http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/chris_mannix/03/05/rockets.mailbag/index.html [rquoter] HOUSTON -- The people have spoken and they ain't happy about my recent column discounting the Rockets' chances of making the playoffs without Yao Ming. Those e-mails kick off this mini-mailbag. What makes you so much of a freakin' expert? Who did you play for, coach or manage in basketball? The Rockets will make the playoffs and you will look foolish! -- Jim, Virginia Stay in New York and never come to Houston. This is Clutch City, where we've been down and won two championships. Stay away, hater. -- Mark, Houston With all due respect to your reactionary, myopic assessment of the Rockets just hours after the Yao news, a true professional would not be so quick to do so. There is no doubt Yao's presence on the court will be missed, but their winning streak was not by his doing alone; it was a TEAM effort. -- Phillip, Houston You don't know much about the NBA, do you? -- Chris, Houston Touch a nerve, did I? Look, I'm far from a Rockets hater. Before Yao's injury, I believed Houston to be a dark-horse candidate to come out of the Western Conference. Not just because of Yao or Tracy McGrady, but because the supporting cast surrounding the two superstars was the strongest it had ever been. Luis Scola is the South American version of Tim Duncan. As one Rockets official told me, Scola is the best pure power forward in Houston since Otis Thorpe, who, incidentally, was traded in 1995. The maligned Rafer Alston is playing like a top-flight point guard. He was averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 assists during the 15-game winning streak that the Rockets took into Wednesday's game against Indiana. Shane Battier and rookie forward Carl Landry have stepped up to play important roles. And the ageless Dikembe Mutombo, who will be wagging that finger in his grave, has proved he is still a solid, 20-minute-per-night player. The biggest benefactor of all these contributions has been McGrady, who acknowledged that he hasn't always trusted his teammates. "I've gotten better since I've been [in Houston]," McGrady told me for a story that appears in this week's Sports Illustrated. "But when I was in Orlando, I had to shoot all the time. It's the way it was." Does all this change my opinion of the Rockets' playoff chances? Ehhhhh. Houston benefited from a fairly easy February schedule (though, as one Rockets official pointed out, so did the Lakers). The Rockets' March slate is anything but easy: They will face all of the other top West contenders, with a home game against Boston mixed in as well. A mid-March stretch of four games in five nights against the Celtics, Hornets, Warriors and Suns -- the last three on the road -- will be especially grueling. It's still an uphill battle. "It's a b**** of a conference," McGrady said. Now that I agree with.[/rquoter]
And he'll look stupid doing so. Mainly because, as Hollinger aptly pointed out hours after Yao's injury, we're still talented, and only have to play .500 ball the rest of the season. It's funny how experts like to point to our tough schedule. The Rockets schedule is actually pretty erratic. We play some of the best teams, but we also play some of the WORST. The Rockets will get in the playoffs basically by killing the bad teams while stealing one or two against better competition.
No Rockets official would have said that about Luis. Otis Thorpe left in 1995, but we all know Charles Barkley was a stud, even in his waning years. This guy is makin' stuff up.
Why? The only difference between those "professional writers" and the fans is that they get paid to talk and write about sports. Most of them know as much about sports as the common fan, some like Rich Lord and John Lopez, know less. I say call them out, call a spade a spade.
Sometimes it helps to think a bit before you write an article. Doesn't sound like he did that to me. Sounds rather like he wanted to be one of the first prophets to announce the doom of the Rockets. Look, now we are up four games on Denver. If they (the Nuggets) don't win tonight, and we do, we will be up five games. Anyone with common sense will see us having a hard time blowing a five game lead with 22 games to go. By the way, Denver's schedule is absolutely brutal for the next four or five games. Don't be surprised if we have a 6 or 7 game lead on them by mid-month.
hey at least one of them was from Virginia. heh I think it's good that we have passionate fans that will let themselves be heard when reporters have obvious blinders on.
Someone needs to let Chris Mannix know that the reason they had an easy-Feb. schedule was because their first half schedule was the toughest in the league. So enough of the bull**** about the easy schedules. Like the Coach said, when you lose to the easy teams, the media makes a big deal about it. When you beat them, the complain that it was an easy team. Ask the Lakers if Sacramento (sub-500) was an easy win for them last night!
There's nothing wrong with this post. If it pisses you off, good: that makes you a fan. But there's no reason to abandon reason and go off on this guy for thinking (like most folks) that we won't make the playoffs.
I'm sure this guy picked some of the worst emails he received from Rocket fans but it would be nice if Rocket fans disagreed with the man with a little more tact and class.
If this guy WAS thinking, he'd never bother to make such a stupid statement in the first place. The emails are actually quite accurate. If the guy really knows the NBA, and therefore knows the Rockets team strength and schedule, he'd actually make the "bold" statement that the Rockets are in. Because that's actually the thinking-man's answer to the Rockets playoff chances.
Who cares what this guy thinks. It's his dumb opinion. We all know the Rockets has what it takes to make the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Meh, All I can say to this is, well, "meh". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Meh -P1st, S2nd
