When you really sit down and reflect on the events of the past week and a half, it has to amaze you on just how far this team has come. Look at the cumulative results. Down 23, no Hakeem, no momentum, on the road against a hot Atlanta team. Most NBA teams-- probably 3/4 of them, pack it in and prepare for the next game. Not these Rockets. A never give up attitude keeps them alive, and they pull out the biggest comeback in franchise history. Next game-- Down 9, 4th quarter against the Clips, and the Rockets go on an absolute tear. Steve and Cat slice the Clips apart, another Rockets win. Tuesday against Indiana-- if there was ever a time for the Rockets to give up, it was then. They had had a game in their hands against the Suns taken away from them, and had seen almost a surefire 1 game deficit from the playoffs put at 3 games. They lost Hakeem, who had been playing SO WELL for the last month, for the season. But did this team give up? No. Down 10 with 3 minutes, they still hustle all over the court, get all the loose balls, and make the clutch shots. Then Steve and Mo make the clutch plays in the 1st OT, Cat brings them back in the 2nd, and Moochie absolutely plays out of his mind in the 3rd. A season changing victory. Tonight-- without Steve, in a huge game, down 6 with 3 minutes, everyone steps up. Cuttino is the playmaker everyone wants him to be. Moochie still makes the big shots. Cato plays interior defense, and Mo makes the jumpers in the clutch. And everybody, including Rudy T, made such good adjustments to the pick and roll in the final 3 minutes that had killed the Rockets all game. Who can say enough about this? Most teams would have folded in all 4, or at least 2 or 3 of these games. But not the Rockets. Everyone complained about how the season was over after the loss at Phoenix. We had a chance to get within one game of the playoffs, and we "blew it." Sure glad the Rockets had more faith than their fans... now just two games later we have made it to just one game back of the playoffs. BELIEVE IT!!! Playoffs or no playoffs, this kind of game and sequence of games really shows you what the Rockets are made of. Talent wise of course we have a great future. But to be a championship team, you have to have that little something extra as shown by Portland (and their lack of) last year. You have to have the desire to want the ball in the clutch, the heart to never give up, and the resiliency to come out and play hard no matter what the circumstances may be. (i.e. Suns loss, Hakeem, etc.) Nothing is for sure, but the signs are there. The talent is and will be there, but the internal attitude and character appear to be getting here for this team too. And once the team's overall maturity rises a bit and we bring in a couple of minor pieces... watch out NBA! We're coming... ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Join the Official CC.net NBA Sim League! http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000201.html Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
amen,brother.. ------------------ How Sweet It Is! How Sweet It Is! Gene Peterson on the rockets winning the 1995 championship over the Orlando Magic
Now lets hope they don't ruin the team by failing to get Webber, and losing Mo, Shandon, Moochie, and maybe Hakeem in the process. ------------------ Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon is the greatest player in the history of basketball. If you disagree, you are not a Rocket fan.
Great post...you are exactly right about the heart of this team. If a team has good chemistry, they normally have a lot of heart. This team definitely deserves the playoffs more than the others we are fighting against...I don't know how you could argue against that. They have really come a long way this season, especially in the last 2 weeks without Hakeem. ------------------
ZRB... that won't happen. Mo, Shandon, and Mooch all know that negotiations with Webber have to come first. They know that Webber is perhaps the best player in the NBA, and if they have half a brain at all they won't take offense to Webber negotiations coming before them. What I hope to do, and this may be a realistic opportunity, is to deal Cato and hopefully Walt with him for change on draft day, like the Magic did with Derek Strong last year. If you can do that, you'd probably have enough money to get Webber and resign Mooch and one of Mo/Shandon. Is this realistic? That's your call. But Mo, Shandon, Mooch etc. are not going to take offense to Webber getting priority over them... I'd be willing to wager a lot on that. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
I believe The Cat is right on this one... read Mo's most recent quotes, for example his comment tonight about how Rudy makes him alot more confident. This guy is having fun. He has a vested interest in the future of this team, I don't think that he's going anywhere. ------------------ (===)
I didn't mean to be negative, but I really like THIS group of players. I want Webber, but I would hate to see all these guys go in the process. ------------------ Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon is the greatest player in the history of basketball. If you disagree, you are not a Rocket fan.
Well well..ZRB is back to normal tonite...to be expected I guess........ Man, you are like the guy that wins the $50 million lottery but does nothing but complain about the taxes he will have to pay. I just don't understand people like you ------------------
cat,i agree u know what guys..maybe dreams injury is a blessing in disguise look at cato hes giving a consistent 8 and 10 out there.. if i were rockets id be on phone with phoenix,chicago and orlando this offseason..then u sign webber and mo/shandon(maybe both) also find a team that needs 3pt shooting and ship walt there ------------------ How Sweet It Is! How Sweet It Is! Gene Peterson on the rockets winning the 1995 championship over the Orlando Magic
I only got to see about the last half of the 4th quarter. I knew the Rockets would win it. I knew it from the calm confidence of the Rockets themselves. The look in their eyes was one of solid confidence and heart. I remember so well worrying about losing big 4th quarter leads, and/or bowing down to a lesser team like we used to be so notorious for doing. None of that tonight, folks. The only thing we lack is experience. The heart is there. The killer instinct is there. And the experience has started, and is growing fast. GO ROCKETS!!!!! ------------------ "We got f*cking smashed every day. And then when we came here to Beverly Hills, we had drugs, we had chicks, we had orgies. I thought I'd died and gone to f*cking Rome" ---Ozzy Osbourne, on the early days of Black Sabbath [This message has been edited by Lynus302 (edited March 16, 2001).]
Just think back to preseason, when virtually everyone (including many of us) were skeptical about a .500 season... Now that's no longer even a question. Whoda thunk we'd be ONE GAME BACK from #8 in the elite West (and close to #7, too) with nearly a score to go??? I love this team. ------------------
Is it me or does ZRB always have a negative pessimistic side? ------------------ ""Minnesota and Phoenix, they're like the little teen-agers in the Friday the 13th movies. Jason is walking behind you. You know he's back there, but you don't see him." -Maurice Taylor
Struggling early and having to put on furious rallies to beat four cupcakes speaks for itself. If they do it against San Antonio and Sacramento on the road instead of Atlanta, then I'll be impressed. ------------------
Grummett-- Considering the injuries and outside controversy we have had to endure, it is something to be proud of. It doesn't matter the score, doesn't matter who you play, what matters is the W's and if you aren't impressed by all we've done I don't know what you expect. Shouldn't you already be impressed? As I remember, you were the one who predicted us to go 36-46 before the season. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
The Cat-- Two different things. I'm very impressed with their season record and, yes, they're going to blow away my 36-46 prediction, but I am decidedly unimpressed with their struggles against inferior teams. I don't think that shows that their heart has grown so much. No big deal. ------------------
Cat, I totally agree with you !! I am hoping to be owing you one dollar, real soon. DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
We just came back from down 20 to win against the best team in the NBA, the Spurs. Impressed? ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
