Its going to take an empty home court for Les to panic and make a trade, STAY AWAY

Moving the team? Do you actually think they'd leave the Toyota Center?
Maybe they can uproot it, and move it too.

 

say it with me....

30. YEAR. LEASE.

they aint going nowhere...just like Yao.

 

Yeah, I know. Just frustrates me about the complacency of Houston fans sometimes. We had the same thing in 1994, team wins a division and has 1,000+ empty seats for a playoff game. Maybe I can understand in New Jersey where the population is sparser than Houston, but in the 4th most populous city in the U.S.? Makes you appreciate the Cubs fans even more for what they've had to endure.

 

uuuh....Rockets games during the championship years were always sold out. I know...we had a helluva time getting tickets back then.

just because all the businessmen dont show in the lower sections doesnt mean that they got no support.

 

Its reading posts like this that make me want to puke.
Instead of coming out to games to support your team even if they are struggling this genious wants to start a boycott.

Need more people to come out to games and support the Rockets even if they are struggling and not playing well at times. You gotta support them and inspire them and eventually they will get better...

I will still go to the Home games and support the team whenever I can and I hope others do as well and not listen to this idiot that started this dumb thread....

 

I find it ironic that a person who claims to be the #1 Rockets Fan would go to such lengths to insult the organization. A fan, like a family member, sticks with a team/person through thick and thin. I love the Rockets today and will defend them till the cows come home, as I would have done in '94-'95.

 

"let's" ? NO! I am not in this "us". I do not boycott this thread. Instead I support it. Period.

 

I have been boycotting the games not because the rockets mediocre style of bastekball, but because of the parking situation, at the compaq center, it used to be free, now we have to pay for it, eventhough the money to make it was taken from tax payers, only people who rent suits for the season get free parking(rich people), i dont think they need those $20 dollas that much anyways.

 

I might get flamed for this but here goes.

To me, the Houston Rockets are a product. When a product is not up to par or is defective and does not meet expectations, I will not shell out money to support it. Its like if you want to buy a car and the CEO declares that this car is "the best car ever assembled" and the reviews come flying in and it breaks down on you and doesn't drive well. I'd rather buy something else with my hard earned money.



That's just my humble opinion.

 

True, you can spend your money on what you wish. It's in the word "expectations" that changes the whole equation from person to person. It amazes me at the extreme levels of expectations that humans operate on. Example: I write professionally, and I can show the exact same document to 2 different people, with one saying it's a masterpiece and the other saying it's complete garbage (true story).

I don't know, as a means of comparison, I look at the history of the other 29 franchises in the N.B.A. Magic, Heat, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Clippers, Pacers, Grizzlies, Wizards, Sonics, Warriors, Knicks, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Hawks, 76ers, Bucks, and Hornets.

I could make a case that the Rockets have been a more successful franchise than these in 2 respects: 1) they have been to the playoffs more recently, or 2) they have progressed deeper in the playoffs, including reaching the championship level.

When was the last time the Warriors made the playoffs? How many times have the Blazers recently been knocked out in the 1st round of the playoffs? Yet, all these franchises, with the exception of the Hawks, routinely sell more tickets and attract more fans than Houston. Why? Why do those fans support teams less successful than the Rockets?

My expectation, when I go to a game, is to see the team win. If we're talking about the Rockets home record, well, it's pretty darn good. It's more likely than not that, if I go to a Rockets home game this year, they will win. Their record bears this out.

If we're talking about aesthetics and that fans shouldn't show up unless they view a "pretty" form of basketball, well, then, I guess the fans shouldn't show up, as the current Rockets squad is certainly not winning pretty. Then again, I don't make all purchasing decisions on aesthetics; if it does its job (e.g. win basketball games), that works for me.

If I go to a game expecting the team to play hard, again, I go to a current Rockets game. I don't think any team that ranks in the top defensive categories does so for lack of effort.

In my humble opinion, going to see a Rockets game, with the team in its current form, is worth the expense, if for at least one outing. But hey, consumers can choose whatever they want. Let's just not call Houston the best basketball fans, or even close to it, because the numbers just don't support it. Let's see my beloved, favorite city for what it is: one that only supports a basketball team at a championship level, compared with other basketball cities.

