1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Chron, Blinebury: Rockets must either put up or shut up

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by JeffB, Feb 13, 2004.

Tags:
Page 1 of 2
  1. JeffB

    JeffB Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 1999
    Messages:
    3,588
    Likes Received:
    568
    Over final 30 games, Rockets must either put up or shut up
    By FRAN BLINEBURY
    Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
    Feb. 12, 2004, 10:46PM

    Wow many times have they been here before, at the corner of Promise and Potential?

    Then there is the squeal of tires, the sound of crumbling metal, the tinkling of broken glass.

    How many times already have they offered us a front row seat to the next great thing?

    Then the chair is pulled away and we wind up crashing one more time to the floor.

    So the Rockets whipped the Lakers and cruised into the NBA All-Star break with bellies full of satisfaction and heads crammed with confidence.

    And why not? The winning streak, after all, stands at one game.

    But it was a big game, they'll tell us. That's the message sent out again by Stevie and Cuttino and Mo, the line they have down pat. Like those singing Valentine's Day candygrams, they've delivered so many they could recite the lines in their sleep. Which is usually what they do next.

    What is a high-profile win over the Lakers on Christmas Day when it is followed the next night by a desultory loss in Denver?

    What is a nationally televised thumping of the howling Timberwolves in January when the next picture to flash onto the screen is a loss in Memphis?

    A sign of mediocrity. Or immaturity. Or incompatibility.

    Or all of the above.

    There is no doubt that the entire Rockets organization and the long-range plan for the future was dealt a severe setback by Eddie Griffin's career gone amok. Griffin was a young man with all of the physical tools and enough of the right basketball skills to be counted on to grow into the third side of a star triangle that included Yao Ming and Francis.

    When Griffin's demons took him out of the picture before the season even started, it left not just a void at the power forward spot right now, but a gaping hole in the overall blueprint. So give them leeway for that unexpected development.

    But what can't be dismissed or rationalized or explained away is a continued lack of consistency and commitment at the core.

    Yes, we are back, at least briefly, to Stevie Franchise's Big AWOL Adventure. Perhaps he wasn't at the Super Bowl or in the parking lot at Reliant Stadium. Maybe he was on temporary assignment to the Alabama National Guard.

    Francis wasn't with the team and that speaks to leadership. So, too, does the fact Yao and Jim Jackson are the only two members of the current starting lineup who don't have to be consistently pushed and prodded and cajoled to put in an honest day's work at every practice.

    The Rockets are in Year 5 of Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato and the scenery changes more often on a treadmill.

    This is no longer about simply making the playoffs and being served up as first-round fodder. It is not a pass/fail proposition.

    If the best these Rockets can do is limp into the No. 7 or 8 hole in the Western Conference, it is hardly worth the jet fuel to Sacramento or Minneapolis or San Antonio or wherever else they'll be appetizers. They are already several years behind schedule on the growth chart with unsold suites and unfilled seats at the new downtown palace, so management cannot wait any longer for them to bloom.

    There are likely no landscape-changing deals to be had. No beat-the-trade-deadline moves that will transform this bunch into a sudden contender. So the best route is probably to play out the hand as it's dealt, give them every chance to prove -- or disprove -- themselves.

    If the fire sale begins next summer, only Yao is a guaranteed keeper.

    This has to be their last chance. What's revealed over the course of the long regular season are the subtle traits, the character issues, the true grit that exists inside a locker room and allows a real team to form. In those areas, we are already seeing previously perennially inept franchises in Denver and Memphis threatening to leapfrog the Rockets. Next year New Orleans moves over to the West and that simply makes a difficult road more demanding.

    These Rockets like to crow, like to celebrate, like to talk about their effort and their results in big games as proof of their legitimacy.

    But what are big games? Are they really in December or January or February? Do they even have a clue?

    Do they know that on the road to winning the third of their three straight titles, the Lakers were beaten by the last-place team in every division in the league? In other words, every dog can have its day in the sun.

    This group has never even felt the slightest heat of the playoffs in late April, let alone the blast furnace intensity of May and June.

