Someone posted that the Rockets would have to go 4-1 in the last 5 to get the last spot in the West. Looking at it , that person should pick my next lotto tickets. 1 freaking win between Utah or Portland and more than likely this team would end up tied with Phoenix and owning the tie breaker. Its very strange because every team the Suns faced down the wire besides Seattle had something to play for. Utah and Portland was playing for position while Houston was playing for survival. Its going to be a long,long offseason pondering what if the Rockets had beaten either Portland or Utah. Portland is the one that really sticks because they were playing very,very poor and the Rockets had them at home.
I actually thought of the same thing, but again, the Suns might have tanked their last two games due to the fact that they already had the playoffs locked up and have no seeding position to play for. That being said, i will always feel bitter looking at the standings and seeing us, once again, as the best team out of the playoffs, and just 1 game behind no. 8 Phoenix
I said this in another thread. The Spurs screwed us by not beating the Suns. Duncan only shot 8 times and only pulled down 7 boards. The last time he did that was a million years ago. b*stard.
U are right mann i would never be on the spurs side not even if they go to the finals. i hope they get woopped by the suns. for not playing.
The bottom line is that the Suns took care of business and we didn't. When it was most important we choked... We stunk up the building. This is a disappointing season and the Rockets proved how not clutch they are. I hope that changes but I am not sure how it will. I mean how can Stevie shoot so terrible in the most important games of the season. Forget all his great stats if they don't result in big wins. Superstars produce in the clutch they do it when it counts and thats what disappoints me about this season more than anything. We didn't play with the heart of a champion but rather the heart of a loser. I'd trade Stevie with all his stats for Mike Bibby in a heart beat. Basketball is not just about talent it's about desire and courage you have to have ice in your vein and not get riled and start getting stupid technicals and shooting 1 for 20 when the whole season is on the line... You have to know how to will your team to victory regardless how much the odds may be against you... You do whatever it takes to win and you have decide you will not accept defeat. Yes 1 player can not do it on his own but he can convince his teammates that he will not allow them to be defeated and then amazing things can happen... The ROckets do not have that 1 player currently on their team, perhaps Yao will become that player in time but that may not be possible while Stevie is part of the team and the consensus leader.
Shoot, screw those Utah & Portland choke games at the end of the season. How about we actually play decent enough to beat the Clippers, Cavs, Knicks, etc. earlier in the season? Is that asking too much?!?
All we had to do was not lose to crappy teams at home and we would be in. Golden State, Clippers, Knicks, Heat...we lost to them all at home... Disgraceful. DD
What suck was, I was at those 4 games. But i was at about 15 other ones too, so I guess I am not the bad luck charm.
I think basically Rockets is a young team (not basketball age, but mentally). They do not know how to play when they are behind. This is 80% the coach's fault. In the whole season, Rudy failed to build the players confidence in the 4th quater. That is why so many times it happened in the 4th Steve and Mobely only play their two's basketball. When the things get a little better lately, when we had the 5 winning streak, we start play the same 5 people in the 4th, and the ball keep going to MoT or Yao's hand. The coaching change destroy the whole thing. I can not recall anygame other than the Lakers game since Larry Smith took over was decided in the 4th. and the Laker's game because the whole rocket team was engerized by the oppenent not the coach. The team only playing with attitude, not playing with effort. Actually the coach made it even worse. Because we had the game against Portland in the second quaters, but the coach cool down our shooting and give away the Win, the playoff, the season, our hearts as fans.
Spurs was also fighting for the 1st place at that game, so I dont buy your conspiricy theory. The fate was in our hands after beating Suns at home. Maybe this was just not the year for us. Rudy got sick and had to leave after that. Looking back, the two games we lost, against bucks and seattle, cost us the playoff. We were just flat till the end, while the Suns is more like a recharged team. They beat Dallas and San Anotonio, they should be in the playoff.