These folks should have been around in 83 (the "thrown" season). I remember back in the late 80s/early 90s. Talk radio radio was full of "we cant win with a wild child like Maxwell" or "Kenny Smith is the worst defensive PG in the league" or "trade Thorpe; he cant shoot outside of 2 feet". Every talked about what that team could never do, yet, they did it. People may wonder why posters like you, I and others arent fans of trades. Its because we get that personal satisfaction by believing in the players we have. Believing that they ARE good enough to be champions.
Don't forget the spurs is the best team in this league, also in this world. It's not the end of the world, we still have more than 50% win! And, I believe we are going to beat spurs someday, just in near future!
While most of the posters here are already expecting the playoffs for this season, I expect they will miss it. To realistically expect them to make the playoffs this season is like hoping for a miracle. Look at their schedule the rest of the way. The rockets have a horrendous record against the west and do you really expect it to change just because they are a handful of games over .500 so far and are "in" the playoffs (for now)? I don't understand why my "Who would you want to PICK in the first round" post got deleted. Sure I found out after I posted that the Rockets didn't have a first round pick, but it could have still applied to a second round pick. My point is, don't expect the playoffs because the playoffs are a far cry from being a lock this year. This team has let me down many a time, only this time i'm not going to blindly praise them just because they are currently a 7th seed. Remember the choke city last year out of the playoffs? Well, this year the Rockets have TWO teams within striking distance, not just ONE like last year.
I do find the Rockets' play to be somewhat maddening at times, but guess what? that's the up and down life of a true fan. (unless you root for the Lakers or the Yankees or some other juggernaut.) There are always multiple ongoing storylines with the Rockets and a colorful cast of characters you couldn't even make up. Simply put, watching this team is fascinating theater. The team has so much personality. The BBS is like a support group, it's great. I often find myself thinking about past BBS debates while watching and analyzing games. No matter if we agree or disagree, there's always something interesting to talk about with this team. Of course, all of us fans want to see the Rockets do well. But as a Zen buddhist might say, it's not only the destination that matters, but the journey. I've grown to love this team, warts and all.
I agree with Thanos. However I really like the team. I remember sneaking out of bed when I was a kid to listen to Gene Peterson broadcast the rockets on my ol' sanyo boombox. I'm not giving up, but I feel that - as I am older now - I don't have to watch every game to be a fan. I decided after the Spurs game to not watch the games other than those I really think they'll win. It's not a matter of being "fair-weather", rather my time is to valuable to me to waste 3 hours of it consistently. The saddest thing is how good they could be. I would rather watch a blow-out loss where they really played hard than see them lose after fighting equally hard simply by just playing like idiots. I can't afford that much time anymore for naught. Maybe that makes me less of fan compared to some others on the board, but I would never root for a different team. --rhad
Yep. Any minor changes the team improves on are just temporary band-aid "solutions" that are only used to stop the bleeding until next year. Any major change will be done in the off-season. We just have the wrong mix of players.
I have hope for the team getting very good. It's just not for this year. The fact is Brent Barry who is one of the best 3 point shooters in NBA history is going to be a free agent. He's basically asking for the MLE exception for 4 years. Ray Allen is possibly on the trade market. I know that Seattle's management is trying to encourage an uptempo game. If Brent Barry, Ray Allen, and possibly Vladimir Radmanovic go to Houston, the perimeter would consist of possibly the best gunners in franchise history. Kenny Smith was good, but noone else really was dominant from 3 point land besides him. There's hope if management acts prudently this offseason. Offer draft picks or whatever to sweeten the pot to get Ray Allen. Ray Allen will finally get a chance to play with a big man, and Steve gets his very own team again to run with.
I'm still going to be rooting for and following the Rox but I agree with Thanos' sentiment. This team is frustrating and while yes Dallas and the Spurs are among the top teams in the league that still doesn't explain why we keep on coming up short against Memphis and struggle against the Hawks. Are we to accept that Memphis is now so far superior to us that we can shrug off losing to them? Or that having to go to triple OT at home against the Hawks is acceptable? I'm trying to keep hope alive that we'll make it to the playoffs but these Rox aren't doing a good job of sustaining that hope.
Great point, Thanos! Well, it would be, if our road record were actually bad. Dallas, Memphis, Denver and Portland all have worse road records than the Rockets. In fact, at 13-16, our road record is better than 20 of the other 28 teams in the league. Not spectacular, but very very good. This is something that should work in our favor come playoff time. In other words, our road record's NOT a liability, it's an asset.
