10. The Rockets getting off to a winning start....8 and 4, and for the first time in a long time, we don't have to be on the outside looking in. 9. T-mac's unselfishness. Everyone always said that T-mac could never lead a team because he was too selfish and immature. I think the fact that he is "deffering" his game not only to Yao, but also focusing on getting his teammates involved early, is better then the excellent stuffing you might be having today 8. A real bench. How badly have we been wanting on of these for years? With Synder, VSpan, and Howard and eventually Wells - we have a solid 10 man rotation (including Deke) and a quality reserve at every position. 7. An unopened Christmas present - Steve Novak. No one really knows what's going to happen when he gets unwrapped and put into a few games...but at worst it's nothing, and at best we are drooling at the possibility of him as a sinister deadly weapon. 6. Kirk Synder only being out for 8-10 weeks. Always could have been worse! 5. The evolution of Chuck Hayes. What a pleasent surprise this has been. hayes has been able to take pressure of Yao, grab rebounds, and play energetically - making us forget that big hole at the 4. 4. The arrival of VSPAN. The much anticipate arrival was better then hoped and has led us one step closer to believing this team can reach the promise land! 3. Yao Mings improved play. It's been a delightful and welcomed suprise to see Yao take another step closer to greatness. Most exciting, you can tell he still has room to grow and still hasn't reached his peak. How good can Yao be? 2. T-mac's back. Lost is all the concern we had for his back. Forget about big numbers, let's be thankful we haven't heard a peep out of his back 1. The most passionate fans there are. Let's face it, with a billion people in China, there's a lot more Rockets fans then ever - maybe more in Asia then Houston, and we're one of the few teams in the NBA to have a truly international fan base. Although YOF's are entertainingly one-sided and super sensitive, and often don't understand the game or culture, you can't question their fanatical passion and that in a way, this is China's team. Great fans, the best basketball BBS in the world, two unique and intriguing superstars, fabulous team chemistry, and a classy organization - man the days of it being fun to be a Rockets fan are back!
Let me be the first one to respond and say excellent comments and breakdown of our team and yes we indeed have much to be thankful for!
0. Morey has seen what a good offseason is. That good start for him will continue to help get us players that help the Rockets win. -1. The Red Rowdies seem to be giving the Rockets a true home court advantage. I know the group is small, but that group really does influence the whole crowd. Thanks Red Rowdies and thanks JVG. -2. Improved 3 point shooting. With 3 point shots going in, Yao finally has room to work with in the post. Shane Battier and Tracy seem to be in a slump and we're still up there in percentages. -3. The media coming around on the subject of Yao. I know there are guys out there that still don't want to crown Yao as the best center in the game, but the word is out. The media even talking about it gives credit to the idea that he's the best center playing the game. Eventually this media blitz on Yao will make hard fouls more noticible and he'll eventually have calls go his way. -4. We have an MVP caliber player again! Yao's desire for greatness is showing this year. -5. The chemistry on this team seems to be pretty good. Tmac is having a poor year, but he hasn't let it affect the chemistry of the group. -6. Not signing Mike James in the offseason. He's doing okay for Minnesota right now, but he hasn't turned them into a contender. I doubt he would have been the difference for us. -7. We have a winning record on the road. Championship teams always win on the road and we're showing signs that we can do that. (4-3 road) That would lead to (23-18 or 24-17 road) if the pace continues. Imagine if we were even better than that on the road. -8. We showed that we can beat the Spurs. That has got to give us confidence for the next time we play them. We had a 19 point lead against a very good team. We're eventually going to learn to keep leads. This might be the scariest team in the NBA by season's end. -9. The Jazzholes are riding high right now. It'll be like old times when we cut em' down. Maybe Karla and his little point guard girlfriend can come out of retirement and take a beating. Is that an odd thing to be thankful for?
I guess you can count me as one of those die hard non-Houston-based Houston Rockets fans Im chinese and yeah, Yao has certainly got the NBA going. I am and have always been an avid fan of basketball and the NBA. After the MJ era, however, I kinda just forgot about the NBA (hard to imagine it today.... but I used to root for the Jazzholes.... Clutch save my soul ). Anyways, when Yao got to the NBA, I was glued back to the games. Ive been waiting since Yao's day 1 for this time to come and wow.... its almost a dream come true, not to mention its great to have Yao on my fantasy squad. Cheers guys, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Awesome - it's so cool to see a chinese guy succeed in the NBA. I would love to see someone from India do well and become a star and play for the Rockets. Hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving!
