To err is human Writing off the Rockets was worst of my predictions Posted: Thursday March 6, 2008 11:02AM; Updated: Thursday March 6, 2008 11:15AM Spring is in the air -- well, I say that as I'm airborne from the East Coast to Los Angeles -- and with that feeling of rebirth comes the desire to unburden my soul. It's time to look at some of the stupid things I've written in this space and own up to them. Having to alter predictions doesn't necessarily mean they were stupid. For example, I predicted before the season that the Mavericks would beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Though I would back off that now (the Spurs, Lakers and Hornets are much better positioned than the Mavs), it's not overly stupid. I also predicted that LeBron James would be the MVP. At this point I would probably vote for Kobe Bryant with James and Chris Paul fighting it out for second, but that wasn't overly stupid, either. Listed below are my wrongheaded predictions in descending order of wrongheadedness. Honestly, I'd rank only the first two as truly stupid. 1. My overly harsh analysis of the Rockets. After watching Houston in a December game in Toronto, I wrote off the Rockets, saying that a team with Tracy McGrady at the helm would ultimately fail, not because McGrady is not a marvelously talented player but mostly because he is. His teammates can't read him, I wrote. He's not selfish in that strict sense of the word, but he's difficult to play with, I wrote. Well, over the last two months, the Rockets have played as well as anyone in the league. Always battling injuries, Houston has hung tough and wormed its way into that crowded scrum of elite teams in the Western Conference. After Yao Ming went down with season-ending foot surgery, they still persevered, and were riding a 16-game winning streak after beating the Pacers on Wednesday. Logic says that they will eventually fall out of the playoff picture without Yao, but I wouldn't bet on it. They deserve a lot of credit, and I can only hope that the snakebitten Yao makes it back strong so they can make a run next season. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...lum/03/06/rockets.mistakes/index.html?eref=T1
I give credit for admitting he was wrong. None of that lame 'well the Rockets didn't look like a REAL threat so I was just telling the truth at the time' backtracking BS. The truth is I don't blame general observers for not having us on their radar. If you watch every game like we do, you know how good this team is this year. But if you look at box scores and highlights you're probably basing your assumptions heavily on last year...and would be dead wrong. I'd love to hear what Stephen A. Smith says though. He said something along the lines of 'The Rockets have no chance...except if they give Tmac the ball and everyone gets out of his way and he takes over...then they MIGHT make it.'
Stephen A. already tried to bull**** his way of backtracking. Last night he was claiming that all the criticism from the media is what pushed the Rockets to win
I disagree that "logic says" the Rockets shouldn't make the playoffs... Do they forget how we did without Yao last year? And we have an even better supporting cast this year. Arguably much better, actually. Logic says that this team will continue to play well.
yeah, that comment really irked me... if anything, logic says we'll continue playing well because history has proven that we can win at a decent clip w/o yao.
Ya know.. he was doing pretty well up until that last sentence. Next season?!? Guess what, jerkoff. We're making a run THIS SEASON. Yeah! Without Yao!
Stephen A Smith and Charles Barkley are critical of all teams.. lets get that straight. I dont see how you guys get so offended by what they say if you claim theyre "baloney or bull****". Their jobs is to say **** like that lol, and I think they are the best NBa analysts just because they have their own insightful opinion
Hey, Jack Please do us and yourself a favor, and go check yourself into a mental institute before it's too late.
Yeah I heard that stupid comment from him too. He claimed Houston got upset after the media said they had no chance without Yao Ming. We won 12 in a row while Yao was with the team which was ignored by Stephen A.
