Yes, we are playing short handed...but are we also short of balls?

Ok, now I was one of the first to state that, when the team loses it's two ( or arguably three, counting Mo) best players, we are probably close to the least talented team in the league. That being said, we should, by definition, lose most of are games...If you'll look up my post following the Grizz game, I said that it made sense that we lost, they have more talent on the floor than we do....


However, we have gotten Mobley back, and have had time to adjust. Additionally, we are playing poor teams, and some of these teams are themselves in a state of turmoil...( Ex. the Bulls have Oakley, everyone is saying that Floyd wants out, they're incredibly young...they have Oakley)..and yet, this is the result? I'm NOT equating wins with trying, not with our current situation, but frankly guys, it seems to me like our team are playing like quitters right now. Sure, we're in a difficult situation, and as frustrating as it is, teams in difficult situations will lose most of the time...but they'll go down hard if they've got guts. Teams without balls use the available excuse and fold their tents when things go wrong.

I know it's hard to base an argument on an intangible like effort or attitude, but since it's become evident that we're not fielding a lot of talent, the commitment to try seems to have gone out the window too. I'm not sure where the blame is, yeah, it's gotta be tough to lose your leader. Yeah, it's gotta be tough to lose most of your scoring. Yeah, it's gotta be tough to play with a point-guard who sometimes acts like he thinks his teammates are just oddly dressed fans who managed to sneak onto the floor, yeah, it's gotta be tough to have actually put in the effort a while back and still come up short...but many teams go through this kind of situation, and it can be viewed as a test. In the past, back in the old days, when Hakeem was out, or when he had his conflict with management, or whatever, well, you saw the effort even if you didn't see the "W"s...and there are all kinds of other examples for other teams, even in other sports.

I've always said that you cheer with your heart and make decisions with your head, so I'm not saying that we ought to back up the truck. However, I do think that, if bad times are a gut-check, we've so far come up wanting. Not that we've lost, but how we've lost. Times like these are when your effort, if anything, should go up, not down. Things like busting your ass on defense, using your head, involving your teammates...those are how character teams try and work their way through tough times. And really, how many of those things can we say we've seen recently from our beloved Rockets?