Last seasons record was 45-37..8 games OVER .500 We the Rockets this year have 68 games remaining... 68!! We are 11 games behind .500 right now. So imagine if we even it up to .500 some how making us 11-11 that brings us to 57 games remaining with a .500 record, add 8 to match our last year record(8 games above .500) brings us to 49 games.. NOT EVEN Half the season is gone. Now ofcourse we are not going to run off a 19game win streak but I think you see the point 68 games remain people, we are only 3-11, 5 games out of 6th place~6 games out of 5th place. We gather some wins, they gather some losses we are right into the game! I know you loyal clutch fans wont give up, but dang Im talking even about thinking of it, how can you even think of giving up this early?? Is it the fact that we look like sh/t everytime we take a step on the court?? Probably but just don't think about that, think ahead, be like 'Instead of looking like sh/t we will be the sh/t(as in we will rule/own/excel) next time we take a step on the court' Numbers don't lie, and this team has proven they have WILL POWER(last season)... and where theres a will theres a way, numbers show we are in it, we just need to add a pep in our step, a swagger to our walk, confidence, and a ruthless desire to win as all of you, I'll be looking forward to tommorows game, and as always I am so glad this season is here(dumb offseasons) and dam proud to be a Rockets fan Now I know this thread is basically pointless but I'm tired of seeing so much negativity, we are rocket fans, we are clutch, what other team fanbase has a site like this(dont answer this), and we need to be postive. Lets hold our heads high instead of down
Were 8 games under .500 and we won 51 games last year. But yes, we're going to rebound and no one will want to face us in the playoffs.
Here's the problem. If 68 games remain, you start with expecting .500 ball. that's 34 wins. Add the 2 we have for 36 wins, 42 lossesand you have a $h!!y season, no playoffs. IF you want to adjust up from .500, given Tmac will return, fine. But factor in the other problems with this team, and that it will be hard to roll off a win streak now, when they are the chumps of the league. Yes, that's right - the very worst. So, if they aren't kicking butt in a big hurry, the season is over, and the depair spiral to tankland is inevitable. You really won't get up from .500 the rest of the way unless they go .700 the first month when Tmac comes back. Good luck with that. Have a nice day.
*sniff *sniff If it looks like a troll, and it smells like a troll... The Rocks came back from 6-11 with a much less talented team, their won't be room on the playoff bandwagon for naysayers and haters.
Return of : T - Mac Daddy + Bob-O-Cop + Legalization of Rafer = Above & Beyond .500 It's simple Clutchology!!!
Should it get to that point, it will not help that the Rockets expended so much energy climbing not only the mountain, but the extra few thousand feet of hole they dug themselves into. Lest you say "Astros," they did that with a manager that kept a good attitude, and did not denigrate his players 24/7 to anyone that would listen.
astros had twice as many games to make a move. We'd have to play .700 ball or winning 7 out of 10 for the rest of the season to get to 50 wins.
Not true- Phil Garner called out certain players in the press, even in the World Series (yes, and JVG hasn't resorted to destroying things on the sidelines). Garner called out Ausmus, Lane, and Taveras at one point, and he definitely called the entire team out for their inability to drive in runners. Jerry Sloan calls out his players, as does Larry Brown and Phil Jackson. BTW, Jeff Van Denigration took his team from 6-11 to a 51-win season. But, as per usual, he will not receive credit for that. If any coach deserves to be criticized right now, it's JVG. But if the Rockets make the playoffs, there's no "it was the team, it was T-Mac, it was the schedule, blah, blah, blah." JVG deserves the criticism for the defeats and the praise for the victories. But, of course, some can't get past their own personality dislikes to give credit where credit is due, as those who call JVG an "average" coach but heap praise upon others who have relatively the same winning percentage. Typical.
Actually if we play .700 ball for the rest of the season, which we came close to doing after being 6-11 last year, the ceiling is actually 47 wins. We'll have to do much better than last year if we want to make the playoffs at even an 8th seed. We can do it. The only problem I see is that all of our depth is on the IL. Barry out for a month, Sura and Glover likely out for season, Alston is out for God knows how long, and Tmac belongs there too. I know he's coming back Tuesday, but that's only because we're losing so much. He's not 100% but will be forced to play. That leaves us 10 quality healthy players, two of whom are Moochie and Baxter. Did I say healthy? Because Wesley is still recovering from knee surgery. That leaves us seven quality healthy players and a hobbled Tmac to start our run with. I believe!!!
if tmac plays from here on out - realistically i think we will win 8 out of our next 14, bringing us through december with a record of 11-17. in january we can continue to make improvements going 10-6 bringing our record to 21-23. at this point (the end of january) if we are around .500 we will make the playoffs thanks to our february schedule. take a look at it and tell me you don't think we win between 9 and 11 games out of 13 in that month. so lets say we go 10-3. our record is back on track at 31-26 march and april are as tough as november but with a healthy team we can stay above .500 winning 13 of 25. our final record may be somewhere around 44-38. we can make the playoffs with that but it will be a close race and we might miss the cut. hopefully we will make a trade during the year that will bring some help in the backcourt. maybe then we can add a few more wins and surely make the playoffs.
A team with a healthy T-Mac and Yao is capable of anything. The only thing I'm worried about is T-Mac feeling the pressure to come back too early to stop the losing skid. If T-Mac returns before he is completely healed, that would be a bigger problem than our current record. I'd rather lose a few more games than to risk damaging our franchise player who is also the league MVP.
Garner criticized plenty. He also praised his players plenty, believed in them publicly, and pointed out the positives whenever possible. Garner also earned slack courtesy of having played the game, having won a championship ring, and having an affiliation beyond the current one with the organization. Mr. Van Gundy is nothing but dour and pessimistic (see the intro at the home opener, no less), and has none of those other attributes.
So if we play .700 ball, will we win 8 out of 10 games or 6? Ah, I can't think for myself. Let me just hit Ctr-V to paste what I have in memory so I don't have to think anymore. What a great idea! Let's tank the season less than 15 games into it for an inknown commodity! Not smart.
"I know right now, everybody's hopping off the Yao bandwagon," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "That happens. People are fickle. When a guy doesn't make (shots) it's condemn Yao. It's either Yao is right behind Shaq (O'Neal) or Yao is right below the worst center in the league. With Yao, the only thing I feel badly about is people try to raise expectations up so high, they're actually satisfied with nothing that he does. I feel badly for him in that way. "I'm not going to jump off because everyone else has."
"We have enough to win with," Van Gundy said after Monday's practice at American Airlines Center. "We have a good group of guys, but we need more competitive spirit about us."
As with most cliches, there were some inaccuracies from the start. For a "taskmaster," Van Gundy gives a lot of days off, far more than "good guy, players coach" Rudy Tomjanovich ever did in Houston. After two days of training camp, Van Gundy cut the two-a-day schedule back to one daily practice. After four days, he offered a day off.
Perhaps, but that still does not speak to the mix of McGrady and Van Gundy. McGrady says he has heard from players that had played for Van Gundy's mentor, Pat Riley. Most of the talk centered on grueling practices. McGrady says he chose to ignore criticisms as whining "from players that don't like to work." He spent the first week of his first Rockets training camp raving about Van Gundy's attention to detail. "This is a different training camp," McGrady says. "He's a great coach. He's teaching every little technique about the game. It's more mental, intense. Everybody is real focused, not going through the motions. Coach is very defensive-minded. He's a great teacher, and I'm learning a lot.
