The excuses are starting already

It's not a good sign when you lose the first game in a 7 game series and the local columnists are already writing obituaries for the Rockets AND some of the players. Seriously, guys, it's all of one game. There are 6 more to go!

Today's headline? "Playoff flop? Alexander has McGrady's back" (yes, I know Richard Justice forgot the apostrophe and the 's', but he's already got enough issues being a no-talent ass clown... no need to pile on further.)

What kills me about Richard Justice is his tendency jump to conclusions. It's like he bought Smykowski's prototype and uses it as a security blanket for his column ideas.

For example, if Justice isn't complaining about the Texans screwing up because we didn't draft Vince Young (since proven wrong), it's the 2005 Astros' season being over in May (see the article next to the infamous tombstone graphic that year). Now Justice is already making excuses and trying to explain some supposedly inevitable Rockets' playoff loss.

Today it's about the Rockets and T-Mac. And while Justice doesn't come out and write a pure gloom and doom storyline... he's setting the stage for hedging his own bet.

[Now, let me be clear - Justice is dead on correct when he says Les Alexander is a great owner of a sports franchise. He is. The decision to hire Daryl Morey was genius. It does help that Daryl Morey actually is a genius, but that's another point for another day...]

But today's column leads off with the typical McGrady is a playoff choker hook. Justice segues into the opinion on Les Alexander, but he relies on the McGrady-as-not-clutch cliche to get there. Which is sad. Yet true.

Just look at li'l Dickie's last line in the column:
"Things are against the Rockets again after Game 1."

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. I guess I shouldn't expect much from him. Of course, if McGrady goes for 40/15/8 tonight, you know Richard Justice will be the first in line to fellate him after the game.

State of the Union Address: Houston Rockets

Today, the morning of April 17, 2008, is a good day.

We are officially in Playoff Mode. And the Houston Rockets are prime participants in this glorious adventure of basketball played at its highest level over the next 2 months. And Lee and I got everything we asked for when it comes to the playoffs. Bring on the Utah Jazz. Who I hate. So very, very much.

Game 1 is Saturday.

I therefore present the 2008 State of the Union Address for your Houston Rockets.

The Houston Rockets are a Team. With a capital "T." Yes, we have a future Hall of Fame elite-level superstar in one Mr. Tracy McGrady. Yes, we also had another future Hall of Fame center in Yao Ming (until Tuesday, February 26th). But there is no ego among this group. There is no "I" in this "team"... and if necessary, they would even mis-spell "team" to leave out the "me" just to prove the point.

Need a defensive stop? Battier, Mutombo and Chuck Hayes are on it.

Need an offensive rebound in traffic? Enter Luis Landry (hey! I haven't been able to use "Luis Landry" in a while! It's good to have it back in the vocabulary!)


Need a bucket? Say hello to T-Mac. No, not Tracy. T-Mac.

Need a laugh? The Cookie Monster has that covered. And if you don't laugh, he's going to wag his finger at you.

That said... let's take a look at the pieces that have contributed to the Playoff-Bound-Houston-Rockets. Oh, and we have homecourt advantage again. Suck it, Utah!

Tracy McGrady

It begins and ends with T-Mac. Last year, McGrady said it was "on him" - probably to relieve the pressure that may have been on Rafer and Chuck and Shane and, well, pretty much the whole team. This year? See above about that whole "team" thing. T-Mac needs to facilitate the offense and NOT shoot those transition threes. In fact, no jump shots, Tracy. No. I want to hear nothing but this for the next 4-7 games:

"T-Mac to the rack... and one!"

That's it.

Luis Scola

My new favorite Rocket. Well, other than Yao. Yao is a badass, but he is not walking through that door right now. As I told ESPN yesterday, Luis Scola is the x-factor of this entire series. What we were missing against Utah last year was someone willing to mix it up and not back down to the dirty, dirty Jerry Sloan tactics. Prepare to be undercut, back-picked and flopped to death Houston fans. Luis Scola can fortunately give as well as receive.

Rafer Alston

He's hurt? Good. I didn't want to have to say nice things about him and then jinx the rest of the team because of it.