Well, if he meant it in that sense, then I'd agree with you. But I interpreted as though he was more frustrated then actually not caring. Maybe it's because I felt more like this. The Dallas/Atlanta/SA games especially brought out a TON of frustration in me.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance?sort=away_avg&year=2004&seasonType=2 It seems like Rox have more fans outside of Houston. Their league attendance ranks 22th at home but 8th on the road with 10 national tv appearances (2nd to Sacto). Part of the problem belongs to JVG (boring offense) and management (dumb trades).
I enjoy his posts and can emphathize with his frustration over this team, because we are seeing the same level of play, primarily on the mental end. The real difference this year is Yao Ming and some better bench play. But, Steve's poor offense this year is probably costing us 4 or 5 games IMHO that we could have or should have won.... So, here is the question: If we were 37-20 vs 34-23 which would get us 3rd in the division and probably 4th in the conference, would everyone be less hyper sensitive about the Rockets play? My point here is that we are not in that bad of shape. Yes, the mental aspect is bothersome, but we are not far off from the 4th seed in the conference and as far off as the lottery. So, IMHO, if we can get Stevie to starting hitting with higher efficiency, we can pull out 3-4 more wins this year than want we are counting.....
Come on, Sam, that's completely unfair. It tears me apart so see the Rockets get worked by Western Conference teams and struggle against weak East teams at home. I don't WANT the Rockets to miss the playoffs, I just know it's going to happen... Proving you wrong, though, makes it all worthwhile.
Thanos doing Eric Cartman's impression: "Screw you guys....i'ma going home!" Though I understand his feelings, I still think that when you're a fan, you have to go with your team through thick and thin. When they finally "GET IT" you can enjoy it a lot more. Just my 2 pennies
In the last 10, we are 7-3 ... I did some Excel work and here are the numbers LAST 10 GAMES AVG Adrian Griffin 9 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.9 1.5 Clarence Weatherspoon 10 1.5 2.9 4.4 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.3 6.1 1.8 CUTTINO MOBLEY 10 0.7 3.2 3.9 4.0 1.3 1.3 1.9 0.5 15.0 2.1 JIM JACKSON 10 0.8 5.4 6.2 2.3 2.3 1.0 2.6 0.1 12.2 0.9 KELVIN CATO 10 1.6 3.9 5.5 0.9 2.4 0.7 0.5 1.0 5.7 1.8 Mark Jackson 10 0.1 0.9 1.0 2.6 0.6 0.1 0.6 0.0 1.3 4.3 Maurice Taylor 10 1.1 2.4 3.5 1.2 2.9 0.5 2.6 0.3 7.1 0.5 STEVE FRANCIS 10 1.4 3.5 4.9 5.3 2.8 1.6 2.7 0.3 13.1 2.0 YAO MING 10 1.5 5.7 7.2 1.9 2.7 0.2 1.9 1.8 19.1 1.0 They are very close to the YTD averages PLAYER O - R D - R REB AST PF ST TO BLK PTS AS - TO YTD AVG Adrian Griffin 0.0 0.9 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.8 1.5 Clarence Weatherspoon 1.6 2.5 4.1 0.5 1.2 0.5 0.5 0.3 5.3 1.1 CUTTINO MOBLEY 0.5 3.8 4.3 3.4 2.2 1.4 2.2 0.4 15.6 1.6 JIM JACKSON 0.7 5.6 6.2 2.7 2.7 1.1 2.1 0.3 12.2 1.3 KELVIN CATO 2.3 4.9 7.2 1.0 3.1 0.8 1.3 1.5 6.2 0.8 Mark Jackson 0.2 1.1 1.2 3.4 0.9 0.2 0.9 0.0 1.5 3.9 Maurice Taylor 2.0 3.5 5.5 1.3 3.3 0.6 2.0 0.7 11.4 0.6 STEVE FRANCIS 1.5 4.0 5.5 5.9 3.1 1.5 3.6 0.5 16.4 1.7 YAO MING 2.4 6.5 8.9 1.5 3.1 0.3 2.4 1.8 16.9 0.6 The significant increases or dropoffs I see are: Maurice - Points down by ~ 4 points per game Steve - Points down by ~ 3 points per game TO down by 1 per game Yao - Points up by ~ 2 per game TO, fouls and AST up by ~ .5 per game REB down by ~ 2 per game Cato - TO up ~ 1 per game
