http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3806164.html HIGH HOPES, LOW FINISH It was supposed to be 'a special year.' But with Yao and T-Mac out, the Rockets end with a whimper instead of a roar. A SEASON TO FORGET By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle The San Antonio Spurs know what it's like to see Tracy McGrady when he is really heating up. They were the victims last year when he scored 13 points in the final 35 seconds of a game to produce a breathtaking victory for the Rockets. But Wednesday night, the only thing cooking at Toyota Center was the fresh popcorn T-Mac was handing out to fans arriving on the main concourse. He dispensed it with a wry smile and a dollop of regret as a lost season finally, mercifully, limped to a conclusion. When the NBA's 2005-06 schedule was announced last summer, it was a date you zeroed in on and circled — in red. Rockets vs. Spurs. Game 82. The battle for Texas with so much potentially on the line on the eve of the playoffs. Would it be a one-game, winner-take-all battle for the Southwest Division title? Maybe a duel for the best record in the entire Western Conference? As things turned out, it more closely resembled a junior varsity scrimmage. McGrady and Rockets center Yao Ming were sidelined by injuries, and so the Spurs — who figure to go deep into the postseason — used the opportunity to rest their two best players — Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. "This is very, very disappointing," said Chuck McClurkin, an 18-year season-ticket holder who wore a red Rockets road jersey and had a Rockets banner tied around his neck like a cape. "When I got my first look at the schedule way back when, I thought this was going to be a special kind of night. I mean, we're finishing up the regular season against our biggest rivals and the defending (NBA) champions. "This was one of those nights that I thought I'd remember for a long time. I guess I will, but for all the wrong reasons." Woulda, coulda, shoulda. That's the way most Rockets fans will remember this star-crossed campaign that seemed to have another injury and a different disappointment waiting around every corner. The season that began with lofty dreams of the Rockets challenging the Spurs for their NBA title with one of the most potent one-two punches in the game in Yao and T-Mac finished with the likes of Keith Bogans and Chuck Hayes challenging San Antonio's Rasho Nesterovic and Fabricio Oberto. The Rockets went from 51 victories a year ago and a gripping seven-game playoff series against Dallas to just 34 wins and will now make their fifth trip to the NBA draft lottery in seven seasons after the 89-87 loss to the Spurs. When Dikembe Mutombo and Nazr Mohammed jumped up for the opening tip, the lower bowl at Toyota Center was barely half full. Five minutes in, when Bogans drove through the lane for a layup, if you listened hard enough, you might have heard an early-season crowd at Minute Maid Park cheering for the Astros a few blocks away. Yao was not even in the building. He stayed home, keeping off the left foot that required recent surgery to repair a broken bone. McGrady, plagued by back problems all season, did his best to keep a grin on his face and hope for the future, wearing a baby blue sweater and black pants as he joined his teammates in the pregame huddle. He then sat across the way in the front row to watch. "I came here to see T-Mac play, not sit and watch with the rest of us," said Ray Turner of La Marque, who is in his second year as a season-ticket holder and attended 40 games this season. "I was so excited after getting to the playoffs last year. I figured we'd see big things." Turner's wife, Shalonda, simply shook her head. "It was supposed to be a special year, a special game," she said. "Now, it's just another night out." Their feelings were not unlike those of many of Rockets. "We had injuries, yes, but there were a lot of games we still should have won," point guard Rafer Alston said. "Regardless of anything and everything that happened, we should have been a playoff team." It could have been a night when the air was hot, when the tension was heavy, when the banners from the 1994 and 1995 championship seasons fluttered in the rafters from the anticipation of Rockets vs. Spurs. Instead it was an evening filled with giveaways of T-shirts and basketballs during every timeout, of contests and gimmicks intended to distract from the disappointment of a long, bitter season. McGrady, done with his role as Orville Redenbacher, stood at midcourt with a microphone in his hand. "I promise," he said, "next year it's gonna get better." fran.blinebury@chron.com
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true! the great thing about sports is that teams that had bad years get rewarded with good draft picks. so there is allways something to look forward too.
The draft pick will be nice but I'm hoping the team is rewarded with as much good luck as there was bad luck this season.
I picked this year to buy a season ticket plan. The team only won 3 games that I attended. The injuries couldn't be avoided, but JVG's inept coaching and stupid personnel decisions could have. I will not purchase season tickets again until JVG's sorry ass is gone.
