This team is at most second tier team. Look at the stats: Hynes: 2 points, Battier: 4 points Yao: 8 TOs Mac: 2 for 10 in the second half, and make no mistakes, they are our starters, not bench.
No Game 6 was the test . .they fail They could have showed HEART . .and KILLER INSTINCT now they just another desperate team fighting to not be eliminated Rocket River I am Still very Disappointed
The first round of the playoffs was 5 games in 94 & 95. If now was then we would have advanced already. This is exactly why we got home court. Utah is a decent team. It is not easy. Some of yall are pathetic. GO ROCKETS!
Exactly. Without Game 7's there would be no Clutchcity. But this team is staying classy even though so cal boys hop off and on the bandwagon after every win and loss. These Rockets are better than that.
As I watched this game last night, I kept telling myself that the Jazz were playing out of their minds with their shooting (shooting like 54%), having the homecourt, and all the other intangibles. We were only down by ONE point early in the 4th quarter - I mean it wasn't like we were blown out or had no chance. But unlike the '94 and '95 teams, we have NO ONE who can hit a big shot out of our role players. Guys like Alston and Battier are garbage when it comes to hitting big-time clutch shots. They couldn't come close to doing what guys like Elie, Cassell, Maxwell, and Horry did in the past. That is why I think this Rockets team will not go farther than the 2nd round and that isn't even a guarantee. Turn the ball over tomorrow night like they did last night and the Rockets won't even being worrying about the Warriors. It's just frustrating because the Jazz aren't really that great of a team - they just execute a helluva lot better on offense than we do.
There were two Clutchcity Rockets. The 1994-95 team was battered, old and potentially had some huge chemistry problems when Thorpe was traded and Maxwell left the team. Yet they came out and beat teams that on paper were far superior than them. We have the better record than the Jazz and should be the superior team to them accept for about 4 quarters of this series though the Jazz have been the better team. I'm not giving up on the Rox but it just pisses me off when I see the Rox have the chance to take the game and then back off.
You're right perhaps after seeing the miracle that was the Clutchcity Rockets I've been spoiled into thinking that some thing like that can happen. The Clutchcity Rockets were special for a reason and maybe its unfair to expect Rocket teams to be like that...
I'll let you know whether we're clutch or choke city after Saturday night. But the last game was painful! I wanted to jump in there and b**** slap all of our players and tell them to play like warriors. May be it doesn't hurt if the whole team watch the movie "300" before game time.
I swear it's like some of you expect the rox to win every game or lose only by a single point every day of the week. Wins, losses, that's what basketball is. Any team looks bad when they lose, hell the majority of the time you lose a game because you play bad. And sure, the wins aren't exactly pretty all the time either but they are wins nonetheless. It's how the cookie crumbles with the style of this team. The fact is it's 3-3 homecourt game 7. Neither team has budged. And obviously this isn't clutchcity, we're in freaking 2007! Live in the moment for the love of god, elsewise all you have is a cup full of old memories, and a mouthful of bitterness
Coaching was an important part. After OT and Max left, a GENIUS COACHING MOVE was made. Moving Horry (who played center in college) to the 4 and Elie to the 3. That allowed Drexler to do what he does best (slash), force teams to either double dream or leave Horry wide open since Horry doesn't really like to bang too much like OT did down low. And we know what Horry did when he was open (YES HITTING BIG SHOTS > STATS ) The biggest weakness to this was that there was no help down low for Dream for rebounding. But that strategy worked cause Dream was a SUPERSTAR and played like one. Also, the Kenny/Sam duo WAS A GREAT IDEA. Since Kenny was more of a shooter and Sam was a slasher/scorer. Teams had to adjust to our "ROLE" players cause they were so VERSATILE.
The clutch city squad was in every game of the 1994 NBA Finals vs the Knicks. They lost 3 of them. The teams were evenly matched(just like now). Sometimes you gotta credit the other guy for making big plays.
No, it is not the original "Clutch City" Rockets. This does not mean we should not be able to win tomorrow. Sometimes you gotta credit a coach for teaching his squad the things that he knows he can get away with. I suppose Sloan is more of a "If you're not cheating you're not trying" kinda guy. Can't argue results... but... He'll have to win this one with actual basketball, and I don't think they are going to be able to handle it. Things have gone their way, more often than not... and to a sickening degree in Utah (What the $#@! was that technical foul on Juwan, and how bout that Shove by Okur that didn't even get a call? Not to mention, he WANTED the contact on the foul, then shoved Juwan after he got it?) They just play sick... bullying sissy basketball... IM TOUGH IM TOUGH IT'S A TOUGH GAME... OUCH MY PEE PEE HURTS, WHERE IS THE WHISTLE? I hope they get what's coming to them... but our team has to be willing and able to serve it up. Time will tell. Go Rockets... you CAN do this. There is no try, only do.
