We match up better with the Jazz than the Suns. Doesn't make us a favorite, but I would rather play a team with jumpshooting big's than one with Amare and Shaq.
Blessing? We won't even meet Denver in playoffs. And we could lose first round homecourt advantage because of this.
- No Shane against the Nuggets is a big factor. - When Scola hitting nothing but air at the start of game and the Rockets couldnt set any offensive tone, the game was already doomed. After all, the Nuggets are fighting for the playoffs at their homecourt. When the Nuggets got going, they just rolled over and never looked back.
Think of it this way. SA is 1 game ahead of UTAH, so SA would want to tank so that they can face us. SO if they tank, they only need to tank 1 game. At the same time, Utah wants to face us as well, if they beat us, they cannot face us. So if you think about it this way, Utah's only option of facing us in playoffs is if they do not pass SA. SA's only chance of facing us is if they tank ONE game. So would Utah want to face the suns instead of us? Utah winning one game is more than enough for them to face suns, and SA losing one game is more than enough for them to face us. Think about it more clearly, utah would have to give up tomorrow's game if they want to face us, or else SA will face us. If Utah does win, they would somehow have to tank harder than SA so they lose against them.
Why, would you rather play the Suns in the 1st round than the Jazz? Plus I wouldn't help Golden State.....I'm not sure if memory is blurred but Phoenix and Golden State always beat us bad.....nothing better than kiiling two birds with one stone.
Absolutely embarassing; tank job or not. How in the hell we couldn't get up for this was beyond me. We have yet to lock sh** down. Apparently a chance to capture the #1 seed, take control of the division, and at the very least work towards ensuring homecourt in the first round just wasn't that big a deal. This was NOT the game to give guys the night off!
Honestly, what are the odds that we reach first place? Or second? If we mess up, we have to face phoenix, and we know they are advantageous against us. If we lose this game however, SA and UTAH will have to make a difficult choice. Utah has the tie breaker, so if they have the same record as SA, they will be third. We know SA would want to play us, and in order for them to do that is if they tank 1 game and UTAH wins the last 2 games. But Utah would not want to face suns, they want to face us. If they beat us tomorrow, SA can tank the last 2 games, and they will get to play us. Unless, Utah can tank harder than SA that is, beating us tomorrow is not a good idea for UTAH.
Our effort was crap. Lazy passes and standing around on offense. Iverson abused our backcourt. Denver was playing for a playoff spot...at home. Sorry, but we are not a good enough team to win a game like that without Battier and Jackson. I would go on a rant about Rafer sucking again but he did get hurt so I'll refrain and hope he gets healthy before next week
i dont think anyone took the night off. battier and bjax were injured and u cant help that. nuggets just played like world-beaters tonight. on another note i think its obvious that teams are gonna start jockeying to play us in the first round.
For all the tanking theorists, let's see how the Rockets play tomorrow. If it is anything like tonight, then it is not tanking but rather sucking.
is it possible for Utah to tank harder than the Spurs? If so then them beating us tomorrow wouldn't be a problem.
Anyone notice Rafer go out with an injury? Playing without Shane was costly. Nuggets played good defense - they played hard - and seemed we got lots of ticky tacky calls. What did BJax injure? (I'll look for it in another thread.)
Exactly. We have to look into this deeper, its the western conference, the seventh seed is as good as the first. This isn't eastern conference, its about finding the right matchups. Utah would do anything to face us, and their only option is tanking. And if they do tank, we know we will get HCA.
Letting up on the throttle right before the playoffs, risking home court, giving up on a higher seed, none of it makes sense. Champions roll on, not over. What ever they were thinking, it was wrong. Thirty percent shooting against Denver is ridiculous. This is the kind of performance that seals your fate for the post season. The only redemption is to beat the Jazz AND the Clippers. Anything less, limping into the playoffs as a loser. Unacceptable.
Looking at tonights effort, do you really think the rockets were playing properly? BTW, its a battle between UTAH and SA to play us. UTAH has the advantage right now, but if they beat us and SA loses SA will get to beat us.
Rafer went out with a hamstring injury Jackson was sitting out due to his ankle. He landed on Shaq's foot when shooting against Phoenix. He finished the game but was favoring it
