So the streak has come to an end, and now I feel comfortable commenting on it. I was fearful that I might jinx them if I said anything. So here are my quick hits....
- From my point of view, I'm not surprised that they lost to the Celtics. I hope Boston kills Dallas tomorrow, and maybe Jake will stop hating.
- At the start of the game last night, I became very greatful for the acquisition of Bobby Jackson. Because Rafer is not who we need starting during the playoffs. At the end of the LA game you saw him almost get into a fight when he forget that he wasn't on the And-1 tour, and he clearly hadn't remembered by the start of the Celtics game. I think he honestly thought that he was one of the best players on the court.
- Hopefully everybody will calm down around here in Houston. I mean, I love the Rockets and all, but I was listening to one guy saying that the rockets could win all the individual awards. MVP(Tmac) COY(Adelman) MostImproved(Rafer) defensivePOY(Battier). let's have a little more sanity folks.
9 comments:
If they had won out, that guy woulda been right =)
It had to end sometime. I think its too bad that it happened on a home game, but thats ok. It was great, and should be considered so.
Even if...maybe especially if...they beat dallas, I will still hate on the C's. Come on dude, they suck. Rockets just had a bad game. Clearly they didn't play as well as they have been. Which isn't surprising cause noone should be able to keep up the intensity like they have. That is what was so special about them during the streak.
Call me crazy, but if they had Landry last night, it woulda been a different game. He pretty much epitimizes what was working throughout.
JIMI: Did you watch that game?
PATRICK: yea, rockets played like crap, and boston 's D was awesome. as strange as it sounds, they really needed landry
JIMI: So are you scared of Boston yet?
They did just beat SA and Houston on the road.
PATRICK: sorta, they have definatly gotten better. but, houston had a really bad game. i think they were too pumped up or something. they didn't play the same way they did against the lakers. and i don't mean making shots. their offense and defense seemed different.
but, boston still doesn't scare me. i mean, houston had them the first half, and sa was up by like 20. i'll have to see more to believe in em. i mean, they looked good, but i think it was more about how houston looked bad
JIMI: Maybe Houston ’s offense and defense was “different” because Boston ’s defense was so good it through them off their game.
I still think it’s going to be hilarious if the Celtics win the finals. Then the Patriots will look even more stupid for choking away the SuperBowl since Boston could have held all three championships in one year.
Stupid Patriots.
PATRICK: that would be great. isn't gonna happen though.
JIMI: Surely they have just as good a chance as anyone in the West.
Especially after the West teams beat up on each other for 6-7 games each series and Boston glides through the playoffs.
Unless Detroit knocks them off.
PATRICK: dude...don't let these two games fool you. boston sucks
JIMI: I wouldn’t say the team with by far the best record “sucks”. Perhaps they’re overrated or whatnot. But you have to at least put them in the top five teams in the NBA.
PATRICK: their record means nothing. top five? lemme see
Lakers
Hornets
Spurs
Jazz
Rockets
nope, they aren't in there
JIMI: That’s crazy talk.
They have a 5 game lead on anyone in the league, they rank 1st in every defensive statistical category (which remember defense wins championships) and they just beat two of your top five teams on the road.
What more proof do you want? Do they have to win 22 games in a row before you believe?
I mean, I’m by no means a Boston fan but I think you might be hatin’ a bit.
PATRICK: i'm not just hating a little bit
their defensive stats are against an eastern conferense that blows goats
JIMI: I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the playoffs.
PATRICK: is there some way that you can convince me that the eastern conference is good? Doubt it. So why should the best of the crap be considered good?
JIMI: They also play Western conf teams too.
And like I said, they beat Houston and SA on the road. Is that meaningless? I would say no. Boston has much less to play for at this point. They’ve already won there division. SA is currently 6th seed. They could actually miss the playoffs if they don’t finish the season with a decent record.
But again, we’ll see in the playoffs. If Boston sweeps the Western Conference Champs would that do it? Jeez.
PATRICK: i guess that would do it =)
JIMI: Thank you!