Moving along.

Shane Battier

The Defensive Player of the Year. And I don't care what anyone says about KG. Shane is DPOY. This series, Shane is going to probably match up with Andrei... who isn't exactly Kobe, LeBron or Carmelo. It's okay though, Shane - you'll get to stop Kobe in two weeks' time. Just be patient!

Dikembe Mutombo

The living, breathing, perfect example of why you ALWAYS have a competent backup center on your roster. Always. Imagine the Rockets with no Yao and no Deke, either!?!? Scary.

Bobby Jackson

He who shall replace Rafer for the next 2-3 games. I was happy when we traded for Bobby J. And I have every bit of faith in him. right now. Daryl Morey is a genius you know - he picks up a vital contributor AND dumps a locker room cancer in Bonzi all at the same time. Brilliant!

Bobby Jackson just needs to stay in front of Deron Williams. Yes, I know... much, much, MUCH easier said than actually done. Bobby can just get in his head and get Deron to go off on the refs, maybe? It worked last time!

Carl Landry

Along with Scola, the missing piece(s) to the puzzle. A year ago, the Rockets started Chuck Hayes and relied heavily on Juwon Howard. Yes, Juwon. Remember him? This year? I think we upgraded massively by getting Scola AND Landry. Landry may not be 100% healthy, but if he's even 90%... and willing to dunk on Boozer's head... well, I'm excited at the mere thought.

Chuck Hayes

A starter last year, and the 7th Man this year. Possibly the strongest man on the team. He can't shoot free throws for his life, but we love the guy. You know he'll do the dirty work and get rebounds. Just do not pass him the ball on the run or in traffic!!!

Mike Harris

Yes, I am listing Harris this high. He could be a HUGE factor for us in this series. The guy is a rebounding machine who has a nose for the ball. He has big hops and, like Landry, just wants to dunk on your head. I hope Ricky is willing to use him more. Granted, he can't shoot very well, but this isn't going to be a "pretty" series... those that want it more will decide who wins. All about the hustle and the dirty work. Or in the case of Utah... dirty plays.

Steve Novak

Yes, our token white guy shooter dude. I dare you to leave him open, Utah. I double dare you.

Aaron Brooks

The rookie blur. Yes, our rookies are better than your rookies, Utah. Brooks might be an even bigger factor than we thought two weeks ago. Rafer is out, and Aaron may be needed to penetrate the Utah defense. Brooks' increased ability to make long-range shots the last month is just an added bonus!

Loren Woods

I do not want to see him enter a game. Ever. Because it means we are down by 20 or more. This is not an option.

Yao Ming

Yeah, how awesome would it be for Yao to walk on the court to start Game 7?

---

These are your Rockets. Ready for some playoff action.

And Tracy? No. More. Tears.

(cue Ozzy Osbourne.)

Rockets/Clippers - the end of the road

The Rockets finish up a 5 game road swing tonight in Hollywood-land.
So far the good guys are a disappointing 2-2 on this trip. A victory is much needed tonight to have a winning trip and also to maintain pace in the West (if playoffs started today, we'd still be in L.A. - facing the Kobes).

I'm just sad I won't be able to see any of this tonight. No Yao means no "you can't f--king stop me" YouTube worthy moments. Bummer.

Rockets: 51-25, 6th in West (23-15 road record), 5-5 last 10.
Clippers: 23-53, mathematically eliminated since November (13-25 at home), 2-8 last 10.

Seriously, if we lose tonight (8:30pm CST), this will be more embarrassing than the Kings game. I don't even care if the NBA sends Scott Wall to ref the game and he brings along Steve Javie and drags Jake O'Donnell out of retirement as an added edge against the Rockets. We cannot - repeat - CANNOT lose this game.

The key to winning? Pass the ball to this guy and keep Elton Brand busy on defense:



Also, Tracy, I know you are the best offensive player on our team. This is not in dispute. You are the only one truly capable of creating your own shot. The only one capable of playing legitimate 1-on-1 offense and being successful.

