This is how management treats them, too. It's not like you have to read between the lines to assume these aren't the guys they're planning around. It's very difficult to get excited about a roster that management who brought them in isn't even excited about. There's been so much talk of these guys as nothing more than assets....there's no way that have an effect on fans who pay attention and are being asked to shell out dollars to attend. I read in the buy/sell thread there's a guy trying to unload some seats for about $400 for tonight's game. Holy hell! Can you imagine paying $400 to go see this? Those ticket prices are centered around star power, of which the Rockets have none. There's nothing to sell but mediocrity and the hope of it someday, somehow changing. I bought tickets for tonight's game on flashseats to take me and my 2 sons. $35 seats I purchased for $5/seat.
Since the Rockets' won their two titles, the Astros have won their division 4 times. If you are using the Astros WS appearance as their pinnacle (2005), then the Rockets' pinnacle would be 1995. In your own example, the Astros have been more relevant recently than the Rockets. How do you GUARANTEE that more people are interested in the Rockets? Even with their worst season in history, the Astros were 19th in attendance (out of 30) at 25000+ per game.
Well, they haven't been what I'd consider good. A check of their record since 2000 reveals the following: 1999-00: 34-48, no playoffs 2000-01: 45-37, no playoffs 2001-02: 28-54, no playoffs, Rox win 1st pick in draft and select Yao Ming 2002-03: 43-39, no playoffs - missed playoffs by 1 game 2003-04: 45-37, 1st playoff berth since 1999, lose to LA Lakers 2004-05: 51-31, 5th seed in West, lose to Dallas Mavericks 2005-06: 34-48, no playoffs, Yao & Tmac miss combined 70 games 2006-07: 52-30, lose in 1st round to Utah Jazz 2007-08: 55-27, lose in 1st round to Utah Jazz, Yao lost for season 2008-09: 53-29, 5th seed in West, beat Portland to reach 2nd round, 1st series win since 1997, lose to LA Lakers 2009-10: 42-40, no playoffs 2010-11: 43-39, no playoffs By my count over the past 12 years, the Rockets have missed the playoffs 7 times. Of the 5 times they did make the playoffs, they managed to advance to the 2nd round just once. Conclusions? Calling them garbage is a bit extreme as well as calling them one of the worst NBA teams is also extreme because they have managed to make the playoffs 5 times and garbage teams do not make the playoffs. On the other hand, they appear to be firmly stuck in NBA mediocrity.
Excuse me for being a bad fan because I rather watch the games on TV than in person. The last game I went to we got blown out by 40 by the Mavs.
Cheap tickets are definitely available. I took my 2 boys...we had a blast. But the upper deck is damn near empty. oh, and i still get misty-eyed everytime they play that "Dream On" montage before the game.
depressing. It's what happens when you bet big on Yao Ming and he is always hurt or ineffective. Oh well I guess we got a few temporary fans from China. When you put a mediocre product on the court -- you can expect fan apathy
Les would be smart to recall just how they were able to draft Yao. Had is not been for that 28 win season there would be no cashyao (cashcow). Les needs to allow the team to suck hard, but he won't.
http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance People keep saying winning will cause more attendance but from this thats is not the issue. Houston just has bad fans........
Who would you have drafted from that oh so great 2002 draft? Besides, having Yao attracted T-mac - considered the best player during that time.