Does Jamie ever say you’re stubborn?
PATRICK: nah, but my mom does
JIMI: Yeah, but that doesn’t count. My mom says I’m stubborn but that’s just because she tries to get me to do stuff that’s dumb.
PATRICK: hmmm, that kinda sounds like what you're doing. trying to get me to admit that the c's are better than the west elite
JIMI: Ha, possibly true.
I bet Tom thinks Detroit is the best team in the NBA.
PATRICK: detroit is probably better than the celtics
JIMI: I wouldn’t be surprised if Detroit beats Boston in 7 games.
Although I think Boston is up 2-1 on Detroit when they’ve played this year.
Again, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m pretty amped about the playoffs this year.
PATRICK: yea, the rockets have kept it exciting. i hope they don't fall off. if they don't get landry back, they'll be in trouble.
are the rockets cursed or what?
and how much does dallas suck? they couldn't beat LA without Pau ? I mean, houston doing it was cool cause they don't have yao , but dallas has everyone now. did you know that they haven't beaten a winning team since the kidd trade?
JIMI: That’s what I heard. I don’t think that Kidd trade made them better.
I also think Cleveland got worse with their trade.
Nice IM conversation. Had to chime in on a few things.
Patrick - yous nutso (and I was wrong at the beginning of the season). The Celtics are probably top 3 in the league right now and I'd actually put them as the odds favorite to win it all for the exact reason Jimi mentioned. Detroit is going to be their only serious challenge before meeting a beat down West champ (I'd probably put Detroit higher than some they'd normally beat in a stand alone series too for this exact reason). I knew they were good defensively but Sheesh... that Rockets game scares the crap out of me. THEY beat the Rockets. They MADE every player on Houston look the way you saw them look. I've seen it before... remember Detroit beating the Lakers in the Finals a few years ago? How about SanAn last year against the Suns. That's what truly great defense does to an opponent. It's demoralizing and makes them look like they don't belong sometimes. Anyway, at this point, I'm now rooting for the West Champ to be the absolutely best candidate for taking out the Celtics. I don't give a crap about anything else. (I'm not so confident I'll be able to root for whoever that is when their playing the Lakers though... that's just too much to ask).
I'd be curious what the Celtics record is against the top 7-10 in the West?
Top 5 most likely to win a championship (no particular order, assumes healthy teams):
Celtics
Spurs
Pistons
Lakers
Rockets
2nd tier- those that have a solid chance given some luck and great chemistry timing (no order):
Cavs
Jazz
Suns
Long Shots:
Hornets
Mavs
Alright, you really shouldn't put too much into that game last night. I watch every Rockets game, and they never make as sloppy turnovers as they did last night. You could credit it to the C's defense, but you really shouldn't. There were glimpses of Aldelman's offense when Bobby Jackson was in there, but Rafer was in lala land. I think...like Richard said...he got too high on himself after the Lakers game. That is exactly the kind of player I don't want on my team. A Technical before the game even starts!? Get outta here.
Seriously, the Celtics blow. Pistons will beat them in 6 games.
oh man i haven't had this much fun reading the blog in a while.
i've got 2 cents too:
i think the celtics are better than i give them credit for (until now. now i'm prolly being too nice to them. ha). they clearly have kevin garnett. also, i think picking up cassell was a great move. (funny/true thing jer had to say about it: having a 40 yr old veteran guard who's not afraid of ANY shot is possibly the best AND worst thing about the pickup)
having said that, they still don't strike me as a champ. the SAS game for me was not really impressive. i don't remember the last time i saw a team give a game away like that. i mean, they were getting KILLED before SA stopped playing D in the middle of the 2nd Q. (which supports a separate theory of mine about how the spurs cannot play more than one good half at a time. even in their champion runs, they seldom play an entire game well. i digress...)
