Forget everything else. There is always a particular problem that destroys the Rockets every year. That is their nasty habit of playing down to sh*tty teams, and losing games they should win with ease. Every time the Rockets have had a chance to make the playoffs, they have been done in by losses to the Clevelands, Denvers, and Chicagos of the league. If the Rockets do not dominate the non-playoff teams, then they will be one of them. There are no more excuses this year. The west has gotten tougher. Beating the elite teams will be a chore. The Rockets must capitalize on the trash of the league (which includes most of the eastern conference).
If Van Gundy can get the Rocks to beat the teams they ought to beat a majority of the time, then he's earning his salery. (or celery... whichever) Dead on, ZRB. That's been a consistent and maddening problem for the Rockets. Cure it, and we're in the playoffs.
you could make the arguement that if the rox start beating crap teams then the good teams wont be playing down to us.
Yeah, good post ZRB. Always enjoyed your posts. I agree. Speaking as someone who lives roughly 30 miles from Clevesuck, I must say I was very pissed about that Cavs game last year. And as a Houston EVERYTHING fan, I think the same can be said of ALL Houston teams. Thank God I live amongst the most miserable fans in sports, because then I don't feel as bad. I just thank Hakeem for getting the monkey off of my back.
Absolutely, the Rockets lost at least 10-15 games last season to lottery teams. And not just high lottery teams like Seattle either, it was getting swept by the Knicks, getting run by the Heat at home, and all kinds of embarassing losses.. If they had just won half of those games, they would have been fighting for homecourt advantage in the first round, not to get into the playoffs.
Hopefully the stability of Pike/Jackson/A. Griff will help them, but it will still come down to Francis
good thread. its actually about Rocket basketball the deal w/ the Rockets was they played in spurts last year. they would be down by 15 and try catching up or be up and blow the lead.....if they play consisntent they will beat the bad teams and make stay in it w/ the good teams. and make the playoffs of course
Of course, we should win these games, but ALL teams lose games against shi**y teams. The diference this year is that we CAN win at ALL TEAMS. We could win at San Antonio, Sacramento, Lakers (with or without Kobe), Minnessota, New Jersey.... We have a great team and we can win at all teams. The title contenders rosters are not betters than our roster. And Yao and Francis are better than everybody.
I think this JVG's intensity, focus, and attention to detail will clearly be the difference in winning these games. Additionally, these same traits will make a crucial difference in close games that come down to the wire.
I think you're right. Even though anybody can beat anybody in the NBA, the Rockets did seem to live up to that axiom more than most. On the flip side, though... I also think they beat good teams more than they really should have. The thing is, the Rockets winning was generally premised on 2 of our players having great games the same night. That's what happens when you play as much 1-on-1 as the Rockets. They didn't win many gritty games. They didn't win many games where the shots weren't falling, but sound execution put them in a position to win by getting easy buckets. If Francis went nuts, they had a chance. If Mobley or Yao could toss in a good game, they just might win. And if the shots were falling from 3 point land, there was a chance, too. Don't get me wrong: I'm well aware that when your players play well, you're more likely to win, and if they play poorly... you're obviously more likely to win. It just seems that the Rockets were a little too reliant on it "being their night." And if it wasn't, it didn't matter who they were playing... they'd lose. Incidentally, I think that was a big problem for the Lakers last year, too.
Pretty solid analysis haven. I'm hoping that execution on offense and defense will improve our record against the bad teams, while our stars will continue to help us against the good ones.
