ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 4/28/2004 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 5)

AMEN.

 

Since you want to rude about it, NO ONE really cares about a team that plays stupid dumbass basketball like the Rockets but their fans. You whiny fans give me a royal pain in the a$$. You are like petulant children who get upset and throw tantrums because the world is not to their liking. Well BOO-HOO! They lost! They had their a$$es handed to them. They got punked. They punked themselves! Deal with it!

The ONLY surprise that should come out of this is that this cast of characters was able to take 1 game from the Lakers. Considering how they backed into the playoffs, I fully expected them to get swept. At NO time, did I even ATTEMPT to delude myself that these guys had a realistic chance to take 4 out of 7 against the Lakers. Had you and others like yourself bothered to watch them play this past season, you would have been under no illusions about their level of play - it stinks!.

To put it even more bluntly: they simply do not do enough good things on the court to give themselves a chance to win, PERIOD. The Rockets team you saw last night was the same team I saw all season: TOs, bad shots, lack of composure, blown defensive assignments, crappy ball handling and stupid, dumbass decision making. They are what they are - a mediocre team so DEAL WITH IT! Oh and DON'T waste too much time "hoping" that the clowns in the front office will somehow be able to do anything to improve this team during the off season. They have no 1st round draft picks, no room under the salary cap for trades and an MLE. You actually want to bank on CD making a good basketball move? If so, then be my guest. As for myself, I expect to see more of Steve Fancy "posing" next season along with his gang that couldn't shoot straight.

 

Hillboy:

No matter how you slice it, or how many titles they have, or whether Karla, Shaq, Kobe and Glove cuddle up together each night...they're still the Lakers. And if you can't see the shame in that, you're just not ever going to understand.

Off to LaLaLand with you. I've never had the urge to look for a Lakers BBS...You have used Clutch's bandwidth 700+ times.

Congrat's Rockets on a great series. Three great games, and two not so good. And I can continue to root against the Lakeshow for four more games.

A frustrating season...but a respectable playoff. Go Rocks!

 

It is too common and trite to blame the officials for your team's failures. But, I'm doing it anyway. Granted, it is the Rockets fault that they completely collapsed when the pressure was on and were too nervous to ever hold onto the ball. But, the game got away when the refs swallowed their whistles and allowed the Lakers' defense manhandle the Rockets so that any offensive set they tried resulted in an unpenalized mugging. I don't understand, honestly, why the league doesn't want a fair game, but they obviously don't. I wished the Rockets showed a little more poise and didn't just give up when it became obvious they were playing 5 on 8. But then, they weren't really given an opportunity to compete. It's a depressing way to go out. Game 1 would have been more fitting -- a fairly well called game that slipped away from us from our own mistakes, not by some league mandate.

 

Then you aren't a Rockets fan...go find a Lakers BBS and preach to them. If you didn't think the Rockets could win after that fluke loss in game 1, and roaring back from down by double digits at the end of the third quarter in game 4, then you must be a Laker fan. I hate saying 'could of" and 'should of'....but the Rockets easily could've been up 3 to 1 going in to game 5. The Lakers just seem to get more breaks with the game on the line.

 

Maybe we can put steve's balls on yao and yao's mind on steve. I wonder what would result. Maybe thats why there good friends, because one has what the other does'nt

 

Hillboy, you claim to be a rocket fan but in your last post you seem to be shaking your purple & gold pom-poms.

I cant wait to see the Spurs beat the Lakers and send Karl Malone home again without a ring, and Payton too.

Rooting for the Spurs, I cant believe im saying that.

As for the Rockets, so close yet so far....

Dissapointed with the play of Yao. He spent way too much time outside the post area setting picks. And when he did get the ball in the post, he was hesitant most of the time. He needs to get the ball and go immediately to his offensive move. He must learn not to dribble, just get the ball, turn and shoot.

Stevie was too passive last night. He passed a number of open shots and deferred to someone else.

For most of the series, the Rockets were right there with the Lakers, and for the most part, Im proud of the way we played. I think the roster will be shaken some this summer, but I hope we maintain our corps players.

Even though we lost, my Rocket-fandom has not been shaken.

Clutch City Forever

 

Thats crazy man. Just because you don't think the Rockets are the best team in the NBA and expect them to win every series you AREN'T a Rocket's Fan?

What Hillboy said was very truthful, although very 'in your face'-ish. That doesn't make him a Laker fan. Good god.

 

The Rockets were one shot in the first game, and a couple of breaks in game 4 away from making them go up 3-1. Hillboy said we had no realistic shot to win the series, when we were that close to at least forcing a game 6. I didn't expect the Rockets to win this series...but I felt they had a realistic shot, especially after game 1. The Lakers have flaws just as serious as the Rockets' flaws, which is why they won't make it out of the 2nd round.

 

Well looks like this is gona be the last game thread in a while, so i thought id drop a post in before its gone. Just wanted to say thumbs up to the Rockets and for keeping me on my toes all season long, even when i was realllly reallllllly pissed off at em!
Over all Season i give B no no make that B+

 

It was a great season, but we should have won more games...I know there is always next year, and you can bet we'll be back in the playoffs once Stevie gets a vote of confidence...

KEEP STEVIE...

 

This lost sucks. I truly believe we have a shot of winning this serie.

Maybe my expectation is a little bit too high.

No matter what happened, I consider this season a success because we have lots of positive things to look forward to next season.

