double negatives make crisco's head explode. I would not love to see DaDak not gming the rox. I think it'd end up something like this: VSpan Tmac Langhi Boki Yao with a bunch of austin torros riding the bench.
u know what's annoying. posts like this. this homo optimistic, look at the brightside of every thing, look for the silver lining posts. it's one thing if people are freaking out when we lose to phoenix or dallas without either of our top 2 players. but it's another when we freaking lose to boston or atlanta or toronto. so of course people are going to find everything or anything to complain about to alleviate their fustrations at losing such games. threads like these are equally or more annoying as 5 threads about alston and jvg
Because the last 2 games have shown that the Rockets 4 (Juwan) and 5 (Deke) are getting beat to sleep. Watch tonight in Denver how Camby and Nene give them fits.
I don't know why people freak out losing to toronto. They're a good team. They would have beaten dallas this year, if not for a blown last play coverage which allowed the mavs to win by 1 point. They have the third best record in the league since jan 1st behind only the mavs and suns.
All in all I can see why people are freaking, but personally, I'm more then happy with how Houston's doing. When Yao went down, people were like "Oh no...can we go .500 the whole way? Then when Yao comes back we make a late surge? Or do we just play the lottery. Maybe trade T-mac for Steve Francis and David Lee!". So its refreshing to see T-mac back on top and the Rockets playing .600+ ball, even if we did get those ugly losses along the way. Just a daily look in the mind of a happy Rockets fan... Even though, living in Canada, I had to eat a low of crow for that Raptors blowout.
It's not just the last few loses - it's the totality of the season - the 22 loses and to the teams and how they lost. Look at our record against winning teams? Do championship teams have losing records against +.500 teams?
bump 8:25 central time Espn is about to talk about Yao's near return to the roxs and whether or not they are a championship contender. Nba front page has this topic too: http://www.nba.com/features/schuhmann.html
The Heat finished with a 19-21 record against teams with a .500 record or better, so apparently they do.
Ok - but Miami is probably on the low end for champsionship teams, and even then just a few games under .500. I bet the 95 Rockets were the worst. Still, 11-14 isn't that convincing. That kind of play against +.500 teams doesn't bode well.
I see your point, but I think that category's a bit deceptive...I don't think anyone here is expecting a Championship; it'd be nice, but I wouldn't put money on it. If you consider that we're 3-2 against our two most probable first-round playoff opponents (the Spurs and the Jazz), things are looking good for the contending team I envision Houston being.
The recent losses are just abnormal, given their season so far. Not just the number of losses, but how they played is abnormal. Legitimate grounds for concern, I think. This team cannot afford to play with low energy even with Yao returning. They are good because they play with great execution and great energy. Maybe the greybeards are finally wearing down, maybe they've begun taking a mental break now that the calvary, Yao, is on the horizon, maybe Rafer is having bad games and the Rockets really don't have anyone to sub him out with that can really play PG.. who knows? Some people are probably freaking out more than the circumstances warrant, but I'd say most of us aren't freaking out any more than, say, Van Gundy is.
The recent losses demonstrate that the Rockets have flaws. Big ones. Many people would like this to be a contending season. The team isn't there, yet. That's bad, since nobody knows how long Tracy's back will last. If you truly believed the Rockets were a healthy Yao away from being the Mav's equal - well, you're probably pretty pissed off about our recent play. OTOH, if you recognized that the Rockets are very good, but not elite, when healthy - then nothing has been much of a surprise.
