Not since Hakeem have I had such confidence in a Rockets player. Tonight just exemplified Tmac's greatness. In years past, this team would have just rolled over, but tonight, Tmac refused to let us lose. And I just knew he would hit the baskets we needed down the stretch. I haven't had that type of assuredness since we used to throw the ball down to Hakeem during the end of games in the 90's. It gave me chills. Remember when someone used to step up each game in those day....Kenny Smith, Maxwell, Cassell, Horry.....it just seemed that one of them used to fill the void every game. That's what's happening now with Howard, Head, Battier, and Alston. We are so blessed with unselfish play and chemistry that it is once again an absolute pleasure to be a Rocket's fan. And can I just say how awesome it is to have a coach like JVG, even after all the moments that we all doubted him. The guy has done an amazing job. And tonight, even when Luther Head made an amazing defensive play in OT to seal the game, JVG didn't even pause and was seen shouting "TRIANGLE....TRIANGLE" as the inbounds play without even pausing when Luther caused the turnover. I love that type of focus and discipline, and I hope that everyone realizing how dedicated JVG is to winning. He has a simple belief that defense wins game, and in a league where oustscoring your opponent is fashionable, he holds fast to that. I just respect that so much and hope you all do too. We are truly blessed to call this team our own. No matter what happens later, no matter whether we can hold our own with Dallas or Phoenix or any other pundit-proclaimed big gun in the NBA, I am proud to be a fan of this team. After following this team since the '80s, I am so happy to be a fan of this team. Just wanted to share what for me has been an amazing season so far. I haven't been this inspired by team play since the championship years, and no matter what the outcome, I just wanted to say how special I think this group is. Sorry for rambling....any thoughts?
my thought is that i respect this post, and i respect this team. They honestly don't get enough credit, especially JVG(he gets dogged on this board 25 hours a day eight days a week in the midst of a coach-of-the-year caliber season). if you compare this team to any of the stevie franchise years etc., you realize the difference between a team that is commited to winning and one that just goes through the motions. that, and tmac was simply inspiring today. im just glad to be a witness, and i share your sentiments.
You just made me cry. Everything about this team is so "blue collar" like those championship teams from the 90's. You have the hustle, you have the determination, you have the current underdogs, you have the people doubting them, etc. Will they even get past the first round? I don't know, but I honestly don't care. This team was left for dead after Yao went down. We all saw an over-the-hill Juwan Howard who most of us wanted shot to put him out of his misery step up time and time again. He's putting up great numbers for his age and hits clutch jumper after clutch jumper when left open. Many doubted the Rudy Gay for Battier trade initially (myself included), but it's starting to be at least a short-term no-brainer positive deal for this team. Battier comes up with a steal or a clutch 3 at the right time and hustles all the time. Chuck Hayes can't hit a layup to save his life sometimes, but the stuff he does around the basket that no 6'6" guy should be able to do against 7 footers and the hustle he displays makes me proud to have the guy on this team. Luthaaaaaa Head is Kenny Smith with nuts and better defense. Mr. 4th quarter has stepped up his 3 point shooting and his clutchness. I hope he stays a Rocket for years to come because he fits a role here. Yao has turned into an offensive beast and his mere presence in the middle causes the opposition to re-think their game plans. He has become the unstoppable force and I hope he comes back strong from his injury - he's the X factor right now. Work him back in, keep him healthy, and this team is a top-3 team in the league. Hell, they may be that already. TMac has taken up the slack in Yao's absence and carried this team with clutch shooting, but more importantly, he's showing off his passing ability. In order to appreciate that, you have to watch the games and see the degree of difficulty in some of the passes he makes. Even more impressive is that feeling you often get of "how the hell did he make that pass" nowadays. He's scoring less, and I laugh at the morons in the media that say "he needs to take charge and score more if the Rockets are to win". No he doesn't because that's what made him lose in the past. Now he scores when needed and passes when needed. He trusts his teammates, and with Battier's, Head's, and JHo's shooting, he's got nothing to worry about lately - they'll more than likely come through when needed. The team is fun to watch, and it's been fun watching them play 90-98% of the time this year. They should be given respect for what they've accomplished after all they've been through. They all stepped up and made me proud to be a Rockets fan. Oh, and of course FIRE JVG! Because without him, I honestly don't think this would've been possible.
when the lakers get more press about going deep in the playoffs, you know this team is not getting near the credit it should. i love having mac on this team. he is easily my favorite player.
one other thing in response to the jvg praise. he is an excellent team defense coach. on par with any that i have seen in my lifetime. but, thank god we have mac to run the offense. if we had to rely on what jvg wanted on offense, we would be looking at the stagnant offense of the francis years right now.
