rockets dilemma

Make no mistake I love my Houston Rockets.  I love the team’s hustle, scrappiness, team-oriented play.  This is when things are going right.  When we lose focus, we turn from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde.  One on one play (you know who you are ronron, wafer, and brooks), no ball movement, lazy passes leading to unforced turnovers.  This is nothing new to me, it’s been like this ever since the T-Mac/Yao Era.  That 2004-2005 team was good, TMac/Yao PnR’s, scrappy role players (loved sura/wesley/barry).  We were poised to beat Dallas  in the playoffs, first 6 games were hotly contested, and then BAM, Game 7 40 pt blowout.  Previous seasons, we’ve proven we can compete with the elite, and yet we get swept in the regular season by the Grizz, or before that the Bobcats.  The past two seasons we’ve shown amazing promise and then have that vomit-inducing loss (damn you Philidelphia) that supposedly “wakes us up”.  Drama’s good and all for entertainment, but I hate turning on a Rockets game and not knowing what I’m going to get. 

Last night’s loss against the Lakers was expected.  What wasn’t expected was the complete 180 we did, the lack of focus/execution/poise/whatever the hell you want to name.  And for all the people saying TMac being out makes this team better, I’d say that’s fool’s gold.  Yao’s been a constant factor and we know he cares.  Ron cares obviously, but watching Ron play more I see nothing practically that makes him better than the TMac from past seasons (barring the current good/bad knee + surgery + blown layup debacle of a season). 

Ron – Great when he’s pounding the ball inside, but settles for off-balance 3 pointers.
Tmac - Great when driving the ball inside, but settles for off-balance jumpers.

Ron – When not passing, dribbles the air out the ball and jacks some shit up.
Tmac – When not passing, dribbles the air out the ball and jacks some shit up (though Mac’s a better passer than ron ever will be).

Ron – Great defender
TMac – Was a good defender back when he moved his feet (people seem to forget his job on Dirk in the 2005 playoffs)

Ron – Takes responsibility for losses, though as much as he says need to fix this/that, doesn’t seem to happen
TMac – Spreads responsibility around team for losses (def. win for ron over mac).  Plus he picked the Lakers on a radio show, wtf man.

I can deal with Ron for now b/c it’s more obvious he cares about playing and the team than TMac does (arguments can be made on whether he cares or doesn’t, but I’m just stating the PERCEPTION seems more clear).  But watching him more and more, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wears out his welcome with his too frequent bone-headed plays.  Loved his acquisition, but I said same when Mac came on board.

And Luis Scola, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?!?  You played awesome against the Blazers, now why are you all of a sudden tentative, fumbling passes causing turnovers, and second-guessing your shots??  GOOD GOD MAN THE FUCK UP!!!

Much as I love this team, they’ve made it so hard to root for them year after year.  High hopes followed by disappointing outcomes.  They show flashes of the brilliant play they’re capable of, but can’t sustain that high level of play.  Well either way, I’m still proud of this team for taking it to the Lakers a couple times.  I’m expecting tomorrow night’s game to be a more hard-fought battle.  I think we can squeak out a win on homecourt, hopefully we’ll be seeing Dr. Jekyll in the building.