http://sports.yahoo.com/top/blog/ro...lt=AvuPXWHUfauDOlGTyBUpzEi8vLYF?urn=top,72151 I know I'm not the only one thinking this: It's just too tantalizing to ignore. As I witness (and marvel at) one of the greatest team achievements in pro basketball history, I can't help but wonder where it's all going. Not how many games the Houston Rockets will win before their streak –- now at a mind-blowing 22 games, the second-longest in NBA history -- comes to an historic end. But whether this wondrous feat, no matter how long it lasts, will ultimately be remembered as nothing more than a prelude for the Big Fall. I wonder if they'll become this year's Dallas Mavericks. I'm not trying to diminish the streak at all. I was never one who believed the streak should have been minimized because, until the Rockets took down the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, they had beaten only one other of the top five teams in the Western Conference: the Hornets. Twenty-two straight wins is 22 straight wins –- whether the opponents are the New York Knicks or the local CYO team. (I will resist the temptation to note that some might consider the latter to be the stiffer competition.) Nor am I disparaging the Mavs, who charged through the 2006-07 regular season with the league's best record, only to endure a stunning fall to eighth-seeded Golden State in the opening round of the playoffs. Far from it. As my regular blog readers know, I co-authored a book with Mavs coach Avery Johnson. ("Aspire Higher: Winning On and Off the Court with Determination, Discipline and Decisions," which hits bookstores next week. You can even buy it HERE now! Yes, shameless plug.) So you know my publisher (Harper Collins), my accountant and my two kids are hoping for an extended playoff run! But the parallels are intriguing and inescapable. Last season, the Mavs looked to be on a John Wayne-like mission to erase the nightmare of '06 when they lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA finals four games to two after winning the first two games at home. They barreled through the heart of the season, challenged the 70-win mark, ended with 67 victories and were a near-consensus pick to win it all. Then they ran into the buzz saw that was Golden State. Led by a former Mavs coach (Don Nelson) with a quirky and lightning-paced playing style and a point guard fueled by Lord knows what sort of redemptive pixie dust (Baron Davis), the Warriors pulled off a shocking four-games-to-two upset that still reverberates in some parts of Big D. The Rockets –- yes, the Houston Rockets –- are now the best team in the Western Conference. Their 46-20 record puts them one game ahead of the Lakers. But right now, I don't know anyone who's picking the Rockets to be standing next to NBA commissioner David Stern in June and accepting the Larry O'Brien trophy. Heck, I don't know anyone picking them to win the Western Conference. Hello, anyone out there want to stand up for the Rockets reaching the Western Conference finals? I didn't think so. How can you when this team has never survived the opening round in the Tracy McGrady Era (since 2004). Indeed, 10 seasons have passed since the Rockets last played more than one playoff round. And that was perhaps the most high-powered Rockets team ever, with three of the league's 50 Greatest Players: Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley. Each of those players would probably still start for these Rockets. (OK, maybe not Charles, at least not without a couple of workouts.) I love what the Rockets are doing, and love how they're doing it –- as a team, on both ends of the floor. They're doing it with Dikembe Mutumbo, for goodness sakes! Yes, they've been a tad lucky (the Lakers were without Andrew Bynum and new-stud acquisition Pau Gasol.) But there isn't enough luck in the world to account for a 22-game win streak –- in any sport. All I'll say is celebrate it now. Drink it in and digest it for all it's worth. Because while the Rockets are winning, they're expending a lot of energy (mentally and physically) when, ideally, the top teams would like to be fine-tuning for their playoff run. And no matter when the streak ends, Houston will carry the heavy weight of expectations into the playoffs. Oh, I almost forgot: If the postseason began today, the Houston Rockets' opening-round foe would be –- yes –- Golden State. Read more posts from Roy S. Johnson's blog – Ballers, Gamers and Scoundrels. --------------- Personally, I think this guy is reaching. Sure, the Golden State Warriors would be our opponent if the season ended today, but that's about the only thing I can see that you can legitimately say parallels the Mavericks of last year. We don't have (among other things), (1) the same expectations, (2) the same softness, (3) the same team dynamic, or (4) the same kind of star. What are your thoughts on this? Inspired article or ignorant rant?
I think the rockets can beat the warriors in a 7 game series because the rockets would kill them on the boards,they have a very weak bench,plus they play no D
The Rockets are going to be underdogs against any team they face in the playoffs, except *maybe* the Hornets and Warriors. Very different.
They are fine-tuning as much as the other top teams, moron. Ask the Lakers whether they're fine-tuning without Pau or Bynum. Heck, ask any team in the West whether they're expending more energy than they like to.
very interesting parallel. dirk is known for being soft as is t-mac, and dallas lacked an inside presence as does this team. i think we'd probably lose to golden state as well.
Same old ****, different day. Blah, Blah McGrady 1st round Blah Blah. Hey beat writters, I don't give two ****s if you're picking the Rockets to make the Western Conference or not. Most of these guys who write these articles are more unknowledgable about the Rockets than most people here. Seriously, these guys are getting on my nerves. Find something more intellectual to write about. It was JVG who could never lead us out of the first round and Tmac couldn't lead some bunk ass Magic teams when he was young out of the first round. What a tool.
The warriors were also much better last year. J-Rich was awesome in the playoffs. Also, we match up with the warriors better without Yao. We can run with them and guard the perimeter much better. We also know how to play defense... something the Mavs forgot how to do in that series.
It's not right to compare them to the fall of the Mavs but if with Yao and they still failed...then i would consider them failing
Dallas did not have an inside presence and dirk was known for being soft in 2006 and they went to the finals and did not won it (Thanks Good) because of the zebras.
What is going on is not really that the Rockets are defeating everyone. What is going on is that other teams are intentionally losing to finish in the 8th seed and play the Rockets in the first round since they are so bad. Look San Antonio lost today. This is never going to end. In the end, the Rockets are not going to win the championship and everyone is going to say "see I told you they were not that good". I am absolutely positive the Rox will get out of the first round. But unless they win a title, all the stupid haters will think they were right.
There is a big difference. Nobody is expecting them to win. At this point the streak is even more incredible because Yao is out. If we dominated the entire season with a healthy team then you could compare the two. Everyone expected us to not even make the playoffs at this point. We are overachieving. That’s the beauty of it all.
I know that Yao isn't going to be available for us in the playoffs. But still, if you're going to talk about our "easy" schedule, a token recognition of the fact we've won 10 straight games without Yao would be nice.
Forget this ****. I'll just make it easy on all these 'experts' and 'sportswriters' and provide a template for future articles.
There will be plenty of jerks out there waiting to call us losers if we don't advance in the playoffs. That's what's so frustrating.
Completely different stories. Mavs were STACKED with talent and dominated all year. We sucked for half the year. We dont have any big names besides t-mac.
Whenever someone says “I am not trying to diminish something or disparage someone”, usually that person is doing exactly the opposite.