That said - if you take 25+ shots, that is a bad, bad, very bad thing for our offense. Ricky's system relies on ball and player movement. This implies that people are passing the ball. The "find T-Mac at the elbow and let him work" offense hasn't worked the last 10 games. It sure as hell won't work in the playoffs. If you take 20-22 shots a game (and theoretically make 10 or so), that is ideal. Scola needs to get 10-12 shots a game, minimum. Even Rafer needs 8-10 shots. Bobby Jackson will get his and so will Battier... but Scola needs your help. Pass him the freakin' ball!

Go Rockets! Win #52 tonight!

"First one to fall down gets the call!"

Matt Bullard had the right idea. The only way to win tonight was to be the first player to fall down. Now, I know the Kings were on the wrong side of the worst officiated game of the last 20 years (Game 6 of 2002 Western Conference Finals versus Lakers), but tonight was almost as bad.

There are three ways to referee a basketball game:

1. Let them play. I tend to like this - the better players don't need to be coddled and those that want to play actual defense do not fear ticky tack fouls. Aggression tends to win here.

2. Call it tight. In certain games, I understand this as well. You can't let a game get out of control. So, you call a couple tight fouls early on to informally announce to the players that it will not be a wrestling match. Your calls just have to be consistent.

3. Completely fuck the whole thing up.

The referees tonight opted for Option #3. Now, I'm not saying they were "in favor" of the Kings or anyone. No - the Kings got it just as bad as the Rockets. Brad Miller's ejection was complete horseshit. Moore got dinged for two offensive fouls that were phantom at best.

I think Scott Wall (the white referee who wasn't Joe Forte) just didn't want to be there tonight. He never blew the whistle early on. Except to call the Ts on Miller.

They even called a T on Dikembe for doing his trademark finger wag... even though Dikembe has direct permission from Godfather Stern himself to wag that finger!!!! What did he need tonight? A fucking court order? Apparently so!

Yes, it was that bad, the referees even ignored the directions of the Commissioner.

Poor Carl Landry wasn't even allowed to play tonight. Set a pick? Foul. Get position on defense? Foul. Get run over by Kevin Martin? Sit your ass down for your 5th foul!

McGrady went o-for whatever he shot in the fourth quarter, even though he was hacked on everything. Including the last second shot. It's hard to make a 15 foot jump shot as the meat in a Kings sandwich. Real hard.

The worst call of the night brought back memories of Yao and the Golden State game from December... Chuck Hayes was positioned solidly for 2 full seconds. Maybe longer. He did not move. He did not extend his arms. He did not shift his feet or even breathe. Rafer took the pick, made the shot.............. but it was waved off because apparently picks were illegal tonight. Garcia fell down when he ran into Hayes, and Joe Forte called a pity foul. Words cannot describe how bad Forte fucked up that call.

This was a game of two halves. The first half was a "let 'em play, we are too tired to blow the whistle tonight." Second half? Different story. Players were adjusted to a more physical game, only to have the rug pulled out from under them. 53 total fouls called in this game. 5 each on Battier, Hayes and Landry. Scola "only" had 4. Mikki Moore had 5 for the Kings. Ron Artest? He who fouls more than anyone in the NBA? Only 3 fouls. Un-be-fucking-lievable.

Rockets could not afford to lose tonight. Refs didn't give a shit.

Now - the Rockets did not lose because of the referees. The inconsistent calls just put T-Mac and Rafer on tilt... and we couldn't close out the game.

Two questions I would like answered though. (1) There is one minute left in the game and the Rockets are down by 1. The play? An isolation for Chuck Hayes. Who takes a left-handed hook shot that naturally misses. Chuck Hayes was our best option!??! (2) With 35 seconds left, Rafer decides to win the game by tossing the ball off the backboard to himself. Not surprisingly, it leads to a jump ball against a much taller man. What. The. Fuck?

Final score? Kings 99, Rockets not enough. Fuck, fuck, FUCK!

New gameplan: Give Luis Scola the damn ball.

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!

