It's not really a collapse when Las Vegas lines have correctly picked the Rockets to lose all 5 of the last 5 Rockets losses. Tough schedule at the end, that's all.
Utah is about to beat Memphis. Unbelievable. This is exactly what happend to us last year with Phoenix. All the sudden the people chasing us start beating everybody. We must be cursed. Magic number is 4 with only 6 games to play.
Those teams are motivated. They WANT to be in the playoffs whereas the Rockets are on cruise control EXPECTING to be in the playoffs.
Sigh....But Rockets has 80% chance to make playoff. Utah, Portland, Denver will beat each other up. Hope that the magic number will become zero after this week.
wonder where you got this 80% number from. we will see whether you are right or not after tomorrow night's game.
I bet Stern is thinking: "how can we fix the games and match Shaq and Yao in the first round?" It is not too hard to kick Rox out of 7th seed now. It only takes a few calls in a couple of games. We better not miss the playoff all together. Judging from the schedule, it shouldn't happen. But as soon as I think of the officiating factor, who knows.
Jazz got lucky as Gasol and Wells doesn't play. But Jerry Sloan deserves more COY consideration after this game.
Maybe Denver can win 3 or 4 more games too (Suns, Wolves, and Spurs) as long as wolves and spurs are secure with their ranking and do not let Duncan and Garnett play real to avoid possible injuries. In that case, if we still only win 2 out 6, we will be out. Pianful...
Dampier will miss the rest of the season with a sprained left ankle. Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2004040609&prov=ap Hope this will increase our chance tommorrow.
What is Rox's magic number now? What will it be when they win tonight (which I think they will). What would it be after they beat the Clippers tomororw night? The Rox is due for a winning streak... even though it will be only a 2 game winning streak.
READ THIS, it is from the official website of the Rockets, i think they know best, instead of us going back and forth Houston’s magic number for clinching a playoff berth currently stands at four against Denver and Utah, and three against Portland .....
I hate Golden State....how in the hell can you shoot that well for an entire game....all the while shoving Yao all over the place and getting away with it. I am with Van Gundy on this: Yao elbow the next mother f&$%er in the face who puts their hands on you and tries to root you out of the lane. It will be an offensive foul....but Yao has 6 of them right?
Save the Rockets: Bench Yao and Steve at start of game! Don't get me wrong. Yao and Steve are still the duo stars on the team. But they are young and inexperienced, and they're still haunted by the nightmare of collapse of last year. I see the same thing happening again: nobody dare to step up and take the shot and take the responsibility coming with it. ..... Cat, JJ and spoon are mentally more stable. Cato is good too......To sum up, it is panic that causes every problem. and everybody, especially yao and steve's confidence is shaken. Yao getting tired is a myth. bad officiating is an excuse........My suggestion: start with cato, JJ, Spoon,cat and mark, and let those two guys watch a little bit and calm down a bit. Don't insert them into the game until Rockets are down by 5. I strongly hope van gundy can take my advice or do something like that. after all, extreme situation calls for extreme measures. ( initially I want the title to be ' a letter to jeff van gundy'. since i haven't got enough time for that , i changed my plan. in fact, i got a very busy schedule so that my writing is a little rusty. i simply can't quite concentrate. anyway, i hope i have got my point across and rockets can get through this tough stretch...... )
