ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Sixers 12/10/2007

Well, this game sucked!

I wonder if Rick can figure that out. Or will he say it was a good comeback that feel short? (Haven't read his comments yet.)

This team is not that bad, it's a problem with attitude, which starts with the coaching staff. I don't think they have the players confidence, and may be losing respect. There has to be some type of internal riff going on to suck like that against the 76ers.

 

Guys, remember when we beat this team last year by 50+ points? My how times have changed...So we're supposed to have gotten better eh?

On a positive note, I haven't completely given up yet. There are still a few players with passion and pride in their game. Did anyone besides me see Luther Head get pissed off yesterday at the end of the 3rd quarter and throw the towel in frustration? Wish Tmac, Bonzi, Mike James...etc had the same passion for the game.

 

yeah i remember seeing that, and it was good to see that frustration of out him

 

I was one who thought Jeff was a great coach and I couldn't see us playing under a new coach this quick. I was telling my homeboys the same thing that everybody is saying now...That he gave us an identity for the first time in a long time. If you didn't get with the program you just didn't play. He didn't like blaming the refs for us losing, and he took the blame alot of the times when we lost.

 

So how did he get those fines?

 

Well the fines were due to his criticism of the refs' treatment towards Yao. He never directly blamed the losses on the refs, he only wanted Yao to get the same calls as any other big man.

 

That game was straight up embarassing

T-Mac really did hurt his ankle, I could tell because in the 3rd Quarter he wasn't aggressive like in the first 2 Quarters.

He's alright I'm sure and most likely he will play tomorrow

I still say the Rockets are gonna finish over .500

Rockets win tomorrow and go on a 7 game winning streak

 

Honestly...When has T-mac not been himself in the playoffs?

Game 7 last year he did all the work

Thats been the problem in the playoffs, nobody else has done much

 

You guys are some Mcgrady haters..

It's a long season

and were getting blown out..

Why keep T-mac in? To risk getting him hurt?

Yao Ming needs to improve

He only ended up with 12 pts?

When Yao went down last season T-mac took over ball games

and we ended up winning 52 games

Yao needs to improve his defense and offense

I bet you guys take Yao's side because your from China or something

Yao is a GOOD center, but not quite GREAT

He doesn't have the "killer mentality"

 

I think you'll find a lot of Yao's backers are actually not Asian. T-macs attitude is not a one off thing. It has always been an issue throughout his career.

I think most people here have the capacity to stand losing, but they can't stand losing without a fight.

 

Yeah, I'm chinese.
but you know, even on chinese bbs there has argument about who's the biggest problem, yao or T-mac. Watching the Rocket's game for so many years, T-mac also has a huge amount of fans in China.

It's just hard to accept that Yao sucks, I mean he has a lot of problems, but I thought he's always tring hard. Yao's weakness dicide that he can't carry a team by his own, there must be someone else help. then yao's got great game.

T-mac is a SG, you all know a great SG could carry a team by his own, but never to championship. T-mac should do something more, because now he isn't the only star in this team, he needs to know something about teamwork.
he should be the leader, i mean he is the guy that could make yao greater.

 

Yao doesn't suck. He has some weaknesses in his game, but he is still one of the best big men in the game. However, like all big men, Yao depends on guard play to not only open the court up for him, but even to get him the ball. Last year, when he was on a tear, the team looked for him every time down the court. That was the offense that JVG instilled, and it looks hell of alot better than this motion offense right now. This year, Yao is being ignored in place of a free flowing offense that allows players to run offensive philosophies, not plays. Yao's game is being adversely affected by Adelman, as I'm sure he didn't regress since last year's dominance.

 

I think it is time for the Rockets to make some changes. I tried waiting on the team to adapt to the new system and all that, but changes have to be made. I sure hope Morey is working on some deals right now, because this team as issues on both ends of the floor.

One player who should definetily be moved is Mike James. He has been a bust this season and is proving that last season was not just an "off year" for him. The fact is he is getting old. I thought coming back home would rejuvinate his game, but it hasn't. He will jack up shots, wont' pass, and dribble too much. Also Shane Battier seems to be getting frustrated with Mike James as well. Its on one of the Chronicle sports articles.

I hope some of yall Rafer haters could now see his value to our team. He makes this offense go. Francis is best used off the bench as shooting guard. He is not the Franchise anymore. As much as I loved Francis's game, he can't do what he used to do. Its almost sad to see that he is scared to dribble at times, and he used to have one of the best cross-overs in the league behind A.I. He can still contribute points, rebounds, and assists off the bench, but he is clearly not a starting PG in the NBA anymore.

I hope Aaron Brooks can take some of Mike James's minutes. He is quicker than James, can shoot better than James, and is overall more athletic, and he's YOUNG! He can bring some much needed energy to our team, and from the back court. Outside of Bonzi, there hasn't been much effort and hustle.
What Battier, Hayes, Scola, and Landry brings to the front line, the back court players need to do the same.