    Are big games only the ones when the national TV cameras are on hand, along with opponents named Shaq and Kobe and Tim and Kevin?

    This group has never grasped the notion that our true selves are revealed when nobody else is watching. It is what you do out of the range of the spotlight that builds a backbone, builds a team.

    After the party weekend in Los Angeles, there will be 30 games left in the Rockets season.

    Every one of them is huge for a team that likes to talk big.
     
    #1 JeffB, Feb 13, 2004
  2. bigboymumu

    bigboymumu Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 1999
    Messages:
    3,421
    Likes Received:
    1
    Absolutely Fran's best article!
     
    #2 bigboymumu, Feb 13, 2004
  3. Alirules

    Alirules Member

    Joined:
    May 5, 2002
    Messages:
    429
    Likes Received:
    0
    Fran is right about making the playoffs but going to the second round is not realistic. We are the 6th best teamin the west talent wise. And whoever we play in the first round we will be undedogs. SO for us to lose in the 1st round and still being disappointment is not really fair. Ofcourse if we get swept then there might be something to it. BUT IF we win like 2 games in the playoffs then this still was a successful season.
     
    #3 Alirules, Feb 13, 2004
  4. JeffB

    JeffB Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 1999
    Messages:
    3,588
    Likes Received:
    568
    Its sad that after five years in the lottery, the coach needs to prod certain players to put effort into practice.
     
    #4 JeffB, Feb 13, 2004
  5. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2002
    Messages:
    51,804
    Likes Received:
    20,462
    Or we can look at the last five games and be happy.
    which isn't actually a bad team, but it is one that we should beat.
    Why? I don't think the team was really picked to go into the playoffs higher than that. Of course all of those games will be big and national television so maybe the team will step it up and play like they did against the Lakers.
    Not particularly. They don't prance around claiming they are as good as they need to be or anything like that. This claim has no real base in fact.
     
    #5 FranchiseBlade, Feb 13, 2004
  6. thacabbage

    thacabbage Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 1999
    Messages:
    6,993
    Likes Received:
    145
    I have been as critical of the Rockets as anyone else, but after 4 straight lottery seasons, why is finishing 6th in the West seen as a disappointment? Since when were we expected to contend?
     
    #6 thacabbage, Feb 13, 2004
  7. gucci888

    gucci888 Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    17,227
    Likes Received:
    6,573
    Article speaks the truth, it's just that Blinebury's articles have beens so repetitious lately. Yes we get it, we need to play better or else, I don't want to read about it everyday. I get enough of that here on clutchfans.net
     
    #7 gucci888, Feb 13, 2004
  8. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2002
    Messages:
    51,804
    Likes Received:
    20,462
    Exactly. Blinebury's lost his mind, and that's giving him the benefit of the doubt by assuming he had one to begin with.
     
    #8 FranchiseBlade, Feb 13, 2004
  9. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2001
    Messages:
    18,100
    Likes Received:
    447
    Blineburry has selective memory.
     
    #9 Oski2005, Feb 13, 2004
  10. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2002
    Messages:
    18,209
    Likes Received:
    10,211
    I would have no problem with the Rockets finishing 6th in the West. They're not as good as the Kings, T'Wolves, Spurs, Mavs, or Fakers yet. But anything less than that would be cause for concern. I mean, the Rockets ARE better than the Grizzlies and Nuggets, aren't they?
     
    #10 count_dough-ku, Feb 13, 2004
  11. derrock

    derrock Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2002
    Messages:
    1,020
    Likes Received:
    1
    Isn't this the reason why the Rockets have been so frustrating over the years? They can go out and beat anybody and then go out and lose to anybody. The Roxs have just been mediocre for too long now that they have to show more promise, the have to show that they are getting it. I agree with Fran that it is not worth a team that may battle for only the #7 or #8 spot year-in and year-out. But how are we supposed to know if this team is just getting started or has just peaked? This is where the Rox management will have a tough decision to make at the end of the season EVEN if we make the playoffs (it'd be obvious to trade away a major piece if we don't).
     
