Oh hell yes! Yao to return for Playoffs!!!

It's about damn time the Rockets got some good news!
(we can't live off the Streak forever...)

YAO MING IS COMING BACK FOR THE PLAYOFFS!

It's true! ESPN says it, so it must be!

YES! I knew he couldn't resist coming back to help the Rockets!
Everyone is now in big, big trouble!

Time to get angry again, Big Man!

What's that?
Is that Shaq's fat ass causing tremors from his nervous twitching at this news?

I think it is!

And look at that -- T-Mac is so happy he might cry!

First an NBA Championship... then Olympic Silver (sorry, Yao, but I can't root for you to win the gold there... U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!)

Bring on the playoffs, bitches.
We are ready for the Western Conference now!

Really.

We are winning 14 in a row! Book it!

After tomorrow, the Rockets will have the longest winning streak in the NBA all season. 14.

Portland won 13 in a row earlier.
Detroit has a couple streaks beyond 10 games.

But the Rockets will have the longest. And most distinguished.

Am I overlooking Memphis? Uh, yeah. If we can't beat Memphis - our whole "we are making the playoffs!" push will seem rather pointless. Sure, Memphis stole one from the Rockets earlier this season. But that was when they had Pau. Now they don't - he's out banging groupies in Los Angeles as we speak.

Besides, we have "Luis Landry" - a pretty good combination. Which we didn't have last year when Yao went out. From David Thorpe's Rookie Watch on ESPN.com:

"• Luis Scola's consistent production is an important part of the Rockets' success. Chuck Hayes, who used to be the Rockets' starting 4, is a glue guy with no offense, while Scola is just as "gluey" and is a capable scorer. He can play off of franchise guys or get his own shot when needed.
• The Rockets have the luxury of playing Carl Landry behind Scola, making Houston strong at the power forward position. Landry could start for some teams right now and is going to be a relative force in this league. Amazingly, at 24 years of age, he's not even the oldest rookie on the team (Scola turns 28 in April)."

(images courtesy of ClutchFans)

The Rockets continue streaking....... tomorrow night at home against Memphis.

After some time to reflect

I've now had about 3 hours to digest the Yao Ming news.

A few things I have concluded:

1. The Rockets are going to make the playoffs. Even without Yao.
2. "Luis Landry" is going to step up huge for us.
3. When Yao returns in October 2008, he's going to be very, very angry. This is bad news for the rest of the NBA.

While I am still heartbroken and pissed off and confused and dealing with an entire range of emotions commonly associated with grief and mourning - do not doubt for a second the talent still on this team. The Rockets will compete every night (okay, maybe not Rafer). The Rockets will make the playoffs. And, just for good measure, the Rockets will win tonight.

They still will win 16 in a row. On pure adrenaline if necessary. Scola has an abundance of it.

upcoming schedule:

Washington (sans Agent Zero and Tuff Juice?). Winnable.
Memphis (sans NBA talent at all positions?). Winnable.
Denver (sans team players?). Somewhat winnable - but tougher without Yao.
Indiana (sans Jermaine?). Definitely still winnable.

Each of our next four games are at home. We can do this. As Hollinger stated in his chat today, if the Rockets finish 12-14, they still finish the season with 48 wins. That should be enough to at least limp into the playoffs and avoid the lottery. This will be done.

Yao will be missed. But we will win for him. Go Rockets!

Ear Muffs!

Hey, kids, ear muffs!!

(and now I can say whatever I want... but, no, I will not celebrate it):

FFFFFFFFfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!

Yao missing tonight's game with foot injury.

Nonononononononononononono.

edit: now he's out for the whole season? There is no God.

Stop mis-interpreting Yao!!

Yao said the Rockets are soft. I'm quite sure his use of the term "soft" was not directed to the team's shooting technique. Especially on free throws. Having a "soft touch" is a good thing when referring to the art of shooting a basketball.

The Rockets, however, did everything they could to prove to Yao (and others like me) that they are by no means "soft" - and if that required the Rockets to brick 16 free throws... so be it. 6 for 22? Are you freakin' kidding me? 1 for 15 to start? It was so bad Bonzi was hoping for an out of bounds play instead of a shooting foul. Rafer resorted to hugging referees and begging for help.


That shooting display would embarrass Chris Dudley. Yes, he of the career 45% FT mark, and the worst shooting technique ever seen on an NBA court. And after last night, he can claim to be twice as good as the Rockets.

T-Mac, ever the leader and never one to make excuses (*sarcasm*):

"It's mental. It's definitely mental," McGrady said. "It's just you and the basket. The fans definitely don't make it easy on you. Every time you miss a free throw, 'aarrghh.' That's the worst thing you can do to a player. He's thinking about it every time he goes up there."

"Bad night at the free-throw line, but we won the game." Yeah, you won... but it better not be providing you false hope.

I'm telling you... McGrady is taking steps to be the next Nick Anderson! Blaming the fans? Hella-weak, dude. Even some of the journalists are (finally) starting to pick up on this. From the Chronicle today:

"That's what makes McGrady so exasperating at times. There are times when he can do that sort of thing almost at will [the end of 1st half dunk]. The trouble is, that will tends to have a second-half expiration date."

I yelled at the TV at least 3-4 times in the fourth quarter last night. McGrady was killing the Pistons in the first quarter by taking the ball strong to the basket. The end of half emphatic dunk was the highlight of the game.

Video Highlights

Then, during crunch time - Tracy became jump shot happy again. Taking 3s instead of driving to the basket and putting pressure on the Pistons' defense. Bailing them out constantly. Next thing you know, a 10 point lead is a 2 point lead.


Hey, guys, hate to break it to ya... but that's exactly what Yao meant when he said you were "soft" - taking the quick shots early in the shot clock that Detroit is hoping you shoot to save them the effort of playing defense. Even Rasheed picked up on this:

"We are going to see those chumps again," Pistons center Rasheed Wallace said. "We are going to bust their (tails) the next time we see them."

Rasheed will get his chance... re-match is Sunday December 23rd - in Detroit.

Toughen up, Rockets - it does not get any easier from here.