Go Rockets! Best team in the N.B.A.

 

It is, there are many good reasons to come check it out early, from other entertainment, good food spots, good bars to socialize, the Theater district, and just to check out the new look Main St. / light rail. Street parking is free after 6PM. It isn't that far a walk from North Downtown. Or buddy up and take a $5 cab ride to the front door....

 

Agreed. And further, those "expectations" vary wildly depending upon whether your expecting the Rockets to go 82-0 and play an extraordinarily high paced, turnover free game or whether you just want to be entertained for the evening by watching Steve, Cat, Yao and company play basketball against your home town favorites.

While I agree that the 2003-04 Rox are a little frustrating and tough to watch at times (I do it anyway), it does not appear to impact them on the road where they are the 9th best road drawing team...and within 600 fans of matching the #4 Mavs:

LA Lakers --- 19,574
Philadelphia --- 18,445
Cleveland --- 18,329
Dallas --- 17,588
Indiana --- 17,137
Minnesota --- 17,116
Denver --- 17,109
Houston --- 17,003

The Rockets are a work in progress and IMHO are many, many games away from determining what personnel changes (if any) need to be made.

 

I'll concede on the expectations point to a degree.

I think owners/personnel managers make trades and signings in order to improve a team. Improving a team will increase attendance. Lets say we flood Toyota Center every night and its a sellout crowd for the rest of the season, and the Rockets continue to play mediocre at best, are the fans not sending the owner a signal that everything is A-OK, leave everything as status quo. It would seem that if that were the case, nothing would be done to improve any team. From what I see the Rockets are certainingly not in an A-OK position and I would surmise the majority of the BBS users feel the same way. Now, I'm not demanding that people boycott the Rockets because going to Toyota Center is always fun or asking for the whole team to be traded cause thats not the answer. I'm just trying to see it logically.

2 Cents Deposited.

 

I think that owners dont look to fan reaction or fan attendance to determine if their team is performing up to expectations.
that is rather delusional thinking...almost as bad as some here thinking that the Rockets need our advice on how to fix the team.

They are professionals...they KNOW when the team is not playing good or when they are not meetng expectations. It isnt like the truth is not plainly obvious.

What fan attendance tells them is that they are not marketing the team good enough. Out of a city the size of Houston...I guarnatee you there are more than enough people who arent near as critical as the diehards here are that could fill up the TC...but until the marketing dept reaches out to them and makes them want to come out...they wont.

Keep in mind...the majority of the normal money spending fans out there only care about wins and what neat things they can get or see at the TC.
Not everyone sees the team with the hypercritical eye of those here.

 

Sheesh.

First things first -- Les is about winning. Whether the building is full or empty, winning championships is always the first and last order of business with him. I work with him. The notion that winning would cease to be a priority if the building was sold out is, well, ludicrous. As is the notion that lower attendance would be more motivating.

You don't bring in a Charles Barkley or a Scottie Pippen when you're already selling out your building unless you're doing it to win championships.

Second, to clear up another misconception (albeit a popular one) -- the team did not start consistently selling out games until AFTER the two championships. Even after the first championship, the team didn't have consistent sellouts. Look it up.

Third, the league doesn't make public information about paid attendance -- what gets published is announced attendance, which includes free comps, etc. Somebody upstream mentioned a few teams that "routinely sell more tickets" than the Rockets. The statement isn't true. They may have higher announced attendance numbers. Fine. At the end of the day, though, paid tickets is what counts, and it's what people like me pay the most attention to.

Fourth -- this is one of the silliest threads I've seen here. This is a great fan board, with (by and large) a great base of rabid fans. Unless Clutch wants to change the name to "bi-polarfans.net," though, this thread is really out of character. Support your team by ... not supporting them? Right. Being critical is part of being a fan, because you're passionate about the team, and that's all cool. But withdrawing? Taking your ball and going home? C'mon.

