Alright….here goes nothing.
Dear T-Mac,
I’m sorry I forgot how really good you are.
Dear Rick Adelman,
I’m sorry I forgot how good of a regular season coach you are.
Dear Houston,
I’m sorry I counted you out.
Hear me out people, just hear me out. Can the Rockets win an NBA championship without Yao? Hell to the no. Can they win a playoff series without Yao?? Let’s take a closer look shall we. Houston had been on an absolute tear in 2008. 21-4 to start the year off, including 12 of their last 13 (7 in a row) going into the All-Star break. They picked up where they left off and took thw win streak to 12 games.
And then Yao was out for the season. Hearts were broken, heads were shaken and tears were shed. Ok maybe not but you get the point. In any debate I had, there was no way I could justify Houston winning a playoff series with this team. Thus I declared their season to be dead: it wouldn’t matter what they did the rest of the year because at the end of the day they weren’t advancing. Remember, they were still in the lower rungs of the West.
Well Houston, they apparently forgot they were supposed to die. That win streak is up to 18 games in a row. That’s right math wizards, they have won 6 in a row since Yao Ming was declared out for the season. As someone who tried to put the nail in their coffin, I shook off the first two wins post-Yao. I mean come on, what is impressive about home wins over a tired Washington and a horrible Memphis team? I showed indifference by shrugging my shoulders at their home wins over Denver and Indiana. Then they went to Dallas and gave the Mavericks their fourth home loss on the year. That was an eye-opener. And just last night they beat a New Orleans team that has proven to be up there.
That’s two straight wins against playoff caliber opponents in the toughest conference of this decade. Whether I like it or not it is time for me to eat a slice of that humble pie.
Houston currently stands in 3rd place in the Western Conference. That’s a lot different than the 6-7-8 they were supposed to “scrape” their way out of. The teams that they realistically can’t beat in a 7-game series has officially shrunk. We all know they can’t beat the Lakers (too much firepower), the Spurs (too good) or the Jazz (they just own them). If they can keep winning regular season games….they won’t have to face one of these teams in the first round. Granted everyone is neck and neck vying for seeding but stick with me people. Houston keeps winning games (Rick Adelman is pretty good at doing that) and they won’t have to worry about that. Honestly, riddle me this people…would it be that shocking if Houston beat Dallas, New Orleans, Golden State or Phoenix in a series? I’m not so sure anymore. I’m not saying it would be probable…I mean those are all really good teams, but give Houston home-court and T-Mac motivation and would it shock you? I don’t think it would.
Do I think it will happen? No. Do I now think that at the very least it COULD happen? Yes.
They’ve got darkhorse MVP candidate Tracy McGrady who is averaging 25.8 points, 6.1 assists and 5.5 rebounds a game with Yao out. They’ve got Luis Scola who can bang, score and pass from down low. Throw in garbagemen like Carl Landry (he can score too) and Chuck Hayes (he can’t). Sprinkle in Rafer Alston (playing out of his skull this year), glue man Battier, sixth man Bobby Jackson and bench shooters Luther Head and Steve Novak. People…that’s an underratedly deep team full of people with specific roles who all fill them pretty dang ok. Realistically, for the Rockets to even have a smidgen of a chance those role players are going to have to keep stepping up, T-Mac will be T-Mac but they have to raise their level of play to even have a shot.
Had to give the Rockets their props and their moment…but to sip on some Haterade and reinforce my initial point….New Orleans didn’t have David West. The difference between David West and Ryan Bowen is near indescribable. Also we’ll see how you handle that nasty 5-game stretch later this month. Oh you don’t remember? Let me refresh your memory…the one that goes Lakers, Boston then at N’Awlins, Golden State and Phoenix.
Yikes, indeed.