I'm sorry, but the absurdity of the cynical naysayers on this site makes me wonder what in the heck they are doing here. Basketball is a really cool sport and the NBA is the best basketball in the world. Houston is fortunate to have a franchise as classy as the Rockets. I have been a fan of this team since they were in San Diego. I loved them then because they drafted one of my favorite basketball players of all time...Elvin Hayes. I could hardly believe it when I learned Houston lured the Rockets away from California and brought them into my back yard to enjoy. I emphasize the word ENJOY. I have enjoyed them, not because they were always contending for the championship, but because they were MY NBA team. No, I don't own the team, nor am I the GM...I simply give my total allegiance to them whether they win or lose because I am a fan...period. Baseball and football are nothing more than minor distractions for me while I wait each year for the NBA and the Houston Rockets to launch another season. Almost every season concludes with the Rockets being another "also ran" as they finish short of a championship run. There have been many years when they didn't make the playoffs and a lot of seasons that ended in the first round of the playoffs. Regardless of their final position each year, they invariably enrich my life year after year with some spectacular play...like when they upset LA or the Celtics. Rivalries in Texas alone have given me some of my fondest basketball memories. Games that have been lost at the buzzer as someone like John Stockton drains an unlikely shot have literally shaved years off my life, but I don't care because the thrill of the game is worth it...win or lose. I think it balances out because Ralph Sampson, Mario Elie, Robert Horry and yes, even Tracy McGrady have won some at the buzzer that put those years right back on me. The Rockets have at times risen to heights of glory that few franchises ever reach. They were the only team in the eighties from the West that went to the finals besides the Lakers...they did it twice. Yeah, we lost the championships, but dang...what memories I have. I can still see Moses Malone battling and willing his team to the finals and Hakeem and Ralph taking the 86 squad to face the Celtics only to lose again. Then, the glory of the amazing 94 and 95 teams that gave us back to back championships pushed MY team to the pinnacle of the sport I love so much. My loyalty and allegiance was finally rewarded as Hakeem and company established the Rockets forever as a championship franchise. The Rockets have never soared that high since, but they still launch every year and I love to watch them, just like the fireworks on the Fourth of July. So, excuse me if I gush over a team that is currently playing below .500 ball. I just happen to see this team through MY rose colored glasses because they are MY team. I'm not mad at the owner, the GM, the coaches or the players. Sometimes however, I get a little ticked off by fair weather fans that want to fire the coach or trade away the team. But I get really disgusted when I read a post or a comment from someone that suggests the Rockets should lose games on purpose so they can possibly grab a top lottery pick. My only suggestion to someone like that is, "Why don't you just change teams that you pull for?" It would be more noble to do that than to ask a team with such a proud heritage to tank. San Antonio is looking pretty good and they are just a short hop down Interstate 10. They have a great chance to win that banner that you would apparently do anything to get. Meanwhile, I am pulling for MY team, the Houston Rockets, to sneak into the playoffs and probably draw the Spurs in the first round where anything can happen. I mean anything, because I have followed this team long enough to know that "anything can happen!" Win or lose...the Rockets are MY team.
Ironically enough in your last paragraph you mention the Spurs......the team that has won 4 NBA championships by doin the very same thing you are against which is tanking in order to draft duncan. Tanking can work if the correct circumstances arise and the right player is there for the taking. It just so happens that this season it would be pointless
Swallow your pride. Houston wants a championship, not another first round exit. I'm sorry, but in professional NBA basketball you do not indeed get an "A for effort". In fact, you get nothing. Nothing at all. You can either go all out and receive an A. Dick around and barely pass with a D. Or fail and try all over again with an F.
We have good reason to. Nobody would call it tanking either. We could trade Scola for someone younger and or Battier. Then play Patrick Patterson, Terrence Williams, and younger guy we get back from trade as part of youth movement. We lose more because of inexperience of playing together. Our young guys get on the job training and we start to see what we have there for next year. Losing but higher draft pick are by product of this practice which is not throwing games. Nor is it unethical because we are going young and its part of our plan to rebuild.
develop our young guys, develop our young guys don't let them and another season waste away. PP and Twill and Ish could turn out to be great, but we may not find out. This year is gone. don't tank, develop.
With the 12th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select.... If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. With the 12th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select.... With the 12th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select.... With the 12th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets select....
To late to tank anyway and never really wanted to tank but developing some of the young talent would be nice. Morey thinks by going for a playoff spot, instead of rebuilding, a superstar will be more inclined to join the squad, well...not sure a superstar is going to be impressed with an 11th seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs did not tank to get Duncan. They had a down season, and then they got very lucky in the lottery. It would be like us winning the lottery in last year's draft with our 0.5% chance.
Because picking higher year after year is always a sure-fire way to turn yourself into a contender. Signed, The Clippers, Kings, Bucks, Raptors, Wizards, Nets, T-Wolves, Bobcats, Grizzlies, Warriors, Pacers For every Thunder there are three teams that didn't fare will in lotto land.
Please explain. Not all bad teams are tanking, sometimes they are just bad. So how did the rockets tank to win two championships?
'Tanking' implies that they should lose games on purpose. No, they shouldn't do that -- that creates a losing culture and is overall just bad for the organization. But they should look into dealing Luis Scola for picks/talent. Quite a few teams on that list are in better position for the future than the Rockets are.
Possibly so, but I guarantee you that no super star or any other player wants to play for a team that is not committed to winning every game on the schedule. Only "fans" would take that route.
Actually, every single one of those teams made the playoffs within the past decade, some having more success than the Rockets have.
Tanking is pointless at this point. Do you really want to take about a 5% chance of getting in the top 3 in the lottery, and then take the 30% chance that that top 3 pick turns into a superstar/star? Those odds are so small. There's a reason why the Clippers haven't won for years. Look how many top 3 lottery picks they've been through. We got lucky getting Hakeem and Ralph. SA got lucky getting Timmy when they had David. But the rest of the story is they hit on a guy at the bottom of the first round (Parker) and they hit on a foreign baller taken in the 2nd round (Manu). That was their scouting and coaching, not luck. We're too far out to tank. Gotta keep pushing for the playoffs and making big trades. We may be able to trade for a lottery pick. That would be fine. But no tanking to get into the lottery.
REALLY!?!, do you really want to use those teams as examples as of why not to tank!?! Each one of those teams outside of the Bucks/Pacers/Bobcats(BTW none of these teams have gotten a high pick in a while), are in better position for the future then the Rockets currently are.. ----------------------------------------------------- Franchise cornerstone's for these young teams: Clippers: Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan. Kings: Demarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans. T-Wolves: Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Wesley Johnson, Michael Beasley. Wizards: John Wall, Nick Young. Nets: Derrick Favors, Brook Lopez. ----------------------------------------------------- I'll give you GS, Toronto and Memphis, but they have (outside of a few players) been terrible at scouting players, which falls on management, not on rebuilding through the draft...
I think you're discounting the Bucks; Morey would do back flips to land a player of Bogut's caliber (who was also the #1 pick). They've also recently drafted an up-and-coming PG in Brandon Jennings. I don't think they have enough to compete as is right now, but they may be closer to it than the Rockets are. On the other hand, I'm not sure the Nets are in a better position. Yes, Favors was almost traded for Carmelo; but he hasn't exactly been dominating this year. I think the jury is still out on him as to whether he'll develop into a star or not. Brook Lopez has regressed under Avery Johnson and Devin Harris was just never that good. The Warriors are just as bad as the Rockets but with younger talent. I wonder if a defensive-minded coach could turn them into a legitimate team -- but that's all speculation.
