The Playoff Hustle: Put Jack to Use

Depression is a bitch. Bron-Bron is living the basketball high life while Kobe is sitting at home trying to figure out why people don't like him...still. It can't be denied, even by the most hating of haters that Kobe is a scoring god. No one can say that Kobe isn't fun to watch. He is still the most desirable national televised basketball attraction in the world. So why don't people like him? And i don't mean fans. I mean his colleagues. Why don't other players talk about how much they want to play alongside Kobe. The way Amare talks about how Steve Nash is the perfect point gaurd. How T-Mac boasts of Yao's skills. the way the entire Cavs team embraces Lebron...why don't you ever hear anyone talking about how great it is to play next to Kobe..this is why Kobe is depressed.

Trade demands and GM changes aren't going to solve any of Kobe's problems. Kobe has a hero complex. He needs to be the man who brings home the bad guy. or in this case the Larry o' Brien trophy. Doing it three times as Robin only made the chip on Kobe's shoulder grow larger. Batman left, won a ring in Miami, and Kobe is still losing in the first round. So Kobe is upset. He feels he needs a change. But changing his team or location is only going to further stall the inevitable change that Kobe has to make. This is a social change. He needs to become...how should I say this...he needs to become .. cooler. His teamates have to like him. Not just respect him. They have to genuinly like him. Then they may have his back. If they have his back, then he'll trust them. If he trusts them the team will have chemistry. Look at Steve Nash during Game 4 against the Spurs. He got shoved out of bounds and his teamates rushed the scene like he got shot. Two players got suspended for a crucial game, but at least Nash knows they got his back.

Watch this play between Kobe & Raja Bell during Game 5 of the 2005 first round playoffs:


You'll notice that no one comes to Kobe's defense. It's almost as if they have all conspired to NOT have Kobe's back. I wonder what Kobe thinks when he sees this footage. He probably ignores it, brushes it off his shoulder and blames managment. May be management needs to find guys that like Kobe. Or may be kobe needs to spend the rest of the off season hanging out with Jack Nicholson learning how to be cool. -- D. Hogwild

The Playoff Hustle: There is a God

After the Rockets' first round loss to an unnamed assailant, and the tanking of the Phoenix Suns courtesy of the NBA front office, we came to the consensus that this suddenly boring playoffs could only be redeemed with Bron-Bron in the Finals.

Looks like this one could get interesting after all, enough for us to start posting again anyway. The collective aftershock of the Rockets first-round debacle lasted longer than we thought.

It's not that we didn't have posts, we just didn't have the strength the post them, or the purpose until now.

It's probably well understood that the Cavs don't stand much of a chance--except to Cavs fans and Train. And it's agonizing to think that considering how much we hate San Antonio. But it's more important that Lebron just make this thing interesting, in the way only he and Kobe can. To actually think win, Bronnie has to go Oscar Robertson on that ass. 32-13-11... for the series. And presto, legendary status. What the hell, we'll assume that he'll do it. But for now, we're just happy there's a reason to watch this year.

Picks:
aloneconformist: Bron goes Big O (Cavs in 6).
Duke Hogwild: Cavs in 7
Train: Cavs in 6

The Playoff Hustle: Thanks, But We Still Hate You

The Playoff Hustle: We're Still Unbeatable

... maybe we didn't play hard enough. maybe utah played harder. maybe boozer & deron played over there heads. maybe we weren't ready. maybe we need another penetrator...maybe we suck.......i don't know. i love the rockets & i love cheering for them. these moments are tough, but i understand these things happen. hearts get crushed...shit, we did it to new york in 94'. we did it to san antonio in 95'. we did it to L.A. in 86'. we did phoenix the worst..two times...you do it to other teams, & it happens to your team...but if i learned anything growing up watching hakeem, its that you don't bury yourself in the maybe's, you learn from them, and build.

in 1993, after the rockets lost in game 7 to the sonics, the locker room was stagnant with sorrow. hakeem looked up at his teammates and said, " we go from here". ...2 championships later, the whole world knew never to underestimate the heart of a champion...

yes, touching story, blah blah blah. what does that have to do with these rockets? not much, but give a die hard rockets fan a little hope.. hope needs food though, you still need something. a little something to hold on to..tmac said he tried. i believe him. i also believe he'll try harder next year.. yao said, "There is no short cut. The only way to go through this is if you get the next chance, don't let it pass."....that's something. i'll take that.

you can't achieve anything meaningful in life without adversity. this is some tough adversity as far as basketball is concerned...if the rockets are destined to be champions, then they will have to overcome this. -- D.H.

The Playoff Hustle: To Duke, I Call Bullshit!

In our, what now appears to be ongoing, debate on how to appropriately watch the big game, Duke responded to my criticism of his actions during a Game 4 Houston loss in Utah through his Duke Hogwild's Rd 1 Observations on the I Love (Luther) Head blog. He sums it up as something to the effect of: when your team is playing bad, sometimes you need to distract yourself for them to win. Then he proceeded to call me out for going to play with my girlfriend that ate into the first 3 quarters of the Rockets Game 6 at home. Very classy. You see, I'm a man of principle. My girlfriend and I made those plans before Game 6 was ever scheduled. I wasn't going to back out on them, and I never said otherwise.

