Good read on ESPN by Scoop Jackson... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/090514&sportCat=nba hey call it resilience; we call it something else. The Houston Rockets weren't supposed to reach this stage. Weren't supposed to see a Game 6 against the Lakers. With a roster looking more like the set of "Nurse Jackie," they've found a way to do something practically no one thought was possible. I'm not talking about winning Game 4 -- anyone who knows these Rockets well knows they believed they could win. But discovering who they really were as a squad? That came out of nowhere. Shane Battier kept referring to the Rockets' 12-point win in Game 4 as a testament to the resiliency of this team. Honestly, he was selling his team short. The Rockets searched for an identity in Tracy McGrady. Then they searched for one in Yao Ming. They found none. And it wasn't their fault because that's the M.O. of sports: Find yourself in your star players. The Rockets -- like all teams -- were conditioned to do this. But just like when peeling an onion, you have to dig through several layers to get to the core of a team. And those layers can make you cry. Losses in back-to-back-to-back-to-back first rounds. Injury after injury after injury after injury in March and April. Never a full, healthy roster come playoff time, never a true opportunity to win … to find themselves. Tears. But then it happened. Ironically, it happened via injury. When team trainer Keith Jones forced Yao to reluctantly come off the court at the end of Game 3, only to find out later that the foot he was playing on during the entire fourth quarter was broken, the Houston Rockets finally experienced their epiphany. Now, everyone knew the Lakers would bounce back and beat the Rockets handily in Game 5. That was as inevitable as Michael Vick's getting a reality show. But by then it was too late. The Lakers were exposed as being inconsistent. And the Rockets … well, they've finally figured out who they are and what they're made of. Two stars down, the old Rockets would have called it in, gone through the motions, left themselves for dead. They would have conceded -- in their minds, without T-Mac and Yao, they would have given themselves only a Mine That Bird chance of winning. But that was before anyone ever heard of Mine That Bird -- and before Ron Artest's arrival and Rafer Alston's departure. Until those last two things happened, the Rockets never knew who the team staring at them in the mirror was. Now, in that mirror, they see a sense of pride, a sense of purpose. They see what everyone else was overlooking or failed to notice. They see self-regard, self-respect. They've found amour propre. Aaron Brooks refused to die. Luis Scola refused to die. Battier refused to die. Chuck Hayes, Von Wafer, Kyle Lowry … all refused to die. No All-Star Games between them, no votes for MVP, no regular visits to the postgame podium. This is something we haven't seen before, not in a post-Hakeem Olajuwon Rockets team: a group of nonsuperstar players not willing to die when they have no reason to live. To the outside world, once Yao went down, there was no reason for the Rockets to compete or prolong the inevitable. "You will never beat the Lakers now!" The Rockets' players heard it, too. And even if that's still the widely held belief heading into Game 6 Thursday, that Game 4 performance was the true measure of this Houston team. The Rockets had a built-in excuse to fold, and no one would have blamed them. They had every reason to think God was just continuing this sick joke on them and everyone knew the punch line. They could have gone out as Dallas did. But instead, they manned up better than any other team has during these NBA playoffs. And even off the heels of a 40-point beatdown in Game 5, the Rockets will walk away from this season knowing that talent and superstars are secondary to what this team is and will be about. That will make them extremely difficult to beat once the superstars return. Because the superstars, too, have seen the true character of this team. Although we all thought the key ingredients to the Rockets were Yao and Tracy and Rafer and staying healthy, it turns out the key ingredient was an untapped sense of pride, which never would have been discovered had almost everything not been taken away from them. And even if Game 6 against the Lakers is their last game of the season, the Rockets will walk off the court knowing that whatever they set out to accomplish at the beginning of this season -- when a championship was their legitimate and realistic goal -- they surpassed that. Win or lose, the Rockets have proven what needed to be proven. To us. To themselves. As I said, they call it resilience. But really, it's something much, much deeper than that.
Redao, you have done nothing but root against the Rockets all Postseason. Redao, You Suck. thanks for sharing phatp, great article on a great team!
You want attention that much? I am so surprised why so many Yao's countryman here to bushing him,dissing him etc,maybe thats why.
Great article! There is one thing I would take exception too the article. If Aaron Brooks can play more consistently great he will have an All Star appearance. HAVE HOPE! HAVE PRIDE! GO ROCKETS!
Wow, apparently you don't really know much about the actual game of basketball do you. The Rockets are clearly a playoff team this season and even without Yao (especially if we were in the Eastern conference) that doesn't change. Does the team have problems not having one of its most reliable player on the court, yes. But they are still skilled enough, offensively and defensively if they played to the best of their abilities consistently, they'd easily be one of the top teams in the entire NBA. Heck, they are/were easily one of the top three teams in the West at the end of the regular season, if not for a few bad games putting them on equal ground with SA and Portland.
That was a good read. He's right it is something much deeper than resilience. We will be truly tested next year, IF we're healthy, which is doubtful.
good article, wish he mentioned Adelman though to give him his due. it will be a tall order, but man if we win tonight the pride I already have in this team and what it's accomplished will just go to another level
Excellent article. '08-'09 season was a blessing in disguise. Here's to hoping for a healthy '09-'10.
Funny the title of the linked webpage is: "Scoop Jackson: Without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, the Houston Rockets have revealed their true strength" But the title of the article becomes: "Minus Yao, Rockets reveal true strength." What gives? In beginning of the article, he made it sound like it's not about Game 4, but he spent much of the time talking about Game 4. Oh he did briefly touch an old taboo -- Rockets' repeated 1st-round losses in the past dozen or so years. The impression seems to be that the team's breakthrough -- finally getting past 1st round with a $20 million hole, not to mention all the distractions due to certain player's theatrics -- is far less worthy than the one-game fluke. Disingenuous if not outright insulting.
dang, so much negativity in a thread about an article that finally recognizes what we've always known about this Rockets' team... GREAT article in my opinion. naturally i'm going to love any article that gushes about the Rockets. but regardless, it's good to hear that someone in the media finally realizes what makes this Rockets' team special. It was a similar feeling I had last season during and just after the winning streak, but like everyone knows, it's not that special if it's not in the playoffs. In an attempt to bring back some positive sentiment into this thread...5 stars.
This article really showed that the media is starting to give Rox some respect, but again, respect itself doesn't win championship...
Agree wholeheartedly! I said way back, the team needs to develop an identity not connected to their "big 3". The "team" becomes the go-to guy. I do think this has an impact on next season, assuming everyone stays on board.
