Lets face it, we are still a year or two away from being at the top of the NBA. This season has been a great one for the fact that we made the playoffs which means we made progress. The most important thing about this playoff series is the practice. We are not going to beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. Looking on the bright side though, we will learn from the best and that is about as good as it gets this year. If you are gonna lose, lose to the best so you know and undersatnd what you need to do to get to the next level. So lets cheer for the rockets but at the same time understand how important this series is for our franchise!
legend. that may have been true when we had the defending champion team. I believe that quote was made in 95... in this case though. the lakers are the team with the recent champions. wouldn't they be the heart of a champion?
Look at the Lakers, do you see hearts? Cause I don't. The whole Lakers team were sloppy from the begining to the end. And look at the Rockets, Cat stop Kobe on every play, Steve diving to the floor to save a loose ball, Mo giving up body to draw a charge, Yao dying to guard Shaq.... We were out-experienced and out-talented by the Lakers last night, but I see hearts in the Rockets. As long as they don't give up, I see chance, a big chance that we could snap this series.
I agree with everything said here... except the "Yao dying to guard Shaq" part. I am very proud of this team after last night. We put ourselves in a situation to win but just didn't quite pull it off. Kobe got lucky that Shaq was there to pick up his airball, and Jim Jackson usually hits that shot. I think we have a good chance of beating the Lakers. They SAY that they can turn it on and off come playoff time, but I don't think they can. They are a bunch of individuals that are having problems right now with teamwork. Who cares if they're Hall of Famers, they still need to show that they can play together and they haven't proved that yet. We have a chance until they prove that.
If you look at the defense intensity of this Lakers team, that's more than enough championship caliber defense, they show me more than enough heart. Credit Gandy's defense game plan and our great team defense effort. The referee's allowing physical play is another reason that neither team can really get into flow.
You know what, I agree. The Rockets were right "there" last night, and if they come home with a split, TC will be rocking. I think they really "roughed up" the Lakers, and if Ming and Francis could get untracked offensively, and the defense stays tough, the Lakers could begin to wooble, then one knock out punch could do it. This isn't over by any means. I was disappointed that Francis and Ming didn't have their "A" games (as they usually do against the Lakers), but they stood "toe to toe." As strange as this sounds, I believe the Rockets have the momentum.
Okay maybe the lakers were a bad example.. my point is the 95 reference to heart of a champions was because they were champions and people underestimated them the next year... none of these rockets have ever been champions so I'm not so sure they have that heart of a champion yet.
By the way, I definitely believe they can win this series, and last night gave me a lot of hope. I'm just nervous about referring to them as having anything champion when none of them has really won much. the 95 team won from the 6th seed, but they had mostly all been champions before. Their collapse towards the end of the season sure didn't show me heart of a champion. Even if we lose this series, I expect it to go at least 6. If we win tomorrow I also think there is a very good chance we win the series. That knowledge that we can beat the lakers in the playoffs would go a long way the rest of the season.
mark it down...I am with ZRB....rox win tomorrow, series will go to h-town....this is the pivotal game...will the defense hold up...will the turnovers get cut down...will Cat bring a little more O...will Jackson bring his 3...will JVG play Cato on Shaq more...Will Yao get 20 points...