This couldn't have been pointed out better. We tend to forget that in SOME games we were let down by the "Clutch City Teams". I know all of you don't believe that in every game, and every situation they made the right decision, the correct shot, etc. I know how some nights went w/ those teams. All of the analyzing we have done only reflects the symptoms of what is really happening. We want to say it's Tracy's heart, we want to say the role players have to get their lift from the stars, we want to say they lack a killer instinct. There is only one simple explanation that requires, outside sources to cure and only when the outside sources are there do we see a difference in this team. Otherwise we question ever facet of their being. It's ENERGY. No player on this team has the ability to create this energy on there own. It takes outside sources. This is why we struggle at home sometime. This is why we lose to lesser opponents sometimes. This is why is so difficult to win in Utah. Things that create energy (which leads to adrenaline) are the fans, other teammates, big games, national stage, etc. This is one of the reasons Sura was an asset to this team. One of the reasons Mad Max was an asset to the old teams. He had energy at times when no one else did. When our role players are hitting we have energy and it's carried over into Tracy and vise verse from Tracy to the role players. When you miss shots on the road and your so close to closing out an opponent that's there for the taken, it can suck all of the energy out of you. Times like that is when we need an energy player, someone to get rough, like Sura used to do. Tracy and this team don't have that natural fire in them. In-reality very few current players have it. MJ, Kobe, KG, and a few others. This is why sometimes Tracy can look lazy and average at times. Others he's one of the best to ever play. I was hoping the Juwan T would lift him and give him some energy. Heart doesn't come and go, but energy does. These guys knew the whole time in Utah that if they couldn't get it done they had one more chance. Steve Nash said the other night he wished the Suns could convince themselves they were playing in a game seven. He didn't say that because he wanted to create heart, he wanted the energy and adrenalin that comes from playing a game 7. Tracy plays off of adrenalin more than any other star I know or have seen in the NBA. He needs other sources to lift his energy. I know he should bring it every night, but he just isn't that type of person. He was full of energy in game 5 knowing the game was so pivotal. You lose that game and you face elimination on Utah's home court. He lacks the ability to create the adrenalin himself. In game 6 he came out w/ plenty of energy, but overtime the missing of shots and the Utah crowd will drain you. I know we will have an energy fed Tracy in game 7. All you have to do is look at Golden State to understand, difference w/ them is they have energy players, that can create energy, we don't. Little long, maybe I should have kept it high level and just said we need ENERGY
The championship teams each had a bench that did more than stand up and cheer. They produced. When their backs were against the wall, they came in and did what was needed to help the starters win. So far, this team's bench has largely been on vacation. If they show up Saturday, we will win. I don't doubt that for a second. If they don't, it will take superb games by our starters, error free, to pull it out. The Jazz will leave eveything on the court. It's our court... let's tell them to take their jocks and go home. This court are belong to us.
Good post and I understand what you are saying and perhaps we look back at the Clutchcity Rox with rosy colored glasses. It just seemed like those Rox, especially the 95 Rox, wouldn't wait for someone else to generate energy. I remember in many of those games you would see the Rox playing lacksadaisacal. The other team would close in on Dream, Clyde would lose a step and Smith and Horry would be misfiring from the three. When it looked like the Rox were done Elie would drive into the lane and hit a really tough shot or Cassell would come in and get a cutter in the lane. It didn't matter whether it was in Houston, Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio or Orlando. In fact it seemed like the Rox would get up to play road games even more than at home. I saw some flashes of that in Game 5 but it too often seems like the Rox can't muster that fire like last night or in the first two games were relying on Utah to collapse. In that game 7 game in Phoenix Mario and Co willed the Rox to win over the Suns and they weren't counting on the Suns to choke. I'm just not getting that feeling from this current team. Don't get me wrong I'm not jumping off the bandwagon, I'm riding it to the glorious, hopefully not bitter, end. I just want to see this team play like the 95 team. Then again maybe that is too much too expect.
Chang, you realize half these people here don't know or care about the original Clutchcity. they dont know or care about its history and legacy? Example: start a thread saying "Rockets suck" then start a thread saying "[Rocket Player] sucks". You'll get way more hits and negative feedback on the [Rocket Player] sucks.
We really shouldn't be comparing those teams to this team. It just isn't the same. I remember so many times when we were bailed out by the "Role" players in the early 90's. That's why Sam, Mario, Vernon, Horry Otis, etc are thought of as so highly, cause they contributed in the "Clutch" when our loan star, then two stars were tired and playing w/ less energy. We didn't win after trading Horry, Sam, etc. Still I remember the failures before the 93 season. I remember thinking during the championship run that we were not strong enough, couldn't man up at home. NO ONE HERE CAN SAY that they knew we were going to win once we were down and losing playoff games at home, being in elimination games only to rise above and win back to back championships. Those teams became "Clutch City" from the elimination games we won. Then again, there's the missing MOTIVATOR Rudy T. The human spark plug SAM, Horry with the tomahak dunks, Mad Max on one of those streaks, the list of players that Rudy brought in and made them believe goes on and on.
