Why is Rafer so "hated" around here?

It's come to my attention from places wide and far that many think Dave and I are too hard on Rafer Alston. Some have used words like "nasty" and "unnecessary" to describe our diatribes. I'd like to take a minute or fifteen to talk it through. First, I do think that we have been pretty tough on him. I think Dave has been much tougher of late, but not any more mean to him in the past than I have been. Let's go through my history with Rafer:

I first heard about him in college, some due to his skills, some due to his playground legend, but then I knew his name because he was the guy that was in legal troubles while in college. I looked past that, and if my memory is right, the charges were dropped. Now I don't dislike Rafer for his legal trouble, unless he goes out and kills someone, I'm mostly okay with that (I do not condone opposite sex assault, but that's never been proven of him).

I lost track of him a bit until he came to the Miami and played pretty well running the offense. As a Rockets fan, I was able to overlook his horrendous shooting and appreciate him for what he was, a guy that took care of the ball 90% of the time and just wasn't a shooter. I admired him for his guts and for the fact that while he was best suited for the street ball world, he was one one of the very few that made a big enough transition from that game to the NBA. His ball handling skills suited him very well in Miami. He impressed me with a 4-1 assists to turnover ratio and his giant balls on the court. No matter how many times he chucked the ball, he had the guts to do it again and again until he had himself a few game sealers and some game winners.

I was excited for him when he signed his big deal with Toronto, and I felt like he played hard, going for 14 and 6 a night on a team that should have been better than it was. I didn't get to watch a lot of Raptors games, but liked what I saw when I did. He was pretty decent, but the knock back then was that he still couldn't shoot well. He did get better that year though.

I have to interject here that I really liked Mike James when he played for the Rockets. He was the anti-Rafer, a terrific shooter and instant offense at all times. He came in and lit a fire under the Rockets. He was everything that Rockets team needed and what I thought they still needed the next year. And it's a little out of the timeline, but the Rockets really did need that offense when Yao and Tracy went down for extended periods of time that year, but I truly feel that Rafer was the better player long term for the Rockets, no matter how much he upsets me sometimes.

The off season came after the Rockets got knocked out in a blow-out by the Mavericks and some odd news came. Mike James had just been traded by the Rockets to Toronto for Rafer Alston? I didn't get it, the Rockets seemed like they had it together the season before and that they could go places with the exact same team. Why did they need Rafer? Then I remembered that our starting PG was David Wesley, a good player, but definitely on the downturn of his career. Was a 29 year old PG the answer? I truly felt like the answer was yes and that as a true PG Rafer would be a phenomenal addition to the team. I even thought it now made us NBA championship contenders. He was my answer to the "what ails the Rockets" question.

It turns out that the Rockets season went down the tubes and it was really difficult to gauge Rafer's performance. I knew that at times his shooting made me want to pull what little hair out I had, but some of his passes were phenomenal. It was also just about impossible for an opponent to force him into a turnover, but he was known to force himself into one about 2 times a game. Those bad decisions were a head scratcher to me, they seemed to come out of nowhere. He'd have 3 great passes, some that seemed to be picture perfect, and then he just throw the ball to no one. I attributed it to being his first year with the Rockets and to having such an inconsistent cast around him. In other words, he could drive me crazy but I was completely willing to wipe the slate clean. He had two periods in that season where he was borderline fantastic, there weren't a lot of wins in those periods, but he looked great.

Last season I started off with a positive attitude about him and he started the season rewarding me, having more good games than bad, but tossing in an awful game here and there. But as the season progressed so did the bad decisions. His shot selection bordered on horrific at times and the assists went down. He wasn't really running the offense very efficiently and seemed lost at times. Then the Rockets turned their season around and Rafer started to play better, yet again I was giving him another chance. He seemed to be getting it and was playing pretty decently. Not good mind you. Sometimes I feel like people take him playing better than his worst and want to call it good. It's not good, it's just not awful. Here's the thing though, on a team with two superstars, solid is all you need, you don't need a "good" point guard, you need an efficient one that doesn't make the dumb pass or shoot the dumb shot. And that is what Rafer was for a good portion of the last 1/3rd of the season, solid. He had really bad games at times, but I'm not that picky, everyone has a bad game at times. So what happened that got me off the Rafer bandwagon again? The playoffs:

Game 1 - 3-11 overall and 3-10 from behind the arc. Dave and I went to this game and I made a concerted to talk good about him and cheer for him. He didn't really reward me from the field, but he did have 11 rebounds and 8 assists. He also had 3 really terrible turnovers. I left the game with mixed feelings. I wanted to cheer for him, I hate not liking one of my players.

