Minnesota is good and we played poorly... So was this a bad game or us crashing back down to earth? Myself, I'm not so sure... just know Kenny Thomas is playing for real.
We're better than that. We just shot poorly tonight, and the officiating down the stretch didn't help either. By the way, Im a new poster to Clutch City, but not new to the BBS. Im just like the rest of you, I love the Rockets and watch them all the time. Anyway, it did hurt to lose tonight but I think we'll get right back to where we were. Our loss tonight can be simply accredited to poor shooting. That can turn around quickly. And we're playing Golden State on Thursday- what better team to get another winning streak started against? [This message has been edited by The Cat (edited January 25, 2000).]
Just a bump in the road. Minnesota is just like San An was last season, in a zone. We did pretty well considering who we played and how poorly we executed. There's no shame in losing to Minnesota anymore. Hell, the Rockets have been losing to Minnesota way before it was "fashionable"! What they should have learned from this game is that they have the ability to win any game IF they show up and hustle for the entire game. They had it down to 5 points with less than 2 minutes. Too bad they didn't play like that for most of the game.
We played like crap the first 3 quarters and the last quarter we played great. But the wolves had big buckets and some dumb calls by the refs made them win. Looking at how bad we shot and we almost stole the game.. I would say not that bad. RUDY PLEASE JUST GIVE IT TO FRANCIS SO HE CAN DRIVE INSIDE!!!!! If he doesnt make the shot, 99.9% of the time he is fouled!
I don't think we played "like crap" other than shooting poorly. Keep in mind that this Minnesota team has a winning steak going as well, they are a very good team right now. However, to get to the 8th spot still seems a remote possibility as of now, although it is still a possibility. Sailor
Right on Francis3. We shot poorly and had a few bad calls go against us. One call toward the end, a phamtom offensive foul on Kenny Thomas really took some of the wind out of our sails. The one bright spot, and I hope this means he is learning, is after Mobley made a few boneheaded, showboat mistakes while going one-on-one early, he seemed to settle down and play more relaxed toward the end of the game. It was nice to see him calm down and play his game. ------------------ The key for the Rockets is a winning attitude and mentality which can only be had by winning basketball games.
This game was inevitable, and as mentioned, there is no shame in losing to the hottest team in basketball. Look on the bright side, we inch one game closer to a higher lottery pick. (I still much prefer to win) Azim da Dream ------------------ No guts, no glory, no brain, same story.
Dakota: If your post is really good, people will view it. You don't need to ask people to see it. Azim: You got my view of it correct. Any losses means a higher pick. Today, we lost to a very hot team and they're no shame in it.
Great, here we go again with the lottery posts. Look at it this way if we finish 9th or 10th in our conference, there are still going to be too many teams with worse records, hence our pick won't be that great. The only way the Rockets are going to get a pick in the lottery(and I am sure all of you would prefer 5th or higher) is to lose alot more games. Don't expect that to happen. ------------------ The key for the Rockets is a winning attitude and mentality which can only be had by winning basketball games. [This message has been edited by RocketsPimp (edited January 26, 2000).]
I guess I am still an pessimist in saying I still see us as a lottery team. We do have talent, but it is young talent. I think we are in for a real roller coaster for the rest of the season. I see alot of small winning streak, and alot of small losing streaks (mostly because of players confidence levels). When Francis, Mobley, & Anderson feel confident they can take our teams along ways, when their confidence is low we will be a really poor team. More so than in years past we need a total team effort for these guys to win. Notice in our last winning streak that Francis was on fire (congrats to him for player of the week), but Mobley also started playing well, and Thomas played his best games of the year. We have a nice nucleous of young player, who are fun to watch, but there are too many good teams, too far ahead of us at this point in the playoffs. But this team is more entertaining to watch than prior years. That is tough to say for a die hard CB4 fan, but when these guys are hot they are good!
