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A small note for clarification purposes

I'm still angry about last night's game. That anger isn't going away any time soon. I think I was more emotionally invested in this team and this season than any Rockets team since the 1997 season (which ended on Karl Malone tackling Clyde Drexler and allowing Stockton to hit that shot...)

And yes, I am being extremely critical of Tracy McGrady today. Deservedly so, I believe. Look, I am an emotional person. I am really happy when the Rockets win. And prone to devastation when they lose. Especially in the playoffs. Last night was just the worst of all scenarios.

Does that mean I'm pinning the loss on McGrady? NO! At least not 100%.

EVERYONE was responsible for what happened last night.
Everyone except the referees that is... you gotta let that go. Scola fouled him. Not hard, but it was a foul. Whether or not it should have been called is debatable, but it was a foul.

To win in the playoffs, you have to do three things:

1. Rebound
2. Make free throws
3. Don't turn the ball over

The Rockets did none of those things adequately in Games 1 or 2. Including McGrady. But also including Scola, Jackson, Battier, Hayes, Brooks, Head, Mutombo and Landry. Without Yao we already had an unfair degree of difficulty in advancing to Round 2. But the Rockets unnecessarily made it easy on Utah. Utah played great in Game 1. Game 2 was different - Utah was vulnerable and gave many, many openings to be defeated. The Rockets did not take advantage. They now need to win twice in Utah. Can it be done? Yes. It can. We've been down 0-2 before after dropping two at home. And we won the series.

My concern is that this team has yet to show that it has the heart of the team(s) that had Hakeem, Horry, Sam and Mario. We need to find (or develop) those kind of players ASAP.