The Rockets are 9-10 at home. That's sad! Let's look at a couple of other teams' home records that I feel are the same caliber as the Rockets, yet have better records than them: Minnesota 14-7 Seattle 13-7 Denver 19-5 Hell, the Clippers and Warriors aren't far off from the Rockets at 9-13 and 8-12. That's simply pathetic. This can be traced directly to the Rockets' lackluster attendance. They're second to last in the ENTIRE LEAGUE behind New Jersey! What other reason is there for a team to have such a bad record at home? It's just terrible that this young team is playing so hard every night, and the city doesn't even appreciate them. You simply can't tell me that better attendance would not have us right in the thick of the playoff hunt. Just 2 more home wins would have us at 11-8, and 22-19 overall. If the Rockets had a better home record, people on this board wouldn't be b****ing that we lost on the road to a team with a 19-5 home record. Moreover, with packed houses every night, Hakeem would be more excited to play for this team! It's amazing to me how much a simple thing like attendance, which the team has no control over, has affected this team so much this year. You would never even consider that as a factor in a team's poor performance. Think about it.
Chicken or Egg What if they actually started playing well at home. ------------------ CUT Tino These Heaves are just getting Ridiculous!
Many Rockets' fans tell me its just a boring brand of ball. We can go to the park and run that offense. Phil Jackson once said the "dump it in" offense was like picking at a scab. I would think he would say this new offense is like watching paint dry. The Rockets can increase attendance by using a little ball movement. ------------------ Respect Hakeem's legacy. A championship in the hand is worth two in the bush!!
Let's see here. Your post was recorded at 7:32PM. The games tipoff is about 7:30PM. Unless you have your laptop with you at the game, then you couldn't possibly be there. How can you b**** about the low attendance, when even you aren't at the game? I think they call that, being a hypocrite. Give it a rest. How many times are you going to complain about something that even you aren't doing? ------------------
Oh no, Freak's at the game, he's got his laptop plugged in until right up to tip-off, usually at 7:39 or so. That, or he lives in Austin. ------------------ "He was under more balls than a midget hooker."-Bobby Hill visit www.swirve.com, coming January 20th, the top 10 films of 2000! and, http://www.geocities.com/clutch34_2000 for great Rocket insight by some of your fellow BBS posters!
Tipoff is not at 7:30. It's now halftime, so I guess it's okay if I post. Tipoff is normally closer to 7:40 at home games. Btw, I don't live in Houston. I'm also planning to go to the Vancouver game Friday night, even though I don't live in Houston. R95 -- their excellent away record has nothing to do with their poor home record. All that means is they're a better team than their record indicates, and they'd have a much better record if people bothered to show up at the games. The poor guys probably get more pumped up for away games because there's nothing to get excited about when they play at home. After all, no one seems to care. SmeggySmegg, 3 rings -- chicken and the egg my ass. Do you think the average person that attends games even knows the first thing about the style of ball the Rockets play? They probably have no clue. The reason they don't play well at home is because they have the worst attendance in the league. There's no chicken and egg argument to be made here. [This message has been edited by TheFreak (edited January 29, 2001).]
Yeah, Yeah Nice try Freak, if they need the crowd to help them win then why have they got a better Road record. ------------------ CUT Tino These Heaves are just getting Ridiculous!
I side with TheFreak here. Imagine being in the NBA, playing your heart our for "your" team and seeing only a few faces in the crowd. Who are you playing for? Players themselves have stated that they are pumped when facing the crowds of their opponents, and have admitted that it's discouraging to have such low attendance. ------------------ Nederland 2002 Rocketman95 on board. Check out his latest game recaps.
I started to agree w/ Smeg's counterexample until I remembered something that Bullard or Mo mentioned earlier... merely that the difference between 11,000 and 15,000 is noticeable, and that the players subsequently play much harder (even though they have 10,000+ yelling for them vs. 15,000+ yelling against them). Pretty interesting. TheFreak, be nice you potty-mouthed dumbass (j/k).
That's the same point I meant to mention. It was featured in the Chronicle a while ago. If only I could dig in the archives... ------------------ Nederland 2002 Rocketman95 on board. Check out his latest game recaps.
