Thank You Chris Paul

The Rockets season has ended, and I'm sure that you have noticed that I haven't posted anything since that happened. I've wanted to, I just couldn't do it... I had convinced myself that Utah was not that good (partially true) and that the Rockets could play like a team and get through their hodge-podge of injuries (not even close to true). Ultimately I thought the Rockets would win the series. Game 3 really got me going again after I was down in the dumps with two straight home losses, then Game 4 kept my interest peaked as the Rockets could have won another one in the ESA. Game 5 was extra special as everything finally came together, and it was that game that got me fully invested again, trying to believe that the Rockets could get it done. In the end, it didn't happen and I thought my season of basketball watching was over. That was until one Mr. Chris Paul reminded me how great this season of NBA basketball was.

Any of you that know me, know that I couldn't care less about the Spurs. I don't hate them, but I certainly do not want them to go farther than the Rockets...EVER. And I'm getting sick of them winning the championship by flopping and generally playing a little dirty. The series is far from over, but Chris Paul has had two of the best games in NBA playoff history. His drive in the third quarter of game one and game two has been spectacular. If you thought a 29-17 3rd in game one was impressive, how does a 36-18 3rd in game two sound? All of that was keyed by great passes, steals, and scoring by CP3. 17 points and 13 assists with only 2 turnovers in the first game leading to a 19 point win and 30 and 12 with only 1 turnover in the second leading the Hornets to an 18 point win.

Today is Chris Paul Day over at AtTheHive, and since CP3 is my favorite player in the league not named Yao, I had to participate. Dave got his Kobe day and I get my Chris Paul day.

CP3 had one of the statistically greatest seasons in point guard history. 21.1 points on 49% shooting from the field and 37% from the arc, 11.6 assists, 4 boards and 2.7 steals. To put that in perspective, Magic Johnson's (arguable) greatest season ever, 1986-7 saw him with 23.9 on 52% and 21%, 12.2 assists, 6.3 boards and 1.7 steals, it was his 8th season in the league. Look at how close those are. Magic has the edge, but his team was significantly better around him and just remember that this is only CP3's 3rd season. In Magic's 3rd season, he was statistically inferior to CP3 in all but overall field goal percentage and rebounds. That's right, I just compared Paul to the greatest point guard of all time, and he definitely compares favorably. And the next time one of Paul's teammates is compared to Jabbar, McAdoo, or Cooper will be the first. Don't let yourself believe I think Paul's teammates are worthless, in fact if there is one player that is not a Rocket that like even close to CP3 it is David West. Peja is still a good player, though he disappears a little too much for my liking. To show how good Chris Paul is, he has made Tyson Chandler a "good" player. Chandler seems to get about 5 alley oops a game.

What exactly do I like about Chris Paul? Is everything an option? He seems to be a great guy, he is well educated, smart and he gives back to New Orleans and his home all the time. He is the perfect guy for that city (It's a shame the Rockets will be taking him off the Hornet's hands when TMac's contract is up). He's the best scoring PG in the league, the best assist man, and the best at playing the lane for steals. That's a pretty impressive combination if you ask me. He's everything you could want in a player that you cheer for and that you want to cheer for. Did I mention that he's lightning quick, can't be trapped for more than one game in a row and will destroy any double team, even when he is playing against much taller players? I didn't? Well he can. There is only one player even close to him in the league, and that is Deron Williams. I hate to break it to D-Will, who only seems to play up to his potential against Paul, but you're not as good. You can't be as good until you play like that every game, you know, like Chris Paul does.

Thank you Mr. Paul for giving the NBA as a whole back to me. You're the best! Now, about that free agency year...

I'll take a few please

I'm still ignoring last nights frustrating game for the most part, but I might find less anger later and post about it.

A few things were apparent last night. Yao has to be the focal point of the offense and when he is, the rest of the guys have less room for stupid shots.

So, I was checking out TrueHoop this morning and it contained a link to a Washington Times Article.