Man we're getting a little emotional here... My one complaint as I look at this with a glass half empty is JVG's mouth and his micromanagement of tight games. There has been precedence where his comments towards the opposition has backfired: the Con Artist 1997 playoff game between the Knicks and the Bulls where he accused Michael Jordan of conning opposing players by buddying up to them and soften them so he could kill them in the games. Jordan responded by dropping 55 on the Knicks, he said before the game that JVG was the Con man by trying to use those comments as motivation to his players for the series, during his last points of the game while walking back to the bench on a timeout he yelled at JVG allegedly saying "you effin hockey puck!" <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYXCBkktFyk"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYXCBkktFyk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> Micromanagement: I kinda like the Zen master's idea of letting his teams play through periods when the other team is making a run or turning the momentum but I kinda understand why JVG has to have a short leash. This team doesn't really have it's own mental toughness to grind through the bad periods of the game, just seems like they need someone constantly barking at them to snap out of whatever lull they're in. As for Rudy Gay, as long as he doesn't turn into a GOAT type of player, I think we can safely say that was a good trade.
Huh? TMac is running the offense that JVG designs. We had a stagnant offense with Stevie Franchise because him and Cat couldn't ISO anymore and had to actually run plays instead of the playground crap they did under Rudy. I admit JVG called plays on every posessions back then but that just showed that he really didn't trust Stevie and his merry band of And1 ballers. With TMac, JVG can forgive the jack em up 3's with a man in front if him that Tracy sometimes does because he knows Tracy can control the game on the other side if he wants to. It's not like JVG forbids fastbreaks, the Rockets will run if they got the numbers, blown layups be damned. I'm thinking it's all about trust with JVG. As this team mentally matures and stops half arsing on certain games he'll give more leeway and not have to yell plays every posession.
I've been watching the Lakers have lose a lot of games lately due to this idiotic approach. I say, if taking a timeout will help and stop the other team's run, take the damn timeout! (note: JVG did let us play it out after the terrible start against the Bobcats)
Given that we were 0-13 prior to last night in games where we trailed after 3 quarters its not just in year's past. This bodes well for things to come.
yeah, and you just made me cry. This is what's so great about the bbs. You get to know people's take over time so that when they post what they love about the Rockets, it makes it all that much sweater to read. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when I see JVG crying in joy come June.
Exactly! I don't get why everyone thinks that NBA coaches does the same things every game! Coaches adjust. If we're playing bad because we're not doing things fundamentally right, you take a time out. If you are doing things right but the shots aren't going in and theirs are through good defense, then you let them play! PJ does the exact same thing. There was a time when BJ Armstrong and John Paxson couldn't make a mistake or they're pulled from the game. It happens with every coach; it's just a matter of the situation and timing.
I assume you're one who was always calling for JVG to be fired because he didn't adjust his offense. You say thank god we have tmac to run the offense. I say thank god JVG is a good coach, cause he adjusted the offense around tmac's strengths. He evaluted TMac unlike coaches in the past and put him in a position to succeed. And if we had someone else, JVG would've designed a different offense (more stringent probably, and probably very different plays) around him. As for the thread.. yeah, love this team more than any we've had in a long time. Battier has infected the rest of the group, imo. Deke and Howard had it in them, but it took Battier to bring it out. Man, if we could only have the Sura of 2 yrs ago for the attitude.. but no matter. I've enjoyed this
Great thread. I felt the same during last night's game, too. I said to myself this team just refuses to lose. Our teams in recent years haven't had the focus to consistently win close game. This team, though, is a great group that just gets it done. No matter what happens, this has been the most fun Rockets season I've seen for a long time. They'll need a first round win to really get some respect from the "experts" though.
After barely remembering the 80s (what? I was born in '84. Sue me), I am so happy to be a fan of this team.