T-Mac has a selective memory

Sometime last week, I read in the Chronicle an article about Tracy McGrady being ready to answer the critics now that Yao is out. T-Mac gave Feigen all the right answers... and naturally the topic came to last year's playoff series against Utah.

T-Mac before Game 7 last year: "It's on me."

(no one argued this at the time)

T-Mac today? "It's not on me," he said. "It's on us. I think this year, we have much more of a supporting cast. As you see, my scoring is down a lot. That's because guys are making shots. We really have more offense this year."

(yeah, you have Luis Landry this time 'round, and not Juwon Howard)

So far I agreed with everything. Then T-Mac commits a cardinal sin and starts making excuses for last year:

"I got criticized in Game 7 last year of the playoffs that I was settling too much for jumpers, despite me having 29 (points) and 13 assists. Damned if I do; damned if I don't."

Tracy, this is why people criticize you. There are three major problems with this statement. One, you are making excuses. Leaders do not make excuses. Leaders find a way to win. Period. Two, you DID settle too much for jumpers. You did. Admit it. You'll feel better. Lee and I delayed watching the De la Hoya/Mayweather fight just to watch you NOT aggressively take the ball to the basket in the fourth quarter last May. It was infuriating. Three, your personal stats for the game mean absolutely jack shit. So what if you had 29 points and 13 assists? Your team lost, so obviously something in your analysis is wrong.

Let's look at the box score from that fateful Game 7.

Yes, Tracy, you did have 29 points... and those 13 assists. Congratulations. That said, you took 25 shots to get those 29 points (and missed all four of your three-point attempts), and in all of those shots, you took exactly... 9 free throws (making only 5, ugh). Granted, Rafer didn't help you by going 2-8 from 3 and 3-11 overall, but you did settle for jumpers in the late stages of the game. I only have to look at your shot chart to prove that.

1st quarter:

2-6 from field
(one made dunk/layup, one made jump shot, 4 missed jumpers from 14 ft, 17 ft, 20ft and 22ft)

2nd quarter:

3-5 from field
(one made dunk/layup, two made jump shots [7ft, 11ft], 2 missed three-point attempts)

3rd quarter:

4-8 from field
(two made dunk/layup, 2 mid-range jump shots, 2 missed jump shots from 19ft and 27 ft, oh and two missed runners near the basket for good measure)

4th quarter:

3-6 from field
(one made layup with 10:37 left in the game, one made dunk with the game already over, one made 9 ft jumper, *3* missed jump shots)

At the 6:54 mark in the 4th Q, T-Mac entered the game with the Rockets down 84-82. He quickly made two free throws and the 9 ft jumper. After that, he missed a 25 ft attempt for 3 and a 17 ft shot. Other than a pointless layup with 19 seconds left, T-Mac neither attempted a free throw or even took a shot from the 4:28 mark to the end. He passed up opportunities to put pressure on Utah by not driving to the basket and he constantly deferred to Yao and even Rafer.
There is one thing I was certain of last May. Utah could NOT stop Tracy McGrady. Yet T-Mac never made them play defense against him. He settled for jump shots and did not try to dunk on them like they were Shawn Bradley. The statistical and video evidence proves this. I only point this out so that T-Mac can learn from it and possibly not be the Cowardly Lion this year.

Or, made more simply --

Tracy, more of this:

and a whole lot less of this:
I rest my case.

We are here to stay - that means PLAYOFFS!

Hey, Stephen A. Smith... up yours, buddy!

On SportsCenter last night, they put SAS on camera. For some unknown reason. Anyway, they asked him about the Rockets and the Yao situation. Considering how tough the West is, whether or not the Rockets can survive is a legitimate question today. That I understand. SAS's answer, however... I do not understand (and I am only slightly paraphrasing here):

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THE ROCKETS CAN STILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS WITHOUT YAO MING. I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN WIN IS TO GIVE THE BALL TO TRACY McGRADY AND THEN GET OUT OF HIS WAY AND SHUT-UP!

(He then proceeds to give like 3-4 other reasons for how we can win, but hey, who's counting?)

I fail to see how Mr. Cheezy Doodles has any expertise on the Houston Rockets. I'm pretty comfortable saying I have a better feel for the team than he does.