Game 2 - 3-9 overall and 1-6 from behind the arc. He had 6 rebounds, 5 assist and 3 turnovers. Basically he had an awful game, he wasn't running the offense well but I gave him a pass after it because no one on the team was shooting well and he should have had another 4-5 assists. I also only recall 1 of the 3 turnovers being of the scream at the TV variety.

Game 3 - His stats were sub par in a Rockets blowout, but I turned the corner again with him as I thought he played pretty decent defense on Deron Williams even though the Rockets were destroyed, it wasn't his fault. I decided to openly cheer for him again in game 4.

Game 4 - How does he reward me for cheering? 5-14 overall and 2-7 from behind the arc. Both of his turnovers were killers and I just couldn't believe that's how he played when I had come around for him again.

Game 5 - 4-10 overall and 3-7 from behind the arc. Again, he pulls me back in, while his shooting wasn't great, he mostly took good shots, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. His 3 turnovers weren't too bad because 2 of them weren't horrible passes or to no one.

Game 6 - Another decent game, but again in a Rockets loss. He is 5-14 from the field and 3-8 from behind the arc. Dave disagreed with me on this one, but I thought he was solid, but it really didn't matter as the Rockets were killed. I couldn't fault him for the 14 shots though, he was just trying to make something happen in a bad game for everyone.

Game 7 - Let me say first that if you were to ask me off the cuff, I would say we lost this game because Tracy stopped shooting layups in the fourth quarter, but Rafer really solidified an entire off season of angst with his performance. He was 3-11 overall and 2-8 from behind the arc with some brilliantly bad shot selection thrown in. He did have 4 rebounds and 4 assists with only 1 turnover but it really didn't tell the whole picture. He was not making passes to the open man, he was behind on his decisions and he generally ran the team poorly on this day. The loss put a bad taste in my mouth and having the whole off-season ahead of me certainly didn't help.

Here's the thing, before the season I told Dave and anyone that would listen that I was giving Rafer one more pass. He had broken my heart so many times, but I figured that if he was able to beat out every comer, I could live with Adelman's decision. Basically that would be two consecutive NBA coaches telling me I don't know what I'm talking about and he is there best option. Actually, scratch that, it still didn't mean he was good, but it did mean he was the best option we had available to us. And that's how it played out, from day one he was the starter. Mike James and Steve Francis were relegated to the bench and I was okay with that. That is until this happened:

Rafer's first 20 games this season he averaged:
29MPG
3.3 - 8.75 from inside the arc or 37.7%
1.2-4.4 from behind the arc or 27.3%
.7-1.2 from the line or 58.3%
8.5PPG
3.2 Rebounds
4.8 Assists
1.55 Turnovers

There was no silver lining, the Rockets were 11-9 and Rafer was making bad passes, not hitting the open man and generally playing like he was a street-baller masquerading as an NBA player. He was not only not good, he was awful. Everything I wanted to forget about his poor stints was completely evident to anyone watching the game. It was a testament to how far James and Francis had fallen and I guess to what Adelman saw in practice that he was the starter. His performance caused me to start my Explosion of Awfulness posts and he deserved every bit of criticism he received from this blog. As others have put it when we've knocked him recently "you would have to be an idiot" to think he was doing a good or even borderline adequate job.

