A Day Late and Six Points Short: Rockets v. Jazz Game Two
*Insert clichéd NASA quote here*
by Russ Bengtson
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure why I wrote this at all, except for a nagging sense of obligation. After all, Lang already wrote about the game here, and our faithful cadre of insomniac Rockets fans more or less live-blogged the entire game here. But there were still a few things I’d like to address:
(Oh yeah, the Jazz won 90-84. No one was surprised, including the Rockets.)
For starters, you’ve gotta feel for Tracy McGrady. Here he is about to fail to get out of the first round for the sixth (or seventh, I can’t keep track and can’t bear to look it up again) time in his career—which means he’s going to have to endure the same questions for ANOTHER year—and he scores exactly one point in the fourth quarter of the first two games. Combined. You know what, though? This isn’t really his fault.
For starters, the guy goes for 23 points, 13 boards, nine assists, three steals and two blocks. Not too bad. (He’s averaged 21.5 ppg in the first two games, right around what he put up this season.) And with Yao Ming and Rafer Alston out, he’s been forced to be the Rockets primary scorer AND playmaker. Which, of course, other guys have to do too (starts with LeBron, ends with James), but they’re not missing two of five starters and facing a team who just beat them in the playoffs last year. Sure, Tracy’s shooting a larryhughesian 37 percent from the floor, but he’s having all sorts of defenders thrown at him (including an actual kitchen sink for six minutes in Game Two), and having to work hard at both ends of the floor without much of a break. Those numbers up top? He led the Rockets in ALL FIVE categories. This is his fault?
The funny thing is you can’t really blame his teammates, either. They’re a scrappy bunch of overachievers who just aren’t overachieving right now. And if it weren’t for Tracy’s ongoing Firstroundgate, no one would be too amazed/horrified by their going down in the first round this year. That 22-game win streak was both a blessing and a curse, as it got them a higher seed (or even into the playoffs in the first place), but it also set them against the one team they probably wanted to face least. Without two of their five starters. Dikembe Mutombo and Bobby Jackson are great players to have come off the bench. As starters? Not so much. Especially for a team that probably isn’t as good as its record.
As for the Jazz, won by six on the road despite a crap game from Andrei Kirilenko (three points on 1-8 from the floor) and a decidedly meh one from Carlos Boozer (13 and seven). I don’t see much need to discuss specifics because you’ll be seeing them for another round. Deron Williams’s butt hurts, but he still hit his first three threes in the first quarter. Mehmet Okur had 16 points and 16 boards.
So now the series moves back to Salt Lake, where the Jazz went 37-4 this year, having only lost one game since the start of 2008. They’re more unbeatable at home than Macauley Culkin. This does not bode well for the Rockets. Or their fans. Sorry, guys.
P.S. Speaking of things that don’t look good, enough of Craig Sager already. Can’t someone at TNT make him dress like a human being? We know you desperately crave attention, Craig, but you’re supposed to be GETTING the story, not trying to become part of it. If I hear one more player or coach make a sardonic remark about your outfit while you laugh chummily about it, I’m finding a way to loose an entire colony of moths into your closet. You’ve been warned. (From now on, instead of a sideline reporter you shall be referred to as “the sideshow reporter.” Congratulations.)
43 Responses to “A Day Late and Six Points Short: Rockets v. Jazz Game Two”
Apr.24 at 6:48 am
Tariq says:
“More unbeatable at home than Macauley Culkin”– Awesome line.
Apr.24 at 6:49 am
Tariq says:
Before the series began, I had a gut feeling the Rockets would pull off the upset. Turns out it was just acute gastritis.
Apr.24 at 6:50 am
Tariq says:
“You know what, though? This isn’t really his [McGrady’s] fault.” I’ve been in countless arguments about this very point. I agree.
Apr.24 at 6:52 am
Tariq says:
“…(including an actual kitchen sink for six minutes in Game Two)” This was probably the best coaching decision by Jerry Sloan. Mac always has trouble with household appliances.
Apr.24 at 7:34 am
Randy Brown says:
The Macauley Culkin line and introducing the term ‘larryhughesian’ made this the best thing I’ve read all day
Apr.24 at 7:47 am
Jomay33 says:
Great post, Russ. Houston will probably win a game or two in this series though. and they should be with rafer (the best point guard in the world*) about to come back. i really hope rafer comes back so it’ll be a more competitive series.who knows, it may even go the distance at 7 games, right? ….nah!
