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It is impressive.
It's so impressive there's a 10 page thread on it in the NBA Forum.
That said, Spurs still owe those es for 1995.
It is impressive.
It's so impressive there's a 10 page thread on it in the NBA Forum.
how awesome would be for the spurs to end this streak
not as impressed when you look at their luck. they have played every contender when they were missing a key player, and tomorrow they get Boston on night after we play them..... Which we have to play Boston on St Patricks Day, for God's sake.
Until they get out of the 1st round with TMac, who gives a .
Is it true only 9 of those teams are over 50%?
if true, it is not that impressive
What he said.
Damn impressive!
Sean Elliott was on First Take this morning and he commented also on how impressive this streak is. He went on to state that 22 in a row is impressive - at any level - much less the NBA level.
Bingo...
In particular the best Rockets best opponents have not only been injured...but in fact, missing their top bigman.
The most impressive wins in this steak are the wins@Dallas and @LA...the Mavs who just so happened to be missing Dirk Nowitzki, and the Lakers were missing their stating C and PF.
Just like the Hornets were missing David West.
Don't get me wrong...22 wins in a row is impressive and a tribute to bringing consistent effort night in and night out...but they have been catching some teams shorthanded. And the teams have been shorthanded in the areas that are clearly the Rockets weakness...interior D.
In particular they have entirely avoided the one team that will exploit their inexperience, age and lack of athleticism in the paint...the Phoenix Suns.
Here are the teams the Rockets will struggle against...both in continuing this streak, and in the post season:
The Jazz
The Lakers(when healthy)
The Spurs
The Suns
You know how many of those teams they have played in this streak? Only the Lakers, and they were missing their starting C and PF.
The Jazz were the last team to beat them in fact.
It's pretty much a proven fact that Adelman teams adjust to losing a player to injury extremely well...they also capitalize on the injuries of other teams unflailingly...
This overachievement mentality tends to lead to the belief by themselves that they are better than they actually are, which in turn leads to whining disbelief by Adelman and all his players and fans of his teams as they are getting eliminated from the post season by those mean old referees.
We can't argue with their results. 22 wins in the NBA is impressive no matter how you get them. It still does not mean that they have a shot against any legitimate WC contender though, which is the saddest part of all.
HOU's fan base, their team, etc. are all in for the biggest disappointment when they receive another early 1st round exit.
If they had any brains at all they'd trade Ming this off-season.
This is true also...Yao is a bad fit for Adelaman, and IMO TMac(and Scola)...
The problem is that they won't get equal value in return for Yao.
And the biggest problem of all of course is the fact that Yao's game is perfectly suited to winning championships in the post season...whereas the game of Adelman is not.
The 30 of 33 part of their streak (or whatever it is) reminds me a lot of the 1999 Spurs at the end of that regular season. With that said, I agree that there seems to be some good fortune involved in at least a few games. Even with that luck, there's certainly something to be said for playing confidently and with a belief that you're going to win -- not just a hope that you might win.
After this 4-in-5 that they start tomorrow night, the Rockets' schedule is pretty soft the rest of the way, too. What we all hope will be a tough roadie for them in SA (but after 3 full days off) they get 4 straight on the West Coast but no playoff teams (SAC, PRT, SEA, LAC). They have a stretch of 3 in the last week that includes PNX at home and road games at DEN and UTH, too. But on the whole, they finish up pretty easily.
I think might dodge another bullet by catching the Celts without Ray Allen, not to mention on the second night of a back to back.....I hate Ray Allen as much as the next guy...but his shooting is a real ...he's a fantastic freaking shooter.
Still...Garnett is going to present a challenge for the Rockets they haven't really had to deal with.
I'll say if Allen is healthy the Celtics definitely end the Rockets streak...if he isn't it will probably continue.
I could easily see the Rockets dropping 4 out of their next 7....to Boston, New Orleans, Phoenix and SA.
The only one of those teams they have beaten in this streak is New Orleans...and they've beaten them twice, but once they were missing David West.
When is someone going to bring up Brent Barry and Luis Scola in this thread?
Oh, I see (Scola) was added, good one!
just FYI the rockets beat the living crap out of the hornets when they did have west earlier in the streak.
also, we have been missing carl landry for the past 5 games. we have sorely been missing his energy, rebounding, and scoring but still continue to win. and he isn't just some random rookie we can live without. the guy has been phenomenal since he has started playing.
oh yeah and we are missing some chinese guy that we had won 16 in a row with when he was healthy.
anyhow...i am excited about the boston game tuesday. it will be a good measuring stick. i still believe the rockets will win but we need landry back because i am afraid scola will get in foul trouble too quickly against kg.
oh yeah and we need t-mac to quit being a and act like he actually wants to be out on the court. that had to be the saddest thing i have ever watched at a basketball game. kobe was just embarrassing him and princess t-mac looked like he didn't give a damn.
...moving on from my rant...my point is just that the rockets haven't lucked their way to 31-4 this year. it's been awhile but we actually have an entire team with good talent and heart (well one questionable heart).
When is someone going to mention that the Rockets recent defensive surge is likely due to the fact that nearly every good team they have played has been devoid of it's top interior scoring threat.
I wouldn't expect a guy citing their excellent defense to bring that up...but I'd think someone would.
Luck is not really much of a factor. The Rockets are fun to watch, as far as I'm concerned. They look like the Spurs look when they are hitting on all cylinders, offensively and defensively.
The Rockets' defense under Rick's direction is what is surprising people. Rick is more of an offensive mind but it looks like this team has kept the defensive intensity preached by Van Gundy in previous years.
IF you'd ever seen Rick Adelman coach prior to this season you'd know none of that is really relevant. He squeezes offense out of bigmen like TMac squeezes choke out of a first round playoff series.
Not the same thing due to the nature of Adelman's teams.
We gave you credit for winning 22 in a row, but you seek credit for beating elite teams when they weren't elite. You aren't going to get it....now matter how many excuses you have.
You can't claim greatness on the grounds of your 22 game winning streak and then claim poor little us simultaneously.
Which is it...are you 22 wins in a row good, or are you beat up and vulnerable in the paint?
They play great perimeter defense but their INTERIOR defense is horrid. If we had Bynum or Gasol we would have dominated their midget front court, owning them on the glass and with points in the paint. They are extremely lucky the Lakers were down the one piece they needed the most to exploit HOU.
Remember though the Rockets are missing Yao a good part of this stretch too so even though other teams are missing one there stars, so are the Rockets.
Adelman has had some good defensive teams in the past, but what he coaches isn't fundamental defense...he's more of the hack and swipe school.
The Kings actually had 1 or 2 really good defensive teams...but ultimately, they weren't a true defensive team. And neither are the Rockets....as Mr. Duncan is going to prove.
Still not Van Gundy's stodgy defense which relies on court spacing on offense to bring all the defensive players back at the same time because of the offensive spacing.
No, this is Rick's defense particularly the same principles that he had in Portland. But the Rockets do defense right. Force bad shots and players into position where they don't want to take their shots. Good help defense and double teams. Portland also had a very highly rated defense when Adleman was there.
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