In it was this excerpt:

SEEN AND HEARD
In addition to a rigorous offseason training program, Wizards forward Caron Butler attributed his career-high 21.5 points and .481 shooting percentage to the work of shooting coach Dave Hopla, who joined Washington's coaching staff this season.
One of the elements of Hopla's expertise is shot charting, which is new to Butler and his teammates. It allows a player to see the spots on the floor from which he's shooting well — or poorly.
"It lets me know what I need to work on," Butler said. "And with the percentage now, I know from the floor, I'm shooting like 80 [percent] from 16 on in. It gives me confidence. I can come to a spot on the floor and know it's a good shot. I can be like 'Coach, I'm shooting 80! It was a good shot!' "

To which I have to say:

That was F'd Up

How hard did I take Tuesday night's debacle? It took me until now to even look at this site. And I haven't gone a day since it's inception without looking at it less than 10 times. Let's just get this out of the way and pretend it didn't happen and that we do somehow deserve to go to the playoffs even though we now do not:

FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!

One for ever turnover in the 4th quarter and one each for Towelie and Luther "Wuss" Head. Never have I been so pissed off at getting 14th row center court tickets for free. I gave up time with my son for that shitpaper of a game.

Now that we have that over with, I think I can get on with my life. New game up tomorrow night versus San Antonio and the Big Fundamental. It's going to be hilarious after losing to Philly, but we're going to win.

I do not believe what I just saw

Rockets up 85-74 at the end of three quarters. After 9 completely boneheaded turnovers by Rafer/Luther, the Rockets proceed to give up 37 points in the 4th quarter alone. And lose.

37!?!?!?!?!? In a row? No -- but it definitely seemed that way from my 10th row vantage point.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck you Rafer fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckfuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck you Luther Head fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck you referee whoever you were that called 5 bullshit fouls on Yao fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckfuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckfuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Seriously, fuck you Rafer - try to play some goddamn defense for once fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckfuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck you Rick Adelman for not taking Luther Head out of the game when it was clear he was afraid to play fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck you Bonzi for letting your lazy defense rub off on the rest of the team fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rafer, we're through. No more of this bullshit about "I'm improving" or "I'm becoming more consistent" or "I'm the QB of this team" -- whenever anyone questions me when I say you suck, I will point them to this game. You allowed this to happen on sooo many levels. First of all, you can't shoot. You still can't make layups. You didn't even bother trying to play defense on Andre Miller (which cost Yao at least 2 of his fouls). And Andre Miller is tanking games like he's Vince Carter or something!! You also had 6 turnovers - and every single pass you made was telegraphed. Then you didn't get back on defense. Fuck you.

Yeah, you scored 20 points, but you took 17 shots to get 20. And you had a monster total of 4 assists. FOUR. Or, to translate, a 2/3 ratio of assists to turnovers. That is fucking awful. Yao Ming is 7'5" and he's on your team (though your refusal to pass the ball to people wearing Red makes me think you aren't sure about this). Pass him the damn ball!!! He's too nice to be Keyshawn. But he'll evolve quickly...

And Luther, do not for a second think I am forgetting about you. You played like shit tonight. Yeah, yeah, you hit a few shots early... then you loafed. Then you missed layups like you were Bonzi or something. Then you turned the ball over because you still can't make an entry pass. WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SHOOTING 20 TIMES?!?!? And 2-11 from deep?!?! WTF?!?! You were scared to shoot when actually open. Scared to pass. Afraid to play defense. Pathetic. Ricky leaving you out there to suffer was embarrassing for us having to watch you play.

Let's look at this quickly:

Rafer -- 7-17 from the floor
Luther -- 6-20 from the floor.

37 shots?!?!?! And, no, not in a row - it just seemed like it.

Meanwhile... Yao -- 8-11 from the floor. ELEVEN!?!?

Why the fuck are you guys shooting more than Yao?!?! ANSWER ME!!!

I thought I couldn't be more upset than I was after the Hornets game. Thanks a lot for proving that theory wrong you assholes! Beatdown #3 in a row... Saturday v. Spurs.

Yao was fouled, dammit! Twice!!