Only if we couldkick Lakers' butt, that would make my day.

Go Rox.

 

It's twits like you that give Rocket fans a bad reputation. You have let your jealousy and hatred of the Lakers blind you to the reality that these Rockets were just not that good - THIS YEAR. You all can b**** and whine and call them cute & silly names (I'd pay real $$$ to see one of you punks try to call Malone Karla to his face...) but the one thing you cannot refute nor deny is the fact that while the Rockets were wallowing around in NBA lottery land, the Lakers were winning NBA titles. The Laker franchise is one of the NBA's storied franchises - one with a history of winning championships. These are NOT the words you would use to describe this Houston Rockets franchise.

And for the record, I've probably been a Rockets fan longer than you have been alive. I've been a fan ever since their first season in Houston when they played in Hofheinz Pavilion in those hideous unis - when on some nights only 200 of you so-called "Rockets fans" bothered to show up. I was there when, in order to get people to come to the games at the Summit, the Rockets let you into games if you brought Rainbow bread wrappers. I have been there with this team ever since through more S that you can shake a stick at so I don't need some bandwagoning whiny-ass loser lecturing me on why I "need" to stop posting here. Just because I'm a Rocket fan does not mean that I have to be a Laker-hating fool but if that's what works for you and the rest of your ilk then by all means, be my guest.

 

Sigh! Denial is good when it serves some sort of purpose. Here, however, it has blinded you to the reality of what just happened. Yes, these Lakers were very ripe for the taking. Yes, yes, we appeared to matchup very well against the LA "Dream" team. Yes, we COULD have been up 3 to 1 going into game 5. Instead of hating the Lakers for the sake of hate, you need to be asking yourself is "Why didn't it happen for the Rockets?"

After having watched these characters slip and slide through an up and down 82 game season, the answer was always there in plain sight for all to see. That Rockets team you witnessed in the playoffs was the same Rockets team that backed it's way into the playoffs. Given the circumstances, this was a Rocket team that was simply not GOOD enough nor SMART enough to take down the Lakers because when all is said and done, they had too many holes to cover (PF,PG,SG) and weaknesses (bad play, TOs) to overcome.

A team's faults and weaknesses get exposed and exploited in a 7 game series and this worked both ways. While SF exploited the slower, less athletic LA guards, LA exploited the Rockets hole at PF created by the EG fiasco. Yao and Shaq pretty much cancelled out each other but it was Malone and Kobe who simply killed the Rockets. Kobe killed us in part due to poor defense by Mobley but mostly because Mobley's hot-and-cold offensive game could not match Kobe's steady one. At money time, with the game on the line, it was Kobe making the big shots while Cuttino was tossing up bricks. Add to that their penchant for turning over the ball, taking bad shots and cracking under pressure and you have your answer why it's the Lakers and not the Rockets who will be on SA's BBQ pit come Saturday.

 

well said, HillBoy. there are too many types of fans but you're apparently one with wisdom. wisdom doesn't grow on trees or can be taught, unfortunately. so why bother trying to give sights to those blind?

anyho, the Rox are not much better than the Wolves of old or even last year's Suns, so it's not a shock that they are officially "gone fishing" now. it's a small progress from last year for sure, and i do anticipate some moving and shaking coming July. however there's nothing much to be excited about now, so why not just get the BBQ and sunscreen ready?

so long. have fun, and stay cool.

 

Overall very nice post, Hillboy. I agree with most of what you said...except I believe Mobley played about as good of defense as you can on Kobe. And I don't think it's fair to compare them with the game on the line, because Kobe is the Lakers go-to guy in the clutch, while Mobley is the Rockets 2nd or 3rd option.

But I am tired of debating it...it's over and done now, hopefully the Rockets will re-tool and do what they need to do to avoid getting knocked out in the first round next year. Now it's time to enjoy some Laker losses.

 

I like your tag line. The GOOD news to remember this off season is that JVG does indeed have a clue and is driven to climb that championship mountain. It's now up to this organization to give him what he needs to make it all the way.

 

I guess I'll try this again, although I'm sure you'll have no answer, as this assertion makes absolutely ZERO sense:

How would the drafting of Richard Jefferson, or some other mid-first round pick, have solved the Rockets' 'hole at PF'? I assume the 'EG fiasco' refers to the Griffin acquisition ... am I wrong? If this is the case, then there surely wouldn't have been a 'fiasco' had the Rockets simply kept their draft choices, rather than trading them for Griffin. So how would that have solved the 'hole at PF' that you say was created by the acquisition of Griffin?

Or better yet, how 'bout an easier question: how did the Lakers 'exploit' the Rockets' 'hole at PF'? Did the Rockets not have enough defense at that position? That seems odd, given that Cato is pretty much a defensive specialist. What player would have played better defense on the LA power forwards? Could it be Richard Jefferson, or some other mystery player the Rockets should have drafted, instead of trading for Griffin?

 

Check this crap that was written By Urkel Himself about Karl Malone.

I Salute Karl Malone for droppin' 'bows on Houston like a Ludacris song. I mean who can possibly hate on a 40 year old man who is SO down to win a ring, he's managed to elevate The Swinging of The Elbow to a respectable artform? And for the trained NBA watcher- look closely and you might even catch a glimpse of the swifty-nifty, kung-fu kick Karl delivers when he drives the lane.

http://www.nba.com/blog/blog22.html