Yes, we still have Tracy McGrady. NO - T-Mac should not be shooting 27 times a game for us to win. The Rockets have played soooooo much better when T-Mac is a distributor and seeks to get his teammates involved. If he wants to actually try a layup or two each night, I would not oppose.

Also, we still have a really good team. T-Mac is the cowardly lion in the 4th Q, but "Luis Landry" is not. Shane Battier is a tough character, too. Rafer sucks, but he's at least not afraid to shoot the ball. Bobby Jackson is a playoff tested veteran. Chuck Hayes didn't get his Chinese shoe contract by sucking. This team can (and will) win basketball games against tough competition.

Granted, the Wi--rds are not a good barometer for our ability. They are from the East, and teams from the East suck. I think this season has made that rather clear.

The Rockets are going to make the playoffs. We are going to win at least 50 games. Including the next one, which will give us a perfect February.

Yao > LeBron. There's your math lesson for the day.

Rockets v. the LeBrons tonight. Also known as "one of four nights each year when T-Mac actually tries to play defense!" T-Mac really only makes a concerted effort to play D when he's facing Kobe or LeBron. Factoring in his yearly, um, "vacations" and that's about 3-4 times each year T-Mac faces those guys.

Of note: the game is on TNT - which means there should be some good halftime commentary by Charles Barkley about Yao, T-Mac and LeBron. Remember when Chuck said Yao wouldn't score 20 in one game? I love Chuck, but...... it's funny how one man (Yao) has proved us all so very, very wrong. And will continue to do so. Yao is a badass. And he's almost made me forget about that Horry/Cassell for Barkley trade. Almost.

Speaking of which, after scanning last night's box scores, it looks like Mr. Horry is getting ready for his annual playoff run... that's bad news for the rest of the league. As usual.

Uhhhh, back to the Rockets. Game is in Houston, so I expect a good showing by T-Mac and Yao. LeBron is really good, but he's only one man. T-Mac can at least stay with him and negate his influence on the game. And since I do not expect Larry Hughes or Damon Jones to win a game by themselves, I say the final is Rockets 97, Cavaliers 88.

Go Rockets!

edit: For those inevitable comments about LeBron being the MVP so far (and thus somehow better than Yao), check this out: the LeBrons are 27-20. The Rockets are 28-20. Problem is, the LeBrons play in the Eastern Conference. And are somehow only 13-12 in their own weak conference. The Rockets are 16-13 in the West - a much, much stronger conference with much, much better teams. And with T-Mac out for significant time, the Rockets just kept winning. Imagine Yao and T-Mac in the East. It wouldn't even be fair.

Who is in? Who is out? I'm seeing rotation!

To start with... bad news. McGrady may be delaying his return. Again. Apparently he had a "rough" practice or something? What gives - did someone ask him to try to make a layup?

So, it looks like the Rockets will take on the Spurs sans T-Mac. Maybe he's waiting for the team's record without him to drop below .500 again before he returns in the "hero" role.

This got me thinking though. And yes, such action can be dangerous, and highly unproductive. When T- Mac does eventually hobble back onto the court, what should the Rockets' rotation be? Clearly, we have an abundance of guards and backup forwards that are going to re-adjust to T-Mac being back. Who sits and who plays? Or, rather, who should sit... and who should play? Considering that Ricky is the coach, the answers to who will and who should are completely different.

Yup, he still looks confused.

This is what the Rockets' starting lineup *will* be:

PG: Rafer. No matter how much he sucks.
SG: T-Mac.
SF: Battier.
PF: Hayes.
C: Yao.

The obvious response is "hey, that's what the lineup was before - and it clearly was not working!" This response would be correct. But Adelman doesn't have time for your impeccable logic.

Who will fill out the rotation?

Most likely we'll see Bonzi or Scola be the first off the bench. No matter how listless Bonzi has played over the last month. Scola is probably angry he's not starting - and he has a legitimate complaint. But Chuck Hayes would lose all value if we brought him off the bench - Chuck would never be able to matchup against quick/shoot-first bench players. And that might cost him his shoe deal in China. We can't have that. So Scola will play the backup PF and C roles - and he'll do it admirably, dammit!

