FB, I hate to disagree with you here but this was a huge statement game with an awful lot - home field advantage in Round 1 - on the line. The Rockets needed that game in order to have a realistic shot at winning their first playoff series in 10 years and they blew it. Now, they are all but assured of starting the playoffs in Salt Lake City where it's entirely likely they can come back to Houston down 0-2. What's most disturbing to me (aside from their shooting in the low 30% range - 28% if you take Yao's points away) is that once again, they showed that they simply have no answer to the types of defenses that they will be seeing in the playoffs. When teams set their defenses to take away Yao & Tmac, this team simply cannot score. This problem goes hand in hand with their most glaring holes at PG & PF where Alston does not match up with the better PGs in the West while the tandem of CH/JH/SB fails to give you enough scoring punch to make the other teams pay for adopting this defensive strategy. In fact, this problem has been with them for several years now with no real resolution on their part and I don't see them magically solving it come playoff time. Unlike folks like DaD, I don't think that the guys sitting on the bench (Wells, Spanoullis, Novack & Lucas) are the answer either so it appears that the Rockets have a long ways to go before they can seriously compete. That said, it will be nice to see them in the playoffs for once even though I don't expect their run to last all that long. It certainly beats having them in the NBA Lotto...again.
The Jazz will be favored, and rightfully so. I don't know...this year's lotto is going to be deep. DD
I was pissed off last night too, especially at Rafer. The game left you with doubts, no doubt. You think that if they play like this in the playoffs, we're not going past the first round. But, this was one game, and does not a season make. I agree, it would have built momentum to win and win it doing the right things. So, it is disturbing, just as JVG himself stated afterwards, that if our team doesn't develop mental discipline, we're not going to fulfill what we're capable of ... actually winning a championship. Is this team going to step into what they are capable of? That's the big question. When some of you come here and just blast, and make statements that there's no way we'll get past the first round, so we might as well kiss off this year, that's different. All of a sudden, I don't feel I can criticize, because I'll be on the side of those losing belief in our team. It's ok to say "if we play like that, then we won't win." It's ok to be realistic, and know we have to get better, or we won't win. It's ok to question the heart or attitude, and if we don't have the talent, it's ok to say we don't. But we do. We're not as deep as Dallas, Phoenix or San Antonio, but the combo of Yao and TMac is better than anything they have. Have we gelled yet? Has TMacs injuries made him afraid to let it all out? Is TMac over-deferring to Yao? Will TMac get out of his offensive funk? That's fair to debate. Will Rafer try to take on too much of the offense when his shot isn't going? Will we rebound enough? Will injuries kill us? Will Bonzi play a part in the playoffs? Will there be anyone who will lead this team to the greatness they aspire to? Will JVG's efforts to get them in championship form burn out the team by the time we get there? Are we building momentum toward the playoffs? Will we learn from this loss and come back stronger? Those and MANY more questions are fair to debate ad infinitum. But to use this moment to say JVG sucks again, as if we never heard the first time, and proclaim emphatically that we'll never get out of the first round, because we lost this game, doesn't feel ok. That feels disloyal and unsupportive, and difficult to join in on, no matter how pissed off we were about losing this game, or the problems this game reveals. There's no doubt, this game was a reality check, and showed us all that they aren't playing at a championship level yet. But, I haven't given up that they won't, because I believe they can. My hope is that they'll use this to identify what they've got to do to step up.
Tell that to Tim Duncan, Popvich and the Spurs. That team JVG had was not a stacked team. They were led by Latrell Spreewell of all people. It may be his highest accomplishment, but how many coaches can say they took an 8th seeded team to the finals? Only JVG.
I mean the reality is this was the biggest game of the season up to this point, and we didn't win it, it was close, came down to a possession, if we won it wouldn't hold much more weight than if we lost, this is going to be a series, probably the best 1st round series in the west and east.
I don't agree. We still have another game to play them, and we've been playing better than they have. It WAS an opportunity missed, but even if we'd have won, it wouldn't have guaranteed us home court. It's harder now, though, that's for sure. But, I think the game pointed out more things that will keep us from winning a championship, than gaining home court advantage. Good points. I had hoped that Head would make them pay, or even Bonzi, and maybe even Novak by now, but Head has really dropped off recently, and Rafer just isn't consistent enough. Another way to look at it though, is that we only lost by 3 points, and were in the game until the last few seconds. TMac, Rafer, Howard, even Battier all had bad offensive games, and Yao wilted at the end. The big question is why, and I'm sure Utah had something to do with it. But, I doubt that they'll shoot this badly too often.