The truth is, the first post I wrote was just a set up for this bomb right here. I didn't want to have to do it, but Duke couldn't let it drop. Bullshit. I call bullshit. You made that up, dude. You left to go play pool at halftime of that game, when the Rockets were only down 5. Yea, they were really terrible being down a whole 5 points. And even if, for some odd reason, that was what you were thinking, what matters is that you broke our flow of viewership. Whatever you had going on consciously or subconsciously, you didn't bother to tell us about it, so the flow was broken.

And really, what it comes down to is the Rockets lost that game, that's it. The game which I arrived late, the Rockets won. That's all that matters. But on principle alone, I didn't break the flow by showing up, creating flow, then leaving, disrupting flow and returning. I don't know why Duke went to play pool that night at halftime, but it cost us Game 5. We could be preparing for Golden State right now. My actions have had no such negative implications. In fact, the Rockets made a run right when I showed up to Game 6, so one could only surmise that I only boosted the flow in that win. Game. Set. Match.

Duke will only live this down when Houston wins the series.

The Playoff Hustle: Too Good to be True...

WARRIORS 112-118 DALLAS (GSW leads series 3-2)
Yes, it was too good to be true. We thought Dallas was all but shamed for the year. And not to overstate it, but the Mavs by winning, saved the franchise as it currently stands, like it or leave it. If Dallas gets eliminated by the Warriors at home in 5, then only indiscriminate upheaval would have followed... the whole roster gets dumped with no intention of any workable return, those nifty locker rooms get torn down and Cuban puts the team on the market. Yes, like Major League. Jerry Jones then moves in to buy the team and he'll in turn move the franchise to Vegas just to piss off the Super Malouf Bros. 'Cause it's like that between them. Actually, it isn't. Just made that up. But let it be known, Dirk "previously clutch, then strangely unclutch, now clutch again" Diggler saved the Mavericks franchise... at least, until Game 6.

NETS 98-96 RAPTORS (NJN leads series 3-2)
The Raps just can't get a boost. As moral victories go, this one was phenomenal... for the Nets. It just let the young Raps know that they'll always be there--you're gonna have to play that well every game just to scrape by with a victory. Toronto held a 20-point lead after the 1st quarter. But the Nets, as old men typically do to high school kids in the rec. league, just let the Raps play themselves tired and exhaust their adrenaline high.

This brings us to Vince Carter. With everyone in the arena from the ticket takers to security chanting VC sucks and booing the hell out of him every time he touched the ball, the man played more lackadaisical then Tracy McGrady with a 2-0 series lead. We thought, he's just biding his time to make his move, to go on a scoring barrage and shut up all the haters once and for all, or at least, for the rest of the season. But he didn't. It was the most half-assed 30 points I'd ever seen--except for the last 3. Points 28-29-30 made me stand up. A three-pointer to bring the Nets within 1-point in the final minute. The entire arena gasped at once as if to say Holy shit, not this motherfucker! And right then, I thought it was the Nets game to lose. With no point guard (Calderon's sprain was a result of his extra minutes--freak injuries come from being tired, and he was exhausted from extended minutes he's rarely had to play all season) the Raptors looked done. Chris Bosh, though, hit enough free throws to keep the Raps up two in the final possession, but the ball was in the Nets' hands. Vince Carter's hands.

This is it, we thought. VC's redemption. His chance to do that "shush" thing with the index finger to the lips the players seem to love so much. Instead, he drove to the basket (first mistake) and then kicked it out to Bostjan Nachbar (second and final mistake). Of course, Nachbar missed it, but even if he made it, you have a man in Vince Carter that has no imagination. No flair for the dramatic. No appreciation for the finer (petty) things in basketball like showing up your former team or being personally responsible making tens of thousands of hostile fans cry. If he takes the three at the buzzer, it was win-win. If he makes it, it's legendary status, if he misses it, the Raptors fans still hate him, but game 6 is back in Jersey. Believe that Kobe would have taken that shot if he had to rip the from Bokie Nachbar's cold dead hands.

Is this man a Zen god or is this exactly the reason Raptors fans hate him so much? Good enough to reach into the pocket, but not great enough to pay the bill.

The Playoff Hustle: And Everyone Rejoiced... Except Utah

Finally, some playoff-calliber fire from Houston. It wasn't pretty, and the Rockets looked outplayed at times, even outsmarted, but not outdone. In the playoffs, a W really is a W no matter how you Ginzu that shit.

All this with Yao struggling from the field this series. Yao Central has more on that. But finally, Houston, we have a bench. Luther Head finally did something this series--hitting two big shots in the 4th. I Love Head Fan Club shows him some love. And Chuck Hayes, our favorite unlucky so-and-so, drew the charge late in 4th that pretty much sealed the deal.

