I was thinking today about how epic this series has been -- twists and turns, media hype, injuries, you name it. Doesn't it feel like 3 months ago when Yao Ming emerged from the tunnel to lead the Rockets in Game 1? Even the off-days have been filled with drama! Consider this brief recap: Game 1: Non-Rocket fans everywhere will refer to this as the "Yao Ming Game." The Rockets shock everyone but themselves by stealing Game 1 in LA after cameras catch Yao telling the trainer that he refuses to go in for evaluation, and he walks back out to lead the team down the stretch. Off Day: The national media hammers the Lakers incessantly for their lack of toughness, reminding them of their showing (or lack thereof) in the 2008 NBA Finals. Game 2: Great first half -- Kenny "The Jet" Smith goes so far as to compare the Rox to the 1995 champs. Kobe taunts after every basket. Equating "toughness" with "cheap shots," the Lakers take turns squaring off on Scola, culminating in Fisher's elbow. Artest gets tossed for charging Kobe, and the Lakers win. Von Wafer gets kicked off the bench. The intensity level goes up to 11. Off Day: Everyone is asking if Kobe will get a suspension for his elbow to Artest, and websites everywhere are dissecting video and photos of the play, trying to figure out if the 'bow was above the shoulders. Ultimately, Fisher gets suspended and Kobe gets a flagrant. Von apologizes to the team. Game 3: Lakers regain homecourt advantage as the Rockets come out a little flat. Yao is visibly limping throughout the game. Off Day: Rocket fans wait on word about Yao's injury. Adelman is preparing for a game without Yao; Artest claims Yao will play. Then the worst possible news -- Yao is done for the season. Media and fans write the Rockets' obituary and even question Yao's future with the team. Game 4: Amazing happens. We all know the story -- Brooks, Battier, 29 point lead after 3. Unexpected domination, and a thrilling game for Rockets fans. Off Day: Lakers are once again questioned as being mentally soft. Pretty much zero credit is given to the Rockets actually playing well . We learn that the Basketball Junkie-In-Chief texted congrats to our very own Shane Battier. Game 5: Pendulum swings again as the Rockets are swamped by the Lakers. Off Day: The media assumes the Rockets are done and that their nice little story is over. Was this when we were trying to find out the extent of Odom's injury? I can't keep track anymore ... Game 6: An epic within an epic. Rox dominate the first half. Lakers come storming out of the gate, and it looks like talent might win out. Until the Rox come alive again, counterpunch, and win going away. Like Game 4, they never trail in the game. All that took place over only 6 games. Doesn't even include the Zen Master getting outcoached, the enigma that is Bynum, Brooks' emergence on the national stage, Vujacic stinking it up, etc etc What an epic, epic series -- and there's one more chapter to be written! I watched every game in the 1986, 1994, and 1995 playoffs. But this series is one I'll never, ever forget.
good post man, im here in bakersfield, ca in laker central. I can't wait for game 7 cuz up untill now all they have called our wins is "Lucky".
Personally, I'm going to watch the effect this series has on Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The knock on the both of them has been that neither one of them has what it takes to win in the postseason, although in Yao's case, I imagine that sentiment has been abridged a bit... ...I'd suppose that McGrady and Yao are somehow vindicated from the recent past failures of the Rockets in the playoffs, in light of how well other players on this team have acquitted themselves. Only someone with an extremely personal grudge against either one of them could harbor an idea like that. I know a lot of things ARE star-driven in the NBA. And it would be foolish to think that the Rockets could win a championship without two key players on the court for them. But, I've always known that your best players are DIFFERENCE-MAKERS on a GOOD team. That's something the Rockets higher-ups took their time discovering, unfortunately. That's what made the title teams special. Hakeem was Hakeem, and he was hall-of-fame bound no matter what. But I remember Mario Elie daring to get himself involved in a fourth quarter playoff game in '94 in which Hakeem and Karl Malone were waging their own little personal duel. And he had absolutely NO business thinking he had to take a three-point shot on the road in a game seven to win a game and series. I remember Sam Cassell not ever playing like a rookie against the Knicks in the '94 Finals. I remember Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell and Otis Thorpe and Robert Horry, who I still feel was the reason why the Rockets were on cruise control by the time they'd swept the Orlando Magic in '95. You'd think most of us wouldn't be surprised by what we're seeing from this Rockets team, with such a relatively recent history to draw from. This series isn't a reaffirmation of what a TEAM can accomplish. It's what these games have ALWAYS been about. It's never all been on one player. For me, the best thing that could come from this, win or lose, is that finally, it's not all on Tracy McGrady. Or Yao Ming Ming, for that matter. Winning a TEAM sporty is a TEAM responsibility. Nobody can do it alone. And nobody should have to. Mom always said it was much more fun to share...
