When asked about the Rockets ability to continue to win without Yao during a Saturday media session, Phil Jackson seemed to downplay it by saying we did the same thing last year. You know what? He's kind of right. Yao went down with an injury last season in a home game against Clippers on 12/23. T-mac had missed the previous 6 games with an injury, and the Rockets had gone 2-4 in that stretch. Rockets lost the Clippers game. McGrady returned to the team to play against the Pacers on the road, but we lost that game 76-81. Things were looking pretty bad at that point. But then, something curious happened. We won 9 of the next 10 games. But it was a relatively soft schedule -- we beat NJN, ATL, MEM, SEA, and UTA in succession. Then we lost an overtime game in Minnesota (don't scoff, they were 16-15 at that point in the season). We followed up that disappointing loss with 4 more wins against CHI, LAL, DEN, and SAC. Like this year, T-Mac was getting praise across the country for how he was carrying the team. Dikembe seemed to have found the fountain of youth. And role players were stepping up. Sound familiar? After that point, the Rockets schedule toughened. And, as one might expect, the wins were harder to come by. Over the next 21 games without Yao, we went 10-11. This year, we're playing with an improved roster, and we've been able to win 9 straight since Yao went down. And in contrast to last season, we were able to build some momentum and chemistry prior to Yao getting injured with Yao and T-Mac both playing. So, does this team have what it takes to continue to win at a high rate the rest of the way, or do we come back to earth against a more difficult schedule and play .500 ball like last season? This will be interesting.
if landry is not coming back soon, yes that could happen b/c we're basically the same team (sans scola) if hayes and deke logs a lot of minutes. HOWEVER, if landry returns, i think we'll be fine. i think people just do not understand the impact that landry has on both ends, along with his crazy energy.
Similar situation because T-Mac can carry a team. However, it's different because of the crazy chemistry the team has right now. Yeah, last year's team had some good results, but the chemistry was nowhere near the level of this year's team. Plus, Juwan Howard's old cursed ass is outta here, replaced by Scola winner Argentinian ass. Better role-players, better offense, better chemistry, and consistent (or better?) defense...it seems to me that this team is more capable of winning consistently than last year's team. durvasa, you must BELIEVE!
We're an ugly team when the shots stop falling. Rafer turns into Skip. People howl for a 20 ppg Gay. And Chuck becomes undersized. As PJ said, the streak is making us fight and stretch even harder. Adelman is working on an inside game, no doubt. Maybe Scola will grow even more and open more eyes for ROY. You're right, it will be interesting come playoffs.
well phil jackson literally does not have any idea how the rockets are going to perform in the playoffs. same goes for the guys on TNT, ESPN, etc. there are 4 things to keep in mind however 1) the rockets team last year was a good team. a while back JVG said in a radio interview how if they had gotten some breaks they would have been a WCF team and potentially a NBA Finals team. he's right about that, the Utah series came down to a single possession in game 7. people see jesus' face in toast and we try to mystify everything but basketball is a game, a bounce here a hop there and the entire playoffs are different 2) we have the key element we were missing last year. a 3rd scorer who steps up. every game we have someone step up even if it's mike freaking harris. last year we were dying to have one guy step up who could deliver 10ppg for us every night. this year we have 2-3 guys who each do that plus a random "floater" every game who plays out of his mind 3) but so yeah the rockets are better, but the west is also better. the west is probably more improved than the rockets have improved (due to the loss of yao). 4) what this 21 win streak means for the rockets in the playoffs... the answer is jack. other than the glory and history of it. the playoffs are 7 game series versus the top 7 teams. this win steak is a testament to consistency, focus, a little bit of luck and whole lot of heart versus the high and low of the league. there really isn't anything predictive about the 21 wins. that said, hell man you gotta believe! you hope that tmac is another year wiser and not just another year older. you hope scola and landry turn out to be ballers who step up their games in the playoffs. you hope adelman's playoff poise and experience rubs off on the team. it'll be interesting for real, not just the rockets but the playoffs and the playoff race overall. I just saw craptasitc GEORGIA, 4 and 12 in the SEC Georgia just win 2 games in ONE day and advance to the finals. anything can happen. gotta believe.
our team are building the good court system under coach A, good role player and chemistry,all of these suggest a better future. just wait the day i still think if t-mac is not good health, we also can do 21 consecutive wins
Lets not mention Rafer didn't play anywhere near the level he is playing now. Just being able to finish his layups is very important for this team. He hasn't shot well the last two games though
Everyday that goes, Yao remembers me more and more about Sampson. Great talent but often injured. Then someone should at least give us a Olajuwon again that can carry this franchise. Oh, I forgot, we alreadt have T-Mac!
Agree, mostly. Landry's impact on this team is providing a tandem of inside players who are real scoring threats. Before Yao went out, note that Rox started to win consistently also due to Scola stepping into starting role, hence giving Rox a tandem of scoring threats inside. Granted, Rox won 4 games without Scola at the starting lineup with Yao right before their single lost to Utah when Yao got a flu. OMG, not changing topic, but if Yao had played in that Utah game, and Rox had won, we would have had 26 games in the row by now. Amazing!!
We did do the same thing last year, however now we have a much improved power foward position, and Rafer actually making layups has been huge. I dont buy the whole chemistry thing. I think we're great defensively, and offensively we have more movement, but this is still the T-Mac pick and roll pass to the open man offense. We literally go to T-Mac EVERY single play and that could be worrisome in the playoffs. The difference is our improved power foward position and point guard play, but dont count your chips yet, because a 3-18 Rafer can pop up any time.
Durvasa, I don't get it why do you have to keep creating new threads to make a point that we need Yao to win it all and to win against great teams. NO ONE IS DENYING THAT, WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME FROM THE NATIONAL MEDIA AND EVEN HERE! Now when you try to point out how Tracy can lead us against weak teams without Yao (which is ridiculous), the question is can anyone else lead us even against weak teams without Tracy? NOPE
And it is really sneaky to try to make your point that TMac can lead us only against weak teams without Yao by hiding behind some comments that Phil Jackson made. Even though clearly Phil meant that TMac can lead us to wins without Yao, while you turned it around by saying TMac can only lead us against weak teams. Durvasa, seriously, enough of these threads, NO ONE IS SAYING/EXPECTING that we will beat all the great teams or that WE WILL WIN IT ALL WITHOUT YAO!
