Hey...at least I don't have to miss work by taking half days and coming up with excuses to go watch the Astros play day playoff games! Oh well...just trying to look on the bright side.
Should be an interesting offseason...lots of names out there and lots of money for us. That's right, no sulking over this. Bring on the Rockets!!! Oh, I almost forgot...may the Cardinals burn in hell.
This was a pathetic way to lose, but was certainly a microcosm of the season. Bad defense at the wrong time (see the errors) and horrible hitting with runners in scoring position (1-11 or something like that). The Cardinals losing makes it doubly tough. It sure would have been nice to force them to use Carp tomorrow to hurt their playoff chances. Oh well .. At least the Stros carried us closer to the Rockets season than I thought they would.
Well, this game is a truer representation of our weaknesses and of the fact, we STILL have too many easy outs or inconsistent at bats from our lineup. Willy T I like the guy but I dont think he should be a leadoff man because his OBP is atrocious. He strikes out too much, must put the ball in play more to legitimize his place as a leadoff man or else he should bat 7th or 8th. Huff is an iffy, he played well but his play was still inconsistent. Lastly, what are you going to do with Lane and Ensberg? Lane as reserve fielder maybe, but Ensberg I think its time to ship him. He's a patient hitter, so patient he watches strike 3 go by. We need Carlos Lee or Soriano PERIOD! This lineup needs some REAL beef to bolster. Positives: Luke Scott-without him, we arent even talking about a quasi-miraculous finish. Burke-what a utility man, another year and he only improves his play. You know the Stros will keep AE as they should because his D is huge for us, but it would be nice if we had a defensive catcher that could really hit. I know I am asking for alot. Overall, the team just woke up a few weeks late to be a playoff-bound team. Oh well ... offseason should be interesting for Fat boy Timmy's sake it had better be good.
Well, game wasn't on in Dallas, but just seeing the outcome just means we didn't have anyone step up and magnifies our weak bats... They made it interesting, but too many things had to happen for us to continue...Don't get me wrong, I would have loved it, but too little too late...If only Lidge would have converted at lest 1/3 of his blown saves...
That's even more sad. Jeff Van Gundy is still the Rockets coach. They aren't going to go anywhere until they get rid of that piece of garbage.
Not fair to single Lidge out like that. How bout if Gallo hadn't blown his handful of games. How bout if Ensberg knew how to get a sac fly in a clutch situation?
I echo the observation that the last game was a snapshot of the whole season, the lack of timely hitting, something they did well during the nine game win streak. It is a shame because of the Cardinal's loss. You have got to feel for the Card's fans, they can't be all that excited.
Thanks, 'Stros - for not giving up on the season and for wiping some of the smugness (if only temporarily) off the Cards faces!
The NL should just lay down right now... This postseason is...different. Are there any compelling storylines? I guess it'd be kinda cool to see another Subway series maybe...or Detroit, that would be a good Cinderella story...I guess I'll root for Detroit and definitely against the Cards. But no real rivalries this year.
I wanted Dunleavy instead of Van Gundy at the time. The defense was not the problem under Rudy T. It was the offense. Bringing Van Gundy in only made our offense worse. T-Mac and Yao will never be what they could be as long as Van Grumpy is here. People sometimes point out Yao's stamina problems. Maybe part of that is Gumpy's ridiculous defensive scheme and having our 7'6 big man chase little guards all around the court out to the 3 point line. Right now, i'd take anyone over Van Grumpy. Even a rookie coach like Elie.
Yao defends the pick and roll pretty damn good... better than Shaq ever did. Its a big part of why teams can't expose our slow-footed mammoth center as a liability on defense. Dunlavey wouldn't have done much with last year's team... he probably would have done worse. This is a dumb argument at this point... especially in this forum.
First of all, Yao would not be a liability on defense if he stayed in the paint. he would be a force. Secondly, I didn't bring the Rockets into this thread.
He's also not a liability at defending the pick and roll... and his minutes continue to rise. Also, teams would just continue to go small, and put shooters out there whom Yao wouldn't defend under your scheme, as he'll be just hanging out in the paint doing nothing. That's all I'll comment on in this forum.
