There's a great web site called jumptheshark.com which lets fans of television shows try to identify the moment that caused those shows to go from good to bad. The site takes its name from an episode of "Happy Days" in which Fonzie jumps his motorcycle over a shark tank. "Happy Days" fans insist the show was never the same after this. My question for the BBS is when did the Rockets "jump the shark" during this past season? After beating the Lakers on Jan. 17, they were 23-15, a .605 winning percentage, which would have given them the seventh playoff spot if they could have kept it up. From that point on, they were 20-24, a miserable .455 percentage. Is there a moment or an occurance we can point to that turned the Rockets from a good team to a below average team?
Well I lost all hope on making the playoffs once Rudy was diagnosed with cancer, so I guess that moment strikes a bell.
The trade of KT for JP happened around that time, and although i understand the reasons for the trade, and think posey was a great pick up for the rockets, the team was never the same afterwards.
I think you answered yourself. it was when they beat the Lakers on national TV. that was the apex of the season. after that, it just wasn't the same. when Rudy got the cancer, that was when it fell off the deep end, but it was already kind of crappy by then.
They lost any chance of making the playoffs a long time before the Laker game. Does anyone remember when the Rockets beat the Kings at home for the first time in what seemed like decades? That was a huge win, but the Rockets followed it up by losing to Memphis and the Clippers on back-to-back nights. That is when I knew this team just wasn't going to pull it off. They showed that once again, they wouldn't be taking the ****ty teams seriously, and that killed them.
The loss to Cleveland. Unacceptable and unforgiveable. The mark of a team with good talent, but no good leadership.
It's when you allow a big gimmick to corrupt the appeal of the show in its proper setting. Jump the shark. Celebrity appearance. Contest themes. Everyone knew it was a bad thing Steve took over in the Laker game, freezing out teammates and winning with one on 5. The board buzzed the next few days. The team game was dead. The team imploded into selfishness and pouting, mistrust and quick triggers.
as soon as jason collier was higher on the depth chart than yao ming was. that, to me, was the first time that rudy's ineptitude was clear and undeniable...
The Rockets have been on a downward slope since (Regarding the Big Mans Game) since the first day of Charles Barkley in a Rox Uniform!
The day after the Lakers win. I think the boys got a little overconfident. That's when our losing streak started.
Dude, I can't believe we agree on this whole heartedly, maybe for different reasons. As a matter of fact, I was trying to think of a moment when the Rockets jumped, and couldn't think of anything till I saw this. Not only is it true in my opinion, it fits the actual web site so well. Television series declining, they try to add new characters. Rockets declining, they try to add a has been. That is too perfect. Props to you Yetti.
When did this BBS begin? I want to know if there's any correlation between this site and the decline of the Rockets.
Changing the uniforms. A "Jump the Shark" moment is when a TV series does something so cool, that there is nowhere left to go, and they try something ridiculous to stimulate ratings. Repeating as the NBA Champion from 6th seed was amazing. The PJ's are ridiculous. Fits perfectly.
Yeah, shortly after that Lakers win, we went on a horrible losing streak. But the one for me was the beginning of March. We actually won a couple of games after the losing streak (after the Lakers win), and I actually thought our team was coming around. Then we played the Spurs. I treated some college buddies to some cheap seats. The Spurs looked like a playoff bound team hitting their stride. We looked like a bunch of hacks out there. That game's when I realized that our team has serious shortcomings. We simply didn't look like a playoff team. Then we played Detroit, and that game was so bad I had to turn off the TV. That's what did it for me. I didn't really think it could get any worse ... 'til the Portland & Utah games in April
I agree. I thought the question was in regard to this season in particular, but viewing the franchise as a whole, the PJs were the first step in the wrong direction. Also, I wish people would get off the Barkley trade. We brought him in here to beat Seattle and he did that. Sure, he didn't have much left, but neither did Dream or Glyde, so you can hardly blame him for the collapse of the franchise. Besides, that trade pales in comparison to signing Brent Price, Matt Maloney, and Pippen. And who can forget passing on Rashard Lewis when we had three, three!, draft picks? All in all, you can't really blame Charles for anything.
Heck, this was Charles' team the year after the Pippen fiasco. Without him, we probably would be lotto bound 6 years in a row vs. 4.