At the time I would have traded point guards with every team but: New York, Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, and Sacramento (because Bibby was hurt)

Then he started to have a few decent games here and there, his shooting percentage wasn't up, but his overall "what you see if you watch" game was up. He was making less silly passes and running the offense much more efficiently. It certainly wasn't an overnight change, but you could see it. I don't know how many times I told people that I wasn't as upset that he was our PG. He was winning me over a little at a time as the Rockets were starting to do some good things even though they weren't winning. You could see Rafer was getting the Adelman offense and that the Rockets were starting to come around. I had come around to the point that when Dave and I attended the Philadelphia game I actually said "I really like how Rafer is playing, if he can keep it up there aren't a lot of PGs I would trade him for". You know how he rewarded me? By personally giving away a game with 6 completely random and increasingly more pathetic turnovers. Every single time I compliment him more than "he wasn't bad" he F's me. I feel like I'm in Shawshank with the sisters, and sometimes I win, but sometimes the good fight isn't enough. Yes he was part of what got us a big lead in that game, but he was the A#1 biggest reason we lost that game as well. It was simply awful. Again he had forced me off the fence to the I hate Rafer Alston the PG camp. And again, let me reiterate, Rafer the person actually seems like a decent guy, someone I would like to hang out with and bust his chops. He had a effectively a 5-3 A/TO ratio during the second 20 game streak, and while he seemed better, the stats don't fully back it up.

His FG% was up a meager ~2% and his 3P% was up ~10% to a whopping 37.1% and his assists were up .6PG but his Turnovers were up 1.3PG. He was averaging 6.25 more PtsPG, but a lot of that was due to 5.15 more shots a game. In all, while he was trying to take a bigger load on and his statistics went up, he wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire with improvements. I did like that he was taking charge, but the overall history of his body of work was not going to blind me to a few good games here and there.

What happened next? This magical portion of the season called a 19 game win streak happened and Rafer started playing like the guy I thought he could be when he came in from Toronto. A guy that wasn't going to light the world on fire, but would be a perfect compliment to our two superstars. He started making the right pass at the right time and not just throwing the ball away (at least not as often). He seemed like he matured on the court. I even complimented him a few times, reserved compliments, but compliments nonetheless on this blog and live in person. I talked behind closed doors about starting to like him again. About how there weren't nearly as many teams I wouldn't hesitate to trade him to for their PG. He was winning me over again.
The stats played it out for once between his previous 20 games and the first 19 games of the winning streak. He raised his FG% another 5%, his 3point% another 2%, he even raised his rebounds by over 1 a game and his assists were up over 1 a game while his turnovers were down almost 1 a game. That last stat was the most impressive in the first 19 games.

Rafer Alston, the goat of this blog on probably 75+ different posts on this blog had done the unthinkable, he played well enough to get Dave to dedicate an entire post to his playing well. While I battled back and forth between utter disdain and slight joy over him, Dave held steadfast in trash talking through his hate. But even he couldn't ignore it anymore. So how does Rafer reward him? 3-18 including 2-8 from behind the arc. Contrary to the belief of some, not all of his shots were in the flow, he forced about 7-8 of them. He reverted to the awful Rafer of old. So it made Dave snap. It made me question his performance pretty harshly as well. Any other player on the Rockets would have a free pass for a game like that, not Rafer. His history did not allow for it, sorry, it just is not justifiable to say he's good overall when he's had the history with the Rockets that he has. I do feel that we have been overly harsh at times on him, and that he actually ran the offense pretty well in the Hawks game, something we in no way gave him credit for, but 3-18 nights from non-shooters will cloud your judgement.

The bottom line is that I want to believe, I really do. I hope he comes out and kills the Bobcats tonight and he is the main reason we roll through LA, Boston, New Orleans, Phoenix and Golden State. I want that more than anything. I love watching his attitude on the court in the first 19 games of the streak. He believed in himself and that caused me to believe in him. He's never going to be perfect, and I don't want him to be. I just don't want to see a pass to no one because of laziness. I don't want to see him think before he shoots the open shot because when he does it never goes in. I do want him to go back to making the extra pass and running the offense. When no one else steps up I'm fine with him driving the lane and taking the lay-up or dishing out. I'm not okay with forced three pointers just because you're being ballsy.

All in all, I want to say: I'm sorry for being too harsh on Rafer. I don't think saying he played poorly is being harsh, but I do feel how we've gone about it at times is. I also want to say that unless this streak ends one day, I won't be saying anything overly nice about him because I'd happily be the reason (I'm not full of myself enough to believe I am, but still) that he has a chip on his shoulder and just forgets a really bad game. What I don't want to lose site of is that we won that game, and while his shooting was awful, his passing and lack of turnovers really helped that cause.

