocket: look at your own words. at almost anytime - he can - might - catch fire - get emotionally charged and take over. Sura wakes up pissed off, just like Elie. And he goes to bed pissed off. He practices angry. He playes angry. He is driven. Tmac said it himself a couple of days ago\ Bobby is mean. He doesn't need to catch fire - because he is the fire. We need to room Sura with Yao on the road trips. If anyone can make and keep Yao pissed off it is Sura. JVG should make it one of Bobby's assignments. Big diff between being able to get charged up and living at that address 24/7. That is the diff between Sura and the rest of this team. On the other end of the spectrum - how many small guards have been accidentally caught by a Yao elbow? How many fights has he been in? How many technicals called on him? How many Darrel Dawkins shattered/bent backboards? How many hard picks on opponents? How many times has he gotten pissed off that he is losing a game, and then just taken it on his back and carried the team to victory? Not many. I don't know how you teach this type of intensity but it would be nice if the whole team got a bad case of it from Sura.
