Well, don't say you didn't see this coming. Our last go-round was such a rousing success, I got an e-mail from the ghost of Dostoevsky asking for pointers on how to "maximize his word count." At least, I think that's what it was about. I took it at face value.
Anyway, here's Only_A_Lad from The Dream Shake for another edition of Fraternizing with the Enemy. Be warned, we go even further off-topic this time. Enjoy, and as always, play nice with visitors.
DITD:Good to see you again, Laddie! Our last interview was apparently so long, I'm told it took longer to read than to actually watch the game. To alleviate that this time around, I'm going to do my part of the exchange entirely on my phone. You may need to type one-handed.
It's been an interesting week, obviously. You destroy us, then we lose Manu. You lose some more, including a narrow one to the Thunder, then we reel off three-straight wins before getting clobbered by the same Thunder. By the transitive property, that makes the Rockets a better team than the Spurs. What gives?
O_A_L: Thanks, it's good to be back. Yeah, since we last did this a lot has happened. Sorry about Manu. I wish I knew what to tell you about that, but we Rockets fans have never really had to sit through losing our best player to injury. Nope, never happened.
Right now things are crappy. You know that part of "Men in Black" where Tommy Lee Jones (or maybe it was Rip Torn) says that the Earth is always being threatened by something huge and the world is always ending? That's kind of what it's like right now. For the last week or so it has felt like the Rockets were in free fall. For a while they had the worst free throw-drawing offense in league history, but now (thanks to two better games against OKC) they're merely the worst since the introduction of the shot clock. The defense is the second-worst in the league. The Rockets looked simply outclassed for a few games there, and it didn't help that Kyle Lowry was gone (after 15th-man Jeff Adrien stepped on him) for two games, though Goran Dragic looked solid (you guys know about that, right?).
The consolation is that the Rockets have faced what is probably the toughest schedule in early season, and Rockets GM Daryl Morey has said that as long as they get three wins in the first ten games, they can recover. So it's not so bad, I guess. But the fans sure think it is.
DITD: Well, we here at PtR know a think or two about lamenting the state of our defense. [Author's Note: AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH] The last few games have been shootouts in the bad kind of way. OKC just embarrassed us, and the Nuggets game resembled an old ABA matchup, complete with excruciating rotations and poor boxing out, saved only by the hot shooting of our new savior, Danny "MONEY" Green.
You don't have to be Tim Curry in "Clue" to deduce Ginobili's importance to the Spurs, but the real surprise has been the emergence of our young second unit as we enter LWM (Life Without Manu.) Neal's back, and Tiago grows more comfortable by the day, and Leonard makes up for his poor shooting with his gigantic hands.
I did hear about Lowry. That reference to Men In Black is spot-on: there's always a fractured metacarpal, or plantar fasciitis, or a broken nose that is about to wipe this silly little team off the face of the planet. The only way we fans can get on with our lives... is by drinking heavily.
I still believe you're dangerous, but thank Tebow this game's at home. Our splits show us to be a real Jekyll & Hyde team. Then again, there's been an unusual number of blowouts this season; with the compressed schedule, teams are quicker to throw in the towel. That first quarter is more important than ever before.
O_A_L:See, the difference between the Spurs' defense and that of the Rockets is that the Rockets aren't supported by an elite offense anymore. Last year they had a bad defense and a great offense. Now, for reasons that are largely unknown (but it's probably the shift away from Adelman's offense to a more conventional one driven by Lowry) the offense sucks. Bad. Houston is currently 11th in offensive efficiency, but somehow it seems a lot worse to me. The Spurs might have a bad defense right now, but they have the most effective offensive attack in all of basketball right now. They're the '09 Blazers of 2012 -- slow, conventional, and unstoppable on offense. Maybe that's why the Rockets handled them well in December. Matchups be funny like that.
I'm not as down on the Rockets as most of the other peeps at TDS are right now, but I'm not exactly hopeful going into Wednesday night. Second leg of a back-to-back, an away game, and against a playoff lock... the Rockets haven't done well with those sort of games so far. Others will blame that on "heart" or something; I'm more inclined to say it's just small sample size and poor execution. The Jekyll/Hyde thing is true of the Rockets, as well, and I'm inclined to blame that on sample size and the season schedule, too.
Right now everyone's upset because the Rockets lost four in a row to the Lakers, Clippers, OKC, and OKC again. Only the middle two were blowouts, and I'm not _that_ worried about the Rockets' season right now. It could be a lot worse. And there's reason to be excited, what with Lowry playing like a maniac and... well that's it, really. Still, by Wednesday Lowry should be back, and McHale has only really thrown in the towel in a semi-winnable situation once this season -- that game against Memphis. So don't expect the Rockets to rest their starters. They need this win badly. Particularly if tonight goes poorly against the Bobkittens.
