Yao-ch: this one hurts.
I almost cried when I saw the headline: "Yao out for the rest of the season."Anti-Rocket friends and basketball buddies promised me this would happen. I told them this season was different, that Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady would stay healthy enough to lift the franchise past the first round. I asked them not to laugh at the idea of a San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets Wetsern Conference Finals. Now, the joke is on me.
That series I longed for seems like a ridiculous idea. Sportswriters and sportscasters already considered the Rockets an afterthought to the Pau Gasol-injected Los Angeles Lakers and the Big Cactus's (how many nicknames can this guy be allowed?) arrival in Phoenix. The NBA viewing public already seemed more interested in hyping the superstar trades than a fair analysis of the top teams.
Imagine what that hyperbole will amount to for the Rockets now. Here is everything you can expect to see on ESPN, TNT and NBA TV this week: The Rockets are done, stick a fork in them, they cannot win in the West without Yao, kiss those playoff hopes goodbye, they are not good enough.
Stephen A. Smith, Charles Barkley and Frank Isola can say whatever they please. The Rockets mustn't listen.
The revelation from team doctors that Yao's stress fracture will sideline him for the season and playoffs is cause for grief. This team was rolling in the kind of way that only special teams do. This was about more than a chance at a perfect February. This was about Rockets 100 Hornets 80; Rockets 111 Golden State 107. After beating up Eastern Conference lightweights, the Houston boys were beginning to knock off the serious demons: teams that had their number on speed dial. Yes, Houston sports fan, you are entitled to enter a funk. You should be upset and mournful. Yao's injury will prevent a suffering and also fair weather sports city from knowing what could have been.
However, here is why the doom and gloom talk should not prevail. The time for the Rockets to band together is now. Quit worrying about Gasol, O' Neal, Chris Paul, Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. The West may be a howling monster this season, but that does not mean the Rockets are prohibited from winning it.
If 10 teams are on pace to win 45-50 plus games and finish at least 10 contests above the .500 mark--and only eight of them make the playoffs--that says something this team should understand: nothing is decided.
The team that clinches the top seed and/or wins the conference will be the one that goes and gets it.
The Lakers winning eight in a row with Gasol secures them nothing in the playoffs. A superstar (or pair of them) wins nothing in March. Tracy McGrady should know all about that. Let the analysts bet against you T-Mac and company, then prove them wrong.
The Rockets can still reach the conference finals. This team has as much physical talent as the two championship squads. McGrady may be one of the five most talented players in league history.
The time for that talent to live up to its potential is now. Rafer Alston's 40 percent three-point shooting and 18 points per game average can not be a 10-game cameo. The learning curve for rookie Carl Landry just increased by a fourfold. When Chuck Hayes finds himself underneath the basket, missing the easy layup will be that much more detrimental. The Rockets will need Steve Novak to shore up his defense so they can use his long-range shooting. Dikembe Mutombo better hope he did not suck that fountain of youth dry last season. The team will ask Luther Head to hit bigger shots. Clanks will carry greater weight.
Bobby Jackson is no longer a role player for the playoffs: his vital role starts now. Shane Battier must still guard the opponent's best player, shut him down and also look for his offense in ways he has not before.
And Aaron Brooks? Any consistency the promising rookie could provide would lift the team.
Finish a rocky season with heart and the performances to back it and these Houston Rockets might find themselves in a late-May Tango with the defending champion Spurs.
It is a tough task, Rockets, but you can do it. This Rockets fan believes in you.
posted by Robert Kleeman @ 6:27 PM
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