Hmmmm.... We beat them a few years back with Kobe and Shaq. Great! In the NBA, any team can beat another team on a given night. I'm not bashing the Rocks. I'm glad they got the win. I just think we should accept it for what little it is.
Zilches, you're contradicting yourself. If any team can beat any other team on any given night, why would you want to classify such a victory as hollow? I don't get it.
I fail to see the contradiction. If I was one of the ten or so teams who beat the Bulls during their 70+ win season, but still had an abysmal overall record, I would see little cause for celebration. And yes, I know the Rocks don't have an abysmal record this year.
If you told me before the Lakers game that: - IMHO, the Rockets were out-played for the first 3 quarters. Outside of Kobe, no one on the Lakers shot well or provided consistent scoring, but MY GOODNESS did they 'scrap and claw!' Grabbing big rebounds & loose balls, creating TOs, etc., the Lakers out-worked the Rockets for most of the game, AND - Kobe, who is arguably the 'Best Player' in the league, would erupt for 46,... ...I would have cursed quietly and expected a 10 pt Rockets loss. The Suns are virtually the same team, but not nearly as good defensively, and they beat the Rockets 2 nights earlier. You call 'HOLLOW', I call 'SOLID' and 'ENCOURAGING.'
Hollow victory? I guess since the Lakers needed Horry's last second 3-pointer to win a game during the Finals, then the championship is hollow as well. I am tired of all these naysayers acting like, "I am a great Rocket fan, so I bash everything they do. I bash when they win, I bash when they lose. I bash when they play defense, I bash when they don't." I am happy they won, I am happy Yao go off. I will take the win over the Lakers and be happy about it.
Upon painful and rigorous self-examination, I've decided that I was wrong to title the thread 'Hollow Victory'. I shoulda been more politically correct and said 'not the true test' or something innocuous. Having said that, nobody has convinced me that there is anything to be excited about that victory. If we can whup Dallas with Dirk, Nash, and Finely on the court, then I will find cause for celebration!!!! Damn! I'm just here to learn like almost everyone else.
OH PLEASE! Do you not see the flaw in your logic in your own post? Lets see, if I was on a sucky team(abysmal record) and I won a game against the best team in the league...I would say that it was party time! I might be able to see your point if we beat a team that we were supposed to beat...and everyone was going nuts..then it wouldnt be a big deal..but we beat the Defending World Champs..us...a team that most ppl think will be exceptionally lucky to even get into the playoffs.. I guarantee that most analysts had us losing to the lakers (even without Shaq) We won...Yao had a big night...Chuck will need to pucker up reeaall soon...Im happy.. cant you at least enjoy it?
That is indicative of the low standards we have set for ourself. We were not supposed to beat the Shaqless Lakers that other teams are running all over? I guess if it is that big of a surprise that we stole a win, I should be enjoying it more.
I do not think it is a matter of standards but more a matter of Wins or Losses. I would rather play bad and win than play great and lose. IF you win by 1 or win by 100 , it is still a win ....nothing more, nothing less.
Maybe you should look at their schedule again. The Lakers are not winning many games right now but other teams are not running over them. They have three O/T games so far against: Boston Portland G.S. They only have 3 losses of double diget points. In most of the games they have been in a position to win late in the 4th quarter. Not much different than last night.
Crash You are just way too smart for me! Seriously. I don't know what I would do without you keeping me honest. I still don't think it was a great victory.
I think every victory on the road is great. If we beat Cleveland by 1 point tomorrow night I will be ecstatic.
Crash I've already acknowledged the unfortunate title of the thread. How much longer should I be punished for it? I would say it was not a 'true test' for SA to beat the Shaq-less Lakers. Fair enough?
I don't think hollow is the proper term...... I don't care if Kobe goes for 50, games should not be that close against a Shaq-less Lakers...especially when we have our MAIN squad healthy. Other than Kobe, who out there is a consistent threat. Now, this isn't only the Rockets, but the majority of the NBA that plays stupidly on both ends of the court. Main reason why any team can win or lose on any given night during the regular season. I'm glad this was the first time Yao has had effective minutes in consecutive games, and Mo showed some of the offensive skills he had when he first arrived in Houston. But I made a thread the other day concerning our big men getting down on the block, and how everyone staying on the perimeter affects the play of our guards(mainly Stevie)...no one responded...it's ok. Just as long as we continue to post up our big players DOWN LOW instead of 15 feet from the basket. Don't know why this was the first game in a LONG, LONG time we decided to some what "milk" the situation. I know I was the only one to see some ball movement after working it in the post a couple times, forcing the Lakers to rotate and double team on offense. Hey coaching staff and Rockets players, watch the game footage and see how effective we can be when we post up DOWN on the BLOCK.
I still would like to know what Zilches is about. For example, what do you mean by a true test? A true test of what? If you want to go on about this true test thing, then I should remind you that The Mavs are 10-0, and they are also admitting that their opponents are not a true test of how they (the Mavs) stack up talking of the championship. Yet, they have 10 wins. The Rockets sucked big time last year, yet we split the series 2-2 to the Mavs. Were the two games against them also "not true tests?" If we had beaten Seattle, whom everybody is now raving about, would you have considered that "a good test"? They are good, but hardly anybody thinks they are going to win the championship. What I'm trying to point out is this: We need a particular number of wins to get into the playoffs this season. Each win brings us nearer our goal. We are not going to win the championship this year, so that is not what we are about now. We want to pile up as many wins as possible. The win against the Lakers was a step in this direction. If we can follow it up with another "W" against Cleveland, it simply brings us nearer our goal. If you remember, two seasons ago we were good enough for 45 wins. If only we had won a couple more of these games that were "not good tests", we would have gotten in to the playoffs.
What's all this talk about not executing down the stretch? Didn't we shoot over 60% in the 4th? Didn't LA shoot over 50% in the 4th? Sounds like execution to me. I think Kobe only missed 1 shot in the 4th. Again, sounds like execution to me. We did what we had to to to come out with a win after 4 quarters. What's so hollow about that?
okueseinde and toast By 'true test', I was sugar-coating my unfortunate use of 'Hollow victory'. Geez, even that is ruffling feathers here. I never knew the delicate sensibilities of the Rocket fans here. Execution down the stretch means for one thing NOT letting the shot clock expire before a shot goes off. It happened last night. My memory is that there was an exchange between Eddie and Stevie in the Phoenix game that resulted in a shot clock expiration. Crash disagrees. If you get a win with this kind of play in a close game, then GREAT. I doubt that this will happen more than 50% of the time, which may get you in the playoffs, but still doesn't make you a very good team that will go far in the playoffs. Don't about half the teams make the playoffs anyway? For me, the exciting thing about the Laker game was Yao's play - not the victory. Now, if we can only get Nachbar going!