Apr.24 at 7:56 am
FLUXLAND says:
Russ, ok .. cutting TMac some.. but for him to say he was tired and basically not ready for the 4th or OT is just .. I dunno.. unprofessional at best? Not the mention the it’s all on me its not all on me BS.. I literally sat there with my jaw on the floor? Who says that? I know if I were his team mate.. I’d make sure he doesn’t get out of the 1st round. Oak man would have been pimp slapping him like Pippen in that video..
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I think the Utah fans, during the Rockets introductions should shower them with some: na-na …na na na na ha… heeeEeeeeey… goooodbye! That would be priceless.
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Sad you missed the Sager Bimbo Coles/ Kimbo Slice gaffe.. how, how on Earth does this man have a job is beyond me.
Apr.24 at 8:00 am
Hursty says:
7th time russ.
Apr.24 at 8:10 am
Tariq says:
“I LITERALLY sat there with my jaw on the floor” That sounds really painful.
Apr.24 at 8:19 am
Hursty says:
that article/write up was really good and so true, it sucks that it turned out this way for the team and its fans…. again.
Apr.24 at 8:21 am
FLUXLAND says:
LOL T.. and that’s why my chances of being a scribe are as as good as TMac getting out of the 1st round.
Apr.24 at 8:25 am
TADOne says:
Flux: When I first turned on the Lakers game last night, I heard Marv correcting Sager about Kimbo Slice, saying it sounds like Bimbo Coles, or vice versa. Then I heard Reggie say “Craig, don’t be scuurrred!” It was about this point I hit the mute button. What the hell was the conversation about in the first place?
Apr.24 at 8:27 am
Hursty says:
fire his sharp shooting @ss.
Apr.24 at 8:42 am
FLUXLAND says:
@TAD.. It is my understanding G.K. was showing the team a tape of Slice getting rocked and not giving up. Sager refers to dude as Bimbo Coles. Them suits are clearly affecting his brain cells. Btw, I’m a big MMA fan.. Kimbo is one tough dude… he can take a serious beating and then KO you.
Apr.24 at 8:53 am
Gumdrop says:
Poor Marv Albert, having to consistently deal with both Reggie and Sager must be tough. He is truly the Lebron James of the broadcasting world: a transcendent talent surrounded by dummies.
Apr.24 at 9:00 am
TADOne says:
Kimbo Slice as an inspiration? Nice. First the mosh pit, and now this? Karl is stepping up his gangsta.
Apr.24 at 10:26 am
BETCATS says:
I still blame TMAC. If it is your job to take and make all the BIG shots and or even get your team to the point where somebody needs to hit a BIG shot, it is at least partially your fault
Apr.24 at 10:50 am
Jake Appleman says:
Loved this post.
Apr.24 at 11:57 am
Joel O's says:
It’s not that the Rockets are weak. Even with Yao and Skip back, do you really see them going past the Jazz? I don’t. If not for the Duncan’s Spurs, the Jazz would be last year’s NBA champions. Remember, they outran and outscored the Warriors, who themselves had outran and outscored the 67-win Mavs.
Apr.24 at 12:12 pm
RV says:
Joel, the rockets would have definitely beat utah this yr with a healthy Yao and Francis, first of all, they would have had a better record, so they wouldn’t have even faced Utah, but the rockets are more improved this yr than utah The warriors win was a fluke, they obviously were not a legit contender or threat, just a bad matchup, so Utah might not have even made it to the conf finals. Look at the last 2 games so far, sure, Utah won both, but they didn’t destroy the rockets, so you can’t say having Yao wouldn’t have helped, his 22 and 10, 2 blocks AND 90% FT shooting would have been the difference. Francis, aint franchise anymore, but he gives us another look at PG, and he’s a 90% Ft shooter as well,
Apr.24 at 12:16 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
Carmelo has never been out of the first round. This is his fifth try.
Apr.24 at 12:40 pm
RV says:
tmac f*cked up when he admitted he was tired, because 1) u dont admit it because ur helping the opposing team strategize, 2) makes you look like a punk b/c others guys have done more in the past with just as much and didn’t bitch and 3)he turned it up in the 2nd only after korver D’ed him up, so he wasn’t even fired up from the beginning, so the guy plays 2 qrtrs at a really high level and then he’s tired, like Adelman said, how do u get mad at the team when they gave 100% the whole game qnd still came up short? Tmac however, didn’t do that, so thats why he’s blamed..
