The concept of a "curse" is overrated, but.........(Now with TDS' shortest recap.)
by grungedave on Mar 26, 2010 9:30 AM CDT
in Random Commentary
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Print4 games, 5 nights, 8 players. Rockets lose to Clippers when they run out of steam late 4th quarter. Lakers next. Joy.
There. That was it. I'm too disgustipated to add anything more. Dave's piece here pretty much says it all. - Xiane
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When is the last time a Houston Rockets team went through the regular season mostly healthy? 1994? And that's only because Vernon Maxwell spent his "unhealthy" time up in the stands in Portland chasing after rogue fans. Even the 1995 team had health issues with Hakeem missing a good chunk of the season and Clyde having to carry the team.
I ask only because during the OKC game, Bill and Matt mentioned that the Durants had their starting 5 together and active for every game except one. The whole season. Compare that to the Rockets and, well... it wrinkles my brain.
The injury history (and general bad luck) associated with Yao Ming is well documented. But the Rockets made a big trade to acquire some front-court players taller than 6'6" (sorry Chuck). Only for all of those players to get injured... forcing us to keep playing the shortest center that ever started an NBA game. Jared Jeffries... OUT (achilles). Jordan Hill... OUT (ankle). Hilton Armstrong... OUT (Brian Cook disease). Kevin Martin... OUT (shoulder). All at the same time. The odds of that are not quite as bad as the odds of filling out a perfect NCAA bracket, but they are still rather on the unlikely side.
And yet this seems to be a recurring theme with the Rockets.
Every year.
Now, since we can't exactly pick up the entire team and move them to Phoenix where there are magical doctors just waiting to take perpetually injured players and breathe life into them (Nash, Grant Hill, the FatAss... even Amare being the only microfracture success story) - what do the Rockets do?
I rip on everyone who suggests that the Rockets try to sign Chris Bosh. Or LeBron. Or DWade.
But I'm starting to get the feeling that even LeBron would become a walking catastrophe waiting to happen were he to wear the good guys' jersey here in Houston.
So, uh, yeah, this is just me venting frustration because there are no good answers. Unless there is a magical wizard that put a curse on the Rockets long ago. With the Rockets mostly out of playoff contention and already shifting into "maybe next year!" mode, I just don't know what to do.
Fortunately, Luis Scola seems to have avoided the injury bug. He's the only one. I hope I didn't just jinx him.
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I know what you mean
I don’t know whether the Rockets’ injury history is associated with strength and conditioning, Keith Jones, or just bad luck in general. I hope it’s the latter. I also hope that the bad luck runs out soon so this team can make a run next year.
Maybe the Rockets should steal away those magical doctors from Phoenix…
How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!
When is the last time a Houston Rockets team went through the regular season mostly healthy?
2005? I mean, Bob Sura, Jon Barry and a bunch of other players got injured throughout the season, but let’s be honest here – there wasn’t anybody of consequence on that team other than McGrady/Yao/Deke. I think that counts.
If you're talking 2004-2005
The Rockets had Sura and Barry healthy for the playoffs, but remember that Juwon Howard came down with that crazy heart infection thing right before the series against Dallas. That’s why Ryan Bowen had to shut down Dirk and the Rockets offense was even more inept that usual because Dallas rotated off Bowen as if I were out there.
How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!
Sura was not healthy for the playoffs
had a flu or something of that nature. Think he might have had his knee drained also. Wesley didn’t look good either.
by goingforthecorner on Mar 26, 2010 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions
He did have his knee drained
But he played pretty well in that series. The Rockets lost because of their inability to guard Josh Howard of Jason Terry.
How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!
no
they lost because my brother didn’t have enough time to beat up all the dipshit Mavs fans in the stands. true story.
And I never want to see the score “88-82” in the Rockets’ favor ever again.
well, yeah
If we’re gonna lose, I’d prefer losing in a way that doesn’t require us to blow a 6 point lead with under 2 minutes to go. In back-to-back games.
You mean because your brother was being such a dick that the only decent Mavs fan I know had to leave?
www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer
Are we forgetting the obvious?