If there's a move out there that will allow Les, Jeff, and CD to improve the team, they'll do it. But CD puts it best -- the problem is that all these other teams are trying to do deals that make themselves better, too. It's infinitely tougher to make deals where you get back more than you give up than some people here tend to make it.

Tim

 

slap ..........................next

bipolarfans.net has a nice ring to it though Tim.

 

Thank you Tim!!!!!!!

 

Tim,


That's easy for you to say because "At the end of the day, though, paid tickets is what counts, and it's what people like me pay the most attention to." Right Tim?


The fact of the matter is, why should we spend 65 plus dollars to watch a team, led on the floor by incompetent players, "fumble around" and mess things up. Players like Francis, who are constantly promoted and marketed by people like yourself as a "big time superstar", that can't even execute a simple thing as ball movement, let alone taking this team to the playoffs.

You and Les and whoever want us to sit back and open up our wallets while you try to con us into believing that this team and chumps such as Steve Francis are worth our time and hard earned money. Well let me and many others here in this thread tell you that they are most definately NOT!

You also labeled this thread as "one of this silliest thread I've ever seen". You could not have been more wrong. You should have labeled this thread as one of the saddest threads you've ever seen. Sad because it has actually come to this. Sad because you actually have die-hard Rocket fans, who have not missed watching a game in years, finding themselves so sickened by the site of this team and their play that they are turn off their televisions; some not even turning them on. Sad because people are turning away free tickets. And sad because the thought and idea of boycotting this team is even being discussed. All of this just slightly more than one year removed from the travesty that was, "One of the greatest teams ever assembled". Who are/were you guys trying to fool?

The message I will give to you, is to take note of this, as it is a fastly growing sentiment.

As for Les, tell him..... that the fans want changes!! There is no excitement. More and more people are finding it harder and harder to find the time or the money to watch these losers; as they are "square pegs trying to be crammed into round holes". We and the Houston media can see that it is not working. We are not over-reacting, as we have suffered for four straight years of the antics brought on by Steve and his max contract. We are simply calling it like we see it. Enough is enough!!

 

I think the Rockets as a sports team in Houston ranks 3rd now. It used to rank at the top back when the team was winning. Even when the team wasn't winning championships, the Rockets were the top team since folks still thought the team could win. It really wasn't until the Rockets had to blowup this team after the Pippen disaster that the Rockets' fanbase started going down. I'm talking about the casual fan. Casual fan is the fan who said he was a Rocket fan after only watching the 1994 Finals and is celebrating on Richmond. The mantra back when the Rockets won the championship was Believe or something like that. Who can honestly say they believe this team can win a championship the way they have played the last 5 years? I've watched enough to know the Grizzlies are better. This is the same Grizzlies that was the toilet bowl of the NBA just a couple of seasons ago. Look at them now. Which group of fans should be more optimistic about their team? Grizzlies or Rockets? Jim Rome interviewed Hubie Brown on his radio show today. One of the most interesting topics was how Hubie Brown dealt with selfish players. He said that selfish players who come from losing teams are the hardest ones to convert? He said that if the previous coach allowed them to be selfish, the next coach has tough job ahead of him. A player coming from a winning team is more likely to change his selfish ways because he knows how hard it is to win in this league. The Rockets situation is very similar in that Steve Francis basically had free reign of the offense when Rudy T was coaching. Rockets were also a losing team every year he was here. Cuttino has actually went to the playoffs once. I imagine the experience he had with the 3 Hall of Famers in Hakeem, Barkley, and Pippen are still with him somewhere in the back of his mind. Is it any surprise that he is one of the players who has adapted so well to Van Gundy's system? I think Steve can be a great player, but I think the team needs to bring in a legitimate passer. This will allow Steve to not be a hindrance if he wants to stay selfish. He can be selfish when the passer gets him the ball. It should improve his game a lot since he will not have to think.

I'd like to see Van Gundy bring in Charlie Ward for a test run. I think the Knicks might just give him up for basically nothing since they do not plan to sign him next year. The Rockets have a trade exception to handle his salary.

 

Lots of chinese fans showed up to watch Rockets in NJ. Probably the largest turn out of the year besides when MJ was in town.