L Good lord.....I hope it doesn't come to that now. I don't think we can afford a 3 game slide. To the people that think we have won this series......................We haven't won ****. I think we came back from 2 down a few times. This Dallas( I pretty much just hate them cuz the Cowboys) team has far too much firepower for us to think that they r done.
fan: we get no respect rockets go up 2-0, next days national sports headlines read: Greatest Duo - Yao and Mcgrady fan: oh no, this is not good, we haven't done anything yet. all we do on here is gripe about the Rockets not getting the attention and respect they deserve so what do we do the day they get it: "oh no.. we're jinxed.. cursed... to big headed... tragedy and dissapointment will follow"
You're not a true long-time Houston Rockets fan if you think this series is done... because no matter what has happened so far in this series, all it takes is one bad quarter... one bad half... and then one loss to get Dallas back into this. I know 1994 isn't a completely valid comparison, since Houston blew big leads in both of those games, and Dallas has yet to have a big lead... but let me reset the scene for that game 3, and you'll see that it could very much apply: The Suns came out pumped and ready (much like we want our team to do tommorow night)... they jumped out to a huge lead early, and I know the few fans who still believed in Houston were ready to call it a night (it was a late game). I vividly remember Doug Collins (still the announcer back then) saying, "Houston needs to try and keep their composure, and get this back within single digits at halftime." I thought that was good advice... but a part of me also said, "why do you want to prolong this, Doug... the only chance we really had to win this game was if Phoenix got cocky and overconfident... which they didn't." Well, what happened then?... Houston got an improbable/otherworldly/amazing performance from somebody that Phoenix definitely wasn't expecting to explode... and THAT carried the Rockets. We may be worried about Dirk, and Phoenix may have been worried about Hakeem... but it was Vernon Maxwell who scored 31 points in JUST the second half (34 total). Now, I'm still pretty damn confident about this Houston team... I also thought we took a helluva punch from Dallas the other night, and we still came out on top in their gym. But, I also respect our opponent... and I also respect the possibility for the improbable... thus, we just need to stay focused, don't ASSUME anything, and continue to play hard and deny EVERYONE on that team (not just Dirk). In the end, the better team ALWAYS wins the series... and us winning game 3 will go a long way towards that becoming a reality.
yeah.... me and my buddy were watching PTI listening to them asking rich justice about yao and tmac being like kareem and magic. we just couldn't believe they were actually asking that..... we both agreed, when tmac and yao win 4 rings, then you can start comparing; until then....... 2 games a dynasty does not make.
Well..wow sweep by Rockets? Who would have expected that? Let's hope so..but still who knows...we need to still play well and beat them.
Exactly 2 years ago today, T-Mac's Magic were 1 win away from knocking the Pistons out of the first round. I'm sure T-Mac remembers well from experience when the Pistons overcame a 3-1 deficit to come back and beat Orlando in the 2003 playoffs. No way will he let his team or himself get complacent. You can see the fire in his eyes these last two games. He's put the team on his back and will carry em as far as he can go.
I love the fact that he is staying the most huble after these 2 games just like Yao..it seems our role players might be getting a bit ahead of themselves but T-mac learned his lesson and is staying hungry and most of all Huble...that's a good thing to see and i am sure it will translate to more wins because of that Hunger.
I understand why some of you worry, I think we're a team that have a quiet confident, they know they're good but without bragging about it. Yao is humble as always, TMac learned his lessons and now just so focused and played with a chip on his shoulders. As long as the big two are level headed, then we have Barry and Sura that brings the fire out of them. In the end, the better team will win, Rockets are definitely the better team in this serie.
One thing that worry me a lot is: The Refs. After watching the last two games, there's a lot of unjust calls against the Rockets, even though we fought hard and get both wins. Some examples: - TMac getting call a foul even though he's nowhere near the guy, when the Mav bowl over Ryan Bowen. - Some three pointers become phantom two pointers. - A Jason Terry two pointers become a three pointer. - A lot of flopping by Dirk Nirwizky, and he went to the lines so many times my head hurts - Don't even get me started on how the Mavs' centers guarding Yao If we ends up losing game 2 by 1, I'm gonna so mad. Thankgod we won anyway. If game 3 is close throughout, we could get screwed by the refs.
It's one thing to be confident and another to take an opponent for granted. This team is far from cocky, as far as I can tell, they're about the closest thing to the '94-'95 Championship teams I've seen. They've got complete respect for each other, the team concept and game in general. The ridiculous examples of Barry's cell phone message and Yao agreeing w/ Magic about how far the Rox can go are about the stupidist examples of overconfidence I've ever heard. This team is having fun! Yes, I know we're not there yet and haven't won **** yet, but the Rox are one of the farthest teams from cocky in the playoffs. Let them play, celebrate and have fun. They've already won two games I didn't think (but hoped) they'd win.
I am not too worried about overconfidence in the team. Other people have already mentioned how T-Mac went up on Detroit 3 games to 1 in the 2003 playoffs -- and proceeded to lose the series. What I want to add is that one member of the Pistons that year was . . . . Jon Barry. So right here on the team are two players with vivid memories of the same debacle, but from opposite points of view. I'm sure that T-Mac and Barry are reminding their teammates of what can happen if they start taking the Mavs lightly.
For everyone who is worried about them being overconfident, let me ask you one question: "When is the last time the Rockets had things really rolling in a game (lots of fist pumping, chest bumping, high fiving, confident glares, attitude) and then ended up losing?" *Crickets chirp* They feed off of that stuff like great teams always do. If they want to do it, let them do it. They are mostly veterans and know what they are up against at all time, and that's BEFORE Van Gundy reminds them for the 1,000,000th time.
Dallas had Houston's number most of the game. It was some bad couching and poor execution for Dallas and good execution for Houston at the end of the game that enabled us to win. Dallas was one good play away from winning that game. If they press us the entire game like they did in game 2, and we either get tired or miss shots, they can beat us easily. I still think we're a better team though.
I think if we can RIDE Yao in the 4th we'll be fine.. I wanna see one last seasons Hawks games from him tonight, he played SOOOO hard and tons of mins..
You know, I critqued this team a lot, because when I watched them, even when they won, they didn't look like a polished championship team. Now they do. This team is more then good enough to win a championship, they are dynasty level. You just know it, the ingredits are all there. The pieces are there. And the level of play is there. All you can ask for from your team is that they do everything possible to win....right players and mix, coaching, attitudes, so on and so forth. We have that now....what else is there to ask for? Nothing. There's no guarantee they will win a championship...but if they play like this and lose - then i really can't feel bad as a fan. Saying that, I think this team is really special...one for the ages.