I have no time to edit this today. I did spell check, but cut me some slack as this was mostly just rambling thought with some stats pulled in from basketball-reference.com. I'll edit it later if I have some time, but need to get up a Bobcats are getting taken behind the woodshed tonight preview post up!

Rafer, I'm sorry man, you're solid, and that's all I ever wanted from you. Now, for once, can you reward me tonight?

Like we said - Scola is a badass!

Luis Scola. Total Badass.

And now he's ranked #1 on ESPN's "rookie rankings."
It's about time!

Now we just need to figure out how to get a national campaign to get a co-ROY win for "Luis Landry". Step one - get Carl Landry healthy. Step two ... ????. Step three - profit!

Rockets/Hawks - the Best of Both Worlds!

Last night's game was not only our 20th (!?!?!!) win in a row... it was also the best of both worlds for me as I write today's recap. And no, I am not referring to Randal Graves' movie selections when I say "Best of Both Worlds." I promise.

No - it's a twin killing, because not only did we win - and win ugly - in a very classic "trap game", but now I also get to insult, cajole and ridicule Rafer Alston mercilessly after actually saying something nice about him yesterday afternoon. I think a chick-with-a-dick could have outplayed Rafer last night.

Seriously, 3-18? What convinced you that taking eighteen-freakin'-shots was actually a good idea, Rafer? Was it when you finally managed to hit the rim on shot #7? I mean, usually an 0-8 first half shooting display would encourage me to tone it down in the second half. But no, you chucked up ANOTHER ten shots! An impressive display of hubris!

Hey, Rafer - you suck! Ya jackass!


I can't believe you are a professional basketball player, Rafer. You should have been working in the snack bar during the 2nd half! What the hell was that shooting display last night?!?!?

Okay, okay - enough about Rafer. It's pretty clear he sucks again and the "old" Rafer re-emerged after two months in hiding. I sorta liked the new Rafer, but last night reminded me why I still hate the mere concept of "Rafer Alston, starting point guard."

______

As for the game itself - the win was absolutely freakin' necessary. And thank God we have T-Mac, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes. Carl Landry would have been MVP of this game, but unfortunately he and Yao were back in Houston playing cards. For the first time in the streak I actually thought the outcome might be in doubt.

Let me put this in a different perspective. Richard Justice will probably rip this off later today, but whatever. Let's look at the standings. Right now the Rockets are 44-20 and on a 20-game winning streak. We are still one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for #1 in the Western Conference. Everyone knows this.

BUT - what if, for some crazy reason, we "only" went 15-5 over the last 20 games? I mean, it wouldn't have been all that surprising to lose to Cleveland once, the Hornets once or twice, the Mavericks or even the Atlanta team we saw last night. Not to forget about Denver. If we somehow dropped five of those games, we'd be 39-25. Still respectable, right? And yet, we'd be in 8th or 9th place in the West and still scrambling just to make the playoffs. Especially if one of the hypothetical losses was to Denver.

Think about this: We needed every single one of the games we won during the streak. How ridiculous is that?

Last night's game is why we love the Rockets though. To explain it using a poker metaphor - it was a classic night of being card dead and yet grinding out a profitable evening anyway. We couldn't shoot. We had trouble rebounding. We couldn't pass the ball either (thanks, Rafer). And yet we just found a way to stay in the game and somehow steal a victory. The NBA equivalent of a successful bluff.

Of course, it helps when the Hawks decide to try to guard Tracy McGrady with Marvin Williams. Yeah, that makes no sense. Thanks for the gift, uhhh, who is the Hawks coach again? I forgot his name. Do they even have a coach right now?


Well, a win is a win. And I'll definitely take it!

Friday night - the Charlotte Bobcats. Another young, athletic team.
Win #21 in a row!

Go Rockets!

We roll out the D team and roll on to #20

The Rockets played one of their worst offensive games that I can remember last night and still won by 8. And Marvin Williams deserves a special place on Santa's bad list for a dunk with 5 seconds left that purposefully ended the Rockets' double digit victory string at 10 (still the NBA record but only tied for it). Yeah for you Marv, you ended the double digit streak but your ass still got kicked. I guess he didn't want to add insult to injury.

