outside of the championship years, my favorite Rocket year was they year they acquired Maxwell. Olajuwon got hurt down the stretch of the season...but they went on a great win streak anyway. I'm thinking that was 91. they won a playoff spot on the last game of the season and busted ass to get there. they played with tons of fire. they hit the playoffs and got beat by the lakers in the first round..but there was just something about the hustle and the intensity that drew me to that squad, in particular. admittedly, a lot of that was Max, who played with a huge chip on his shoulder. this team kinda reminds me of that. some pieces put together mid-season. a fun chemistry..a team finding itself very quickly. hell, if i were in the West, I wouldn't want to play this team in the first round! it's fun to be the team that no one wants to play! i like this team a helluva lot more than the past few years. much less frustrating. and T-Mac is freaking poetry.
Trust me... "connections" will start once a history of hustle, grit, determination, and winning start. When you're losing it's hard to connect with any team.
I think it is more than winning; it is the way they are winning. Over the last few games they are exuding a snergy that I have not seen for years. The ball movement, the improved shooting, the motion, the confidence. I remember winning streaks last year, and it was not the same. And Ming seems to be coming alive in the "team" game. I feel that something is building rather than they are on a temporary upswing that will soon collapse.
Eh? I'm glad they have turned the corner, but I still don't feel any particular "connection" to anyone other than Yao and T-Mac. Bobby Sura gets props for his grit, but he is ultimately little more than an older, slightly more talented Emmanuel Davis. This team still feels like the "wandering in the desert" Rockets of the Joe Barely Cares era.
You and me both...I seriously hated this guy before he donned the Rockets uni...now I hope he has enough legs to stick around next year!
Nothing will ever replace the championship years, but I love the guys they've brought in. Guys like Sura and Mutombo and Barry are just winners, flat out, and McGrady's talent level is ridiculous. He's one of the top 3 or 4 talents in the NBA today, and he still hasn't harnessed it all yet.
How could anyone hate Mutombo? That image of him holding the ball after defeating Seattle in overtime in Game 5 of the first round in 1994 is one of my all-time favorite NBA moments. And it helped the Rockets immensely that season.
Hard to form a connection with all the new players, but more time spent with the team and especially experiencing the winning or losing of a playoff series will provide the certain emotional aspect some of us need to connect with a team. Stuart
I know, right?! I was kind of ambivalent towards this team for a while, myself. They didn't look like a team, but rather an office; people who gathered and cooperated because it was their job. Then the trades came. Now they've got a real identity, and they know it. They've got some swagger, because they believe they can play with anyone and that they've proven it. The personalities of our players are starting to shine through, and I like their personalities. With the exception of TMac and maybe Deke, none of our guys have made a living in this league on pure talent. They've stuck around so long because they're hard-working, smart and efficient. The classic "Van Gundy-type." Yeah, our role players are old. But they're also HUNGRY. They know they don't have a lot of years left in the NBA, and they want a taste of winning, of success, maybe even gold. It's that hunger that is starting to define this team, and I can identify with it, because I'm hungry to see the Rockets return to glory, too.
I'm excited about this team. I don't get to make it to much of the games, but I never miss them on TV. Thank you DVR, I love you too.
In the beginning of the season I had a huge problem connecting with T-Mac and Juwon, never liked them and thought they were wasting their talents as NBA players everywhere else they played at. Now I still don't like Juwon, doubt I ever will, but he's been doing his thing lately, I'd go with what tinman said about him and say that his time in the dog house changed him. With T-Mac I think Jeff Van Gundy has done a wonderful job with him, he's playing BY FAR the best basketball of his career, the difference I would say is that he finally has a good coach teaching him how to compete and sacrifice. In Orlando he wasn't doing those things, I believe now that the coaches there simply didn't have a clue how to do teach or were too intimidated by him to try to change him. I agree with the props Mutombo is getting too, coolest role player on the team.
chemistry wise we are straight on target and I like what we are doing. I didnt like the jj wesley trade but Wesley really has improved our passing so he has my approval. There just seems like we are still missing something but just cant put my finger on it. As long as we are winning I am happy though. I hope we keep it up and get as high up as we can in the rankings. We will make playoffs with the team we have but we still need something else to make it far into them.
I've always been connected, ever since they showed up with my favorite ex-Cougar of the time, Elvin Hayes, who didn't stay long. I had a much longer post, but the BBS software, or mine, had a glynch , and ate it. The team is fun to watch again!!! Keep GARM Readable!!
Are you joking, Freak? I could understand it earlier, when watching them was like having a root canal, but I love watching the kind of ball they're playing now. It's like night and day. What is your main beef with them at the moment? Van Gundy still irritates me pretty often, but the team has undergone a huge turnaround in style of play, and they are winning. Just curious. Keep GARM Readable!!
Ever since I watched that 35 seconds come back win against SA, I've been connected to TMac, then the Padget game winning shots.... you started to like them and felt "connected" to them with things like this
I am the original poster of the thread Longfellow speaks of. I have been a Rocket Fan since the San Diego days. And never have I felt as disconnected with the team as I do now. That being said it's not as bad as earlier. Yes winning does help. And having likeable stars like TMac and Yao on the team helps. But for me the type of passion that goes with caring for your team the way I have in the past doesn't happen overnight. You see there are several types of fans. You have bandwagoners who jump on board because your team is winning or the team has a player they like. You have city fans who root for their team because they are from Houston and would stop rooting for the rockets if they were relocated to Cinncinatti. You have Diehard Rocket fans who bleed Rocket Red and don't care who the players are the coaches. And you have fans like myself who root for the team but not blindly. It comes with following the team and liking the players and coaches as individuals as well. I cannot root for a player or coach if he is an a s s hole. That has never been a problem before. We've been fortunate with the Rockets. THere are so many likeable and good guys in or history. Everyone from Hakeem Olajuwon to Sam Cassell, to the Whopper and the chicken man, to Moses and Rudy to Clyde to Horry all were easy players to like. Even players like Maxwell and Barkley seemed likeable when they got here in Houston. And the coaches for the most part were no exception, Harris and Fitch and Chaney. But none was greater than Rudy. He was just a great guy and he brought this city it's first championship. And he made the fans feel like it wasn't just the Rockets championship but it belonged to the whole city. It was all of ours and that Hakeem and Sam and Horry were all part of our family. We may never have that feeling again and certainly you can't get that over night. But if you are the type of fan I am that's what you hope for. You hope to be connected with a team that you admire and actually feel connected with. I will say this much, the current Rocket team is in the right direction. Yao is just a great guy. How could anyone not root for him and Tmac seems to be a good guy as well. And players like Barry and Sura and padgett and Bowen seem like they really want to be on this team. As if this is their last chance to fit in somewhere's. So you got to root for peple like that. And even JVG , who I despised originally is coming around. I may never be a true fan of his but he has shown moments of not being an ass. And he does seem like he is trying his best to win for this team. So who knows maybe one day he will a true Rocket for me. It just takes time.
I agree with you as well ... but one thing I can't get used to is Howard as a Rocket, even when he plays well, I still say - "hey, why is Juwan Howard wearing a Rocket unifor." Its sort of like with Michael Keeton played Batman - when I saw the movie I kept thinking "why is Keeton in that Batman suit" He is the only player that just stands out as NOT being Rocket... but maybe that is because he has played with so many teams that I associate him with that.