and i'm kind of middle of the road with the rockets game. i thought it was very good D, BUT that certainly doesn't account for rafer being a dumbass OR landry missing the game OR the law of DUE catching up to them. they looked really sloppy. i think a lot of that was the D, but also (seems like this is kind of being swept under the rug) the rockets were missing their best player! AND another key guy! when they lost yao, this landry guy came outta nowhere and started playing exactly the kind of ball that EVERY team wants. he is all hustle and energy, and he was absent during that game. so at what point do you say the game doesn't really count due to incomplete roster? (i can't really count SAS losses without timmy. or BOS losses without KG for that matter. i dunno)
i am not hating on the Cs as much lately, but i'm definitely not on the bandwagon. i can't get over their schedule! did anyone see that?! come on!
i think BOS (more likely DET) has a legit shot, for exactly the reasons you all pointed out. but still, i'm not on the bandwagon.
anyhow, in no order:
tier 1
SAS
LAL
PHX
tier 2
UTA
BOS
HOU
DET
NOH
First off, anytime Detroit has even a chance at the finals, i think Detroit is the best team. Cause i am a good fan:D
Grats on yalls awesome run! I can tell yous had a good time with it:) It is funny that you guys think i have such a biased hometeam-centric viewpoint. I am not saying that i don't, it is just funny coming from yous. Seriously though, i am so bummed over Yao. Shit like that makes me sick; ce la vie, i guess.
I haven't looked lately, but Detroit should have like the 2nd best record in the league vs +.600 in the league. I suppose ya'll will say that is also padded by their schedule, because they get more breaks by playing more crap teams. Touché!
I been watching a bit of boston since i live in the coverage area for their telecasts. The look like a team that has as good of chance as winning as any to me.
One reason, I (as a Det fan) don't really fear them is i look to Detroit to work mismatches at the point a lot, and i jsut think we have been matching up good so fan.
One reason i do fear them is the passion of KG. You cannot deny the galvanizing effect a man like KG has in the lockers and on the court. You think you have seen him intense so far this season? I can't imagine what he'll be like in the post season. That should be infectious.
Great teams usually have someone that just refuses to lose. MJ is the most like that i can think of. I think KG may possess that hunger more than anyone this season, and that can rub off on his team.
Detroit definately does not have someone who galvanizes and leads on par with KG.
Don't overread this to think i got Boston to beat detroit and win it all. I am just saying that is one thing they got in their corner.
And i gotta say this, though i am afraid, maybe, embarresed, to admit it. I do fear cleveland a bit. Lebron is so good is all. He could be starting with Schreech Powers and Daffy duck, and i'd still kinda fear them. He will probably average triple-double this year in in the playoffs. I'll predict right now, he averages a triple double with 34ppg. Oh yeah, and this is not at all referencing detroit's loss to cleveland yesterday. That loss didn't worry me at all. I been meaning talk about how scary bronky kong is for a while.
This is very likely going to be lebrons league someday. He is 23. He is 23. i mean jeebus. I just hurt my brain thinking about how much he will dominate when he is 28. His best teammate could be Sideshow Bob (Varejao) and he'll be stacking ships.
top tier (i would definatly have put houston here, but because of yao..)
-Detroit-duh:)
-lakers-is gasol alright? i thought i heard he had a bit of an injury.
-Sas-i don't care how much they eff up lately. I have nothing but mad respect for the spurs and still think they rule.
-Boston
2nd tier-
PHX-wasn't sure wether to put them here or above. I heard they are playing a lot better lately. But last i saw them they weren't yet.
UTAH-
HOUSTON
honorable mentions?
CLEV-you never know, lebron may jsut eat everybody. Unlikely though, they are bound to play boston, then detroit, then whatever team amzingingly wins the west.
HORNETS-Because CP is so awesome.
Bite Mes
DAL
I could agree with those tiers, except i'm not convinced with phoenix yet. They can convince me though. I liked firstNameCubed's coaching against the Warriors: Don't play Shaq. Good idea.
Don't sleep on the Hornets. Paul is the best gaurd in the league. Oops...did i say that?
Good call on the triple double for lebron during the playoffs Tom. I think you could be right. And you are right to fear him. Goodness, he's good.
couldnt agree more. great comments tom.
he is 23. he is 23.
so true
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