nba.com http://www.nba.com/2009/news/powerrankings/11/02/week1/index.html No.13 Houston (18) 2-1 Pace: 97.6 (11), Off: 104.5 (13), Def: 105.9 (16) Saturday's win over the Blazers proved that the Rockets can still beat good teams. But they've got to do it more with offense this year, and Trevor Ariza and Aaron Brooks aren't going to shoot 9-for-14 from 3-point range often. Ariza's 33 points was a career high. espn.com http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2010&week=1 17 (20) Rockets 2-1 That they've won twice already shouldn't surprise you. You knew going in about the gutty little Rockets, no matter who's in the lineup. The shocker, if you're looking for one, is Ariza averaging 29.0 ppg in those wins.
I'm tired of seeing that "gutty little Rockets" comment from ESPN. Marc Stein keeps saying that. It's annoying, like an underhanded insult or something.
Marc Stein is probably the most annoying writer ESPN has, I hate writers that clearly show their bias.
its true. The are playing with plenty of heart considering the injuries. And compared to other teams the Rockets look like a bunch of midgets, so little Rockets is not far off.
Well... as much as I agree with you... they are "gutty" and they are "little" and our mascot is the "Rockets" so I can't get too upset at him
It will take a while to earn their respect, the Rockets will have to continue the SHOCK THE WORLD 09-10 NBA tour for a while. DD
Let's see how this plays out in mid season. It would be interesting and I hope the Rockets take this as more fuel to drive them further to surprise those pundits with bigger achievements this season.
LOL at you guys getting offended by the "little" adjective. There are college teams with more size than us. Shoot, MOST college teams have more size than us.
For the life of me, I'll never understand how some people can get so worked up about one guy's rankings. Really, who cares? Lets just get the Ws.
Rockets will never get respect, even when they are good. Power rankings are really useless and dont mean anything, Rockets prove year in and out that we can win with the circumstances at hand
The reason I think it's insulting is that I don't think it is merely a reference to the actual height of our players. It's more like "oh look how hard they try! They're so cute!" in a JV/high schoolish sort of way. It's annoying. I'd be OK if he just said the "gutty Rockets" without using that adjective. Even if they are in fact height-challenged, it's still demeaning.
Jeopard: Agreed. Based on the context, I think it's pretty clear that the connotation there is intended as subtle condescension rather than merely being adjectival.
lol @ ESPN putting Cavs at 7th Playing Raptors, Wolves and Cats on 3 of their first 4 was not considered a gimme?