A bit of a disclaimer this morning: I was at yesterday's game. At half-court. 10th row. Phenomenal seats. Only to watch the Rockets blow an 8 point fourth quarter lead. It just about killed me. Or had me ready to be fit with a straitjacket. I would have had a post-game review up yesterday, but I just couldn't do it. I wanted to, but...

Normally I am a rather rational and logical person. Except when it comes to the Rockets. My emotional balance runs parallel to their season - when they play good, solid team basketball, I'm a pretty content and reasonable person. When they start playing not to lose while also getting screwed over by the referees... I tend to become unstable and highly irrational.

Yesterday afternoon, I was so agitated after the Rockets game that I couldn't even properly enjoy the Cowboys choking against Elisha and the Giants!

Oh, and YAO WAS FOULED you sons of bitches! Fouled, I say! Twice!!

Look, I love Chris Paul's game. Maybe not as much as Lee, but I recognize greatness. And when matched up against Rafer, Chris Paul looks even better than normal. It was not fair. Then Ricky got smart and put Aaron Brooks into the game. The midget actually held his own and managed to stay in front of Paul... then Ricky put Rafer back in. (Oh, Brooks, while you played great, please stop taking so many 3s - it's not your shot. You were 1-5 this game. You should never shoot more then 2-3 of those a game. Ever.)

Rafer... 4-13 from the floor. Again. At what point does he realize that he's not making shots and should just stop? He missed 2 layups. He missed open 3s. He missed that "tearput" thing he calls a shot. Oh, and he failed to get back on D to stop Paul. Ugh.

Meanwhile, Yao had another beast of a game. 30 points, 16 rebounds. The 6 turnovers are bullshit because 3 of them were when he was hacked to pieces but the refs must have been busy watching the end of the Colts game. What the hell? Peyton lost and little brother Elisha won? I wonder how the post-game family conversation went. Oh.... of course.

Anyway, back to the Rockets game. This game is precisely why we probably should not trade T-Mac. If he were able to play the 4th Q, we probably do not blow the lead. We played soft and tight and stopped running, moving and passing the ball around. Predictably, the Chris Pauls came back and took the lead. (Though the play Byron Scott drew up at the end to get Paul the layup was very well done... I was impressed.)

Nevertheless, I can't change the result. The five game winning streak is over. Playing like a bunch of five-assed monkeys at the end of the game did not allow the number to be "6".

(oh, and on an unrelated note... Corey Brewer is a bad-ass, Lee. But, yes, he's skinnier than me, and that is not a good thing.)

Tough Game, Tough Team

The Rockets found themselves down by 20 in the first half yesterday and they could have given up. They could have, but they didn't. As Dave said, there are no moral victories. There are building blocks in a long season though, and this is one of them. The Rockets now know that they can play without TMac if they play as a team, that's invaluable.

What did I like about the game? Aaron Brooks running the offense AND playing some good defense, Luis Scola's hustle even though he was getting screwed by not being on the floor more, and second half monster dunking Yao. I also like the fight in the team as a whole, and yes, even Towelie had some fight in him last night. They fed Yao relentlessly.

What didn't I like? Unfortunately Rafer also had some pathetic turnovers, including one that was probably given to Head, but was because Rafer passed him the ball and then ran right into him. The Rockets letting the Celtics get a 20 point lead. And I say letting because they had plenty of open looks, everyone was just taking paint chips off the rim during that period of the game. First half Yao's shooting was truly awful, I don't know what was up but he was certainly not in the same country as his shooting touch. Luckily it got FedEx'd same day for the second half.

The worst part of the game was the officiating. I rarely hear Bill Worrell or Clyde or AirBullard call out the officials, but it was relentless in the second half. Bill even called Bill Spooner out by name. I'm not sure how fining works, but if announcers can be fined, he will be getting a nice present from the league. The problem with that fine? Bill is right, Spooner seemed to have a personal vendetta with Yao like Dick Bavetta used to have with this site's namesake. It was pathetic, and Yao kept cool somehow, simply choosing to release his anger on the rim with three crazy gorilla dunks, one on Garnett's head.

