The game against SA was probably the best game the Rockets had. Not in terms of play but in terms of headache. No Yao 24min to regulate, no mismatch on AB and no D from KM. This game is were we saw a lot of solid players come in and make not excuses. (I am mostly refering to the 2nd half) Having a Coach of RA's calibers really shined thru, he did what he does best. (be flexible and make adjustments to keep us in the game). Clearly we can understand the vision that management had when they put together a team that is build too deep, when AB and KM went down. The reason for this post is not to question everything that is happening behind the scene (ie; AB's contract and his play, Yao's 24m, management.) but it is to recongize what happened in the SA as something that needed to happen. I hope to see this game as the trigger of something better. We are a team of solid blue colar workers, each ready to step up when needed. However, no one was stepping up in the past few games. Everyone had an excuse and some even played the blame game. If you look at the other games you can tell that no one took it upon them selves to be that spark. Everyone was expecting Yao or AB or even Scola to score, i didnt see the efforts to go after all the missed shots or play more physical to get open. The team was expecting someone else to do something and the ball movement went down and we made key mistakes and the D went south because the lack of seeing the ball go into the hoop. Everyone was expecting great things, even the fans. We built up this hype of our team thinking we could go out there and crush everything. We all thought that Yao was and is the key to the season because that is what the Organization programmed into us. However we all forgot that those expecations come with a certain amount of responsiblity. I am not saying that the players didnt accept those responsiblity but rather they made it a sort of burden. The main thing I learned on Saturdays game was that if you play loose and stick to the game plan and take it upon yourself to be proactive to shoulder your responsiblitys, the out come will be better than being forced the responsiblities and expectations. The team as constructed should not be at an 0-5 record. But we are, don't force the game in a direction that the team can't go towards right now, don't force Yao as a starter, don't force AB and KM to play D. But rather fill the round holes with round pegs, put AB and KM on the floor together less. Have Yao come in off the bench, the identity of Rockets is a Team not just Yao, he is the key but he isnt there yet. All these crazy expectations whether self imposed or not are killing us. We got to go out and play loose. Our worst enemy is ourself and we learned this when we have nothing to worry about.