Bad game or reality check? I would call it another learning experience. Our young Rockets learned last night that they don't quite have the cajones to coast for the first three quarters and then pour it on in the 4th to beat a team like Minnesota. It might work against the Clippers, but not against the T-wolves. All "great teams in training" learn things like this on the way to being "great teams". So the winning streak ended. Let's start another one! ------------------ Bring It!!
I don't know if this is a reality check. If we would of went into the Laker game with the winning streak intact and we get blown out on Sunday by the Lakers..now THAT would be a definite reality check. I had to edit this post to say that Kenny Thomas impresses the crap out of me. I was just SOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong about this guy. Which just proves why I am at home and Rudy and Co are where they are. Man, I feel like I owe the guy and apology or something! ------------------ Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball. [This message has been edited by Almu (edited January 26, 2000).]
We had the ball down by 5, horrible call on Thomas, we probably would have scored because of the way we had been playing up to that point (the run at the end, not the whole game). The TPups couldn't miss in the 2nd half, we couldn't hit. I would say that we're a good team based on that. After everything that went wrong with our shooting last night, we still had a very legitimate shot to win. I'm pumped about the rest of the season. ------------------ Is it any coincidence that we are the only team mentioned in the national anthem? I didn't think so!
The game tonight overstated and emphasized what's been the problem all year long. We've criticized the Wizard, Cuttino, Bullard, Cato and even Francis for having poor shooting nights when it all boils down to one thing: We have no plays! Isolation does not get it in this league! It didn't work in Orlando or L.A. for Shaq, it doesn't work for Iverson in Philly and the Rox used it sparingly during their mighty mighty championship seasons. We've got all of this talent and imagine how it would work inside the Phil Jackson Triangle Offense? Or even the Utah Jazz throw-it-down-to-kung-fu-karl-so-he-can-kick-someone-in-the-nads-and-rotate-it-back-out offense. Someone is always open so it really doesn't matter if you have an off night. A Treatise on an Offense with Plays In an offense with plays, when one of the starters is injured or hurt, the sixth man doesn't worry that he has to make up the point difference. He worries about fitting into the puzzle where the injured guy was, being where the ball is and making his presence count. In an offence* with plays, there is motion at all times confusing and wearying your opponents' defense. (*Notice the European spelling - I am so worldly...) In an offense with plays, the media - and bucketheads like us - focus less on individual players faux pas* and more on the teams performance. If that doesn't lift up morale - and I admit that wins do thaat, too - I don't know what will. (*Again with Eurospeak) Blame Rudy, blame injury, blame Pippen, blame Karl, blame the Russians, blame my wife, blame whomever you like JUST GET SOME FRIGGIN PLAYS!!!
This post should be called "Bad Game = Reality Check". As Grandpa Simpson would say, "A little from Column A... a little from Column B". We're not a particularly good basketball team overall, but we can compete with the likes of Minnesota. We just didn't do a good job of it tonight. This game is nothing to panic over. There will be others like it... hopefully few and far between. Now, for the reality check: We still have a long, long, long way to go before we're close to making the playoffs. To rehash a prior post I made: We're eight games back of both Minnesota and Phoenix (23-16 each for a winning percentage of .590). We're not going to win enough games the rest of the way to finish at .590-- we'd have to go 32-9 (.780) to do so. But, based on how Phoenix is playing right now (5-5 in their last ten), we might not have to. Phoenix has 43 games left; if they play .500 ball the rest of the way (21-22), they'll finish with 44 victories. [Note: This is one less than I thought it would take in my original post.] For Houston to reach 44 wins, we've got to go 28-13 (.682). Folks, it's still a long shot. So, I think the Minnesota game was just "one of those nights". I also think it should serve as a wake-up call. The six-game winning streak was fantastic-- it sure as hell beat losing every damned night. But we're not much closer to making the playoffs than we were two weeks ago. ------------------ "Mr. Zherkov, I want you to know I detest phrases, phrasemongers, and pinched waists...I hate smut, and I hate people who relish smut. Particularly the latter! ...I love truth, sincerity, and honesty...I love ideas, Monsieur Zherkov; I love true comradeship, on an equal footing... but, after all, why not? I'll drink to your health too!" Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
