Look at the bright side, Utah Lost. And all we have to do now is get that 4th spot and get home court advantage when we play them in the playoffs. I think that should be the main goal for the rest of the season. Only 2 games back now.
You want a bright side? Go to NBA.com and look at the video of Shawn Livingston blowing out his knee. That wasn't T-Mac. This was an ugly loss that should've been a win. But without their two superstars, the Rockets are a team full of role players. And that's exactly what they looked like tonight: a group of guys whose entire function on the team is to support the big guns. Bonzi may be the exception, because he's a stubborn enough player, both mentally and physically, to find a way to get his own shot when Yao and T-Mac aren't there attracting attention. Those threes that Rafer, Luther and Shane have been hitting all year aren't nearly as easy when your man is actually guarding you instead of shading over toward Yao or Tracy.
OH GOD, when I saw that Livingston clip on sports center I cringed. That is terrible, I hope he' s alright. Yeah, give Bonzi a chance to really get into a rhythm (since his injuries seem to have stopped) and let him work his way back to last years level. Even if he doesnt recapture that level of play he will be invaluable in the playoffs.
Sad but true. This has also been my line of thinking ever since the trade deadline passed and we made the mind boggling decision to stand pat. Here's our PG situation in a nutshell.... Option A: Play Alston 40 minutes a night and hope Head doesn't screw up while Rafer is resting. Option B: Play Alston 40 minutes a night and let either V-Span or JLIII play the backup point and only play Head when we go small and pair him up with either Alston or one of the backups. Either scenario still results in Alston playing 40 minutes a night. The fact of the matter is we're playing Alston, T-Mac and Battier too many minutes and you have to wonder how long before these guys start wearing out. As for playing JLIII or V-Span this late in the season? Doubtful, I know. However, I HATE the alternative of playing Alston 40 minutes a night then banking on Luther Head (AKA the more athletic version of Damon Jones) to spell him.
At least it cant get any worse than this! I did not want to get out of bed this morning. I kept having dreams of J. Howard's shot getting crushed at the end of the game. Please do not say that not having T Mac and Yao is an excuse. Boston just plan sucks and we sucked worse last night! Lets hope the rockets will take it out on the raptors! T Mac for 50!!!!
I want at least the fourth best record like most of us, but I really dont care at this point. We have won games we should have lost and vise-versa. We can take on anyone with a healthy squad. Bring them on!
Sad to say but I think Dirk has all but locked down the MVP. I don't think Tmac could win at this point even if he turned into Magic/MJ/Bird all at once. The media has pretty much picked Dirk even before the season began IMO. I guess his legendary performance in the Finals last season but him over the top.
Our PG situation is the only real issue with our team that currently gives me pause. I think with Yao/Mac both healthy and Bonzi playing harder by the playoffs we'd be fine as long as skip stays healthy... but even though I think that, I know that our PG situation is the thing that could really hold us back if the conditions allowed for it. Say Skip goes down with an injury a week or two before the playoffs... and doesn't look like he's gonna make it back any sooner than round two (or worse)... that'd be terrible. No one else can really run that offense, short of playing T-Mac 15-20mins a night at PG I'm not sure what we'd do to keep up with the likes of the Jazz (or worse) *Shrug* We just gotta hope for the best at this point... although, deep down I like to think if that previous mentioned scenario did happen, Sura would come back the day of the first game in round 1 and immediately play 30 mins a night at his old level of play.
I'd say there was one positive, and it is for the rest of the starters and the bench. Next time Yao and T-Mac aren't there, they need to step up and win the games that should be won. And learn how to keep a lead! Damn!
Looks like you were right. http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings.html Tmac at #5 moving 2 spots up.
regardless, close or far, he woulda ended up with the same percentage. Alston stinks when I'm not at the game. Hes due for a big game on Saturday, i'll be there.
