ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Jazz 4/24/2008 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 3)

go away then

dont need that kind of negativity

BELIEVE GYS

 

If the refs were that bad at home...I hate to see what this is going to be like..

 

as long as they dont kill us like last game im fine with it

 

It will be an interesting game.

Both should be playing thier best game.

Watch out for the fans in Salt Lake City.

It should be very loud.

If Houston can not hit shots it will be a very long game.

Please quit complaning about the refs and hope that the Rockets come to play ball.

 

At this point I'll be okay with a win or lost...I mean I won't go and kill myself.

What would make the game for me is to see Tracy for 4 quarters. That's all I want, that's all I ask. FOUR quarters from T-Mac.

If that happens then I go into the off-season a little more upbeat.

If it does not happen then I go into the off-season whinning, b****ing and wanting CHANGE.

 

Truthfully, McGrady does care. Nobody wants to be labeled a failure. Yet he isn't building a very strong case this post-season. He is 16-43 from the field overall and has made no baskets and scored just one point in the fourth quarter.

But before scorning him like an oil executive or a reptile (if there's a difference), consider this: The man is hauling an injury-depleted team through the playoffs against heavy odds.

It's not like there are a lot of options.

Meanwhile, the Jazz are taking full advantage. With Yao Ming and Rafer Alston out with injuries, Utah has ganged up on McGrady and stared down everyone else. They have been running a steady string of fresh bodies at him from start to finish: Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring.

By the time the game is over, McGrady looks like he's been through the spin cycle.

"I'm pretty tired," he said Monday. "In the fourth quarter I didn't have anything."

So it appears McGrady will soon complete another playoff whiff. He'll be called a choker, wimp, prima donna and quitter again.

Yet it's the same McGrady who carried his team to 22 consecutive wins this year after fellow All-Star Yao went down.

He has contributed assists (16) and rebounded well (19) in the playoffs, hoping his teammates might pick up the slack. Unfortunately, the rest of the team is made of spare parts, not All-Stars. They are good players, but not great ones.

And he's still the team leader, netting 43 points in two games.

His all-time playoff scoring average is 29, four more than his regular season average. He averages more assists and rebounds in the post-season than in the regular season, too.

That's not a quitter, it's a guy desperately in need of backup.

Considering Houston's injury situation, the Jazz don't have to be tricky. They just need to know where T-Mac is at all times. Follow him from his front door, to the dry cleaners, to the pet store, to the arena and back. That should do the trick. If so, and McGrady fails again, it won't be the worst disaster ever. Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton and Charles Barkley all went to the NBA Finals but never won titles. Technically they're all in the same class as McGrady: great players who never won a championship.

That doesn't make any of them dogs, nor does it make McGrady a complete failure.

It simply makes him a great player who had nowhere to turn when he was all boxed up.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272981,00.html

 

I'd like for us to start the game off strong. The defense we had in 22 game streak is the kind of D we will need here. I like the idea of putting Battier on Deron Williams and move Alston/Bobby J/Brooks over to guard whomever the shooting guard is (Brewer/Korver).

Rockets win by 10, with solid team defense and more three point consistency.

 

I am trying to erase the memories from last year's playoff games in Utah, but the images keep coming back, and they are all bad. I just hope the Rockets give it all they have. That is all one could ask.

 

T`mac comes out red hott and Rafer comes back to make a good contribution... lets hope T`mac has enough energy to finish the game off

We win by 5

 

my "keys of the game" - (pretending to be clyde here)

#1, believe we can win and will win in utah. i'm not sold on this slc hca thing. if you play great, you win. simple as that. it's certainly not over yet.

#2, we've got nothing to lose. we've played great so far, considering we missed 2 starters. take out their starting pg and center (yes, that would be williams and okur) and see what they can do.

#3, score more than they do. lol. things are only getting worse for the utah jass.

 

and rafer must NOT try to be the hero if he plays. just be yourself and play your normal game and don't try to do too much.

 

What it means to be a Rocket: The refs screw us at home and screw us worse on the road

 

Rockets hit record 20 three pointers and win by the score of:

140-126

Does that score ring a bell anyone??

 

Utah will probably beat us.

 

Rafer--we're counting on you...

 

Ewww that hurt to even hear that...but anyway....Rockets win!

 

Dear Rick Adelman:

Please start Aaron Brooks.

 

I think I am going to mute the telecast and hear Peterson on 610 instead. Kind of sucks his career will most likely end in that arena with those horrible fans. I'm really want the guys to try to win this one and make Boozer and company come back to Houston. Do it for Peterson!

 

Ah study for finals or watch the game? decisions...

Flashbacks of later year's playoffs in Utah makes me cringe

I feel as if it's like watching a train wreck....you want to look away but part of you wants to see it....

 

Rox will win by 10+ points. Book it.