After that, certainly Aaron Brooks has earned legit playing time. So we'll see him for 15-20 minutes a game. Luther Head has played scared the last 10 days, but he's the only consistent outside shooter we have right now. He plays, too. Just hopefully not in the 4th Q.

That's 9 in the rotation. Stevie and Mike James will just have to accept their role as Dikembe's audience for sideline standup routines.

Now, that doesn't solve the mystery of the Rockets season. It couldn't. T-Mac cannot make Rafer look competent. T-Mac can't magically teach Chuck how to catch or pass or shoot. t-Mac won't stop shooting fadeaway 3s either, this much I know. Change has to be made somewhere, right? Right?

Here's what the lineup SHOULD be:

PG: Brooks (F-U, Rafer)
SG: T-Mac
SF: Battier
PF: Scola
C: Yao

Why the change? Look, Hollinger was wrong. The Rockets are not winning 60 games or the Championship this year. Hell, they'll be lucky to sneak in as the 8th seed (which they will do, but that's for another column). Why not get Brooks and Scola prepared to go to battle for the '08/'09 season? It would create all sorts of interesting possibilities:

1st off the bench:

Bonzi (I keep telling myself he'll get in shape and start to care. I'm becoming more wrong each day, but....). This could also be Luther Head or Rafer (until we trade/cut his ass).

Also off the bench:

Now *this* is key. Scola can't play the whole game. Neither can Yao. But Chuck is too short to play the C position, even though I am aware Ricky tries to get away with it right now. No - instead we gotta give playing time to Carl Landry. He appeared in 3 games last week - each time showing hustle, athleticism and a very solid sense of rebounding and positional defense. Then he'd be ushered back to the bench after 8 minutes, never to be heard from again. I cannot figure out the reasons why. Maybe he made a pass at Adelman's wife... who knows? Landry has to play though. He needs 10-15 minutes a game. Otherwise, just send him to the D-League.

That would leave a regular rotation of Yao, T-Mac, Battier, Scola, Brooks, Bonzi, Head, Rafer and Landry - a solid 9 deep rotation. And Francis, James, Chuck and Kirk Snyder can battle them in practice to keep them sharp.

The purpose of this is that we could conserve a lot of energy from our starters in the late 3rd/early 4th, and then bring back Scola and Brooks to be the energy guys to play off Yao and T-Mac to close out games. Why Ricky won't let Yao and Scola play at the same time baffles me right now - it's not like they are Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph - they won't get in each other's way. PLAY SCOLA! More than 20 minutes!!

Besides, when is the last time you saw Bonzi, Rafer, Chuck or Luther Head dive for a rebound like this:

That's hustle. We need more of it. Go Rockets!

People That Piss Me Off (Week the Fourth)

And we meet again.

Though, for obvious reasons (I would think), this week's list will be light on NBA-related topics. For those that came to read about Rafer, Kobe, the FatAss or T-Mac... be patient. Yes, I recognize this is a Houston Rockets blog. I also recognize that it is my blog and I can write about other sports if the need arises. Moving along, the people and things that piss me off this week:


1. Roger Clemens

I wish I could write you a letter. It would be short, and sweet, and to the point. Okay, maybe it won't be so heavy on the "sweet" part. But it would be short. And the content would be very straightforward, simply:

F-U.

I think you understand why. Ten years of 'roiding up and making me think you were just that good? I mean, we knew Bonds roided, and he was a smug prick about it. You, Roger, were a smug prick that we kinda liked because you were a smug prick. But now you are a liar AND you dragged Andy Pettitte into your world. Seriously, F-U.

2. Critics of Mario Williams.
(Who now are trying to shamelessly back-track)

This goes out to Richard Justice and all the "worst pick since Sam Bowie" journalists. Hey, did you see last night? (I was there, so I definitely did.) 3.5 sacks... 13 on the season. Hell yes. Oh, and how's Reggie Bush doing? Really? That bad? Wow... sorry, New Orleans. Someone is going to the Pro Bowl. It is not the scatback from USC.