Yeah, I hope he does well and eventually joins the team, but there's plenty of Jews who are successful at other things and famous in the world. It's great to see 1.2 billion people have an icon other then a martial arts film star. It's also really good for the sport and for racial integration. Breaks down stereotypes. And it's a source of pride for many Chinese people (although they need to chill a bit on crying race every time Yao gets knocked). It's a great way to show how sports can bring the world together instead of further apart. Yao's truly an ambassador. And think about it....China doesn't want to nuke us as much now, not only do we buy all of our stuff from them, but Yao is such a great source of pride they wouldn't want to destroy that ya know. Yao is better then a missle defense shield
Now if we can just package Juwan Howard and Bonzi Wells for a decent rotational player...... HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!! DD
New Yorker - nice to see you on the Vspan bandwagon - hope you didn't tear up a leg or a foot climbing on while the wagon was already in motion. You are a brave man, or else a New Yorker raising the Chinese issue one more time. Soon I expect someone in photoshop to burn you in effigy - don't want them to - just expect it. But then I've been to NYC have friends there and from there and know how they wave hello in the morning: "f*** you!" But then I must be a racist against New Yorkers. Gosh it was a great game last night even when at 5min Gundy pulled Bill and I put my head down in my hands and said "Oh *#@%$&*$! Here we go again! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" That lead melted like a snowball in July. Van Gundy probably gets a report from the usher crew every night: Jeff, we have evidence that 27 fans peed their pants in the 4Q tonight. Oh great, a new record! I'm doing it my way and it's driving the fan base crazy. I have some new friends to join my group therapy! BA. BTW I am thakful for my bobble finger Mutombo!
New Yorker, here here, great comments. I am thankful for all the friends and adversaries on this board: Rocket's fans all!
I was always excited about VSPAN - I just don't get upset when he sits the first 10 games of a season. But i've been a basketball fan for like 25 years so 10 games really doesn't seem like a whole lot. But I understand for some it's an eternity. Yeah, you know I am a New Yorker, and we don't like to be intimidated - so I will raise the Chinese issue up a lot. I'm not afraid of these zealous fans trying to bad mouth me at all - in fact, it's part of the fun. It's too bad they have to resort to nasty tactics, and it's a bit sad they are trying to ruin the BBS, but whatever, it's just a few bad apples amongst an otherwise great community. But I love the fact that we have all these guys from China logging in and posting. Do you remember that one post about Sura - the joke about him fainting? Man that was so funny. You gotta love this board - we got some uniqueness. Does anyone know how many members are from mainland China? Why don't you give us a behind the camera look at the game? Tell us some things those of us watching on TV couldn't see! I'd really appreciate it!
Nope, sorry. 7-5 in the recent past. Exclude Mister Van Gundy's tenure (where poor starts have been as common as better ones), this record would only be slightly above average.
Great read! Rox fan in UK! I believe chinese all over the world have became solid Rox fans. Happy Thanks giving you all. Gotta sleep...
well I really liked how long the refs let Arenas jabber at them, and then when the ref told him it was time to stop and brought the whistle to his lips Arenas finally turned away and just missed the T. Not sure how much of that looonngggg discussion tv shared with you-all. If it had been any other non-star in the league the T would have been called much sooner. Then I could see Arenas was upset so I kept my eye on him during the next few minutes and when one of our players was crossing the paint (Head maybe?) Arenas threw an elbow at him as he went by but the elbow missed and the ref missed his little treat as well. I commented to my buddies I guess Arenas is still upset.
I'M CHINESE!I 'VE GOT TO USA SEVERAL TIMES! U CANN'T IMAGINE HOW MANY CHINESE ARE FOCUS ON ROX,AND ARTICLES ON THIS BBS CAN ALWASY BE TRANSFERED TO CHINA 'S WEBSITE.
"nuke usa"? i take that as a random joke. and that reminds me of 《24》, i watched all the five seasons, and some scenarios in season 5 is really unrealistic and ridiculous, eg sth about the china embassy, i go too far...maybe it comes for the difference of culture and background, etc. one of my fellowmen post the same words what i want to say, i have watched nba for almost 20 years, i saw a lot and i knew a lot, sometimes i knew the answer but just couldn't post all accurately due to my poor written english, though my pronunciation is a little better than yao's i was very excited when i found clutch forum and now i know clutch is 10 years old, i just got the website by random surfing, i am very proud to be a clutch member! and i am very happy at the moment when i read the rox fans' threads everyday, praise or criticism ones, i take those all, i dont know how many chinese fans r in this forum and how many shanghainese r here, very very fewer i think, if any post is not suitable plz tell me, let me and let us(all chinese "rookie" fans) know, coz that all come for the difference i guess... here is on question: what is the "real" meaning of "cluth" here? seize; take hold of tightly with hand(s)? control;power? pedal? dt tell me clutch here means sth like set of eggs blah blah... last week i got an answer for "clutch" for my own→ carriage leads u to camp houston just kidding...if there is any metaphor for clutch just let me know, i am really interested, thanks in advance... happy thanksgiving day to all cluth fans! rox——keep on moving! go go go!
