Here we go again!!! Heh, heh, heh....

I'll tell you what...when we make the playoffs on the last game of the year, The Cat and I will gladly bend over for some low-fiving, sunshine ass-kicking, no-hold back licking helluva cc.net party!!!!!!!!!!

Line Up now to reserve full-monty slapping position.

 

What a JACKASS!!!

The Rockets will be in the playoffs you b*stard!

I am also a BELIEVER Heypartner, but I dont know if I wanna join you and Cat in that orgy of yours!

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Here it is, my post from Nov 06th, 2000 predicting lottery for the Rocks... Enjoy! (Notice the list of teams I mentioned as having a go-to guy - only ONE isn't in the playoffs - Seattle - replaced by Dallas).

Just want to see how many of you will still go off on me for being a "bad fan" just because I was realistic at the beginning of the season.

Those of you who would like to read your own funny rebuttals (there were many good ones, too), click here:

<a href="http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009353.html">http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009353.html</a>
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I will post my original message concerning this subject again. For those of you still harboring hopes of making the playoffs this year, you'd better hope Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Shaq, Rasheed Wallace, Kobe, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton all end up hurt for most of the season...
---------- From original post ---------
Friends, let us brace ourselves for another lottery season for our beloved Rockets.
Last year, I predicted this and everyone flamed me off this BBS. This year, let's hope we can honestly discuss this rather than get nasty, OK?

I would like to believe otherwise but ever since the preseason I have questioned whether the Rockets would be capable of having a respectable season. Granted, I do think that they will have some improvement over last year, but the West got a lot stronger during the offseason, and those little wins against the Lakers and Blazers we got last year are just not going to happen this year. Take the Mavericks off our list of "sure wins", plus the Kings are still going to give us fits.

This is not to say that the season will not be exciting. I will have much fun watching the Rockets grow and learn and hopefully provide a lot of good entertainment. But, as young and inexperienced as they are, I don't hold any illusions that they will make the playoffs this year any more than they could have last year. Let's break it down:

Maurice Taylor - great player, playoff appearances = zero - also a weak rebounder who doesn't look like he's going to improve much

Cato - inconsistent, young, and foul-prone. Not going to make a huge difference

Francis - never been to the playoffs - still has a lot to learn about controlling a game and when to shoot vs. when to pass.

Mobley - probably the ONLY guy on this team that is a TRUE stud and to me is the real team leader and star. But, still, not going to make the difference between playoffs and lottery... Maybe on another team but not this one.

Olajuwon - still can be somewhat effective rebounding the ball, but teams aren't even double-teaming him anymore. Since the Rockets used to live and die by Hakeem's passes out of the double team for 3's, I don't expect Olajuwon to make much of a night-to-night impact.

Shandon Anderson - scrappy, tough, good defender but is still a role player. You don't win championships without good role players. But good role players don't win without legitimate go-to guys. This team has one in Mobley but he's not going to carry us out of the lottery single-handedly.

Walt Williams - this guy has been on so many teams - and he's never had a major impact in the playoffs. I don't expect that to change this year.

OK - let me clarify my point. I don't think it's been understood properly.
You can have all the best role players in the world playing team ball together, and they won't beat the '94 Houston Rockets. Why? Because when the Rockets needed points, they could ride Dream like a horse and he would deliver for them. Granted, the Rockets also had team concept, and I'm not downplaying that, but WITHOUT THE GO-TO GUY (Hakeem), they wouldn't have made the playoffs. Can you honestly say that Vernon Maxwell, Kenny Smith, Otis Thorpe, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, and Matt Bullard were going to make the playoffs without Dream?

So, my point is not that team ball is not important. It is... In fact, it is what has to happen in order to maximize the potential of your STAR PLAYERS that are GO-TO players. But, you have to have the GO-TO option FIRST in order to come up with your solid game plan. For the Rockets, it was center oriented, dump the ball in, rotate it around the weak side out of the double team for a three, or let Hakeem kill you himself. For the Bulls, it was run the triangle, get MJ open and let him kill everybody or find a cutter to the basket. For the Showtime Lakers it was dump it into Kareem and let him sky-hook all over your ass and then Magic would fast break past everyone in the league. For last year's Lakers, it was give the ball to the big fella because noone can guard him.