That is pure speculation. They didn't blow their chance. As Sherlock said it was an opportunity. But the season isn't over. They still play the Jazz once, and with the other games, they may be more than 1 game ahead of the Jazz at that time, and still end up with home court advantage. Furthermore, it is not impossible to win a game in Utah. It has been done. It can be done again.
Yes they did. Even if they win their last game against Utah, Utah would still hold the win-loss edge over Houston plus Utah owns the tie-breaker. For the Rockets to come out on top in this scenario, you'd have to bank on Utah going on a mini-losing streak to allow Houston to close the gap. I dislike that way of thinking (hoping for the other guy to screw up) especially when all the Rockets have to do is win their head-to-head matchups with the Jazz. That's why I considered this game a statement game of sorts for the Rox and they fell flat once again. I guess I lack your level of faith in this team's ability to step up and seize the advantage when it's there for the taking because to date, they have not shown the ability to make that proverbial next step.
I agree it would have been a big step for us, and major win. I'm only saying that because we lost doesn't mean we are automatically out of gaining homecourt advantage. I would rather not hope for the other guy to mess up. It would have been better for our team to get the advantage and win that game. It would have been huge for our chances. But because we lost doesn't mean we can't seize chances with the rest of our games, including our last one against Utah. It was an opportunity to put ourselves in the driver's seat, and we blew it. But it wasn't the only chance for us to win.
C'mon, guys, we shouldn't even be too frustrated. The team is just true to its identity. We lost to team 1, 2, 3, and 4, since we are team#5. That's the message Tmac and team are sending - we are team #5, no more, no less.
not "just" about. If it was all just that - then you wouldn't need to watch the games, just check back in late June. We all want the Rockets to win and win. But we also know that this run can stop in round 1, or round 2 - and doesn't get easy unless we reach the finals. But that's a long shot. A big one. My point is this. If you've been a fan a long time like me, you know how rare it is for a team to be in a position to win it all. Even Phoenix and Dallas are hoping to win - they aren't sure bets. This is the best team we've had in 10 years. If you're a new Rockets fan, hey, you're lucky to have missed the last 10 years. If you've been around for 10 years. Man....it's just nice to watch a decent team play that had a chance. I mean, think about those years when we were 20-something and in the lottery. Wouldn't you have sold your soul to be in the position we are in now? Man, I've missed this. It's been two years, and only once in the last 10. I don't care what happens - I'm going to savor this. There may never be a next year. Injuries, trades, weird things happen. If you don't enjoy what you got now, you'll just be miserable.
actually for me... the reason why I came to this team was because Yao got drafted.. and this was a lottery team... just like when Shaq got drafted over to Orlando... I followed them too... If it was up too me... I would have been happy if Houston... had stayed a lottery team... losing for the last 5 years as Yao developed and we put young athletic players around him.... Houston... is a team with too many holes (weak enough not to win a championship.. but strong enough not to get stronger picks)... and the only hope of fixing it... is with strong free agents...or good trades... right now, I am praying that the Rox put on good show in the Playoffs... if not... we may have to wait 5 more years...
I think the Rockets are going to beat the Jazz in 6 games. They got the two best players on the court and play the best defense in the league. They will work it out. All y'all people writing off the team: stay off the bandwagon.
the way i see this game is IF IF IF Mcgrady hit a couple more jumpers it wouldn't have even been close. His in a poor shooting slump at the moment. But given the same posessions and plays during that game. It would have worked out for us if Mcgrady was playing decently. I don't think we need to blame anyone. The team is fine
New Yorker, thank you for informing us that "our" bubble has burst. Obviously, you knew it all beforehand.
I fully agree. Why not enjoy what we've got. We've got a very good team with two world-class players that has a chance to win any given game they play. Sure, I wish the Rockets were dominant like the Mavs, but to be frank i like the players we have better. 24 other teams in the NBA wish they were where the Rockets are now. I would love to win a championship, but I am happy just to watch some high quality basketball for the first time in a long while. Go Rockets!
