ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Raptors 1/6/2006

Well for an "untalented" team, they sure as hell couldn't miss.

 

Well said.

 

Booyah!

 

This just proves injuries are not the main reason we are losing. Inconsistentacy is. Same team that just won against cleveland, loses to toronto by 20. same players. same team. except tonight players were taking a vacation. no matter who comes back, yao, anderson..we are going to have days when players just straight up suck. tmac can have his 35. yao can have his 20. thats only 55. why cant we ever be consistent for an extended period of time, and why do we lose to the teams with record worse than ours?

 

I agree with ndnguy85 and that's why i agree with what Kerr said in the other thread:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=106978

Our spare parts just dont fit. We have to admit it yet some of the posters here get mad when someone critised their beloved rockets!

Suns lost Amare and yet they are a winning team.

Without T-mac, rox are 0-8, without yao rox are 3-6. There is definiteky some problems with the team and that's the FACT!

Regardless, i still believe Rockets can make the playoffs. Hope they will prove me right!

 

Wrong, not the same team. Howard scored 21 last night.

 

**** YOU RAPTORS I ****ING HATE YOUR ****ING PLAYBOOK AND I THINK THAT MIKE ****ING JAMES SHOULD ****ING TAKE THAT PIECE OF **** AND HAVE IT ****ED UP HIS MOTHER****ING **** **** **** **** b****ES I AM SO ****ING SICK OF ****ING ROCKETS GETTING THEIR t*** HANDED TO THEM BY ****ING LOSING ****ING **** **** **** **** ****.

I need a beer.

 

All the Rockets weaknesses were exposed tonight. They are very old and slow like Van Grumpy says. Swift has no basketball IQ and nobody on the Rockets can come even close to guarding a quick PG. Jeff Von Idiot needs to realize that Wesley can't guard somebody 6 inches taller than him and Deke can't guard Bosh. CD needs to waive Bowen or Moochie and go to the NBDL and find a quick, defense minded PG like a Anthony Grundy or Will Bynum. They also could use a true backup 3 to T-Mac like a Sean Banks or Erik Daniels.

 

The thing is, if nothing else, all this team's weaknesses are now crystal clear, and nothing is left but for management to work its magic and find a way to improve the team through mainly trades over this season and in the off-season, because if we start off next season with the same lineup (or anything close to it as far as having older players playing primary starting roles, etc.), then I guarantee you we ain't going nowhere...we will make the playoffs alright, but actually do something in the playoffs? Not even close...

 

Like JVG says, "Your record is what you are.''

They won seven of their last nine? Wow, that's surprising. I wish we had kept James, a very bad trade. Steve Kerr is right, he and Sura are who the Rockets need, right now.

 

After James drove toward the basket and was fouled by Howard, the players exchanged words before Howard approached James and shoved the ball into his face. James was restrained by his teammates. Both received a technical, but Howard was also tossed.

"After that happened, something really clicked inside of me," James said. "The only person I fear in my life is my heavyweight father. Besides that, I fear no man."

Asked if he has a history with Howard, James said: "Actually, that's my boy. Well, I thought he was."

Howard didn't want to discuss it.

"Don't ask me about it," Howard said.

Alston showed up late to the arena, then was critical of Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, saying he didn't prepare his players for games. Alston repeatedly clashed with Mitchell last year.

Alston had just two points and seven assists in 35 minutes.

James, who is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, was traded because the Rockets considered Alston more of a true point guard.

"I guess I'm not a point guard. That's what everybody's quote is to this day that Mike James is not a point guard, but for some reason I still continue to get seven, eight assists," James said. "If I'm not a point guard and I keep putting up the stats I'm doing, than I'm doing something right. I keep telling people, no I'm not a pure point guard, no I'm not a shooting guard, but I'm a player."

 

First time poster here.

The night shift guys on SportsRadio 610 were seriously ticking me off this evening. Rockets play their 3rd road game in 4 days, without Yao Ming and against a hot team that has already won 4 straight, and they begin to rag on the team like they're completely useless. It's as if the quality wins against Cleveland and Washington never happened.

Maybe this is part of the Rocket's problems -- our fans are so fickle that it shows up on the court ... we end up having no home court advantage. How else do you explain the fact that we've been far more hopeless and pathetic-looking at home than on the road?

Take a chill pill everyone. We still have a relatively easy schedule ahead. We are not the Pistons. We're going to lose some games. We're probably not going to be at .500 before Yao comes back. One loss on a road trip does not equal disaster. We've already seen the worst we could possibly see this season, it can only get better from here on out. Take it for what it is, one loss. That's all.

 

all i am saying is the true identity of this team is the one it has during the loses.

game 7 last year.

yao: 33
tmac: 27
rest of the team: 16

as long as we dont have a reliable 3rd and 4th options..we will be inconsistent. dont blame the coach, dont blame tmac for leaving at halftime..blame the guys who can't hit shots night in and night out.

 

Yep. expecting Tmac/Yao to combine for 40-50 points a night is almost a given. it's just the 40-50 other points we need to win that needs to be accounted for.

 

I don't think we're really that bad off in that department either. Granted we could use some solid help if we're going to make it to championship contender status, but minus injuries, what we've got right now could get something going. I mean, tonight we still scored 92 points despite losing Juwan. The bigger problem wasn't lack of offense, it was a defensive breakdown. Perhaps that was partly due to playing the 3rd game in 4 nights on the road against a hot team. But it's just one game. Ever since Alston came back Juwan has been playing a lot more consistently, and both Wesley and Head are starting to find their shots again. Bottom line is this season is far from lost ... we could even make it into the 2nd round of the playoffs if we can get the right seeding.

 

I expect 5pts or less from these guys every game.
Lonny Baxter - 0
Ryan Bowen - 0
Dikembe Mutombo - 8

But the rest has to do better than this.

Rafer Alston - 2
Jon Barry - 8
Luther Head - 2
Juwan Howard - 2
Stromile Swift - 12
Moochie Norris - 2

 

James and Alston came into this game wanting to prove that their old teams made a big mistake trading them away. You could see it the whole game watching James, he had a chip on his shoulder the whole game and it translated to intensity and energy producing a great night for him. Rafer's only impact was to come to town and bad mouth his old coach to the press instead of proving it on the court. Only positive that might come out of this trade is if Toronto loses MJ to free agency and then we can rationalize the trade by saying "we would have lost him anyway but at least we got RA for him".

 

Welcome. Great post! Despite the loss it was a great road trip. Two out three games = successful roadtrip.

 

Anybody see Mike James looking at the Rockets bench after every shot he made. Deke or Stro needed to put him on his ass for that.

 

I thought there was waaaaaaaaay too much showmanship from the Raptors (all their players really) during the 4th quarter. They were jumping around and acting like clowns, not showing much professionalism or class. It looked like they were robbing it in, so yes that wasn't a good reflection of their character but especially their coach, who could've had them tone it down a bit.

Anyways, none of that stuff really matters...