The fire T-Mac showed in Games 1 & 2 finally returned for Game 5. As well as the "ugly face," lesser known as the "something smells face," but brought to fame by Lebron James in last year's playoffs. Hopefully, it's there to stay.

We're all gonna watch the Golden State Warriors in Dallas tonight. If not for the Warriors' offensive spectacle that obliterates all that is good and fair in the eyes of basketball purists worldwide, then for our sheer hatred for Dallas itself. It can't be exaggerated how much we are enjoying this.

The Playoff Hustle: Happy Trails... 2nd Best Center in the League (Arguably)

I know I'm not the only one who picked Chicago to win. I had the not-so-Baby Bulls in six. But after Game 3, I knew they were sweeping the Heat, which was no small feat given the 50-some-odd seasons of veteran pride sitting on that bench. So... I guess this means Shaq's coming back next mid-season?

We are also happy that Los Angeles is down 3-1. Happy because our friend Justin is sad.

Rockets-Jazz series is tied 2-2. We're not talking about this. Except that Duke spent the 2nd half of Game 4 winning five bucks at the pool table at Barfly. Somewhere the integral need for complete focus on the game was forgotten. My concentration was certainly shaken if for but shock itself that even the most die-hard of fans--which Duke once was--has no commitment to the Rockets winning this series.

Rockets Playoff Musings by Train: I Don't Have Much to Say About That

"Goddamn! Son of a bitch! Shit!!" ~ Nobody has ever said it better than Mr. Cheng.

The Globetrotter Line

Rockets (-5), [O/U 179]. -- Train

The Playoff Hustle: Making Grown Men Cry Since 1994...

Well, after all that business with Andrei Kirilenko crying on the bench over PT--and Charles Barkley having to get cut off to commercial break as TNT producers anticipated a violent eruption upon hearing his about it and still twitching after coming back from commercial break--Utah coach, Jerry Sloan gave him another chance in Game 2. I don't think we'll be seeing much of AK-47 in this series anymore... and shhh, that's the way we want it. Jazz blogs, Retire Sloan and Harpring Sucks channelling Retire Sloan (blogs we actually like in that they hate exactly these elements of Jazz-ness even more than we do), blame Sloan. Big up to Henry at True Hoop for the link.

Don't know why the Jazz let Williams play after Shane Battier Brian Dawkins'd his ass last night. Kid's gotta have a concussion. Rockets up 2-0. Next game in Utah, Thursday (4/26) 9:00pm EST. No fucking around, T-Mac.

Rockets Playoff Musings by Train

For the past couple of days I've been waking up at 6:30 in the morning. Thats about three hours earlier than when I need to wake up. No alarm. No loud banging from upstairs. No smell of fresh dog shit blowing in through the window. Just waking up...and feeling refreshed. I drink my morning coffee and Head to work. I've been taking the longer walk to the B train cause the weather is just so damn nice. The birds seem to be singing their wonderful song just for me. People that pass me by smile and say good morning and I politely nod my head and flash that sexy smile of mine right back at 'em. I feel like I'm in love and yet I don't have a girlfriend and I haven't had sex....for quite some time (we'll leave it at that). Something is definitely in the air and I can't quite put my finger on it....oh wait, thats it. Rockets are up 2-0. I just wiped a single tear off my face. We're Heading to Utah. -- Train

The Playoff Hustle: You're Goddamn Right!

The two teams we hate most in this league (if you don't know which, you're not a Rockets fan.. and that's okay) both just lost home-court advantage. And the Rockets won Saturday. Are we high as a kite?! You're goddamn right. Eat it Basa.

Oh, and Timmy's hanging his head already... does that look like an asterisk free winner to you? Sure, looks aren't everything but ask me if I want Duncan or Nowitzki at the line to tie the game with 0.1 left and I'll give you ellipses... -- R.H.

Rockets v. Jazz, Game 2, 9:30 EST

The Playoff Hustle: Return of the Mac

After a rough 0-6 start from the field, we never lost faith. After 1 point in the first-half we didn't lose faith... and we were rewarded. T-Mac played as big in the second half as he looks randomly holding that mini-ball. Huge. And Yao was solid, tipping the free throw line 12-14. But we think that's what Yao's gonna pull night in vs. Utah.

The difference will be T-Mac... as I stated in The Basketball Jones Playoff Preview podcast... if you happened to catch it. Duke called the line. More antics from Game 1... like the Jazz "defense" on Yao.

In a not so stunning upset--Duke actually picked New Jersey in this series--the Nets beat the Raps in Game 1 of their series... and not because of Vince Carter. Which should offer some consolation to Raptors fans. Of all the first round series' this one has the biggest potential for upset (sorry, Basketball Jones).

I for one believe, however, that Bosh will have to prove he's a big game hunter--is that right?--and carry the Raps to the next round. This is his chance. They need Bosh like lil' Carole Anne needs Tangina Barrons if they're gonna vanquish the ghoul of Vince Carter. Make this house clean! -- R.H.

Detroit beat Orlando... who cares? Chicago beat Miami... head slap!

Duke's Line of the Night

Rockets will win by at least 7.