always going to be people out there like you to say things like this, yeah its true that we dont have yao anymore but guess what ? not only did mcgrady pick it up when needed so did the other members of the team. so in conclusion EVERYONE picked it up. its not a 2 man team anymore. on any given night someone will step up and score 15+ along with mcgrady's 20+ and hopefully battiers 10+ and alstons10+. this game is a team game and if your going to go out and say we won on an easy schedule... WHY HASNT ANYONE ELSE WON 20 IN A FREAKING ROW. COME ON GEEZ?!?!? look at the suns the largest one they got was 15-16 and same goes for dallas. yeah these teams are probably better talent wise but i think we play alot more defense instead of just running teams out of the court by outscoring them. we've been able to get it down on the offensive end as well as the defensive end.
The truth hurts. Would you trade the streak to have Yao back healthy, giving us a legitimate shot to go all the way in the playoffs? No brainer, Hell yes I would, and so would every Rockets player. In the meantime, this streak certainly is a nice consolation prize for a devastating blow.
thanks for pointing this out. the message board can go back to what it does best- incessant whining, b****ing, and moaning... go rockets 21-0
As some other posters have presupposed, you're presupposing that w/o Yao somehow we are an inferior team to what the streak may otherwise be implying. Me? I point to two major compensating factors: 1. The greatness that is Tracy Grady 2. Rick Adelman's system on offense With the exception of the Hawks game, I think fans should be heartened that we can stll put up 100+ pts games with ease. That's not a function of blowout games by T-Mac, but collective scoring. Browse through a few stat sheets and you'll find double-digit point contributions from 3, 4, even 5 players. This is why I think this team under Adelman's vision is fast shaping into something of the form of: 1. Portland Trailblazers of Old (Clyde, Duckworth, Porter, etc.) 2. Sacramento Kings of Recent (Vlade, Stoyakovic, etc.) Neither team had a marqee center. Yet position by position, they had output and made players look "better" than they really were (do you remember Jerome Kersey?) So going back to the earlier point about points, I think we're doing a great job "making up" those 22 points lost from Yao and then some. More importantly, the production and offensive involvement we're geting from Rafer and others is HEALTHY and good for the long-term succes of this team. So yes, while factually, we may not have as much talent as before absent Yao, this team is no less great. Are we a perfect team? No. But we definitely are a special team whose success transcends the most recent 8 game winning streak w/o Yao. theSAGE
I'm happy with this win. whether we advance to round 2 or not, i'm ok with that. but i dont think that will be the case, i believe our team is for real. we are going to win big games. As for the upcoming games, my only wish is to win against teh Lakers.. I think they're the team to beat.
haha and your forgetting something, to the OP, even when yao went out..guess what we've been doing? STILL WINNING and guess who we beat when yao was out?!?! oh yeah DALLAS AND NEW ORLEANS. you can say that they werent at full power when we played them but they all have other players that should have stepped up right?!?! its not like their teams took a day off and LET us win. we earned them by having everyone on our team contribute. eh im just sick and tired of all this negative attitudes. i agree this isnt the same team that won 11-0 or 12-0 with yao in it but for the sake of being a TRUE fan, you have to take the wins as they are...WINS. we could have lost the next game after yao went out but guess what we didnt.. i just want this team out of the first round. just be realistic and take wins as they come. if this team starts to slip with a 5+ game losing streak then you can doubt them but as long as they have the abilitiy to keep on winning then why ruin the mood?
Agree, that win against Lakers would be the biggest one. This win is also my biggest wish cause it can really give us more and more confidence and respect as well. They are very tough team with Gasol, Kobe and Fisher, Vijacic playin' well but we are able of doin' that. They don't always play defense - we just have to knock down outside shoots and play real defense.
I think you can both enjoy this streak and complete agree with durvasa. I'm not going to underestimate the team chemistry and how far that could get us in the playoffs, but I think we'd all be shocked if we won the championship without yao.
We are a 20-0 team. The meaning of a real team is one that knows how to play together due to great chemistry. With or without Yao, this TEAM has great chemistry. I understand what is being said about this team not being the same without Yao. But in the future when I look back at this streak, I'm gonna remember the GREAT TEAM EFFORT that this team showed. You know that a team is special when even though a major player goes down (i.e Yao, Landry), other players can step in without missing a beat. And it's really unreal how this team plays and communicates with each other as one unit. EVERYONE on this team, from the 1st guy to the 15th guy, has offered something to this winning streak or at least contributed earlier in the season that led up to this run. Props go to Morey for putting these group of guys together. Props go to Adelman for making these guys play together. Props go to each guy on this team for their focus on winning. Take in these good times.
I think durvasa is right in the sense it isn't the exact same team but this team still won 8 in a row which is longer than any streak we've had in the T-Mac/Yao era to begin with. I know missing Yao is a huge chunk of the team but the same team has all it's other parts still running smoothly. As for comparing us with the teams that have done this previously, even with Yao Ming we're nowhere near the level of those teams. With Yao no one was sure we'd get out of the first round yet, let alone win a championship. Without Yao, there is even less hope to get out of the first round and almost no hope to win a ring. But screw that! Be positive.
You know what I wouldn't be shock if we won the championship this year, because team chemisty beats talent. The only two teams that I worry about about is SA and Detroit becasue they chemisty is just as good as ours maybe even better.
No, we're not this team, but who in the NBA is? It's a very remarkable feat, that will probably be treated with the regard of the Mavs' 67 wins last season. Who cares, right? At least we can say that we accomplished something that only 3 other teams have (maybe 2 after tonight), and not many teams can say that. That's why I'm enjoying it, regardless of playoff success or not.
Interesting point. A little off tangent, but it makes me wonder what people would be saying if the team had a healthy Yao for the entire 20-win (and counting) run. I''m sure with both our superstars, the critics wouldn't be writing the team off so easily as the "worst great" ever or whatever. On the other hand, there probably would still be plenty of predictable "But they still have to prove themselves in the playoffs" type articles to keep us riled up.
The Houston Rockets are a 20-0 team. This isn't the Yaoston Rockets and the Yaoless Rockets. Injuries are a part of the game.
How pedantic. Since I began typing this sentence cells have died, food has been digested, new cells formed via mitosis, etc. but only a pedant would argue that I am no longer the same person. No, we don't have Yao, and haven't for the past 8 games. Are we no longer the Rockets? This team, a group of individuals who perform at a higher level than the sum of their parts, has won 20 games in a row. The team changes every game. We have been led in scoring by Alston, Landry, Yao, McGrady, etc. Chuck Hayes has stepped in to play his amazing defense. Luther Head has drained 3s some games and driven others. Which team are you referring to when you say "this team"? The one that Deke plays 10 minutes on or the one he plays 0 minutes on? The one where Novak hits 11 points or the one where he doesn't get off of the bench? Do you know what a team is? I suppose they should apologize for not doing it in the manner in which you, and other critics, feel they should, with the personnel that you believe they should have on the court and playing against only the right and proper opponents. Would that make you happy?