Think of all the playoff teams last year in the west - top to bottom. Name one that did not have a go-to player:
LA - Shaq / Kobe
Portland - Steve Smith / Rasheed Wallace
San Antonio - Tim Duncan / David Robinson
Phoenix - Googs and Hardaway
Seattle - Payton
Utah - Stockton and Malone (as usual)
Sacramento - Chris Webber
Minnesota - Kevin Garnett and Terrell Brandon

All those teams have the same go to guys with good role players around them, and in some cases, even better (see San Antonio and Portland and arguably LA after adding JR Rider and Horace Grant). How the heck are the Rockets, with Kid Francis, Cat and Mo Taylor going to crack that lineup, without some major injuries to key players???

Anyone got any REAL rebuttal to that, other than a juvenile insult or remark that doesn't even answer the point???


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Let me get this straight...you're patting yourself on the back for not believing we could make the playoffs and being proven right?

What's next, rejoicing in predicting a hurricane wiping out the Gulf Coast?

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Behad
Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS

 

you should've waited a little longer before posting this.

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http://www.democrats.com

mgh 1925-2001

 

I flipped a quarter today and called heads. And to my suprise, it landed on heads. Now bow down to my superior knowledge of the future!

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I am an invisible man.

 

Yeah, until after the season is over (or until the Rockets are mathematically eliminated).

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Every reply to this email is just the type of well thought out and intelligent response I would have expected.

No, I'm not patting myself on the back for being right. I'm trying to educate all the lovely posters who flamed me BOTH times I predicted lottery for the Rockets. You see, most of you were probably in diapers when I was watching the Rockets play the Celtics in the Finals in 1981. I'm a fan and have been for a long time. Being realistic about your team's chances and being a fan are not two separate things (I probably confused most of you with that last statement).

Anyway, I was just testing to see if there still was intelligent life on this board. I do get some intelligent responses from time to time but I'm seeing that maybe most of those people have left the building too for lack of actual conversation.

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Dude are you even a freakin Rockets fan? Go to hell...

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Actually, you are patting yourself on the back, even though you aren't right.

Congratulations on mananging to come off as arrogant and a bad fan in one post, I hardly thought that was possible.

Oh, "realist" and "fan" are mutually exclusive terms. Be one or the other, you can't be both.

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Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now!

The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.

 

Oh yeah, here's something really intelligent from our good friend R0ckets03:
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What a JACKASS!!!
The Rockets will be in the playoffs you b*stard!

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Oh, I guess you were talking about 2002 IF we get Webber... If we don't get Webber, you were talking about 2005, right?? You clever little guy!!!

And from our super IQ genius heypartner:
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Line Up now to reserve full-monty slapping position.
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The boys on the team must have been listening because they just lost to the FREAKIN' NETS, who slapped them around like the LOTTERY team they are this year. But, I bet you knew you were talking about that, huh??

And last but not least, my good friend The Cat:

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Here's my answer: we will be in the playoffs. Until we are eliminated please refrain from these types of posts. Be ready to get a lot of smack from the BBS after April 17 and when we are heading to the postseason...

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OK, yeah, sure, right... I'm waiting for the smack from this BBS... Woo, I'm REALLY scared.

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OK - OK - OK... Let's all calm down here. I do hope the Rockets make the playoffs. Of course I want to be wrong.

This was merely a test to see if there was anyone who actually wanted to DISCUSS this with me, hence the part from my original post:
"Anyone got any REAL rebuttal to that, other than a juvenile insult or remark that doesn't even answer the point???"

I guess I can give up on the idea of someone actually reading and thinking about what I said back in NOVEMBER about the Rockets playoff chances (and, yes, they WILL NOT make the playoffs this year no matter how much you try to fool yourself into thinking they will).

I'm OUT!


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Axeman,

To many posters, sports (in this case Rocket ball) is comparable to religion in the sense that there is a lot of blind faith. Realism is for upper management, optimism is for the fans. So when you go to great lengths to disprove the beliefs of many of the posters and then to be smug and challenge their intelligence, you should expect emotional responses. Now, while your original post did provide insight and may, in all probability, come to fruition - this is just one big "I told you so!". So you say you want some intelligent responses? I say give me something intelligent to respond to.

