We've just haven't played to our full potential the whole 48 mintues and yes the refs have made some unfair calls at times against us and believe me, JVG, the Rockets, and us have some right to stat how horrible the officiating has been against us. However, its gotten to the point where it definitely has hindered our play and this time of year even with unfair calls, you better step it up and play through it if you want to make it to the postseason. But as of right now, the Rockets are playing in a lazy state of mind. They seem to have no pride in their play and when they have a good momentum going and they get one unfair call against them, it seems to unglue them in a big hurry as witness in games in the 3rd quarter. Our last 3 wins before this four game losing streak have been in OT against the Raptors, Bucks, and Blazers, and we lost to the Sonics (blowout at home) and a lousy suns game at home in which we were up 21 in the second quarter. We haven't played one very good game or had a decent victory in almost a month. They seem to lose confidence in Yao when he misses a shot or two, misses a pass or two out of bounds, and then they basically unotice him after that. That plays into the opposing teams' hand when he's out of the offense or he gets two or three fouls before he has to leave and we have to rely on our outside shooting or another interior player to step up. If they don't (most of the time aren't successful) they have a big run against us and we battle back to fall at the end. Also when teams turn the defense up against us when we have them down, we seem to get real tense and get a few mindless turnovers (especially Steve Francis), and then they come right back in it and control the tempo. Now the Rocket players themselves might think that have a big enough cushion over the other 3 teams in the playoff hunt to save their hussle and energy for the playoffs. But if they continue to play like they don't have any pride in themselves and let the referees get to them and dictate how they play, then there's enough time for them to fall out of the playoff picture altogether. Schedule wise you might think we're secured, but the Jazz, the Nuggets, and the Blazers to an extent have been playing much better ball than us the past 10 days. 2 weeks ago, we were talking about wheater we could get a home court in the first round (we were a game or two behind Memphis, and Dallas). Since, they've kept winning and the big 6 game lead we had on those other teams has been wiggled dramatically. Portland has 2 games against LA and SA, but they usually play those teams pretty tough every regular season and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they split those 4 and win the other game they have left on their schedule because by that time, LA or SA might have their spot(s) secured and not playing for anything. The Jazz play the Mavs pretty good as well, and they are 2-1 against the T-wolves this year and they blew Memphis out of the D.C. So their schedule might not be tough as we think. The Warriors beat us senseless in the 4th quarter the last time we played their, we haven't beat Utah in Utah (all but once) in years, and had to go to OT and beat them in one of the games this year with their diminished team. Seattle is 3-0 against us, and we have Dallas to play still. We just have to keep our heads straight and play like we want to play in the playoffs. Play each of the last six games as if their elimination games of the NCAA tournament because if they take any of these teams lightly (besides the clips) then they might get burned. We all know the Nuggets, Jazz, and Blazers have tough schedules, but we thought the same of the Suns last year and we all knew what happened.
Couldn't agree more with you. The current Rox seem to have anything but the heart of a champion. We're not dead yet and if we can win 4 or even 3 of the next 6 games I think we'll make it but from the last 2 weeks its not reassuring.