Please we are talking about professional Athletes here, they should put in and perform at 100% no matter where they play. So if the Sixers played the Rockets tonight in an empty gym in Iowa would Steve lose his ability to dribble or explode for a Dunk or Cat would suddenly become Slow or Iverson would forget how to get 30. Anyways I think it is a fairly circular argument and i most certainly can see Freak's point of view. But really the only way to get the crowd back is if they start performing, no matter what anyone says the crowd won't just come back on their own. The Rockets players need to dig deep visit the psychologist get over there small crowd issues and play hard with limited crowd support and get some sort of winning streak at home going, even 3 wins at home in row would be a good start. Whatever the reasons the attendence levels have got this low, the only way to boost the crowd now is for the players to perform, put on a show and attract the fans back. Smeg PS Maybe considering the criticism they cop on this BBS by there supposed fans, they might be better off with a small loyal and most importantly positive crowd than trying to get the criticers to attend. ------------------ CUT Tino These Heaves are just getting Ridiculous!
Are you just trolling tHEfREAK? Just trying to incite something? What kind of discussion were you hoping for? Are you looking for agreement? OK. Here: The Rockets have the worst fans in all of sport. Houston has the worst sport fans of any city worldwide. Are you trying to shame or guilt more cc.net readers into attending games? Maybe you're just venting steam? What's your point? Why b**** and moan like this? I like going to games. I'll continue to go to all the home games. Other people who like coming to games will continue to go. Do you think b****ing like will encourage attendance? Are you just trying to make me angry? It breaks my heart that we have a losing record at home. I've expended as much emotional energy as I can at every home game. Losing at home makes me sick. Instead of just b****ing about how sh!tty Rocket fans are, try to encourage attendance. Start positive threads like "Gonna be a great game tonight! Try and make it to the Summit". What's the f*cking point of b****ing like this?
Yeah, jamcracker, I'm just posting this to make you angry. Like I even knew you existed until now. I posted numerous facts -- the Rockets having the 2nd worst attendance in the NBA, the Rockets having a terrible home record, other teams that are right above the Rockets are taking care of business on their home floor which is currently costing the Rockets a playoff spot...many many facts in an attempt to back up my point-- that poor attendance has contributed significantly to the Rockets' fortunes this season. It's just as valid as any critique of their play would be. A few people actually tried to debate the issue, while others, like yourself, got upset and cried that I was whining about attendance. If I had said "man, Mobley shooting so much is really hurting our record", then posted facts as to why I thought so, would you then say "quit whining! Instead of complaining about Cat shooting so much, why not encourage him to pass? Why not start a thread that says 'Hey Cat, try to get some more assists tonight'. Are you looking for agreement? Fine, Mobley shoots too much. What's the point in b****ing about Mobley shooting too much?" It's the exact same thing. What's the point of anything that is said on the board? We're all just armchair hacks. I made an argument and supported it with facts -- if what I said is something you're uncomfortable with, you can always ignore the thread.
Your Mobley analogy is bs. Bashing the attendance is different: when you bash the attendance, you're bashing me and the other fans. Saying Rockets have a "piss-poor fan-base" is a direct insult against me and other Rocket fans. I am a Rocket fan. I am a Rocket season ticket holder. When you bash Rocket fans, especially about attendance, you're bashing me. I'm not a Rocket player, coach, or administrator, so when you bash Cat or the organization, you're not bashing me directly. See the difference? See why true Rocket fans and season ticket holders will take much more offense when the fanbase is bashed? For the rest: Maybe the Rockets would have won a few more games if all the games were sold out. I can agree with that. You cannot say "This can be traced directly to the Rockets' lackluster attendance." That is impossible to prove. 1. losing record at home vs low home attendance is chicken-and-egg (like Smeg said above, but I said first 2. Casual fans are more interested in the Rockets overall record and their playoff chances than their record at home. When I start up a Rox conversation at the office, people often ask "What's their record nowadays?" or "Are they gonna make the playoffs this year". I've never been asked "So what's their home record?" never heard someone say "Boy I sure would go to more games if our home record was better." Which would generate more attendance, a winning record at home with no chance of a playoff spot, or a losing record at home with the 4th playoff seed? I reckon more people'd come out to see a playoff-bound team with a losing home record than would come out for a out-of-playoff team with a winning home record. It makes me sick that I spent $2,000 to watch the Rockets play better on television. I wish we'd play better at home. I wish we sold out more games. I want better attendance too.
TheFreak, jamcracker is pretty freaking loud at games, and he gets people yelling D-fense in our entire section. By your reasoning, jamcracker is helping "solve a lot of problems" for the Rockets. In fact, I think without him in the stands we get blown away. He keeps us competitive. Don't b**** about the fans and stereotype all of us. It is like stereotyping the whole bbs (which you know many don't like). Stereotyping fans sucks. It is pointless. Oh, and btw: your thread title makes it pretty obvious you *are* an "armchair hack".