DITD:
We're also about to kick off a BABA with a very winnable game in Milwaukee, but I'm not going to bother to make any predictions so I don't look like a fool tomorrow. [Author's Note: ... ... ... ]
For our last segment, let's turn the subject away from disappointing basketball to Houston's true bright spot--the Texans. Are the natives as surprised as the rest of us by this Yates kid, and should those of us in South Texas (historically Cowboys Country) be jumping ship? Make your best argument; I'm very open to it at the moment.
O_A_L:I don't know if South Texas "should" turn towards the Houston Football Astros, but over time it probably will. The die-hards are what they are, but the vast majority of people ("casuals") are more inclined to follow a rising team than a dieing one, if if the former has more history. And, you know, the Cowboys aren't looking too good. Jerry Jones continues to refuse to hire a real General Manager. I think that's really all that needs to be said.
The Texans have finally made good, and it feels great. This city has had to put up with decades of Bud Adams's (occasionally deliberate) destruction/gutting of the Oilers, his eventual hissy fit when the city wouldn't build him a personal Xanadu, followed by a decade of total irrelevancy and/or awfulness from the Texans. That they are finally good, that it has finally happened when Wade Phillips returned to his home (it's odd to anoint Phillips as the chosen one, but there you are), and that it has finally happened despite all of the problems they've faced this year is enough to make Houston truly love the Texans. Houston always supported the team, but there's a difference between support and love. It helps that owner Bob McNair doesn't seem like total slime, and it also helps that the team is genuinely likable. Even supreme douchebag Brian Cushing is more amusing than hateable. I mean, they've got a guy who did this when he finally got the opportunity. Arian Foster writes poetry and did an Olajuwon tribute in the endzone. Connor Barwin looks disturbingly like David Lynch (it's the hair). What's not to love?
The Teejster (alternatively, TJ Yeezy) is a definite surprise. I mean, he's not great or anything, but the fact that the Texans have an average-ish backup is nice. And he doesn't do crazy shit like try to vault over the Indianapolis Colts. I'm a believer. And I totally think they can win at Baltimore this weekend. The real question is if Tebow and Co. can win against New England. Tebow might think he has God on his side, but I'm reasonably certain that Bill Belichick is actually the right hand of Satan, so we'll see how this all turns out.
1 recs | 28 comments
GOL. Call me a hater, but I tend to think that Satan is going to win this matchup.
It seems that Rockets’ fans are in even more limbo than us. At least we can always fall back on “when Manu returns”…
CapHill - January 11, 2012
Rockets are an interesting team. Yes, they failed to get Gasol, but they have so much talented youth that they can probably build a better team with all the chips they have.
grego21 - January 11, 2012
They’ve been waiting for that big move for 2+ years. I understand why their fans are frustrated. That’s why I dread the retirement of Manu and Tim and hope we are either really bad or really good after it happens. Being stuck in the middle must suck.
Edg5 - January 11, 2012
It is, but their assets need to show some level of skill. They are beginning to though. I think they are better off building a core around a few young assets though. In the case of the Spurs, it happened through draft and picking up key players.
grego21 - January 11, 2012
Fans are impatient, need to stop freaking the fuck out every other day. Tired of reading about it, frankly. They want an immediate change.
Also, it’s easy to say “Oh, I hope we really suck so we get a good draft pick,” but it’s entirely something different to actually watch that and deal with it.
I hate the NBA Draft. Were I commissioner I’d get rid of the whole thing. It’s just a way to keep labor costs down. FACT.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Yep. Ask Wizards fans if they are having fun waiting for their number 1 overall pick. And what If you happen to get Olowakandi instead of Duncan? Another year(s) of misery.
Also true. That’s why I thought the complaints of the owners during the lockout about how overpaid role players are was bullshit. Yes, they are overpaid, but how underpaid are good players on rookie contracts? Kevin Love’s contract more than offsets Brad Miller’s this season.
Edg5 - January 11, 2012
Wiz got John Wall. A solid player, but yeah, not enough. Cavs got Irving, but yeah…
grego21 - January 11, 2012
I’m talking about this season. The Wizards we’ll probably finish with the worst record and will get the best odds to land the 1st pick and with it draft Anthony Davis.
But how awful will this year be for Wiz fans? The team is a mess, there seems to be locker room issues and the hardcore fans will have to endure watching a really, really bad product for yet another year. That’s the price you pay for those high picks. And what if Davis is a bust? Back to square one.
For a fanbase like the Spurs’, who hasn’t actually experienced being bad for a long time now, that process would be terrible.
Having said that, the draft is still the best way for small market teams to find top tear talent. But the process of being bad enough to get the pick is awful for sure.