This game actually played out about like the last time the Rockets had a long streak going into Atlanta. The Rockets won this one mostly because Atlanta is about 2 years away from having a winning team, but they also won because they turned up the defense when they had to. That's the great thing about this team; typically they have enough offensive firepower to win games, but have the defense that does not necessitate it.

Rafer was horrible last night in almost every non-assist oriented way. His defense was bad and his shooting was awful. That's the last non-offseason positive post we'll have up about him. Sorry guys, we aren't risking jinxing this team again just to give some semi-deserved props to him. It's almost like he was smoking some weed before the game and it mellowed him out too much. Usually when he sucks I don't hate him because he recognizes it and is visibly upset. I never noticed him get mad at himself last night and it was a much deserved internal conflict.

The game ball last night goes to Chuck Hayes with 8 points and 12 rebounds, he kept the team together when Luis Scola went out early with foul trouble. He even completed a few pick and rolls that were ill-advised by Luther and Rafer. Why is it again that they pass to him on a normal basis?

Some crazy "shooting" stats: The Rockets were 30-90 shooting last night including 6-29 from behind the arc. That's 20.7% from 3 and 33.3% overall. They didn't end their awful shooting there, they were respectful to the free throw line and shot 17-26 for 65.4% from the line. Basically it's the worst shooting performance I can remember ever watching them have. I'm not saying they haven't had worse, it's just fresh and is the worst I can remember.

Next up for the Rockets is the Charlotte Bobcats at 7:30PM on Friday night. Number 21 could be on the horizon.

Compliments for Skip?

As awesome as this winning streak is (19 and counting for those still unaware)...

the hardest part has been coming to terms with the fact that Rafer Alston is - for the most part - not stinking up the joint or getting in the way of things. In fact, he's actually been a competent if not better-than-average point guard the last 6 weeks. Yes, it kills me to say it because I'd have traded his useless ass for a moldy ham sandwich back in December. And it would have made for a most excellent Christmas.

Check it out - Sports Illustrated even named Skip one of the most "overlooked" players in the NBA right now. Really. It's true. Look here. Shocking, I know. I had to read it twice just to make sure. And then I closely examined the calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day.

I'm just in stunned silence right now. Okay, maybe not silence (no one can ever truly silence me)... but I am definitely stunned by Rafer's turnaround.

This is a brave new world we enter - one where Rafer "Skip to my Lou" Alston is... good?


Okay, so I still hate it when he takes that "tearput" shot of his. It's such an all-or-nothing shot. And yes, I still yell "nooooo!" at the TV whenever he winds up to shoot the 3. But I'm improving. Slowly. Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps.

Win number 20? Rockets versus Atlanta #2

The Rockets traveled to Atlanta yesterday and will take on the Hawks tonight in Philips Arena at 6PM CST looking for win number 20. They'll have to do it without Carl Landry (did not make the trip) who did all the little things last time around, but only had 6 points.

Atlanta Hawks: 26-37 (19-12 at home) 3-7 in their last 10

Houston Rockets: 43-20 (19-11 on the road) 10-0 in their last 10

Here is a recap of the last 10 games at home for the Hawks:
Loss in OT to Portland 111-109
Win over New Jersey 104-92
Win over Philly 96-91
Win over LA Lakers 98-95
Loss to Cleveland 100-95
Loss to Detroit 94-90
Win over Sacramento 123-117
Win over NY 99-93
Loss to Golden State 135-118
Win over Miami 97-94

In their losses they are averaging 103 points and giving up 110. In their wins they are averaging 102.8 and giving up 97. Looks like if they play a little bit of defense then they can outscore you since they are averaging the same amount of points in their wins and losses. It's actually a testament to them that they haven't been blown out at all in those 10 games.

The Rockets are looking to add to the 108-89 drubbing they put on the Hawks on the 9th of February, very early in the streak. They are also looking for a little payback on the Hawks. Dave stole my thunder earlier, but these Hawks need a beat down for ending our 15 game winning streak, a streak that would have eventually gone to 23 without that loss. So I really hope the guys will think about that. Tracy seems to need something new each day for motivation, so there you go TMac, win one for Dream and Otis and Horry and Cassell and The Jet and hell even old Mad Max!