This series is certainly up there. There's been blood, hard fouls, cheap shots, taunting, ejections, clutch shooting, injuries, blowouts...so much has happened in this series it's kind of hard to believe that it's all happened over 2 weeks. The games haven't been all that close. The team that has won each game has won without a last second shot or pressure free throws. This series is certainly worthy of epicness right up there with our first championship, kiss of death, and Dream vs MVP. This series will be known as David vs Goliath.
What's interesting is how epic the series has been despite the games not being that close. It's not like the Celts-Bulls series that was marked by clutch shot after clutch shot. It's just been the all-out war aspect of it (and the offday developments) that have made it a fascinating series.
This series just shows how deep the Rockets are. It brought out the games of Brooks and Scola. Players, people think are just role players but are players you can depend in desperate situations.
Nice post. It has been quite a ride. I won't forget this series either, but I always have heartbreak when the season is finally over. I'm hoping the Rockets win tomorrow and at least give themselves four more games to play.
As remarkable as this run has been (and it's been well-documented here), I feel spoiled by this Rockets team to the point that I will not be happy unless we win Game 7 in Staples Center. It's not a matter of what I expect, it's a matter of what I demand. The Lakers are frauds. We are the perfect team to expose and exploit that. And our victory would be the perfect capstone to the series. (Besides, I bet $100 before the season began that the Rockets would win the NBA Finals, and I want to collect $1500 when I go back to Vegas next month.)
Yes, sir, you're right... ..and I knew that. I could no more forget what Otis Thorpe meant to the Rockets first title than I could forget my own name. My point was that there has always been more than one player that has made a team a champion. You have your great players. You need your great players. And those great players need their teammates. I don't think Thorpe had to give back his ring in '94 because he was traded for Clyde Drexler in '95....
Anyone remember the Phil Jackson quote after game one? "I don't know if we can play much worse, to be honest with you." How did that turned out? They played TWO games MUCH WORSE than they did in the first one. This is EPIC PWNAGE. Tomorrow will be their third game that is much worse than the first one. Phil Jackson can go hunting crows while Kobe fishing somewhere.
rockets will win the championship next year with yao tmac and very good role players, along with a very good bench. 09-10 champs
I totally agree. That's why the Rockets NEED to win tomorrow b/c I KNOW that they can beat Denver. Yes, the Nuggets are playing well, but they are giving up over 100 points in the playoffs and are not consistent with their TEAM defense. They have sailed along beating on a Hornets team in which several of their starters were playing hurt, and a Mavericks team that doesn't play good defense. We have the perimeter players to defend their best players. The Rockets HAVE to win Sunday b/c I know that the best is yet to come! I feel they can go even further! The sky is the limit for this team, yes even this year with all of the injuries. I am like you, I will not be satisfied with a loss. That does not mean I don't appreciate what all the Rockets have done despite their circumstances, and I will always love and root for my Rockets. But the Lakers don't deserve to go the the WCF b/c they feel entitled to win the series and they expect teams to hand them over the crown instead of fighting for it.
