I agree. Once the series was was over, it is clear that they were the better team from top to bottom. Yao & TMac played great and both showed a lot of heart. They just didn't have enough help around them. But, despite al that, the Rockets had this series n their grasp in the 4th quarters of games 3 and 6 and just didn't make enough plays. Hey, it happens. Let's give Utah their just due and applaud the Rockets on a good season none-the-less.
Utah deserved it. Its time to upgrade, we need a new power forward, a new coach, and better bench players.
We got beat by a team with an offense! One time one freakin time during the game we ran an offensive play and it worked. Van Gundy sucks, where is this d hes known for? Both game sevens the d dosent exist!
Am I the only one that doesn't hate this Utah team as much as before? I mean, I still hate Sloan and I want Harpring and Giricek ... nevermind I wont' say it but I don't hate them that much anymore. They're pretty classy, except for the flops here and there. I can't even explain it. Maybe losing has gotten to my head. Maybe it's because the Rockets deserved to lose. Good series Utah, hopefully we see you again next season when we are (no) better.
I don't think they are better. They just have better ENERGY in game 7,better coach. Needless to say, JVG was overcoached.
For me, this loss hurt more than any other Rocket loss since Game 6 of 1997 WCF (God, I hate the jazz). Mainly because of higher expectations and a belief that we would come out on top. But the Rocks just didn't get it done. Four - FOUR! - second chance opportunities given up in the fourth quarter alone. That's ridiculous. We got outworked. Their balance and toughness just was too much. A question I must ask, all season we were the first or second best defensive team in the L, with the lowest opposing FG%, then how do we let the Jazz shoot 51% against in the most important game of the season? I know they run an efficient, Sloan-style offense That being said, almost all championship teams go through these types of hurdles. Add another long athletic big man with hustle and an upgrade at the point (not an easy) order, combined with another year's experience, and we should be a contender. I was really disappointed with Yao's play this series; didn't have that aggressiveness and assertiveness we saw from him earlier in the season and it is now unlikely that he can become a franchise player. Too many deficiencies: lacks stamina, can at times be a defensive liability against quicker big men, makes mental mistakes repeatedly (ie. those three in the key calls killed me). That being said, he's the best centre in the League and a force down low. As for T-Mac, whilet this loss will ultimately fall on him, he did come out and give us a lot this series, including Game 7. You can't trade him at this point, you just need to upgrade the supporting case. I know I'm dreaming, but a Chauncey Billups would be tantalizingly good. I doubt this would make any economic or cap-sense, but another big-time performer with a killer instinct such as Billups or Kidd would obviously catalpult this team a long way. Anyways, I'm done rambling. I'm depressed. Go Warriors. Azim da Dream
I'm watching the NBATV post-game coverage. T-Mac just broke into tears in the press conference. I really didn't expect that but I guess he does care. Yeah I expected the loss - and even if they had won, GS will destroy them anyway. Yeah this team is just not that good - Other than Shane, the other role players probably won't start on other teams (i mean decent teams). Not saying T-Mac is not a good player, but trade him for a couple good players should definitely improve the team. T-Mac or Yao, one has to go to free up some money to improve the team.
We should show our respect to both of the teams Rockets play with heart, but Jazz is really a better team They dont rely on one or two players, everybody can step out and support the team. BUT I still Love My Houston Rockets WE Can be back next season!
For those who thought that the Rockets had enough talent to be a 2nd or 3rd seed this season just got exposed. Outside of Yao and T-Mac, there is lack of talent. Namely shooters. We CANNOT go into next season without better shooters.
Can't hate on Utah. They made the big plays down the stretch. Both teams gave it their all on the floor. Utah was the better team tonite and throughout the series.
Sorry, I will still hate on Utah all I want. We didn't deserve to win this series, but neither did Utah. No respect to floppers (Okur) and whining after every single play (Boozer).
Clearly the better team won. Just like against Dallas, the bigger, stronger, more athletic, more talented team won. We have a great player in Mcgrady, a great scorer in Yao, and Shane is a decent player. Other than that the rest of the team is TRASH. A bunch of undersized,slow, one-dimensional scrubs who are coached by a coach who has a style that just isn't the way that the NBA is today. Utah has many more good players than we do. Williams is going to be great, Boozer is fantastic, Fisher is a solid vet, Kirilenko is a good player, Okur is an all-star, Harpring and Giricek are big good shooters who are athletic. We are running guys out there like Luther Head and Chuck Hayes who should be end of the bench guys at best.
Agreed. I like your sig. It's been painful to watch the series, because of Rockets' ugly offense. Frankly Utah didn't play all that great, either; but they've been better than us. They played better team basketball, they played tough defense（although sometimes dirty), they deserve to win. Our offense is truly simple, as JVG described, and predictable. It's easy to defense, hence the low field goal percentage. Mac played fine, only he decided not to use his dribble penetration, which has been our ONLY effective offensive weapon in this series, at the end of Game 7. Yao has been frustrated by the physical defense, he also put too much pressure on himself. But he's got heart at clutch. To make Yao more effective, we need cutters. especially big and quick cutters. Look at Harpring and Kirilenko's cutting. We need better offensive coaching, we need better bench. In the end, a disappointed season; but obviously we are not good enough.
I want to say that Utah Jazz is a better team because they are well coached, not because they have better players. Utah Jazz's offense with 2/3 players constantly cutting get them many easy baskets in the paint. I think they are one of the top team to score in the paint (lazy to check stats). That's from good coaching and not because they have better players.
So true... Especially the Acie Law part ha... I see McGrady and Rafer go up there with heart and doing all they could, it's really sad... It's not really their fault, with both playing 40+ minutes every game. It's never easy, man. We need a competent point guard, but that doesn't mean Alston has to go. He has a reasonable contract, and he's a real classy guy off court. I want him to stay, and earn a ring for all of us and himself, even if he's not starting.
