Hello All, Here's our take on last night's wild ride: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/ballz/2008/02/rocketskings_steve_novak_and_t.php As always, your comments and feedback are immensely appreciated. By all means, let us know what you think! Thanks for reading, and here's to a fantastic second half of the season. cheers, JCF
Good article. Seemed like TMac has great influence on Novak getting his confidence and making the crucial shot last night.
‘Don’t get tired of losing. Don’t get tired of losing! Don’t take it for granted.’ I think what Shane meant to say was "Don't get tired of winning"
great article and if you go see the replay you see steve all pumped up (as he should be), rafer pounding the ground in the corner, yao with his arms up. but shane looks calm and normal and is hustling back down the court. in fact the huddle after the shot it was all the other guys giving steve props, tmac and shane stood stoic. it wasnt until after miller's heave that shane started to razz novak a bit and same with tmac. if everyone had that sort of mentality that shane has there really would be too much of a let down in any of the games. i can see why all the coaches in the nba would love to have a guy like shane
You did an excellent job encapsilating and painting the picture of the last two possessions, and the excited aftermath. Your 'frame' of it was picturesque enough to be mindful of 'Scott the Body' and his heroics twice some seasons back. Thanks for posting these here - I just have not (yet?) grown accustomed to bookmarking the Press' site. BTW - how does your insight view the current Front Office temperment? Are they lulled into complacency due to the win streak? Are they feeling the need to counter Mighty Mouse/Gasol/Shaq (tho I believe that move was great for the Rox if the Suns are a p/o opponent of our Good Guys)? Historically, we fans would get a sense of someone coveted (Roy in the draft/Kleiza - JLIII, ouch/mj/so on)...is there a specific player(s) being targeted by Morey et al? Is Morey's old Boston guard Delonte on the horizon? Any old C's on Wolves in the crosshairs (Gomes or Green, perhaps)? ... enquiring mind(less) wants to know ...
It's guys like Liston (read the comments below the article) that truly piss me off. Hating for no other reason than to just be an ass****. In the context of the situation, and where this team is headed, I think The Shot was as big a moment for the Rockets this season as any. That was a must-win game if we were to take any of the good vibes from this win-streak with us into the All-Star break.
Good read. One minor quibble, "The Shot" will always be remembered as Ralph putting the dagger in LA.
Terrible play by T-Mac and he almost lost the ball. T-Mac had a layup or dunk and he chose to pass the ball through 2 Kings to Yao!? WTF! It's lucky to get the ball back. Mentally, the whole team except Battier and Yao just took their vacation early after 3 qtrs.
Ok, so we got a scare. Almost lost the game. It'll remind the guys of Philadelphia and how they can never let up. Good close game for them to fire them up for the next game.
Battier's comments are great. it shows he's a true competitor and a winner. Hayes maybe quiet but is ready to fight. Rockets need these guys to success.
Did you mean to phrase this part the way you did? We were ONE point down, then two points up...unless you meant it in another way, like "Three points down" represented the shot "going down". I also don't understand the part where Battier says "Don't get tired of losing. Don't get tired of losing." Shouldn't he have said "Don't get tired of winning"?
Good catch, CCR. That was an editing mix-up between my editor and me. It's being corrected as I type this. As for your question about the Battier quote, I see how it would make a little more sense if he had said "winning." However, I think you get the gist of what he's trying to convey. That he doesn't want the guys to accept losing as an option. As for your questions Xiki, those are a little more difficult to answer. First of all, I can certainly tell you there is not an ounce of complacency surrounding the Rockets front office. They know this team still needs to get better. They're not kidding themselves. Having said that, I think it's telling when Morey warns that many of the worst trades are made when teams feel the need to react (read: panic) to the deals other clubs are making. And for what it's worth, I think he's right: All you have to do is look at the trickle down effect LA's deal for Gasol has had on the rest of the West contenders. Also, as has been discussed on this board many times before, the Rockets trade options are extremely limited right now--at least in terms of the mega deal. The Rockets want/need to get better; but they're not going to make a move that sacrifices the future just for a short term gain this year. If any deal is made, I suspect it will be minor and more of a money move than anything else. I'm not the final word of course, that's just my opinion. And finally, regarding your questions about possible players the Rockets might be targeting, Morey and co. are far too smart to be leaking information like that. Thanks again for reading and all the great comments. cheers, JCF