The Rockets are at a crucial time in the season. They just hit rock bottom, as Clutch said. Now its time to see if they can get it together. They shouldn't even worry about offense for the next week or so. They need to just focus on defense and hustle. They have 2 guys that can score and they can create shots for teamates, but our defense needs to come back. Thats what this Rockets team knows, and our winning should start there. Just let Tmac and Yao do the work on offense, and the whole team just focus on defense. That is going to be key if the Rockets wanna start winning againg.

 

To ALL of those Tmac haters out there, who is b****ing at him for leaving the game because of a sprained ankle, that is pathetic. Why in the world would you put your most skilled and gifted player, who happens to have a very fragile body, in a game where the Rockets are losing by 31, and nobody was giving any effort? Does that make ANY sense to you? If it was a close Playoff game, then of course I would want Tmac to try to play through it as well, but we don't know what kind of pain he was in. All I know is that a sprained ankle does hurt. I would love to see any of yall haters play through a sprained ankle on a road trip, and your team is down by 31. Hell, I would love to see yall walk to yall's mailbox and back on a sprained ankle!

If yall want a prime example of how a small ankle injury can go bad, revisit the 2000 playoffs. Grant Hill in the first round had a bone bruise on his ankle and decided to play through that. Everyone commended him for the effort. He showed heart and guts, but look what happened. What started out as a small bone bruise turned into multiple surgeries requiring screws to be inserted inside and cost him a spot in the Hall o Fame. He was at the top of his career at the time, the best Small Forward in the league. That all changed over a few games. Its not worth it to play though an injury in the regular season and if a serious enough injury, in the playoffs as well.


If you were Les Alexander, would you risk damaging one of your prized superstars who you pay $16 million to, to play on hurt ankle? NO! If yall had any common sense, yall would know this, but to the Tmac haters, don't go and insult somebody, when you haven't walked a day in their shoes.

 

I have to say I had alot of high hopes for this season. That game 7 loss to the Jazz last year broke my heart and I wasn't right in the head for a few weeks. I was extremely happy with the offseason moves we made as a franchise, and after the 6-1 start I was even more excited to see how dominant the Rockets could be as a franchise this season. The homecoming of Stevie Franchise only made me more confident that this season was going to be one to remember. Now after 22 games and an 11-11 record I am damn near depressed. When we got rid of JVG I didn't judge. I was sure Les and the rest of the city were right in thinking that it was time for a change for the better. We all want to get past this 1st round playoff blues nonsense. I gotta say though, I've tried my best to stay confident throughout the downers that have occurred the last few weeks, but now I've had enough. This is rediculous...we have a two time scoring champion in Mcgrady, and Yao is supposed to be the most dominant center in the league and we still can't win games? Something ain't right. T-Mac is playing with no damn heart...he walks around looking like he doesn't give a damn. Yao gets angry but then doesn't contribute the way he should. Adelman doesn't seem to be concerned at all. Everytime I see one of his nonschalant post-game conferences after an extremely dissapointing win I want to die. Nobody is stepping up and leading, and now I feel like a fool for all the mess I talked to these Spurs and Mavs fans that I deal with on a day-to-day basis. I love the Houston Rockets, and I am getting it shoved down my throat. It's really starting to hurt especially watching us lose to teams like Toronto and Philly...you must be kidding me?! Oh yeah...and enough with all this "who can we trade for" nonsense. This is our team for this season and if they can't make it work, I don't want an outsider to come in now (22 games in) and change everything. I honestly would rather go down with the ship. Somebody give me some hope or advice... I really can't believe how dissapointing of a team we are...possibly the biggest dissapointment as a team so far this year in the NBA. I'm ashamed as someone who considers himself a huge Rockets fan.

 

I feel your pain. I was very high on the Rockets this year but the last number of games crushed me.

I hate to say this, but I can easily see the Rockets only winning 2 games in the next 11. The schedule is hard to a lousy team like ours. If that happens, we'll be 13-20 and the season will officially be over.

 

Why not make a trade? The last time the Rockets made a big mid-season trade was in February of 1995. We ended up getting Clyde Drexler, and he brought the spark and hunger to those Rockets who just lost a passion for winning another championship. Drexler didn't allow the Rockets to be content with just one title; he wanted his too, and he knew he could do it with the Rockets if they believed, which they ultimately did.

It's NEVER too late in a season to make a trade to improve our team. 22 games is only the quarter mark. When the Rockets made the trade for Drexler, we were around or maybe below .500 winning % and 3 quarters of the way done with the season. Drexler came in and got us to the 6th seed, and we ended up with a championship.

I honestly think the Rockets need a trade right now. Ron Artest and Corey Maggette are out there. We need consistent scorers and some toughness, and both of those guys have that. Who knows if that'll solve the problem, but why not give it a try, because our current line up just isn't working with Adelman's offense, and the defense has just disappeared.

 

I'm in for Luther Head having a great game tomorrow.

Memo to RA:

GIve Head more minutes.

Everybody loves Head.

Well, they should anyway.

 

who was defending Green in the first 3 minutes? Anybody remember?

 

TMac and James if I recall correctly.