One Houston Rockets Fan & 16 Wins in a Row

- The Season's Over -

One Houston Rockets Fan & 16 Wins in a Row

March 6, 2008

Shane Battier and the Rockets are riding high

So, pretty amazing run by the Houston Rockets, eh?

Heading into tonight’s game against the Dirk-less Mavericks, the Yao-less Rockets have rattled off an improbable 16 wins in a row, including last night’s bitch-slapping of the Indiana Pacers, 117-99. February was perfect at 13-0, highlighted by two wins over LeBron James and the Cavaliers as well as a 20-point sit on you over Chris Paul and the Hornets. And since losing two in a row in mid-January, they’ve gone 20-1.

Yes, Houston employs a well-rounded roster of players that compliment each other’s talents, but this streak can only be described as “insanity.” It’s the longest of the season, a franchise record, and has elevated a team that once looked to be on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture looking in to one fighting for home-court advantage.

Shane Battier Photo Credit: Icon SMI

And it’s gotten a diehard Rockets fan friend of mine worked up into all kinds of frenzied titillation. A simple email to him this morning (“16 in a row? Seriously?”) resulted in this impassioned response (thanks, Darren):

“Seven straight by double digits too. And we have the Mavs tonight without Dirk. And we have people on defensive lockdown right now, and Carl Landry & Luis Scola have been absolute animals on the boards.

We’ve even been playing small ball at times. Indiana tried to run us last night, and [head coach Rick] Adelman went with 6-6 Chuck Hayes at center and 6-7 Shane Battier at power forward (he was the biggest player on our team on court) along with 5-11 Aaron Brooks at PG. Adelman said the five he had out there had never even practiced together as a unit. They immediately went on a 17- 0 run and that was that.

Read an article from John Hollinger on ESPN; not sure how much weight you put in his efficiency rating system, but Landry not only had the highest effeciency rating of any rookie projected over 48 minutes, but also had the highest of any PF in the league.

More praise for his Houston Rockets and their amazing win streak after the jump…

Seriously, though, they’re doing whatever it takes to win right now. From Mutombo blocking four a night when they go big, to Bobby Jackson draining threes while playing small ball, to Landry shooting 73% (not a misprint) since the All-Star break, to them regularly exceeding 50 rebounds night after night, to holding teams under 90 PPG since the streak started, to scoring their top two offensive totals this season so far during the streak, there hasn’t been much they haven’t shown.

They defend better than any team in the league (save Boston statistically, and that is just as much a function of Boston being in the East than them being better defensively than Houston), they’re a top-five rebounding team, they have a plethora of three-point shooters in Head, Novak, Jackson, Battier and Alston, a world-class perimeter defender in Battier, three tough, hard-nosed forwards in Scola, Landry & Hayes, a point guard in Alston who is playing the best ball of his career, and one superstar in T-Mac to hold it all together.

They’ll make the playoffs and make some noise. The only place I can see them having trouble is when the postseason gets down to the nitty-gritty, an every possession counts type of game and they miss the Big Fella down low getting easy buckets.”

Tags: Houston Rockets, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier

4 Comments »Posted by Brian Spencer on Mar. 6, 2008 at 4:36 pm in NBA

4 Responses

As much as I like the Rockets, I think the streak will end against the Lakers. Not only that, but the rest of March is going to be tough. Here is their March schedule

Thu 06 @ Dallas
Sat 08 vs New Orleans
Mon 10 vs New Jersey
Wed 12 @ Atlanta
Fri 14 vs Charlotte
Sun 16 vs LA Lakers
Tue 18 vs Boston
Wed 19 @ New Orleans
Fri 21 @ Golden State
Sat 22 @ Phoenix
Mon 24 vs Sacramento
Wed 26 vs Minnesota
Sun 30 @ San Antonio

I think they will lose the game to the Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics. Phoenix and the Hornets game in New Orleans will come close. As good as their February was, they’ll have to truly prove themselves this March.

Posted by: Marcus on March 6th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

To the post above:

Did you even read what you just wrote?

You said that the Rockets would lose to the Lakers, meaning that their winning streak at that point would be at an amazing 21.

Not that I think you’re incorrect — Houston is undoubtedly going to have to prove its defense against the best player on the planet — but if you’ve been watching their defense of late,they’re definitely going to stand a chance.

Pau Gasol is going to struggle against the athletic forwards of the Rockets,and Kobe is going to regularly see T-Mac or Shane up in his grill.

I think the deciding factor will be the Lakers’ shooting that day, especially for their role players(Sasha,Farmar,and Odom). The Rockets practice very good close-out defense,but as of late,the Lakers have been unstoppable on the three-point line.

It’s going to be a very good game.

Posted by: Dave on March 9th, 2008 at 3:21 am

I agree with Marcus on proving themselves in March. I don’t think the Hornets game will be close (Rockets will win by 10),but I think the Celtics game will be close(If you remember, Houston barely lost to the Celtics in Boston, and both have improved since then. Since it’s in Houston, it pretty much evens them out.).

Dave, you’re incorrect about Pau going to struggle. Don’t forget that Pau is also athletic. Though I don’t see Pau going for over 25, I think he will score at least 20 points. Don’t forget there is also a posibility Bynum could be back.

Also the Rockets D hasn’t faced a great offense in this streak. The best offense they’ve faced has been the Nuggets(or Golden State), but Denver and Golden State doesn’t have a good D either. They also haven’t been up against a team that can run the triangle offense, which is the hardest offense to defend. And no matter who you have defending him, Kobe is difficult to stop(Just ask a good defender in Josh Howard, who got lit up by him). That, and T-Mac will probably struggle going up against Kobe(who’ll most likely be guarding him).

It’s going to depend on who has the deepest bench, as both have a great bench. But like you said Dave, it’s going to be a great game anyway.

Posted by: Chris on March 9th, 2008 at 6:55 pm

Take back what I said about Rockets being even with the Celtics. I forgot Yao was out. The game will still be close though(Boston will win)

Posted by: Chris on March 10th, 2008 at 4:57 pm