[chron] Barry, Smith, Barkley cutting Rockets no slack

We have a winner.

Everyone stop whining about the bench. Barring injury, they won't see much time. We easily have enough bench for the playoffs. So we can't field a solid 10 man rotation? Don't need it.

No excuses, this team is ready.

 

Here's a quote from Kenny Smith that I found in Barron's reporter's notebook that did not make the story:

"Yeah, Tracy just doesn't have this whole championship thing figured out. Doesn't he know that in order to win a championship you need to bomb in your first couple of stops and then get traded to a team with a an all-time great? At that point, it's the Nascar strategy. Let the big guy plow through the wind and you draft like he!!. He should also get someone to play most of the crunch-time minutes for him as well, like I did with Sam. You know what I say, when the collar gets a little tight, find the pine. Just hit a few big shots in the playoffs once every 9 or 10 games on your way to a championship and you can parlay that into a national TV gig. When will he ever get it?"

 

agreed. too many people here are falling in love with this "just make it out of the 1st round" notion, which is just a way of setting your expectations very low.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!

 

It's called being realistic. Utah should be a win, but after that we face dallas and probaly the suns.you're telling me this team with No bench can beat dallas and Phoenix in a 7 game series?.

 

I don't underestimate experience I was one of the few backing up a sure thing and experience Shane Battier to an inconsistent talent in Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift, hate bringing that back up. Karl Malone had tons of playoff experience but he never won a ring, Reggie Miller tons of playoff experience never won a ring, Gary Payton tons of playoff experience didn't win a ring till last year, and so on and so fourth. I just think experience is just a little overrated, thats all.

 

They're a bunch of hypocrites. A couple weeks ago, neither of them were picking Houston to get out of the first round. And Barkley said nothing changes in the last few weeks of the regular season, and Kenny Smith sat their dully nodding his head in agreement like he always does. Now, it's some sort of travesty if we don't get out of the first round, according to them? Clowns.

Barkley, in particular, has no right at all to bash the Rockets in these playoffs. He said we had no chance to advance. Now, he doesn't want to own up to that and he's saying the Rockets should advance or they suck.

 

Barkley's quote is hilarious...i can't say that i disagree.

 

McGrady is under immense pressure. the whole planet is gonna be tuning in very closely to see if he can finally get over the hump and go pass the 1st round.if he does, noone will ever have another excuses to put him down.

 

TMac is probably ecstatic that people are talking about him again. It is pressure, but probably the kind of pressure he likes.

Will be interesting to hear what they say Monday on TNT, hopefully after being 1 up. If the Rockets lose, then Charles will be back to his usual "I told you so" mode. Always fun to watch.

 

Kenny Smith will. Apparently, McGrady needs to get past the second round as well according to "The Jet."

 

What I hear Barkley saying is, "Mah fie, mah ruse...it really wasn't about the hat."

 

I think it's ridiculous to think we don't have as much talent as the other contenders.

No one's (in the league) second best player is as good as our second best player.

We have the same amount of total talent, but we have a larger share of that talent in 2 players. Other teams have their talent spread out.

So yeah, we don't have the same depth as other teams.

But people who say you need depth to win make a weak argument. Sure, players get worn out... But assuming we have equal amounts of talent, then it really doesn't matter if you're deep with it or not. If most of your talent is invested in two players, then you should be able to build a larger cushion by the time your weaker bench comes in. Essentially it's all the same.

Now, one could make an argument that other teams are more or less talented, but the difference is MINIMAL. I never understand what JVG meant when he'd say NBA teams have almost equal amounts of talent. The salary cap has made that theory even stronger.

So yeah, ok, other teams are deeper than we are right now. But more talented? Pffft. Negligable at best. Don't make that an excuse.

Effort, coaching and chemistry determine the difference between teams for the most part IMO.

It's when teams start thinking "well they're so much more talented" that it creates a mental block and makes it much more difficult to beat those teams.

Always remember that if every team picked their two best players, we would have the best pair in the league. Yes, it's a team game, but the advantage of having the best pair makes up for the disadvantage of having less "talented" other players.

 

This post is a 100% picture of greatness. Nice job!

 

Realistically, if Yao and McGrady were both healthy all season, this team could have won close to 60 games with the current roster and that would have put them in the elite company with Dallas, Phoenix, and San Antonio.

Do we have the necessary pieces to win like Kenny Smith said? I think there are a few holes in the roster:

-no answer for elite power forwards. Hayes can hold his own, but in the realm of the Tim Duncans, Amare Stoudamires, Shawn Marions, and Dirk Nowitzkis (hell, even Carlos Boozer), we're overmatched in a long best-of-7 series.

-point guard play. This is not a knock on Rafer because we already know what he can and cannot do. This is a knock on how we go from an average point guard in Rafer to "this team is S.O.L" with Lucas or Head.

-depth. Every coach shortens their rotation in the playoffs, but having the luxury of inserting a player into the game without worries is something the Rockets don't have. Suns has Barbosa, Spurs has Ginobili, Mavericks has Stackhouse. We have Luther. Granted, he's been playing out of his mind lately, but we can only hope he can sustain that throughout the playoffs.

Even after typing all that out, I believe we'll go through Utah with ease and put the Mavericks to the test. What team doesn't have weaknesses/holes that JVG can't exploit? Against the Mavericks, they have yet to find a way to stop or even slow Yao down. Against the Suns, I've seen the Rockets put the best pressure on Nash than any other team in the league (when McGrady guards him). Against the Spurs, though they have a championship pedigree, can anyone on their team really stop McGrady?

 

While I agree that the first round shouldn't be a goal

I also find Kenny and Charles contradicting eachother. Oh he has to get out of round 1 or everyone will jump on him , but Kenny says round 1 means nothing?


Which is it? Does it mean something or does it not? We can already see, if the Rockets don't advance that Mcgrady will take the blame, no matter if he does his usual 32/7/7 or not. I'd go further and say this time Yao has to put up a bigger effort and stay in the games until the end. Luther needs to get his shot ready, and Rafer needs to play his best for this team to win.

Don't give me that 2 HOF madness. It didnt get us past the Mavs because the supporting cast had a massive brain fart. Every team that goes far needs a Fisher, an Horry, a Manu. Someone who steps up to help.

 

I thought the rockets were a championship team when they put that whooping on Dallas the second game of the season. But as the season progress and the more I watched the Rockets role players, I have second thoughts. It's all going depend on how consistently the role players play.

 

because TMac has 'KOBE' talent and he's suppose to be the "LEADER" of the team.
Yes all the pressure is on TMAC.

 

who in their right mind thought miami would win it all last year?
or who in their right mind picked detroit to beat the lakers a few years back?
who had the rockets as a 6th seed winning it all in '95?

ya see where i'm going with this?

this is team is good enough to beat any team in the league in a seven game series, whether you like it or not. nowhere did i say that i expect them to win it all, but they're sure as hell good enough to do so.

 

Kenny Smith is still the perennial douche bag that he is.

Now on the other hand, it does shock me that Charles Barkley actually said something worth noting.

 

yes they will, like JVG said, when will he win the whole thing? is he good enough to carry a team to win the whole thing?

trust me, if all tmac cares about winning the first round w/ this team, that's not a good sign. and i think tmac is looking for more than a first round win.