Do we tank the last game(s) of the season or do go head on with the mavs

Not really. ESPN showed a stat last night - all 5 best post all-star break records made the Finals. Of course, Denver may be about to end that streak, but I'd like to think getting dropped by 28 would deflate them a bit.

The 94-95 Rockets beat 4 57+ win teams to get to the championship.

Why give the Mavs a chance to win a playoff series under Avery?

Clearly, we shouldn't risk playing TMac and Yao if we have a double digit deficit late in the 4th, but I'd love to go into the playoffs riding a 7 game win streak.

The season series against the Mavs is 2-2. One of their wins was an overtime effort. TMac's numbers against Dallas are ridiculous: 31-7-6 with better than 50% FG% and 3P%. Let's take them down.

 

and i say SPANK. tanking is for losers. dallas is good, don't get me wrong, but i think we will beat them. i know seattle is beat up but they are scary with their outside shooting, and it's not like we dominated them this year. i'm ready for a texas shootout. if anyone wants to wager towards the tip jar if this matchup takes place lemme know.

 

You mean the history where we get hot at the end of the season, storm through the playoffs with incredible momentum, and go from 6th seed to NBA Champions? Oh yeah... I forgot about that history

 

I bet Les and JVG is having a heated argument about this right now. I know a owner would want to stay in the playoffs as long as possible (more tickets to sell). But I just don't see JVG would tank any game. So who is gonna have the final word? The owner or the coach?

 

I don't know about you guys. But I would be very sad if I know the Rockets has tanked to lose a game.

 

I don't know if any of you realized that we don't have the 5/6 seeds locked up yet. If we intentionally tank, we could potentially wind up with the 7-seed.

Now, I know you guys would rather play the Sonics than the Mavericks, but is it worth risking a first round series against the Spurs?

 

why would they have a argument about this?

Les is as big a homer as I am...remember the "greatest team ever assembled" comments?
Im sure Les thinks that this team can beat anyone...he isnt scared of the Mavs....none of us should be....this is the time for the fans to unite in belief that the ROckets can accomplish anything...
The team needs our support....

 

So I guess you weren't around when we drafted Sampson and Olajuwon...

 

I doubt Les is that short-sighted. You never want to damage your brand by intentionally losing. The risk is, you tank a few games, and lose in the series anyway. What that means is people will say the team just fizzled at the end and it carried over into the playoffs.

Trying to lose is never a smart policy. It's dumb, classless, unsportsmanlike, and is a cheap means to circumvent the seeding system. Why would Les risk earning the ire of Dave Stern? Rumors can sometimes do more harm then the truth....just thinking a team is throwing it in can have huge reprecussions.

Always best to win. No controversy there. You never hear of fans booing a team for winning and getting worse playoff seeding. You never hear of a coach getting fired for trying to win a game. And losing intentionally usually backfires on you anyway. It's just a stupid thing to do.

Did San Antonio tank to get Tim Duncun? Yeah, they totally did. And everyone knows it, including David Stern. They may have got away with it, but now there's greater scrutiny. The last thing you want is someone coming out and claiming the team tanked and having some major controversy which results in a penalty.

 

Did they tank? Sorry...I was too young to understand what it meant by 'tanking a game' back then.

 

We should beat the Clippers and let TMac and Yao rest a lot in the Seattle game.

It doesn't really matter to me who we play, but the truth is that we have a much better chance to beat Seattle in a 7-game series than the Mavs.

 

I say don't tank but please don't put on McGrady for 40+ minutes. 35-36 mins is good enough. Yao should play his regular minutes because he's had enough games of 20 minutes. Wesley should play less minutes and sura should have anohter game like the denver one except stop fouling like 1092381 times. THe rest of the players don't play enough minutes for it to matter, but moochie and stuff should play the last few minutes to prevent from some freak injury *touchwood* to our important players. Get bowen some substantial minutes. Spoon and braggs should get some too.

 

The Rockets did NOT have momentum going into the playoffs when they won the 2nd championship. They finished with a 3 game losing streak. In fact they lost to Utah TWICE in the last 3 games and then turned around and beat them in the 1st round.

1995
Apr 19 @Jazz L115-96
Apr 20 @Sonics L111-101
Apr 23 Jazz L103-97

Clearly something changes in the playoffs regardless of how a team finishes the regular season. With that said, the idea of "tanking" either of the last two games is crazy. If the last game against Seattle means nothing to either team, you will see a sloppy mess of a game with reduced minutes for T-Mac. Not even JVG will be able to overcome the human nature of the players. But it will not be deliberate "tanking" by the players or coach.

 

I agree. If you do that every coach in the league knows you tanked, every team will know it, the fans will know it, everybody will know the Rockets players were scared to face Dallas. Thats enough of a reason not to do it. The other team - whether its Seattlle or the team the Rockets face after them - would have a psychological advantage over the Rockets players knowing that they feared facing Dallas in the first round. JVG has a strong reputation around the league, there's no way he's going to allow his players to tank these last couple of games so they don't have to face Dallas. The coaches around the league would laugh at him and his team. The Houston Rockets don't back into the playoffs so they don't have to face the Dallas Mavericks. That would be an all time low for a Houston sports team and if their actions these next few games hint towards them doing that I will not root for this team anymore.

 

I say we blow both the sonics and clippers out of the building.

Scare the #@$! out of whoever we're going to play in the first round.

 

Well, I was just think from a owner's stand point. As a business man, Les knows that we have a better chance to advance to the 2nd round if we are the 6th seed. And since Les has invested millions into this team, he would like some more money in return. Rockets' attendence has been down all year, the best opportunity to make more money is the playoffs since the arena will always be packed during the playoffs.

 

There may be something to that. I thought of that as well. But as a very competitve owner who wants to be the best, I don't think Les would give Mark Cuban the satisfaction of knowing the Houston Rockets purposely dodged the Dallas Mavericks. anyways it doesn't matter, les has no say in this. If les were to ask jvg and this team to play for a lower seed, JVG would walk out, CD would retire, and the players would think their team owner was a chicken****. But he's not a chicken**** and the only people who would rather lose these next two games and not play Dallas are chicken**** fans. 5th seed plays the 4th seed. Thats the way it is. Lace 'em up and may the best team win.

 

You take the route of greatest potential. You're not beating the Spurs without Juwon Howard, so you avoid them for as long as possible. You stay at the #5, beat the Mavericks, beat the Suns, and lose to the Spurs. You take the route that avoids the Spurs the longest. You then attract free agents with the MLE with your newfound WCFinalist status.

 

If the Rockets tanked, people would view it more as the Rockets having no fear of Seattle rather than the Rockets being afraid of Dallas. It's no secret that every single team in the bottom half of the playoff bracket wants to face Seattle. So if the Rockets tanked, that's what everybody would be talking about. The Rockets would be the ones with psychological advantage knowing that they are better than Seattle.

Now is not the time to act all macho. Knowing how very very difficult it will be to come out of the West, you have to take every single advantage you can get. The Rockets are in a position that every team wants to be in. They get to control their own destiny. They get to choose who they face. Why throw away an opportunity to play an easier opponent?

Let's not forget that this is an old team. The difference in playing Seattle and Dallas could be the difference between playing an easy 5 game series or a grueling 7 game series. Wouldn't it be best to choose the easier route so the Rockets can rest their old bodies?