Jay Cutler agrees that Houston made the right decision. He just wishes we didn't.

3. The MLB Players' Association
(and by default, Donald Fehr)

You assholes knew that steroids was ruining the game, its history and the relationship with the fans. You made no effort to stop it. As if the 1994 Strike didn't put you in a bad enough light. Now it is revealed that you went out of your way to tell players (even *former* players) NOT to assist Senator Mitchell in his research and investigation of steroids in baseball.

I may not be a lawyer (oh, wait a second, I *am* a lawyer)... but this sounds an awful lot like a tacit admission of guilt across the board. If you are not guilty of anything - you encourage people to talk. If you know you are guilty and about to be caught, you run (it's like your own version of OJ and the White Bronco).

Now I have to recind my support of Roger Clemens and pretty much every player not named Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez that played baseball from 1998 through the present time. Oh, an exception will be made for Frank Thomas. Much respect for you today, Big Hurt.

4. The 4th Quarter Tracy McGrady.

T-Mac... I really do like you. I do. Promise. But I like you a lot more in the first three quarters of a game than I do in the fourth quarter these days. I know you have the ability to be clutch. I saw your 13 points in 35 seconds spree against San Antonio. I know you can do this almost whenever you want.



And yet we have many games so far in the 2007/08 season where you shy away from being aggressive in the fourth quarter. Are you afraid to shoot free throws? Afraid of physical contact? Afraid of getting injured? A combination of all three?

For me, please, stop being such a wuss at the end of games. Dunk on someone's head when it counts. Or else I may encourage Yao to call you out by name for being soft.

5. Professional basketball players that cannot shoot free throws.

Yes, I am referring partially to the 6-for-22 debacle from Wednesday. Yikes. I don't have the stats in front of me but the average FT% across the NBA is something like 74%. It's a freakin' free throw. The fact that a professional athlete cannot make 80% of his free throw attempts is just sad. The old excuse used to be that the players are too tall and have too large of hands to shoot free throws consistently. Yeah, Yao put that stupid theory to rest. He's 7'5" and shoots nearly 90% every year. No more excuses. Learn to shoot, people.

Until next week..........

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.

The evolutionary Nick Anderson

Any chance I get to reference Darwin (or even "social darwinism") - I'm all for it. Even better - the Darwin Awards.

Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, let's examine a quotation directly from Tracy McGrady prior to last night's game:

"That's what our system is all about, making the game easier, not settling for jumpers"

So, what does T-Mac do against the Phoenix Suns last night? 7-19 from the field (1-2 from 3-land), and an anemic 3-8 from the FT line. On the season, T-Mac is now shooting 76-105 from the line (a 72.4% clip). For his career, he's only 75% from the charity stripe. Again, for a point of reference, Yao shoots 90%. Yao is 7'5". Yao does not live on Endor with Wookiies! (Now that does not make sense!!)

T-Mac is a skilled perimeter player. He also used to be a very, very feared player when he put the ball on the floor and drove it to the freakin' basket! Ask Shawn Bradley...

somehow, some time, some way - T-Mac has stopped being aggressive. He constantly settles for that fadeaway, off-balance, line-drive 18 foot jump shot. Sure, it goes in about 40% of the time. But, like LeBron James circa 2005, all that does is make things easy on the opposing defense. T-Mac bails them out every time. Jump shooters don't get to shoot free throws - and I think that's both the problem and the solution for Tracy.

All that talk about not settling for jumpers... and what does Tracy do? Settle for jumpers.

Lee and I watched Game 7 v. Utah last year in horror as T-Mac continued to puss out and not take the ball strong to the rim. In contrast, Rafer sucks, but he at least tries to draw contact/fouls with that awkward looking flip shot of his.

Is Tracy McGrady afraid to get fouled?

In 1994/1995 - Nick Anderson was one of the most feared perimeter players in the NBA. He got to feed off Penny and the Fat Ass... he was a dead-eye shooter... and he was very good at finishing strong at the basket. Then came the 1995 NBA Finals. Game 1. And four missed free throws.