David Stern did not allow the Rockets to win that series.
www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer
Fair enough.
What about ‘04? I think everyone was healthy then, Steve’s nagging injuries (and JVG’s hate for him) aside.
Don't forget my hate for him too
But yeah the team was healthy. Just not very good.
How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!
One thought on Scola magically avoiding the injury curse:
You know how we always got mad that Scola wasn’t getting in much for the 4th quarter? That he could do so much more with more minutes? Well he’s also played at least 22 seconds in every game of his NBA career.
09-10: Scola is 5th on the team with 31.8 minutes per game.
08-09: Scola is 6th on the team with 30.3 minutes per game (Yao had 33.6).
07-08: Scola is 5th on the team with 24.7 minutes per game (Yao had 37.2!).
If we’re going to make a championship run in the next couple of years, we have so much depth that I would encourage the Rockets brain trust to limit all starters to 35 minutes or less (barring bench injuries) and Yao to less that 30. We’ll lose a handful of extra regular season games like this (a la the Spurs) but won’t be decimated come playoff time.
I agree with this concept......
Morey needs to put the numbers in order for this concept and maybe it will turn out genious for our team and we are injury FREE, NEXT SEASON!!!!! One should hope…..
Because otherwise we have a serious problem with this and yes it has happened way too many seasons in a row, I see all these Rockets commercials with our state of the art fancy conditioning equipment, can any of it prevent injury from reoccurring??……Keith…can you help us out?
MJ did it
Jordan cursed the two teams who passed him up in draft.
W/Portland his curse got Bowie,beat them in Finals,the Jailblazers and now is about to ring up Portland’s successful GM.
W/Houston his curse wiped out the backcourt on cocaine,got Sampson and kills the team w/crucial injuries. For two yrs his curse reversed itself when he turned his back on basketball to play baseball,but once he came back it returned w/a vengeance. It’s even strong enough that his low-ball offer for Bobcats beat out a much higher offer from a former Rocket minority partner.
When you say "offer"
I hope you don’t mean that Jordan actually put up any of his own cash…
Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.
battier just announced
that hes out around 4 weeks
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Mar 26, 2010 11:38 AM CDT reply actions
If there were more easy shots
than we’d probably see less injuries. In this offense and in Van Gundy’s, they were all working so hard for every bucket…that’s gonna catch up with you. If we had a backup center that played 20-25 minutes a game, maybe Yao wouldn’t have been so worn down. But there have been a few freak injuries as well. With Kevin Martin, Battier and Yao on the same team, the injuries will probably keep on coming.
I blame Tracy.
Seriously, we go to New York, and everyone falls over dead afterwards. Coincidence?
Minnesotan Rockets fan
Crazily enough
Those two guys never seemed to get injured. The one time when Rafer got injured towards the end of his time here, AB played out of his mind and the Rockets took notice.
How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!
can we give awards out to players
that avoided injury this season or the player with the least injuries this season… it think it should be appropriate.
I think we should take Scola's anti-bodies and inject them into every Rocket, except Armstrong, at least if he's injured he has an excuse
He’s a phenomenon. He’s 30, plays more games year-round than some people play their entire career, has played more professional games than most other players in the NBA and doesn’t get injured. Plus he spins more than figure skaters. I’ll take two scoops please.
scola played fiba basketball
most of his career, only 3 with the nba where it’s played more physical, almost a different kind of basketball altogether.
Still though
How many games has Scola missed his entire NBA career? Whether it’s NBA ball or FIBA ball, Scola plays Scola basketball: banging bodies, going for every rebound and loose ball, taking charges, running on fast breaks and getting elbows from Derek Fisher.. He gives 100 % every game and plays defense. It’s one thing to give 100 % on offense, but to do it on defense also is rare these days. No matter what league you play in, doing that night in and night out year round has to take some kind of toll on your body and requires excellent conditioning. Not to mention Scola’s almost 30. There are younger guys who can’t or just don’t provide that kind of effort. How many NBA players can you name that played year round last year and haven’t missed one game this season?
I wish..
We still had Pete Chilcutt…what a name!
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