Yep... Houston has also done its part by becoming completely dis-interested/indifferent to the Rockets, and the NBA in general. The Astros, with success, are going to win-over this city in droves (if they haven't already)... the Rockets basically had that mantle presented to them, and proceeded to take a dump on it and then pawned it for cash that they could take to the strip club. I've never been more ashamed of another Houston team... likewise, the anticipation for this year's Astros team is approaching 2000 and 2004 (for recent history) levels.
It'll be nice to have baseball buzz in Houston again. It just feels...right...when Houston is excited about the Astros.
On the Rockets....the games they play are boring. This is the first time that I've ever stopped watching/paying attention to a home team. Basically, to watch the Rockets either means watching the Rockets lose, watching Hack-a-somebody (if Howard/Capela are healthy) , or watching both. The Astros losing seasons were more entertaining to me.
I'm more disappointed in the consistent lack of effort... guys looking motivated one game, but dis-interested (or drunk/hungover) the next game. If they hadn't had the extreme success last year, I'd actually be more content with them being what they are... but knowing what they're capable of when they give a damn solidifies them as one of the most disappointing and shameful teams in Houston pro sports history. I agree, the Astros losing 100+ games was far more entertaining. The Texans pretending to play NFL football with a QB who is actively concussed/dizzy is far more entertaining. Watching Dwight Howard get ejected/miss free throws, watching James Harden turn it over ever other possession, and watching players continue to jack-up contested 3 pointers (when they're not even good shooters when left wide open) is NOT fun to watch.
Couldn't agree more. Even with the Astros were really bad, at least you knew they were going to be really bad. Makes it easier to stomach, plus I could see that better days were coming. With the Rockets, I've reached the point of just not even caring. When the fan base starts to trend toward indifference, the FO of the team is really in trouble. There's no reason they should be this bad. They are, primarily because of the players and the style of game they play. It's plain ugly over there.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Astros Are in a Sweet Spot <a href="https://t.co/Q1Ls9v0DUh">https://t.co/Q1Ls9v0DUh</a></p>— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) <a href="https://twitter.com/fangraphs/status/697820890009116672">February 11, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Swoon.
Not to mention their best player, Harden, doesn't even try on defense When the Astros were losing 100+ they gave effort, just didn't have the talent The only star "Beard" in this town reigns supreme at Minute Maid Park
Its really unfair to compare the Rockets and the Astros right now. 1) Their trend lines are completely opposite. 2) Rockets expectations were through the roof for this season. 3) Hard play, or lack there of is harder to see in Baseball than Basketball. Other than Carter trotting pedestrianly down the first base line only to be thrown out at second (because of it) stands out in my mind as a lackadaisical Astros baseball player. While its not uncommon in Basketball for a player to be slow to get back on D in transition or be accused of playing soft. Harden's "D" deserves scrutiny though. 4) Lastly, while I reluctantly agree that watching the Astros lose 100+ games a few years back was more entertaining than watching the present day Rockets play at .500, part of that (for me) was expecting those Astros to be bad. On the other hand, its really hard to watch a team expected to win 55 games that may not win 40.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/schedule/broadcast/index.jsp?c_id=hou Looks like 10 games to be broadcast on ROOT. First one being March 4 against the Cardinals.
I'm sick of everything about them... sick of Harden thinking he can coast through an off-season drinking/partying and still claim to be the best player in the league. I'm sick of the front office continuing to push a system of 3-pointers and fast-paced offenses, when the personnel features poor 3 point shooters and turnover-prone players when the offense is too fast. I'm honestly sick of an owner who far too often has over-stressed big names vs. building something longer-lasting. Its no coincidence that the Rockets have gone through vastly different iterations of "potential" since Hakeem retired: 1.) Francis-Mobely era, 2.) Yao-T-mac era, 3.)Harden-Howard era. Those are huge names but also huge variances occurring year-to-year, some based on injury, some based on coaching, some based on simply not being as good as they thought they were. All-the-while, the Spurs keep chugging along... since 1997... absolutely ridiculous. Okay, rant over... go Astros.
that's a lovely write up by fangraphs. :grin: what if I promised more than .000000004 batting average from the first base position, that should also count at least 3 wins. Can't wait! rockets can't stop a nosebleed.
You forgot the Kyle Lowry/Luis Scola iteration circa 2011. Maybe you have blocked those years out of your memory.
I get that you're joking... but I'd take that 2011-2012 pre-harden team, over what they're showing now. I liked watching that team. Reminded me of last year's Astros team.
