As I watch every game pissed off at how the Rockets are loosing, it only makes me think of what this team wil be. As a coach, I always tell my kids, when a person says that you have potential, that only means one thing: you suck. SO I don't want to say that the Rockets have potential, but I mustsay that if we just so happen to sneak into the playoffs, I think we could be a scary team (healthy). JVG is doing an excellent job. I would love to see us trade for some backcourt quickness, good shooting, and some mobility in the frontcourt (Richard Jefferson maybe). But even with the team we have, we will be very dangerous. Don't count us out guys. I can't wait to see everybody jump back on board when we start to get things going.
even if we have a healthy team...the refs are still against us. making it that much harder to advance in the playoffs. why is our team always poorly officiated?
even with all the losses, all the injuries, all the bad things that happened this season, im still impressed with this team. we are plagued with injuries and our whole starting lineup (except for jhoward) are injured. but they still keep the games close. yea, we currently have the worst starting line-up in the league, but this guys wont give up! this goes to show what kind of professionals and what kind of heart this rockets team has. they wont quit and wont give up without a fight! our "healthy" lineup may not be enough to close out or win games, but they do give one hell of a fight! you guys may say whatever about this season, but this team still found a way to impress me.
We need to go on a tear to sneak in the playoffs and if we do go on that tear than we will be the best team in the western playoffs next to SA. Our tear would equal something like 35-6.
I talked to Yao's dad last night at the restaurant and he made it sound like if the Rocket's don't mix in a few wins, they won't try and get T-Mac and Yao back in as soon as possible and instead let them fully recover and scrap the season. Damn, I just realized I asked him "when can we expect Yao" back instead of "Ming." Yao is the family name right?
Thanks for the tidbit of info, Oski. Very interesting. If I remember correctly, as Bill Worrell put it, "Yao" is the family name, but it is proper to address him as, "Yao" instead of "Ming". I'm not sure, but I think you don't refer to him as Ming unless you are kin or a close friend.
Don't you remember Jeff Van Gundy calling the officials out last year in the playoffs and getting a $ 100,000.00 fine? When his head rolls, the whistles get better.
makes sense to me. i think the next two weeks will be the determining point in the rockets season. we have 9 games left this month. it's not a tough schedule. tmac may be back next game in an effort to "mix in some wins". our schedule looks like this: atl, dal, chi, det, mil, cha, min, mia, mem. of those (with tmac) i think we can win 4. at that point we enter february's easy schedule just when yao is due back. with both tmac and yao back 11 games before the trade deadline i think we will try for one last push. if you look at the feb schedule (with tmac and yao) we could go 7-4 up 'till the trade deadline. that would bring our overall record, including the 4 predicted wins above, to 23-32. we won't be dead, and with hopefully a nice piece being added at the deadline we are only a couple win streaks away from .500. it's possible but everything has to go right. the sad reality is that we probably won't win those games needed to have management chose to keep up the fight. tmac and yao will be done for the season, and we will land a top 3 pick.
It's inexcusable that we cannot win a game without TMac. I don't care what roster we have on the floor. I haven't counted em out but I certainly don't have reason yet to count em in.
That's smart. I would expect the same thing.The hill is just too large to climb at this point. Better for us to get the young guys experience, get eveyrone healthy, get a good draft pick, a good MLE signing and go back to work next year with a healthy team and more pieces.
While looking forward at team rebuilding for the next couple of seasons, possibly the Rockets Organization has at last realized that we have little of trade value, especially after Yao Ming, T McG and L.Head [ our building blocks] and that the only way of getting another player of high caliber & on the cheap, is through a high position in the draft. Although we as fans dont like to see our team loosing in this way, possibly the Rocks have learned a thing or two from the Spurs.
It's about time to count them out of making the playoffs. Hopefully Yao and Tracy will come back and we will see how good this team can be, finish the season strong and create some buzz for next year. I also hope we trade Stro for a draft pick or package him with someone else for a starting caliber SG. If the playoffs are out, we could finish the season with JH & Baxter. Then our #1 priority over the summer is getting a starting PF who loves to rebound and run the floor.
Team was built around Yao and Tracy...without either one of them, the team is going to lose. Do you think the Lakers could have won those championships without Shaq and Kobe? Come on.....gear up for next year baby ! DD
Everything being up in the air, you have to wonder if we'll just rest our guys, as Father Yao states. Then with a wink at our trading partner(s), pick up the player we want, throwing that draft pick into the mix. Luther Head has been a solid rookie addition, but he has only received all these minutes thanks to injured players, and unless JVG turned over the proverbial new leaf, he won't want another rookie to develop---and Les will want to win now as well; he's invested a lot of money in a broken-down young superstar with a fickle window of opportunity (one day open, one day shut, one day open....somebody stop me before I metaphor again).
The problem is, it's a straw house that's been built around them. This team reminds me of the Lakers the two years after their 3 championships, when it was Shaq and Kobe, and nobody else. We can win with this team, but not win a championship.
If both yao and tmac come back healthy by the 27th of this month and barring no more injuries to the two the rockets would have to go on a run i see them being 33-32 by march 20th with a good handful plus of games left with the west being as weak as it is the rocks could conceivably be running for the 7th and 8th spot by that time. By all star break the rockets need to be at 21-30. THe rockets are still in it but they have to pull the long winning streaks like they started on the road but lost yao but more like there streaks last year in feb march and april the rockets went crazy i hope it happens again tmac is avg. more pts. per game and has more 30 plus then this time last year when hes been healthy so i cant wait till the two come back.