Granted, Nick's inability to make a free throw made me happy that day -- it brought Hakeem and Horry another ring, of course. But is history repeating itself with T-Mac? Karma would be cruel that way.

McGrady on a bad day is a far superior player to Nick Anderson on his best day. This is what helps hide any growing concern that T-Mac is becoming a pure perimeter player. He can get away with just taking those mid-range shots because he's so good at it. But he's 10x better if there is the threat that he might go dunk on your head. Which he just doesn't do anymore.

I miss the old version of T-Mac. Come back!!



moral of the story/rant/plea for help: stop settling for jumpers, Tracy!!!

Kobe for T-Mac? Yeah, I'd do it.

Question posed today in the Sports Guy's ESPN chat session (a/k/a - ways other than porn to distract yourself from doing real work during business hours):

________________
peter (chicago, IL): bill, what is your take on the kobe-lakers saga? who's side on you on? I don't believe you've ever addressed this.

Bill Simmons: (1:12 PM ET) I agree with Kobe in that the team is wasting his prime by pseudo-rebuilding with young players (Bynum, Farmar, Crittendon, Kwame, etc.), but at the same time, he wanted his own team and he never should have allowed them to give away Butler for Kwame, which was one of the five worst moves of this decade. From what I hear, Kobe has been allowed to okay EVERY major Laker move starting with the Shaq trade and they run everything by him. If he wanted to block Kwame-Butler, he could have. But he didn't. So it's his own fault.

Bill Simmons: (1:12 PM ET) I don't understand why Houston and LA can't just trade T-Mac for Kobe. What's the holdup? Make the trade already.
_______________

Sadly... I do not and cannot disagree here.
I would be the first person in line to buy a Kobe #24 (#8?) Rockets jersey.

at least this would prevent Kobe from putting up 50 on the Rockets nearly every time we play them. Now he could score 50 for us.

Yao is not subtle

Big game tonight. Rockets face the insanely-hot Suns (lame pun alert). Yao v. Amare and all that...

We are 8-7, they are 11-3. A win will do a lot of good for both the standings and the Rockets' collective ego. Even Yao is taking this one seriously. From the Houston Chronicle article today:

---
Tonight's game in Phoenix should be the best test of that. In the loss to the Suns, Yao was rarely in good scoring position and McGrady was out with his sprained elbow.

"At least we're moving the ball better," Yao said of wins over the Nuggets and Clippers in their last two games. "I know who I should pass to, but I think we still need to work on that. When they come to double-team me, it's still not perfect."
---

Hold up, that was almost subtle there, Yao. "I know who I should pass to...." I guess that also means Yao knows who he should not pass to. This guy:

Look at that - Rafer wide open. I expect to see that, oh, every game. Jeez, even Uncle Rico's throwing motion is more fundamentally sound than Rafer's jumpshot.

I'm even more worried now that Rafer actually had a decent-to-good game on Monday. He scored double figures, shot 50% and the Rockets won. Yup, that's a definite "oh, shit, he thinks he's good now" moment just waiting to happen. And now we expect to play an up-tempo game with lots of jump shots and running-and-gunning? Uh oh.

I think Tracy McGrady expects it too, and he's trying to stop it:

"The one thing you have to do in this league is stay the course. Whatever your game plan is, whatever your offense is, you have to stay the course and keep on executing. That's what our system is all about, making the game easier, not settling for jumpers, and being able to put myself and Yao in easy scoring positions."

translation: Hey, Rafer, stop shooting. Give me or Yao the ball and get out of the way. Maybe try to play a little defense on that dude with the beady little eyes and flapping head.

... at least that's what I think "staying the course" should be.

My prediction for the night? Rockets 112, Suns 109 - T-Mac with a surprisingly clutch layup and the following FT to put the game away. Rafer likely does his best to keep the Suns in the game with a 3-13 (1-7 on 3s) effort...

I'm still holding out hope for Yao and T-Mac to give him the Private Pyle treatment in the locker room: