Jim Cleamons thinks Houston will falter in playoffs

A little forboding, huh? Didn't we win our first title as a sixth seed?

 

we were the 6th seed on the second title run. If I recall correctly, we were the number 1 seed during the first title run.

 

2nd, Seattle was first, hence why we had homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs when Denver knocked them out.

 

#2

Seattle was #1 and got took down by the #8 Cookie Monster Nugs!

 

Very, very funny

 

It'd be funny if everyone e-mailed him and said "You, Coach, are a failure. I just don't like you."

 

I dunno about you guys, but I actually like it when people doubt us. Keep it coming.

 

This reminds me of that old Norm McDonald joke about when "crack w****" was replaced atop the worst jobs lists by "assistant crack w****."

I think we have a new candidate: assistant coach of the Hornets . . .

 

Jim Who?

Who cares. His opinion about us is as good my grandma's.

 

What kind of nut doesn't think we can get the job done defensively? I mean, right then, you knew that he had a screw loose.

 

Have you watched a Rockets game lately, Jim? Or have you make your comments after only seeing a few Rockets games in early season?

 

Problem is that none of those guys are consistent. The Lakers had a lot of depth with guys like Rick Fox, Horry, Fishcher, Walker, Geroge for the last two championships, and their first they had a still productive Glen Rice. Also keep in mind that Shaq was the most dominant player in the game during that run. This is somethig Yao is not.

Behind Yao and T-Mac, who is going to get it done. We've seen our shooters are streaky. Who is the guy we can count on when Yao or T-mac are struggling? It was Howard with that very consistent mid-range jumper - now that's gone, and I think that will be a weakness come playoff time.

 

Anyone remember this....?

While Cleamons was coaching the Bulls one year (1995?). They were playing the Knicks during that season and during that game there was a scuffle/argument on the court between Patrick Ewing and some other player on the Bulls (I can't recall). It could have been a debate between Patrick and a ref. So...while that scuffle was going on Cleamons said something to Ewing (probably something like, "Shut up and play!). Ewing heard it and started going towards the Bull bench at Cleamons. Cleamons proceeded to puff out his chest and mouth something like, "Come on...bring it on...!"

It's humorous that a 40-something coach (6'2" ish 6'4"?) believed he could *take on Ewing* in a fight. It's the classic, "I'm tough as long as the refs are here to break it up!" tough.

Nothing happened as far as a player/coach fight. But it wasn't very long after that that Cleamons was offered a head coaching job with the Mavs (1 1/2 seasons). The owner must have seen that *bravado* and said, "That's who we want as our coach!"

If you remember, Cleamons was a disaster at Dallas. He was fired the following season and was back beside Phil and Jordan soon after. I guess his delusions of grander made them think that he could turn any team into a Bulls-like franchise. Maybe he forgot that part about having players like Jordan/Pippen.

So it's not hard to believe that Cleamons will be anti-Houston. Patrick is an assistant coach (and Jeff is our coach too).

Here's Cleamons record with Dallas.

http://www.basketballreference.com/coaches/coachpage.htm?coachid=CLEAMJI01

 

Why do you say a half truth like, "None of those guys are consistent (Sura, Westley, Barry)?" without looking at the reasons behind it? Even though we have four players that shoot 37% from 3pt. But lets put that aside for now...

Howard is missed...yes...We know that we need another PF. But the streakiness you talk about has a lot to do with chemistry; or lack of.

As long as Spoon and Padget do a reasonable job, our shooters will be fine.

Howard going down with an injury went parallel with our shooters struggling. This was mostly mental. What happened was that since we didn't have that mid-range shot that Howard provided (and rebounds). The shooters had more pressure to make their shots. With Spoon out of shape (missing his shots and rebounds), Yao fouling out, and Padget missing his 3. We were lacking team chemistry greatly. Our inside post was hurting. This had a tremendous negative effect on our outside shooting. No one is saying that we don't need Howard back. We do. But you need to look deeper at the reasons we were successful, not just gloss over the surface and state that Spoon/Padget aren't as good as Yao or Tmac. That's not the point of TEAM.

So, as long as we play as a team, and each player does his part, we can get back to the chemistry we had before. Like a machine!

And we alredy know that we need to shore up more depth at PF, PG. Even another back-up SG would be great. But that's next year.

 

Many fans didn't believe we could get to the WCF this year. And the WCSF is a good goal. But listening to the players talk (TMac/Barry and Westly). The feeling in the locker room is to WIN THE TITLE THIS YEAR!

That's a better attitude to have. That would really show how good this team is: if they go 100%.

IN the long run, this attitude will pay off. The mindset of going for the title this year will enable our role players to elevate their games. And we'll surprise a lot of nay-sayers.

Also, you hear a lot of teams in the past that were just *happy* to get to the WCF or Finals. But when they get there, they don't do much. I don't feel the Rockets are thinking this way.

Loosing Howard was a big blow, but I think as long as Spoon/Padge do a decent job (and Deke) our shooters should be on full afterburners!

 

For some reason Norm's 'crack w****' line was indelibly imprinted on my mind.

 

Absolutely one of the best lines I've seen on the Web. Thanks for that!!

 

Let me see, he thinks we're a bad defensive team, says we're a terrible offensive team with no balance and thinks that Sacramento is a bad matchup for us, and, outside of freeloading off of Chicago, the guy has been a failure as a coach. And I should think this guy has credibility because. . .