Tonight...Rockets proved that they were contenders

totally agree.
can't believe no timeout was called

 

I think San Anotonio fans would agree with this post. We played basketball at a very elite level in the first half. San Antonio just has a better, deeper team and they played OUTSTANDING defense in the second half. I was so excited to see our boys play that well, even if it was only for a half. We're officially back after last years miserable season. We're also ALOT better than the 2004 team.

 

We proved that we are pretenders right now, that's it.

 

So I guess when Miami went down 0-2 in the finals by a combined deficit of 24 pts they proved they were not contenders either. Especially when you consider that they did not even win the championship....oh wait.......
189 Mavs to 165 Heat(pts total in first 2 games)

Just like the Mavs turned tail and ran in game 4 of the WCFs when they were beat 106-86 by the Suns, a 20 pt smashing....Mavs did not win the conference finals and heck they did not even make it to the NBA finals.....oh wait

 

thats bs, we did not prove to be contenders nor pretenders. We proved we could play a great half and 4qs with no injuries. Thats it.

 

I agree, so many people here screaming pretenders......geez, get a back bone people. Its one loss.

 

Storm Surge, Yoazamac, xomox, you are all correct. We were completely dominating one of the best teams of the last decade. Many things at the end (Refs, Coach, superstars, bench, etc...) led to our demise. This is a LEARNING EXPERIENCE. Did you think we were gonna go undefeated the whole rest of the season? I was at the game, and let me tell you, champions go through these things. We are gaining the experience we need to make a deep run in the playoffs. Take it easy guys! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO ROCKETS!!

 

I never said it proved we weren't contenders. This game proves nothing as far as contention. A bad team is capable of ringing up a 19 point lead against the Spurs, believe it or not. And a good team is capable of losing that lead, as we did.

 

well, i will always care about the collapse. because that's the difference between champions and bridesmaids. anyone remember Lakers vs. Blazers in game 7 of the WCF? Blazers had 15 point lead in the fourth quarter and lost. refs, schmefs, Phil Jackson took Dunleavy to school yet again (also in the finals in '91). or how about the Lakers (again) vs. the Kings in game 6 and 7 in the WCF? Kings had a 20+ lead in the second half of game 6 and numerous opportunities to win in game 7 in regulation and overtime, but refs, schmefs, Phil Jackson schooled Adelman yet again (also in the finals in '92 where Portland choked up a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter of game 6).
or just last season with the Heat vs. the Mavs. the Mavs were on the verge of going 3-0, but choked up a double digit lead in the fourth quarter and were never able to recover and lost 4 straight and Pat Riley throughly outcoached the cartoonish Avery Johnson. winning coaches have that effect of making the opposing coaches look silly if not downright dumb (they just have no answers).

call it destiny or faith or luck or conspiracy or whatever, but is anyone eerily reminded of games 3 and 4 when the Rockets played the Mavs in '04? the Rockets had good 3+ possession leads in the fourth quarter, but just could not close out either game. they just couldn't get a single bucket nor stop the Mavs from scoring themselves. sometimes it seems that the players themselves can't will a victory within reach. at that point, the coach has to do something, anything that can inspire or motivate or provoke anything out of his team. it's almost like looking at an accident before it's about to happen. you don't just have to stand there paralyzed and wait for it to happen. the coach actually has control to get his players out of that precipice or at the very least stall the inevitable.

i think that the Rockets still have a very good chance of reaching the WCF. provided that they don't face the Spurs beforehand. and even if they do reach the WCF, they still would likely have to go through them or the team that did. the '95 Rockets were unbelievable in the way they crushed all the great teams (minus Seattle) in their way, even more easily it seemed as the postseason progressed. whether Gundy will be able to lead this group to victory remains to be seen.

 

It is one loss, but no one with "backbone" can ignore how we lost and who we lost to when we had command of the game with the clear capability to put it away...!!! It was a colossal failure; dismal; and even scairy, in that we looked like we were returning to our former ways, engaging, once again, in that inept formula for losing...you know, the one we all thought we had left behind...