Edg5 - January 11, 2012
I just meant in general. Top draft pick might not change much, for instance. I’d rather be in the Spurs position, albeit, inching closer towards starting over to some degree…
grego21 - January 11, 2012
The Spurs are in a good position. I said this in the last one of these things, I think. They’ll be able to quickly rebuild if they want to.
Teams that should be worried are the ones with cap problems. That’s what kills you today.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Yep. It takes some luck though. Spurs have been pretty lucky. They helped make luck. So did OKC, with Presti at the helm, but yeah, luck…
grego21 - January 11, 2012
“small market teams”
Do people consider Houston a small market team (and as such at the mercy or NY, LA, CHI, etc.)? I’m pretty sure they are a top 10 media market.
And I certainly have sympathy for Yao’s & T-Mac’s injuries but after continuously missing the playoffs or grabbing the 8th seed, at what point does their awesome GM not seem so awesome anymore?
lazNirv - January 12, 2012
I was talking in general. But for all intents and purposes, the Rockets seem to be getting the small market treatment from superstars. They are not on the shortlist for any potential trade despite having enough assets to pull off a trade and still have some depth.
Um when he starts making mistakes? I can’t think of one. Maybe the Scola contract, but that was decided under different circumstances (Yao was still playing). Also, this kind of thinking stems from believing in the narratives the media feeds us. Morey was never this genius that was going to change basketball forever and Kahn was not a bumbling idiot who had no idea what he was doing. Framing our opinions based on those narratives is silly. That’s the only reason Morey might be consider a failure: because his acumen and genius were overstated by the media, raising expectations to an unfair level.
Edg5 - January 12, 2012
5th largest media market in money, 6th in size
At least that’s what WOW says, anyways.
Probably when the Rockets make signings or trades that put them in cap hell, or when they remain mediocre for more than two months into the post-Yao era.
Only_A_Lad - January 12, 2012
The rookie-scale contracts certainly even out things for the owners. So do (oddly enough) most of the max-scale contracts. While guys like Caron Butler are ridiculously overpaid, Lebron, Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight, etc. are all underpaid.
The thing that gets me about the draft is that it’s a total perversion of everything else in sport. For 82 (now 66) games, the team that outscores and outdefends its opponents wins. But then, at the end of the season, we decide to reward the terrible teams for making bad decisions. This isn’t revenue sharing or something — an idea intended to help teams that are in less-populated locations compete — it’s just helping out shitty teams because they have bad management.
Would it really be so bad if Washington had to make a few improvements before it convinced the top talent in the draft to sign there? It’s not like every rookie would go to LA or the Knicks. These guys care about getting playing time. We didn’t see every decent prospect in baseball go the Yankees prior to the MLB draft, after all.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Again, I agree. A franchise as historically poorly managed as the Clippers are now a potential contender because of a few ping pong balls.
Edg5 - January 11, 2012
In the 1996-1997, I saw more free Spurs games than any other time in my life. I have fond memories of that tank job. We had an old Dominique “The Human Highlight Film” Wilkins leading us in scoring. Good stuff.
Fred Silva - January 11, 2012
Most teams that gut their roster aren’t nearly so lucky.
As it stands with the Rockets, I’m positive they could trade Martin and Scola and still win enough games to put them far out of the top 5 picks. Only the last guy on the bench, Jeff Adrien, is a total scrub. Everyone else is at the very least a decent rotation option.
So we gut the team and end up with what? The 9th pick in the draft? Woo hoo. Screw that, I’d rather try for the eighth seed, come what may. But to hear peeps talk about it, that 9th pick will save the franchise. Ha. Good joke. Everyone laughs.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Oh, and Thabeet. And maybe Flynn. They’re scrubs.
Okay, so the first 12 guys are all good. My point stands, I think.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Why did they trade for Flynn? He sucked at Minnesota.
KD1 - January 11, 2012
Flynn was part of dumping the Brad Miller contract and. We gave them Brad Miller and Nikola Mirotic (23rd pick in ‘11 Draft); they gave us Flynn, a 2012 second rounder, and Donatus Moteijunas (20th pick in ’11). So, actually, that salary dump moved them up in the draft and got them a prospect. A bad prospect but a prospect nonetheless. And we’re all pretty high on D-Mo.
Morey is a much better GM than Kahn.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
The aborted Paul trade screwed them royally.
KD1 - January 11, 2012
Raging debate for our preview section: Kyle Lowry vs. TJ Ford. WHO YA GOT?!
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Ford if we’re talking guys who can straight handle. Lowry if we’re talking guys that I’d want on my side in dark alley fisticuffs.
Big50 - January 11, 2012
I’d take Lowry if i’m going into a fist fight.
grego21 - January 11, 2012
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KD1 - January 11, 2012
He’s good at dodgeball fights, not fist fights.
Only_A_Lad - January 11, 2012
Obviously Lowry, because TJ is injured.
Is that not what you meant?
DrumsInTheDeep - January 11, 2012
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