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[This message has been edited by B-ball freak (edited April 02, 2001).]

 

I was graduating high school in 1981. Where were you?

You were patting yourself on the back:

Ask yourself: Are we suppose to enjoy the Rockes making the lottery or enjoy the fact you predicted we would be in the lottery?


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Behad
Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS

 

Let me get this straight Axeman, you predicted that the Rockets would be in the lottery, and after a tough loss you run to the board and BRAG about the Rockets possibly missing the playoffs, and patting yourself on the back, and you wonder why people ripped into you and don't like you!? Nobody needs this garbage, you can pat yourself on the back and be happy the Rockets missed the playoffs, but I hope we make it. And if it means that we don't have any "intelligence", because we're not celebrating missing the playoffs, well then whatever.

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Meow!

 

#1 - I would rather the Rockets be in the playoffs. The only reason I put this here is because when I originally posted it I got flamed so hard when I wasn't even trying to piss anyone off. My original post was simply an opinion that I wanted to share. Since everyone flamed me so hard (with a few exceptions, of course), I wanted to "rub it in your faces" so to speak, as your abuse and criticism was unprovoked and unnecessary.

#2 - gr8-1 says:
Axeman, you weren't the only one who predicted the Rockets were lottery bound. You're just an arrogant prick about it. DaDakota and I have said we thought the team was a year away.
You make the Rockets sound like a BAD team. Inconsistent, yes. But bad ? No, they're over .500 and are in playoff contention.

Even if you are right, you're a dip**** for gloating about it.

I predicted Vince Carter would average over 25 ppg this year, am I asking for praise ?


First of all, congratulations, you also saw the real picture. If you had a bunch of people start insulting you because of it you might want to put an EXCLAMATION point on it if you were right. That's part of what BBS is all about, right?

I never said the Rockets would be a BAD team. In fact, I said they would be improved. But, I said they would not have what it took to make the playoffs in the West, which is loaded... Hence my assertion:

Granted, I do think that they will have some improvement over last year, but the West got a lot stronger during the offseason, and those little wins against the Lakers and Blazers we got last year are just not going to happen this year. Take the Mavericks off our list of "sure wins", plus the Kings are still going to give us fits.

This is not to say that the season will not be exciting. I will have much fun watching the Rockets grow and learn and hopefully provide a lot of good entertainment. But, as young and inexperienced as they are, I don't hold any illusions that they will make the playoffs this year any more than they could have last year.


Anyway, this is all so pointless and I regret ever making this post. It was stupid of me to think that only the people who flamed me the first time around would read it and get pissed off. I've managed to piss others off and I apologize.

Back to the Rockets...

If they get Webber, they'll be in the playoffs next year (if their health holds up) and probably a 3rd to 5th seed at that (a legitimate go-to guy will do that for you). If they don't, I AM willing to wager that they will not make the playoffs until 2005 season. Why? The rest of the West is just too young and too good. Dallas, LA, Portland, Phoenix, Minnesota, Sacramento (where Webber will stay if we don't get him, I think), and San Antonio all have GREAT young nuclei that will still be good (if not better) for the next 4 years. Utah is the only exception but I don't think the Rockets will move up. I think Seattle will get it together during this offseason and make a run. Plus, as long as they have Malone (and he could be playing for like 10 more years as healthy as he's been) they will make the playoffs every year. Maybe not as a high seed, but they'll be there.

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Also, just for the record, it's not that I don't think the Rockets will be good, I just don't see them getting very far with Francis and Mobley as their main go to guys until at least 2005. They need a big man who can really score and rebound, in my opinion. Remember, before Hakeem had his "reawakening" the Rockets were falling out of contention. He really gave them a lift and when he went down the team started to suffer. I think that says a lot about the Rockets weakness and why they KNOW they need Webber if they are going to contend at all.

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Axeman, the tone of your post makes it sound like you're rooting against the Rockets, but I assume you are a fan.

Also, you knew your post would cause a ruckus here. Most of us hold the Rockets pretty close to our hearts, and you're basically gloating becuz you predicted their demise.

They are a much better team then last year, and that's good enough for now. I will go on record as saying I expect them to make the playoffs next year.

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"norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."