The Rockets thought they were on a roll after beating teams we are supposed to beat, we beat Portland barely and luckily, and...true...we did whip up on Miami but they are playing like crap already. So, I think the Rockets' egos got the best of them last night. They came out complacent and without fire and intensity. They proved that they are not as good as we thought they were. We WILL NEVER catch Minnesota for the final playoff spot. They are better than we are. So, we are a lottery bound team...no doubt about it. Not to say we haven't improved because we have. But, we haven't really played any great teams on that win streak we had. Portland probably played us uninspired by our weak record; Miami just plain stunk on defense and offense. It's one thing to kick the crap out of bad teams...it's another to kick the crap out of teams that are better than us. Let's see how the Rox handle SA, UTAH, LA LAKERS, INDIANA, etc.. If and when they can beat these teams, then we will have proven how good we are and command respect...not a minute sooner. Licking my wounds, Surfguy
Let's all get one thing straight, we aren't trying to catch Minnesota for the final playoff spot. We are trying to win as many games as possible to surpass whatever team may be in the 8th seed at the end of the season. It WILL NOT be Minnesota, mark my words. They are too talented to finish that bad. Look more towards Phoenix(my pick) or possibly Seattle(long shot) to fall. "But, we haven't really played any great teams on that win streak we had. Portland probably played us uninspired by our weak record; Miami just plain stunk on defense and offense." Hey Surfguy, check your standings next time. Miami is in first place in the entire Eastern Conference while Portland is sitting pretty in second in the West. No offense, but I can't stand it when some of you guys try and discredit(that is what you are doing even if you didn't mean to) the Rockets for going out and earning a few wins and then lose a game we could have won to a good team like the TWolves. There is no shame in losing a winnable game to a good team. ------------------ The key for the Rockets is a winning attitude and mentality which can only be had by winning basketball games.
Surfguy, I know you may have read this on other posts [including mine ] but wins against winning teams just ain't gonna happen on a regular basis for the rest of the season unless there is drastic change in team chemistry or strategy. We will beat bad teams and good teams will beat us. We will end up just out of the playoffs with a high draft pick. Last night was a statistically sound outcome against a winning team, a loss. ------------------ There can be only one... [This message has been edited by Mulder (edited January 26, 2000).]
Certainly a reality check for this week. But we can't ever expect to beat a Garnett team without Rogers and Cato. Everytime Curly came in our defensive rotation seemed to slow down tremendously. We couldn't stop that swing pass to the corner. Also, both Curly and Hakeem seem to get in the guards' way on offense too much. Hopefully, Dream will learn faster where he should move. Even still, that first quarter was bad effort, no ball movement at all, not to mention the 29% shooting. Give Minnesota some credit, they seemed to have a different game plan for Francis than what the other double-team-smotherers did (ie Toronto, Utah, Miami). They pushed him with a double team into the sideline then Garnett shaded back to Bullard. That is, they gave Francis the 3pt-wing by having one guy overplay baseline side of Francis, the other gave up a slight crease in order to not entirely leave Bullard. Francis did not challenge the crease because the man who was on Bullard was Garnett, who was really just daring Francis to attack the crease. The Francis/Bullard wing clear-out did not work at all against Minnesota. It was foolish to suspect Garnet was going to give Bullard any looks anyhow. Maybe blame that on Rudy, but I still blame it on injuries. Rogers and Francis were generally getting deeper pick action that Bullard and Francis. By the 3rd quarter, Rudy did change the gameplan to get Francis driving room by giving him a double pick into the lane. But that was too late. So, we are 1-3 when Francis gets smothered by double teams and is denied baseline. This is our Reality Check...we must have several responses to that game plan.