 

What's BS is making excuses for a team with a 19-point lead in the 3rd quarter to lose the farking game. I don't give a damn if they were playing the 97 Bulls, you don't lose the way they did, by just laying down. 76-60 was the farking score near the end of the 3rd. We managed to score what, 7 freaking points in 12+ minutes? Contenders certainly don't do that.

 

Well, Kiki Vandeweghe ranks us as the 3rd best team in the West right now, behind San Antonio and Utah. (Yes, even after this game).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-061115a

As far as "contenders" -- no, I think this game proved that we *can* be contenders. But we still have some lessons to learn. We came up against a team with championship experience that has been together for a long time. They clamped down on us and we fell short. It was definitely a learning experience, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this team responds the next time we face the Spurs. We need to grow some mental toughness for sure, and that is not as easy as it sounds. Getting that sinking feeling in my stomach after they erased a 15 point lead within a matter of seconds, I can imagine just how hard it must have been for those guys on the court to remain focused.

As far as depth -- yes, San Antonio is very deep, but we were missing two valuable pieces today -- Chuck Hayes firstly, and Bonzi. Losing Chuck Hayes meant that we got out-rebounded badly for the first time since the Utah game. It also meant that our inside post defence suffered, and we gave up all is high-IQ intangibles on the offensive end. Not having Bonzi meant not having a go-to guy when T-Mac was on the bench and Yao was still struggling. At one point T-Mac and Rafer went to the bench (at the start of the 4th I believe), and we were so lost on offense that the slim lead just evaporated, and T-Mac had to check back in in a hurry.

I'm not so worried about the depth issue. Of more concern is the mental toughness, and I hope that this team will learn to fight through adversity better and not choke against strong runs like we saw in Milwaukee and tonight. Once we can overcome that barrier, then we will truly be contenders. It's a good place to be in, especially for a team that aspires to go from the lottery to the NBA finals within a season. It's not all going to come on a silver platter, that's for sure. But it's not out of reach, either.

 

I would have posted something simliar. Its hard to post when someone already wrote exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking it was my fault for the loss. We were up by like 19 points and I stood up to pay and I turned around and we started losing the lead. Darn you BW3 waitress!! Other than my silly superstition, it has been only one game in a season of 82 games. We didn't lose to the Bobcats, we lost to the Spurs.

I like this thread. I don't know how many of you guys play basketball, I play almost everyday after work. Sometimes the shots dont fall and the other team hits some crazy crap to win it, or even call some BS call. I usually dont get mad unless I lose to a crappy team. We did not lose to a crappy team.

Be glad we have a good team to root for. Go Rockets!!!

 

I think that we showed that we have POTENTIAL to be great. But there is a lot of improvements that need to happen in order for us to achieve greatness.

 

According to this logic...the 94 Rockets weren't contenders because they blew a 20 point lead to the Suns in the playoffs. What in the world happened to that team???

 

no worries, all will be well with the return of bobby.

 

Were the Spurs a pretender when TMac scored 13 in the final 35 seconds?

 

So, according to you. The Suns, Mavs, and Miami are all pretenders. Since none of them are playing well, and have blown big leads. hm... interesting logic we have going on here.

Frankly, as badly as we played, we really didn't lose that badly. You guys should really see how the spurs played yao and how much they got away with it. Yao could of had at least 8 more free throws that were thrown away by the refs.

 

Only thing the game showed was if T-Mac plays at 100%, we are unstoppable.

Unfortuantely, you won't see T-Mac do that every night. I'll be fine with that happening only in the playoffs.

 

jeeeez cmon, it was against the spurs not the bobcats... dont panic we still have 3 more games against the spurms... they may have won the battle but the war is still on...
and remember the spurs were the team that lost to the rox bcoz of a 1 min collapse in the 4th qt. 2 yrs ago....