It does seem like Charles likes Rudy T a lot. During All Star Weekend in Houston for the slam dunk competetion, they were introducing the judges. four of the five judges were hall of famers. The only one not was Rudy T, but as they were introducing all five, he kept saying Hall of Famer, after their name. For Rudy, he said He's a hall of fame guy, or something to that nature. I think in his induction ceremony into the Hall he spoke briefly on his time in Houston and Rudy T. With that said, it will feel even better when we beat the Jazz.
He also mumbled in there that "I agree" a couple of times, toward Charles. So I don't know if that means he's off the bandwagon now or what, but we don't need him on it anyway! The Clipper game was disturbing to me too, but I don't think that game says that we can't beat Utah.
The Clippers had been playing well of late, and we beat them on the road. I thought it was a much better win than Milwauke the previous game.
Heck, as a matter of fact, didn't Utah just go to Staple Center to play the Clippers last week and get pounded?!?!
The Clippers play ugly. They get out, defend, and hustle. They force their opponents to play ugly. There is nothing wrong with winning ugly.
I honestly have no clue why we are such under dogs when compared to the Jazz. The Mavs, Spurs, or the Suns, I can understand... but the Jazz????? They have good players, but the majority of their players have almost no playoff experience, and their two best players are not even better than ours.
Yep. The same Jazz team that the Rockets have no chance against, just a couple of games prior, lost to these same Clippers by 24.
I think we are underdogs only in the mind of Sir Charles. Most sports writers will probably predict a Houston win in the playoffs, regardless of homecourt. Which I am not sure is a good thing...
Yeah, Charles and Kenny both seem to be on an island on this one. Charles actually said that no one outside of Houston thinks they have a chance of doing anything. Has he been living in a bubble this season? Almost every one else in the media regards the Rockets as a serious dark horse candidate.
One game doesn't mean anything. Anyway, we are the favorites as of right now against the Jazz. The Jazz are limping a bit from injuries. They will give us fits at the 1 and 4, but Yao will likely be a unsolvable problem for them. Regardless, it's better to be the underdogs and agree that we are the ones who have to fight and claw. COmplency is evil!
Chuck should put his money where his mouth is. Unless he's already lost it all at the Blackjack table.
LOL BUTTMAN IS RIGHT! I remember the Rockets would run Iso for him and all he'd do is back his opponent down with his big wide arrse. Slow the entire flow of the game down and take the Rockets out of their rhythm. He'd throw up a shot and make about 40 percent of them but still, I thought the Rockets were a better team when Barkley was not playing because the game seemed to flow better without Barkley backing his man up. Pippen was absolutely correct about Barkley. Pippen, Barkley play the feud ESPN.com In an interview for ESPN's SportsCentury series Wednesday, Scottie Pippen used the words "fat" and "selfish" to describe teammate Charles Barkley, who criticized Pippen in an Up Close interview Tuesday for wanting to leave the Houston Rockets. WAR OF THE WORDS Scottie Pippen responds to Barkley's criticism. Charles Barkley appearing on Up Close, says he's disappointed in Pippen. Barkley said he sacrificed greatly to make salary-cap room on the Rockets for Pippen, who signed a five-year, $67.2 million contract before last season. "For him to want to leave after one year, it disappointed me greatly," Barkley said Tuesday. "The Rockets went out of their way to get Scottie and the fans have treated him well, so I was just disappointed in him." Pippen was offering no apologies Wednesday and reiterated that he wants to play elsewhere, preferably for the Lakers and Phil Jackson. "I wouldn't give Charles Barkley an apology at gunpoint," Pippen said, never raising his voice. "He can never expect an apology from me. ... If anything, he owes me an apology for coming to play with his fat butt." Pippen said he was the one who should be disappointed. "He's a very selfish guy," Pippen said of Barkley. "He doesn't show the desire to want to win. That's my reason for wanting to get away from playing with him anymore because he just doesn't show the dedication. "I probably should've listened to Michael (Jordan) a year ago when he said that Charles will never win a championship because he doesn't show any dedication." Pippen wasn't finished. "I was very shocked to see what type of player he was by spending half a season with him," he said of Barkley. "I'm a guy that's dedicated to winning, and I put out a lot of effort on the court. I expect that from my teammates, especially from a guy of his caliber. "You know he's not willing to go the distance. There's no reason for me to put my last three or four years at risk of never winning. "Charles is definitely one of the guys that needs to show more leadership for this ballclub to be successful, and he don't show that to me. ... He feels that if he gets 10 rebounds and double-figure points, he's done a good job. But that's not what the game's about. It's about defending, being professional and coming to work every day." Pippen said one of the reasons he wants to play for Jackson is because he longs to return to the system in which they won six NBA titles together in Chicago. "I would like to play for Phil," Pippen said. "(But) I'm not demanding a trade." Pippen was frustrated with his role in the Houston offense -- which is built around the post-up moves of Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon -- and yearned to play in a more up-tempo style. Pippen averaged 14.5 points per game, his lowest since his rookie year, and he made a career-low 43.2 percent of his shots. He also averaged 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists and was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team. On Tuesday, Barkley sounded sympathetic toward Pippen's disenchantment with the team's offense. "We have to solve the point guard problem," Barkley said. "It puts too much pressure on Scottie to have to bring the ball up every time. It slows the game down and it wears him down. "Everybody says (Pippen) had a down year. His average was only down two baskets or three baskets. He'll get that on layups if we get a legit point guard who knows how to run the fast break." Houston hopes Steve Francis is the answer to that problem. The Maryland point guard was the No. 2 pick in the draft and was acquired by Houston in a trade with Vancouver.