    #11 derrock, Feb 13, 2004
  12. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2002
    Messages:
    57,785
    Likes Received:
    41,212
    No kidding. Let's see how we do when we get to the playoffs, much less what our seed is. Once you make it you never know what might happen, but let's get there first. It's going to be tough this year... tougher than when we were just falling short. Our division and the WC continue to get tougher and tougher.
     
    #12 Deckard, Feb 13, 2004
  13. Raven

    Raven Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2002
    Messages:
    14,984
    Likes Received:
    1,025
    A great article. Just exactly how much is proven if the Rockets get swept in the first round. Can the season really be called a success? Not in my opinion.

    Raven
     
    #13 Raven, Feb 13, 2004
  14. IROC it

    IROC it Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 1999
    Messages:
    12,629
    Likes Received:
    89
    What seed were we in 94? in 95?
     
    #14 IROC it, Feb 13, 2004
  15. lalala902102001

    lalala902102001 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2002
    Messages:
    6,629
    Likes Received:
    445
    Gosh, I thought Fran would do better.

    He basically just echoed what people on this bbs have been complaining all season and offered absolutely zero insight.
     
    #15 lalala902102001, Feb 13, 2004
  16. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    83,288
    Likes Received:
    62,281
    Damn, he keeps pounding on them. Sounds like he really detests Francis, Mobley, Taylor, Cato.
     
    #16 AroundTheWorld, Feb 13, 2004
  17. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2001
    Messages:
    22,025
    Likes Received:
    4,552

    no kidding. he hates them.

    steve, cat, and mo are immediately called out to start the article and then he pretends they don't practice. cuttino, lives and breathes basketball cuttino doesn't practice? give me a F'ing break. maybe if we could get yao to give us an honest's days effort in all the games instead of all the practices we'd be better.

    the memphis and denver losses weren't poorly played games. hell, even this board, negativity central, said as much. the memphis game was considered good, we just got outplayed, and in the denver game, we were doing fine until carmelo went crazy and started banking in 3's from everywhere, and even then it took a cuttino foul in the last few seconds (a mental error not lack of effort) to seal it. give me a break on those losses. pick something better. it's not like we should own those teams. check their records. they're even with us. and don't say, but we see how good we can play in games like the last one. you don't think memphis and denver have beaten the big boys as well? they are just as capable of playing at a high level as we are and they happened to in those two games.

    This group has never grasped the notion that our true selves are revealed when nobody else is watching. It is what you do out of the range of the spotlight that builds a backbone, builds a team

    something tells me if we were the exact opposite, beat the weak teams to death, sucked against the good teams on national tv, fran would've said the exact opposite. it's what you do when the spotlight is on that counts.

    oh, and how are we several years behind schedule? several years means we should be making western conference finals and nba finals by now. give me a break. you can maybe say we're one year behind schedule, and even then our schedule is basically built around yao's schedule and he's like only 2 or 3 months behind and may be finally starting to catch up fully.


    man i hate blinebury articles. though this one did manage to cut the metaphors down a tad.
     
    #17 francis 4 prez, Feb 13, 2004
  18. MoonBus

    MoonBus Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 1999
    Messages:
    1,102
    Likes Received:
    55
    Boring read. Nothing new here.

    As far as playing big in national televised games, there is something BIG about that. The last time I checked, all playoff games are televised. If the guys steps up for TV games, then when playoff comes, other teams better watch out.
     
    #18 MoonBus, Feb 13, 2004
  19. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 1999
    Messages:
    65,191
    Likes Received:
    32,901
    When was the last time Blinebury picked up anything
    besides a twinkie. . . .

    When the last time he build his backbone

    Those who can't .. . teach . .
    those who cannot teach . . .critisize

    Rocket River
     
    #19 Rocket River, Feb 13, 2004
  20. okierock

    okierock Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2001
    Messages:
    3,132
    Likes Received:
    199
    Old news.

    Very true.

    But old news.
     
    #20 okierock, Feb 13, 2004
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2

Share This Page