This preview is short, but I'm hoping my attention span tonight can be as well.
What's my prediction? Like you had to ask, 20 in a row on the way to at least 21

Once more, with gusto - FU, Richard Justice!

Hey, assclown, er, Richard Justice - could you please stop writing like a 12 year old who got a pony for Christmas???

Your Luis Scola article earlier this week practically ripped off an earlier Chron profile on Scola (that you did not write).

Your columns/blog on the Rockets streak exposes you as nothing but a bandwagon fan who is covering for the fact that you weren't around to write about victories 1-12.

Meanwhile, today's column on "McGrady's finest hour" is the journalistic equivalent of masturbation.

It must really take some huge cojones to begin a column about McGrady and the Rockets by interjecting yourself into the very story you are reporting on.

TRACY McGrady wants to know if I'm the guy who accused him of "bailing out" last season. He knows I am, and he says it so playfully that I figure it's his way of breaking the ice and telling me it's time to let bygones be bygones.

Wow.

So, let me see here... it's not that the Rockets are just really, really good. It's not that they are a team of dedicated professionals expertly crafted and assembled together by our boy genius GM, Daryl Morey. It's not that they are winning because they have to just to make the playoffs. No - they are on a 19 game winning streak because your comments gave Tracy McGrady a chip on his shoulder. Wow.

Of course, the entire rest of your column is nothing but a re-hash of things already written about previously by your co-workers (Jerome Solomon, Jonathan Feigen, even freakin' Blinebury).

It's pretty clear that DGDB&D was right about you all along. You really are a no-talent assclown.*


* this is not meant to be an insult to no-talent assclowns everywhere. I'm sure they do not want to be associated with Mr. Justice either.

Getting back on topic - Go Rockets!

I have an urgent and horrifying news story.

I need everyone to stop what they are doing... and listen.

It's a ROCKETS CANNONBALL!!!!!

No - really, I have big news. The Rockets are going for TWENTY (20) wins in a row. Tonight. Yes, tonight. The good guys have traveled out to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Hawks. An under .500 Eastern Conference team. Which means if we somehow were to lose, I am going to cry. All night.

Flashback: In the fall of 1993, the Houston Rockets started the season 15-0. Yes, the 1993 Houston Rockets kicked a ton of ass, but that's another story for another time. Anyway, the 16th game on the schedule saw Hakeem, Otis, Horry and Sam I Am have to travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks. Granted, those Hawks had Dominique Wilkins, but we still should have won.

Instead, the Rockets had plane trouble and didn't get into Atlanta until late from New York (yes, they had to play a back-to-back after facing the Knicks. Such b.s.). They were so late that Veronica Corningstone almost had to play in Hakeem's place. Hakeem should have punched someone right in the ovaries for that insult, but it was too late and the damage was done.

What was the result? An ugly, ugly, ugly 133-111 loss. It was horrible.

[edit: Lee is mad and says I stole his story idea relating to the '93 Hawks game. This is semi-true.]

Let's hope the gang learns from that history lesson and takes care of business tonight.

No Yao (and no Hakeem)... but there shouldn't be any problems. Unless Carl Landry can't play. We need him back!!

Go Rockets!

This is not *just* a Rockets blog

For those that may have been confused by the Kobe posts... allow me to explain.

The purpose of this blog was initially for me to air my grievances against the suckiness that is/was Rafer Alston (though he's playing phenomenal right now - he sucked donkey balls in November/December). I will continue to make such complaints here.

Other 'purposes' were to make random posts to continue the plea to get Robert Horry in the Hall of Fame; develop a site to fawn over the '94/'95 Houston Rockets championship teams; and to post ANY and all other random NBA or sports related thoughts in this space. Whatever we felt like writing about is to be considered fair game.

This is NOT just a "Rockets blog" - though 99.9% of the posts are about the Houston Rockets.

Yes, you read that right. In the offseason, there may be a ton of Astros/Texans related posts here. We've already made a few posts about Roger Clemens and other non-Rockets topics.

