with this painful season being all but over, what lasting impression has the team made on you with this season's play? For me, it's the affirmation that defense and winning go hand in hand and that without restoring that defensive tenacity we've grown accustomed to over the past 4 years, this team is doomed to additional lottery years or early playoff exits at best. What have you learned about your Rockets this year?
They played some "scrappy" ball at the beginning of the season, then went into a "funk" and never seemed to fully recover. I do think they have a good measure of talent, BUT they need more and an offseason to put it together. I am underwhelmed about the return of Yao. I still think he is done, but hope I am seriously wrong. This team desperately needs to end the high expectations/huge disappointment era and move on. Unfortunately, Yao is part of that era and actually a link to the other "disappointment" era. How long has it been since the championship years? A long time.
This has not been a painful season. If you thought it was painful your expectations were too high. It was a developmental season, and any developmental season where you wind up around .500 is a good developmental season.
Considering most, Barkely, thought we would be a crap team to finish around .500 with two of our big guns out most of the year would still be a successful season. The team has improved a great deal over the year even though the record doesn't prove that out. The team's flaws are evident and have been painfully obvious for sometime now but this will not be the team everyone will see next year thus some curve has to be established IMO. Overall, thumbs up from me... :grin:
Well when my team starts 22-14 with wins over Portland, LAL, Utah, SA, Cleveland and DAL, my expectations go up. I'm sorry but putting the tag of "developmental" on an entire SEASON is just wrong if you care at all about your team. I value watching rockets basketball a little too much to write off an entire season to so-called "development".
what do you mean by painful season? why not say dissapointing or tough grind it out season, or frustrating seaon anyways to me it has being jackly and hyde a strong 2009 portion of the season and a mediocore second half
losing both lowry and ariza to injury at the same time killed the rockets chances of making the playoffs.
I simply mean painful as in "its painful to see a 4 year 50+ win team go to the lottery the year after taking the world champs to 7 games in the playoffs and no matter circumstances, its still painful to watch my team struggle to stay over .500". I mean did you watch the Pacers game tonight? Was that not painful to watch? It was pretty much a microcosm of this season IMO.
Because he shares your opinion and you are a "true rocket fan"? Yao may be done, but his return is the most likely thing to happen we can hope for right now. It's not like we will be able to sign Lebron or wade this summer. Hoping for Morey to pull another highway robbery to get us a superstar is like hoping to win the lottery at the moment. If he is done then next season goes down the drain. So are you hoping for another lottery year just to prove your point? Is that what a "true rocket fan" do? I might have been too harsh on you. I am just too tired of this "true fan" crap. If you follow the team and have your emotions tied to the team's success or failure, then you are a fan of the team. There's nothing "true" or "untrue" about that. Now there are "dumb fans" though, and we have been seeing a lot of those in recent years.
If that was a microcosm of the season the Rockets would be battling the Nets for lotto balls right now.
Nothing painful about this season other Pete. This season started off with many injuries and it ended the same way. WE played better then most would have expected. If anything I am PROUD of these guys for their hard work. Games like Boston and Denver really stick out for me. We acquired many assets for next season and beyond, so all in all great job rockets and the organization. Nothing painful about a bright future.
hey rockets still have a .500 record despite the injuries, mid season trade, and shooting and defensive woes that the team experienced; i would rate the rockets season an A
I learned from this season the Rockets have some great talent for the next season and seasons after with all of our new additions and young players. Though our Rockets team as a whole didnt do outstanding, we had some outstanding play from individuals that kept this season exciting. I agree with the OP about how much we need defense to win games. I wasnt disappointed in the season. We were given the taste of an excellent season and playoffs at the beginning, going beyond all expectations. That got a lot of peoples hopes up. Its been a bumpy ride this season. It's been tough watching our guys lose to losing teams, so I've been disappointed about a few certain games, but I can't say I'm disappointed in the overall season. Games like beating Dallas twice, beating the Lakers, beating the Jazz, Celtics, and Nuggets, those games let us know what our Rockets are capable of. We have a good group of guys! I love this team! We've been plagued by a bunch of misfortunes, but they have weathered the storms well! It's been a great developmental year.
That the Rockets themselves play hard all the time, that the coaching staff knows more than ex-prima donna players, and that the GM is actually the 2nd one in history to turn water into wine. That this team, when healthy, with Yao...will be a BEAST next year. Not to mention the discovery of a potential: 1. All star PG 2. Up and coming wing 3. Up and coming PF 4. Pitbull backup PG This team will be back with a vengence ! DD
If i gave you a mercedes benz and told you its a very god car, but when it breaks, your wife will have to turn tricks to pay for repairs and it breaks alot, would you take that car and drive it 100 miles rountrip to work? What if i gave you a honda accord and told you its been in the shop 3 times in 10 years and gets good fuel mileage, but it isnt in the same class as that benz, would you take it?