I am encouraged over all by the game, a little more proper Yao officiating, and a little less rim clanking in the first half and it might have gone our way. We get a rematch at home on March 18th. And I agree with Dave, we're going on a 4 game winning streak starting tomorrow night. I'm saying Yao puts up 32 and 15 with 2 blocks and 4 assists on Friday.

That is not the formula for success

Thank God it is 2008 - for 2007 could not have been more disappointing and frustrating if you were a member of the Houston Rockets.

Monday night's effort and result was a metaphor for the entire season to date. Start strong, look impressive... then go limp and lose to Golden State.

In the process, we may have stumbled upon an anti-formula. Whereas the formula for success is simple: play inside-out, feed the Big Man, and then make open 3s... the Rockets tried a new formula Monday night. Let's break it down:

1. Announce that T-Mac will possibly miss 7 more games. (check!)
2. Only get the aforementioned Big Man (that 7'5" guy named Yao) all of eight (8!!) shots in the entire game. (check!!)
3. Play Rafer Alston 44 minutes and also allow him to chuck bricks seventeen (17!!) times. (check!!!)

For those without math degrees, Rafer shot more than twice as much as Yao. Brilliant!

4. Miss 10 layups. Yes, I am looking at you, Bonzi.

and...

5. Go up by 11 points in the third quarter and immediately declare victory. And by "declare victory" I mean stop playing defense, stop passing the ball, stop trying to take the ball to the basket and stop rebounding. Then again, the Rockets made no effort to rebound all night. Out-rebounded 47-34 by Golden State. Ouch.

Of course, there is an easier way to explain how/why the Rockets lost Monday:

When Rafer Alston is named "Player of the Game" by Bill and Clyde... you're pretty fucked.

Throw the switch, Mr. Garrison!!!

Well that really sucked donkey balls

The Rockets play team ball, even if a little disjointed for 3 quarters, then go completely cold in the 4th. Oh, and they forgot to play defense the entire 4th quarter as well. Towelie shot the ball 17 times, also known as 9 times more than Yao did. Ya, that's a recipe for sucess. Included in those 17 shots was a 2-9 experience from the 3 point line. He also shot 4-7 from the line. Great game dude, way to "take over". STOP SHOOTING THE BALL ASSHOLE!!! I have no idea how the scorer saw to it that he had no Turnovers, because there were three different occasions that the turnover was his fault. It was really bad. Yes, he scored 22 points, again, he shot the ball 17 times, he better have 22 points. For some crazy reason he played 44 minutes. Why didn't Aaron Brooks play? Your guess is as good as mine.

I take this as a personal insult!

So, I'm at the bar defending the honor of the Houston Rockets in the presence of a friend of mine who just happens to be a Pistons fan. What do I get for my loyalty? A 94-82 beatdown by an inferior Eastern Conference team. Thanks. And Merry Christmas.

Why do I defend you guys? All you've done is disappoint me this year.

Tracy goes out in the 2nd half with a mysterious back injury... again.
Yao goes out after needing stiches to close a cut on his face.
(yeah, so Tracy would actually have to stick his head in the action to get that kind of injury, so I am making a distinction here as best I can.)

By my count, that's now three times that Tracy has been "injured" in the second half of lopsided losses. Not that I'm declaring shenanigans here (okay, so fuck it, that's exactly what I'm doing!), but Tracy - you need to stop being a wuss. Yao gets beat the fuck up every night and plays through. Meanwhile, McGrady has V.I.P. reservations in the visiting trainer's room every night it seems.

Nope, there is clearly nothing to see here... move along. Fuck!

Quit losing to teams that are not as good as you!!!!!!

Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.

Yes, I'm posting the gifts I am giving each of you sometime tomorrow. And no, none of you fuckers is getting an iPod.

Get above .500 and my attitude *might* change.

Game 18 - Bad title, worse game

The Rockets managed to lose on Saturday night to the Sacramento Kings, I wrote some notes while I was watching and planned on blogging about it right after the game. I didn’t, however, expect them to lose. I mean, the Kings were 5-10 coming into the game. I surely didn’t expect them to be 6-10 after the game. A couple of observations after I’ve cooled off:

Coaches in the NBA need to tell players to stop saving balls like morons; they keep throwing it right to the Rockets. Actually, scratch that, as long as the Rockets don’t start doing it they can keep it up.

