http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/771349.html [rquoter] By late Thursday night, the winning streak had reached a franchise-record 17 games with the cymbal-crashing victory at Dallas as the Houston Rockets continued to defy the odds, defy the calendar and mostly defy gravity, rejecting all forms of logic in finger-wagging style. Yao Ming was lost for the season with a foot injury, Houston won its next five by at least 14 points – against lightweights but also the Nuggets and Mavericks – and that was nothing. Eight consecutive victories by at least a dozen points tied an NBA record. The Rockets have an 11-game road winning streak. Remaining a factor in the Western Conference race when many expected them to drop from sight without Yao, the Rockets went for improbable everywhere. Elderly Dikembe Mutombo replaced Yao and got four, four and three blocks the first three starts. The swats were accentuated by the signature windshield-wiper motion with his finger. He has averaged 7.8 rebounds and 21 minutes, discounting Wednesday's one-rebound, eight-minute outing against the Pacers. At the same time, forwards Luis Scola and Carl Landry have materialized as rookies. That all three are big men signaled hope for Houston after the shocking news of Yao's stress fracture, which was detected a day after the center played 36 minutes. Yao is irreplaceable, an All-Star and one of two players in the league averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Yet he has been admirably replaced by three players not acting their ages. The victory over the Mavericks was the Rockets' 21st in 22 games and 26th in 29. Houston beat the Hornets on Saturday night for its 18th win in a row, and its next three opponents are the Nets, Hawks and Bobcats, promising opportunities for the good times to roll on. The schedule, however, turns severe next week. There is no plausible explanation for what has transpired, only fallout: Rick Adelman is in the conversation for Coach of the Year, the Rockets remain in contention for the best record in the West, and moves by rookie general manager Daryl Morey have become needed credibility. "Our guys are extremely confident," Morey said. "But certainly there's a difference in the confidence you feel and the confidence in something you've done." It also doesn't hurt that expectations have been lowered by Yao's absence. The Rockets have lost five consecutive first-round playoff series, including three in the past four seasons that put pressure on a roster with Tracy McGrady and Yao to win something important. Plus, the climb from a slow start to contention in the West brought an unsure fan base to Adelman. Holding the team together like this into the second round might get him a statue. "He had been through it," Morey said. "He said, 'We're coming together. I can see it going in the right direction.' I would say the rest of us, not having been through it before, we were a little less steady at the time." Before the historic winning streak, before the injury, before the Rockets held firm in what could have been a crippling time. Before they defied logic.[/rquoter]
There's 4-5 articles from out-of-town papers about the Rockets this weekend. I thought about posting them, but I dont' want to start the jinx. They are pretty redundant too. ONe came from David Aldridge and according to him: The day after the Houston Rockets found out that Yao Ming was going to miss the rest of the regular season with a stress fracture in his left foot, the team assembled in the locker room. The talk was how most observers around the league were officially declaring the Rockets dead. That's when Tracy McGrady stood up. "He said, '[Obscenity] that,' " according to an eyewitness. " '[Obscenity] all that stuff. We've got enough in here right now.' " That McGrady has quite the potty mouth is secondary to the bigger development. The Rockets have kept right on winning without their 7-foot-6 center http://www.philly.com/inquirer/spor...___McGrady__Rockets_achieve_a_high_orbit.html I don't trust Aldridge though. He's a little weasel. He wants to be like the Peter Vecsey of Philly. His sources are terrible and never right. He said Artest ws going to Houston among other blunders he has made, so I wouldn't give any credence to him. His portrayal of Tmac is way off the mark.
I don't mind T-Mac getting vulgar if it's to pump up himself and his teammates. Let Shane handle the family-friendly pep talks.
Uh, I don't recall Aldridge saying Artest WAS going to Houston. I think he said Houston was a "darkhorse" candidate. Besides, he may have been right and the deal fell through at the last second. You never know about this stuff. Generally, Aldrdge is was of the better NBA analysts out there ...as opposed to "sporting/entertainment talking heads." GO ROCKETS!!!
Didn't Aldridge just say that "Artest to Houston was on the table" and that's it? If so, then I would say he was dead on...Morey even said they made a run at Artest but Sac town was asking too much for him.
Bucher is horrible, he makes a ton of stuff up. Go to a Lakers forum and just bring up his name, you'll literally hear veins popping.
I too support DA. One of the best in the biz. I am pretty sure everything he said about Artest to Houston was accurate.
Didn't he guarantee that Kobe would be traded at the start of the season? He also was tearing into T-Mac not too long ago, basically calling him an overrated loser.
Oh, please, some of you don't think players cuss or should? That's exactly the type of response you want from him. "F**K that S**T!!@!!!!!!#@!!!!"
Haha! Touche. But Bucher is an especially antagonistic figure there, he basically guaranteed that Kobe was NOT coming back. This coming from a supposed insider...the guy is a blowhard.
But T-Mac *does* have a potty mouth. He has been caught several times on camera/national TV dropping clearly audible F-bombs.
This Rockets team is starting to get that Spurs mentality of not being afraid of anyone anywhere, home or away. One streak that is getting lost in this is the fact that the Rockets road winning streak has reached double-digits.
care to elaborate which predictions each of them got right. Ric eJOCKulates prematurely. Bucher has been the de-facto Kobe expert at ESPN. during this past training camp, in the mids of the Kobe/Jim Buss spat, the eJOCKulator declared that Kobe has played his last game for the Lakers. since the Gasol trade, while Kobe has applauded Lakers mgmt insinuating that he is happy w his situation, Bucher has yet to announce his mea culpa,
A lot of players do. Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were notorious for being overly vulgar on the court as is Kevin Garnett. Coach K is also notorious for it on the sideline even though he is painted as a saint. That's why the NBA instituted that stupid rule of if you're caught on mic cursing you get fined and/or suspended.