In fact, for those that might want to know, while I am a huge Houston Rockets fan, I am also an NBA fan and will watch any NBA game that's on TV (Miami Heat excluded). Just to get a better perspective, here are my top 10 favorite all-time NBA players. You'll see that they are not just Rockets players. I like being diverse.

1. Robert Horry.
2. Hakeem.
3. Kobe Bryant. Yes, Kobe.
4. Reggie Miller. Reggie was a badass.
5. Yao.
6. Clyde.
7. Sam Cassell.
8. Penny Hardaway pre-microfracture.
9. T-Mac.
10. essentially ayone else not named "Karl Malone" or "John Stockton" or "Patrick Ewing".

That is why I participated in the Kobe Bryant Blog Day over at Hardwood Paroxysm. I am a huge Kobe fan, but I hate the Lakers. Yes, I can reconcile the two.

Rockets Win! And My Personal F the Haters Post

I didn't get to see the game last night, but was constantly refreshing the blackberry and seeing the dominance that is our 19 game winning streak. Apparently we couldn't shoot but again found a way to win, making Carter and Jefferson quit early which is the key to beat New Jersey. I can't recap it much more, so on to more pressing issues:

I'm still trying not to cuss, but some of the world really doesn't want me to fulfill my goal. I've heard countless times that the Rockets streak is against a bunch of patsies and isn't really that impressive. To which I say...lots of words that I can't have an almost 2 year old repeat, no matter how funny it is when he does. Seriously, the teams pretty much all play the same schedule, give it up already, just applaud them for what they've done, and that's kick a lot of butt. I've compiled some eye opening numbers below, keep in mind, these numbers are just to date and the Rockets have Atlanta and Charlotte on the schedule next and will win at least 21 in a row.

By the numbers:
19 wins in a row

10 wins in a row by double digits

7 wins in a row since our All Star center went out for the season

3rd longest winning streak in NBA history

31 losses since January 29th by teams over .500 to teams below .500

42 losses since January 29th by teams over .500 to the teams the Rockets have beat

46 wins since January 29th over teams above .500 by teamst he Rockets have beaten

2 teams that the Rockets have beaten that don't have a win over an above .500 team

4 losses since January 29th by the Spurs, Lakers, Jazz, Celtics and Pistons
5 losses since January 29th by the Warriors
6 losses since January 29th by the Magic
8 losses since January 29th by the Hornets, Nuggets and Cavaliers
9 losses since January 29th by the Suns and Raptors
10 losses since January 29th by the Mavericks
13 losses since January 29th by the Trailblazers
0 losses since January 29th by the Rockets

11 wins against teams .500 or below on way to 19 in a row by Houston in 07-08

10 wins against teams that finished .500 or below on way to 19 in a row by LA in 99-00

9 wins against teams that finished.500 or below on way to 20 in a row by Milwaukee in 70-71
6 teams in league with that finished.500 or below records when Milwaukee won 20 in a row

19 wins against teams that finished .500 or below records when LA won 33 in 71-72
14 wins against teams that finished above .500 when LA won 33 in a row
9 teams in the league that finished with .500 or below records when LA won 33

2 billion apologies owed to the Rockets for trying to denigrate their awesome streak


Yes, the Rockets have feasted a bit more than the 99-00 Lakers (by 1 game) and the 70-71 Bucks (by 2 games) in their streak but look at LA's 33 game streak. They won only 14 games over teams above .500 and won 19 over teams .500 or below. Why isn't LA's streak knocked down? That's 57% of their wins over teams .500 or below, the Rockets are getting knocked for that exact same 57%. And I don't recall the Lakers losing Wilt or Gail Goodrich or the Logo or Jim McMillan or even Elgin Baylor, Happy Hairston or Pat Riley during that stretch. The Rockets lost Yao Ming the best center in the NBA and have kept it going! And let it be known that 33 is ridiculous, even more so than 19 so in no way do I think LA's streak should be diminished, they played the teams in front of them.

So stop, think, and look at the numbers, the Rockets are making history, just enjoy it. And to all 4 of our readers, if you see someone knocking the streak, send them this post please.