Apr.24 at 12:52 pm
Benny says:
No one ever talks about it, but those suspensions last year in the Suns-Spurs series may actually have cost the Jazz the championship, rather than the Suns. Jazz owned Phoenix that year, as I recall. It would at the very least have been a much more entertaining conference finals than Jazz-Spurs. The Spurs could put five empty jerseys on the floor and beat the Jazz on psychology alone.
Apr.24 at 1:22 pm
RV says:
That’s a big stretch, that may be why no one really talks about it
Apr.24 at 1:34 pm
Nick says:
aaron brooks will see us through tonite
Apr.24 at 1:39 pm
Nick says:
or maybe he won’t. i can dream.
Apr.24 at 1:44 pm
Nick says:
As as for T-mac…It’s just tragic at this point. i have hope for next year, but i still expect something to go wrong. It’s like he’s Sisyphus, and every time he looks like he’s close to the top everything comes tumbling down. I feel for the guy.
Apr.24 at 1:56 pm
RV says:
i dont think people should feel sorry for tmac, i dont think he broke down in the press conference last yr because he wanted to win the round so badly, but because people’s criticism broke him down, that being said, people need to lower their expectations and realize he isn’t a kobe/mj/lebron, however, that’s difficult when he says things like “its on me”, even if it was last year, people still remember, he needs to find his player identity and stick to it
Apr.24 at 2:56 pm
Nick says:
I think the point is that he isn’t MJ, Lebron or Kobe. He isn’t an immortal. We can expect more of him all we want but this is what we’ll get. We’ll get a streaky scorer, and a great passer with a high basketball IQ. We’ll get a guy who prefers mid range jumpers to crashing through the lane. I can accept that.
Apr.24 at 3:01 pm
Nick says:
So hursty and RV: co-opt this forum for game chat tonight?
Apr.24 at 3:11 pm
tealish says:
Not surprised Melo hasn’t been out of the first round. He’s not a gamer. Probably the most overrated “superstar” in the L.
(and I know some of you will come out in full force with “DIRK!?!??!”, but Dirk plays with passion and I’d take him over Melo any day of the week first thing in the morning before my morning coffee.)
Apr.24 at 3:39 pm
RV says:
nick i can accept it too, just not for 17-20 mill a yr
Apr.24 at 3:46 pm
Benny says:
Big stretch? They were 3-1 last year against Phoenix. 2-1 this year.
Apr.24 at 4:06 pm
RV says:
not in that way, i mean the way the playoffs unfolded, most people thought the rockets would win, and dallas would win, and san antonio would win, so its a big stretch to say a suspension alone cost utah the trophy, because technically they weren’t even suppose to get out of the first round. A few unexpected things had to lineup for them to get to the conf finals, thats why people wouldn’t focus on the suspension as to why Utah didn’t win it all.
Apr.24 at 7:45 pm
Hursty says:
sure Nick. I’ll be a little late i think and AGAIN i wont have game footage, so i’ll be going by audio
Apr.24 at 11:37 pm
RV says:
great, landry just more than likely broke his nose
Apr.24 at 11:48 pm
RV says:
nope, got his tooth knocked out…
Apr.25 at 12:22 am
Hursty says:
rv- landry OK?
Apr.25 at 12:32 am
RV says:
yeah, he’s back in now
Apr.25 at 12:36 am
Hursty says:
Landry playin again. i wont know the score till i get home… driving sucks. good luck boys!
Apr.25 at 1:18 am
Nick says:
WOOOOOOOOOO CLUTCH CITY BABY!
Apr.25 at 1:46 am
RV says:
before anything else, can SLAM use their influence to get Stern to put a stop to AK’s flopping???? Did anyone see him on that last play?? Its really just getting pathetic, the worst part is a rookie crew probably would have given him the call. I lost all respect for AK, he even called that game 2 flop a foul and the “correct call”, at least say it was a tough call, glad it went our way, something like that, now he’s a flopper AND a liar, i wish someone would actually knock him down so he’d get the foul he wants so much..
Apr.25 at 2:12 am
Hursty says:
WHOO!