Banged up shoulder, or an ole' case of the Irish flu, McGrady?

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Recently everyone has been talking about T-Mac's legacy in Houston. To all of this die hard supporters- I'd like to share a little story:

Two seasons ago McGrady went down with an injury (knee, back, shoulder, who knows). Anyways, the Rockets management decided it would be best for McGrady to not travel with the team on road games so he could stay in Houston and rehab since we desprately needed him back before the end of the season. I was at a bar in midtown one night called saez and zukes (don't go there). The Rockets had a home game that night and were headed to Denver the next night to play the Nuggets. I go to school in Boulder and planned my trip back so I could see that game the next night. It was almost 2 am at the Houston bar when I noticed T-Mac had a table, he was sitting by himself. Being a huge Rockets fan, I went up in a completely non-star struck manner to say Hi and ask him how his rehab was going. He had a bottle of Crown Royal at the table and was piss drunk. Way to stay at home and "rehab", asshole.

I sat there at the Pepsi center the next night, reflecting on the subject as the Rockets got blown out by the Nuggets. McGrady was getting paid on the order of 18+ Million dollars that season. He didn't have to play in games anymore. He didn't have to travel with his team. He was told to take all the time he needed, just to get better. Its no wonder he never recovered from his injuries completely- he is the laziest person on the planet. I can't see how people are so forgiving of him. I have to spend 200 dollars a year on NBA league pass so I can watch the Rockets in CO. That made it extra frustrating when I had that watch the rest of that season and this last season knowing T-Mac was leaving all those rockstar team mates of his like Brooks, and Scola out to dry because he didn't give his best. Fine, if it's off season and you have millions of dollars- go make it rain and get all the bottle service you want. But when you're on medical leave during the season and are instructed to rehab yourself, all the while you have millions of fans around the world holding their breath waiting to hear good news about your status- lock it the fuck up. 

P.S- A couple of weeks after the Rockets season ended I saw Battier and K-Low out together in midtown at shot bar (really, really, don't go there either) and talked to both of them for a little bit. They were both really cool and hilarious- especially Battier.

Seattle- you will always be cooler than Utah.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=FranchiseRankings2010-Rockets

         ESPN's John Hollinger published an article ranking all thirty NBA franchises based on success. Houston falls in 10th after the Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, and the UTAH FUCKING JAZZ. I agree they are all great franchises, however, Houston dominates them in regular season wins, playoff series wins, all-stars, and most importantly- NBA TITLES (all stats listed for each team in the article). Hollinger regularly justifies his stats/ rankings by systematic, and mathematical formulas, as he does in this case. This one seems extremely skewed. Once again, Houston gets no love from the national media, namely- ESPN. This is a travesty, but it doesn't surprise me whatsoever.

In the middle of the third quarter of our horrific game against the Raptors, Ariza got the ball stolen- in frusturation he swung his fist in the general direction of the player who stole the ball and got ejected for it. What was that? It looked more to me that he was just swinging his arm in anger- not at the player who stole the ball in an effort to land a punch. However, if he would have connected with that, he for sure would have dropped that dude.

Enough is enough-

If I have to read another article trying to summarize 'my ulterior motives for liking the Rockets' I think i'm going to shoot myself. Just to list a few things i've been consistently reading with regard to the Rockets: "They are a fun team to watch", "They hustle", "It's fun to root for the underdogs", "You want to drink beer with them"- blah f-ing blah. We are a quarter of the way through the season, and are an impressive 12-9 after a difficult beginning schedule. Lets take a look at some of the more impressive wins:

-vs Por Win 111 - 107

-@ Uta Win 113 - 96

-@ LAL Win 101 - 91

 -vs Cle Win 95 - 85

 This doesn't even include three loses to elite teams by one or two points (@Atlanta, La Lakers, @Portland). Sure we've been blown out a few times, but that happens to every team. The nuggets got blown out by the Timberwolves.

We don't have to live in denial anymore- the Rockets are a good team, and they ball hard, thats why we watch and root for them night after night. There are many arguments to counter this. The main one including "its early, this can't go on for much longer once the tiredness and bruises of a long season set in". If there is one team that this is going to affect the least, its going to be the Rockets. We are a young athletic team that sure, is going to get tired throughout the season. But not, for example, as tired as all the senior citizens on the Spurs will.

We have more than enough guys that can step up night after night. Brooks, Ariza, Scola, Battier, Landry, Budinger, and Anderson can all drop 20+ points on any given night, we've seen it from all of them. Couple this with our youth, athleticism, defense, and Rick Adelmans coaching, and we are a force to be reckoned with. Another thing to point out is that none of our big wins have gotten to any of our guys heads. After the game last night Trevor was interview. He was asked about how he felt about the win, he responded with a serious look on his face that "its a good win- but its early in the season , there is still a lot of work to do." The Rockets realize they are capable of great things, and are not going to give up ever this season. For now at least, the Rockets look like one of the top ten teams in the NBA- lets give them some respect.