Brad Miller trying to guard Yao one on one in the first half was hilarious. His “effort” in trying to do it on Yao’s back was phenomenally hilarious. On that note, Miller has been in the league ten years. He’s a good player, but he’s put in more work than he is naturally good. I’m still mad at my mother for not making me drink more milk. All I wanted was 7 more inches to get to 6’10, is 9% more height really that much to ask???

Yao starts off with 8, 3 and 2, in less than 4 minutes; and was 7/8 and 2/2 for 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 10 minutes of play. He came out wanting to prove that the GS game was not really indicative of his game. Yao had a spinning dunk that showed how athletic he really is. He poster-ized the entire Sacramento team on that play, but I never saw that replay once on ESPN. You only get to see Yao highlights when he comes over at the last second when some little guy was already going up for a dunk and he gets “dunked on”.

Apparently you’re allowed to completely block Yao’s turning radius and fall down, then get an offense foul call. The referees were poorly prepared to do their jobs on Saturday night. In the first half there were 5 no calls on guys guarding Yao, and I have no idea why. They were all extremely obvious and right in front of referees, I hope Adelman goes after that fine that Van Gundy did. This is horrible; he is going to get hurt like this if they keep allowing it. And don’t give me that “Shaq was poorly ref’d” bullshit either. Shaq initiated contact every time down the court; Yao has a finesse game more in line with this site’s name-sake, he gets hammered on almost 8 feet worth of arms, and then nothing gets called, it’s really pathetic.

This is what I wrote in my notes around the middle of the second quarter:”There has been some seriously lazy referring tonight; they aren’t even looking like they want to be here. Especially Gary Zielinski, he has that old Steve Javy look when he always wanted to T up Hakeem. I’ll be surprised if Yao doesn’t get one tonight” And sure enough, Yao got tossed after yet another horrible foul call on him. At least this one could have gone either way unlike 3 of the 6 fouls they called on him.

Yao finally got one borderline foul call his way, I guess better late than never as it came with 3:57 left. Of course he promptly got tossed 56 seconds later.

There’s not a lot about Yao that I would change, but I really wish he had stronger hands. Though I wonder, if he did, would he shoot as well as he does? Also, when Yao commits a foul, he typically acknowledges it, why isn’t this looked at more by the league? When he gets pissed off, there absolutely is a reason for it. He’s one of the best players in the league at jumping straight up and down, and yet never gets credit for it. What is going on? I always thought because of the China angle he’d get more calls, not less.

The only player I asked for in the off-season was Artest. I know it was a pipe dream, but damn he would look good for the Rockets.

McGrady was extremely lazy with the ball through the first 2.5 quarters. He was guarded by the aforementioned Artest to be fair. Then TMac completely turned his game around with only 1 turnover after that and it really wasn’t his fault. He also ended his bad free throw shooting streak as well, missing the first one then hitting nothing but the bottom in 7 straight free throws after that. I also made a quick observation: Tracy’s rebounding always goes up on a second missed shot, it’s like he takes it personally. He played an excellent game overall and has been great every game he has played save the GS game where everyone sucked.

The Kings really, really suck. At one point in time in the second, the Rockets had played defense on about 3 possessions and still had a 6 point lead. Overall, the Rockets sucked a LOT worse than the Kings on Saturday though. They only forced 5 turnovers all game against a team that averages about 15 a game. They also let them score 30 in the third and 28 in the fourth. They played a total of 10 good defensive possessions, and I’m not exaggerating, I counted. I honestly can’t remember the Rockets playing a worse defensive game in the regular season, and I only remember Game 7 of the Dallas series a few years back being close.

One last thing: I realize it doesn’t cost me any money, but why can’t I open multiple Game Cast windows on ESPN without tricking the system? I just wanted to see the Missouri vs. OUsucks game and watch the Rockets stats at the same time.