The Rockets were able to make up some ground today. They are now only 4 games in loss column behind Minnesota and 5 games behind Phoenix. And with Seattle losing yesterday and Denver tonight, the Rockets are even with these teams in the loss column.(And oh by the way I was glad to see the Fakers lose as well) As the Jeffersons would say , "Moving on UP". ------------------ Rockets Season Ticket Holder
It's looking good for the Rockets to pass the Nuggets and Sonics. And they're only 4 games behind Phoenix. Jason Kidd isn't exactly and iron-man, either. Not that I would want anything bad to happen to him... ------------------ "We're growling more...I would not say it's a growl. It's not a purr either." -- Rudy T.
The time is now. Denver: 28-26 Seattle: 28-26 Houston: 27-26 Seattle and Denver play each other Wed. Seattle then play the Jazz and Celtics. Denver plays the Blazers and the Hawks. All we need to do is finish this week with wins, and let the Sonics and Nugs lose their games to (at least) the Blazers and Jazz, plus one of them will have to lose that game they play each other. We need them to lose at least one more game each. Then we have to keep winning and never look back. We could jump from 11th to 9th place in the Western conference in a matter of days. I hope the boys on the team realize this. If they are serious about going to the playoffs, now is the time to strike. We can leave Denver and Seattle behind by the end of the week, and then concentrate on the real competition: the Suns and Timberwolves. If one of them slips, and we continue to climb... we're in.
While I agree it is important to get on the winning track and every game counts, it is still premature to be worrying too much about the teams we need to catch. The players do not need pressure on them...they just need to play like they know they can, and if they do this they'll be in the hunt down the stretch when the time comes. For now, lets just worry about our games, instead of Phoenix, Denvers, and Seattles. ------------------ "Steve is good. Steve is real good." -- Cleveland's rookie point guard Andre Miller on Rocket rookie point Steve Francis
I guess I'll play Devil's Advocate here... This is the exact type of thinking that the Rockets DON'T need. They can't afford to start looking ahead and begin thinking "Well, if we beat THIS team and THAT team" or "Well, if THIS team loses" The only thing that will happen if Houston starts looking ahead to other teams or peeks at other team's schedules is a lack of focus and concentration, which can equal to losses in no time. I hope they realize this... What the Rockets need to do is focus on winning ONE game, the next one. That's it...focus on one opponent, one goal...If they lose, then TOUGH! Suck it up and move on to the next opponent...By all means, though, NEVER look one or two weeks into the schedule...All the Rockets can do is win their games. If the other teams ahead of Houston start going on winning streaks of their own and force Houston into the lottery, then that's just the way it goes...Next year, don't wait until the second half of the season to get it into gear and put yourself in a "must win to make the playoffs" position. I don't want to call this team "inconsistent"...I suppose "unpredictable" is a better description. We've seen it all year long...They'll look like world champs one night, and the next game they'll cough up a performance that wouldn't be good enough for the Chicago Bulls JV...If they start doing some of the things mentioned in this thread, they'll be going nowhere fast... ------------------ If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!!