The team becomes better due to the contributions of Rookies. But Rocket is still not a good team, no match of Lakers. 1. If Yao still play 40+ miniutes every game(even with some bottom teams), he will soon be exhausted and left no energy for playoffs. 2. No SF, Rocket stops again at first round of playoffs.
people need to understand we're still a work in progress (yes still) so why not win during that process? right now, tracy is scoring A LOT off screens and that's the main difference. he cut twice yesterday from easy baskets (one from landry and yao). he ran yesterday. and he was active on the defensive end. more importantly, it was a B2B and he played BETTER. that tells you that his knee is getting better. he's still in shape b/c he came into camp in great shape, so it's a matter of him getting his knees better. role players are MUCH MUCH better than the past 3 years and they're STILL improving. they have been very good and can be so much better. brooks is still struggling to run the offense as yesterday, we got into a few shot clock violations with him running the point, but his quickness and creativity are uncanny. landry is showing to be worth than everything we had hoped him to be: great finisher, terrific mid-range J, and chuck-hayes like hustle (though hopefully he'll learn to play D without fouling better); scola is still learning but he's gradually playing well WITH tracy, shooting over 50% a lot recently. another great sign: battier is now shooting well again, comparable to last yr when he had career highs in shooting. rafer looked VERY comfortable last night. i liked it that he passed up some 3pt shots and ATTACKED the paint. that's all i want him to do. if tmac takes 2 guys out to the 3pt line and he's open, the lane will be open for him to attack. and don't forget bonzi. he was great yesterday attacking the paint. if that continues, oh boy. i think this team still has a gear or 2 to pick up. so the team that we are now won't be the team that will be to end the month. the role players themselves are the sole reason i remain optimistic. the past few yrs, we have gone to game 7s on the strength of tmac and yao ALONE for the most part. now we have role players to go with them, who will play well when it matters as they have had in the past. that's the reason we haven't advanced further in the playoffs: our role players disappeared. this year, the way they have played, most likely they will SHINE.
You can actually go back all the way to 12/5, and the Rockets are 10-0 in games where Yao, T-Mac, and Rafer are available the whole way. They lost 3 games where T-Mac had to leave the game mid-way.
great to see the team rolling. its gonna keep up right into the playoffs. my only concern is having such bad seeding that they can't get out of the first round again.
Yep, the team is starting to gel and understand the plays. Landry only took 2 shots the last game and played 16 min. I don't know what happened there but as long as someone else steps up like T-Mac, I dont have any problems with it.
Offense comes and goes with role players like Landry. It's why I feel defense can be underrated. You can usually rely on a good defenders to help the team by playing good defense for you. I thought Chuck played very well in his 6 minutes or so in the second quarter, even though his stats don't show it.
I thought we got moved to the Eastern Conference. Oh well, still nice to see the team playing well recently.
You guys do realize this reaction was caused by one negative post (one sentence, really)? The entire thread is otherwise positive. Before labeling the entire board, might want to just learn to cope with differing opinions on a message board. And trust me -- there are a lot of people down on T-Mac, and that's not an exclusive opinion to some at ClutchFans.
I based my comments on the Bucks game thread and past post/threads since we have been winning games and not this thread.
This team is really talented, can go far just has no luck. Injuries, chemistry, high motion offense, you've gotta count on that. I'm glad those 6 lose streaks are over, since that 5 game winning streak putting Rockets 20-17 Rockets are playing great, delivering only 3 losses in one month.
A good test coming this Thursday at home against the cavs (im gonna be there! ) and the one man wrecking crew bron bron. the cavs have been rollin lately too, but i think varejao is out so that will play to our advantage. yao HAS TO dominate!
Just to add up, this is similiar to 04-05 season, that team finished with 51-31 record, pretty good , huh?
tmac v. lebron -> always a sow. mac has dominated lebron in their head-to-head matchups for the most part. hopefully adelman will let him guard lebron b/ JVG did.
As long as the Rockets do not let up the intensity, the determination, the heart and the will, I am happy with their achievement. I can actually stomach a loss if it was fought tooth and nail to the end, but I cannot stomach a loss that was 'mailed in' to the opposition.
