(As I've mentioned before, if I don't respond in a timely fashion to posts directed at me, it's because my schedule doesn't allow for monitoring or regularly checking the BBS.) You want the Rockets to be champions? Well, in my book, they already are. The Lakers? Not in their wildest dreams. They've shown their true colors and it ain't Gold. The Rockets Red is showing to stand for both blood and character. I'll concede -- not all of the Lakers are jerks. But the would-be leader, Kobe Bryant, is now captured on tape to be a "sneak-dirty" player. A player, who, while in the thick of play, will bang a knee to your head then snap your head down hard with a forearm to the back of your neck... a player who when he thinks he won't be seen will try to snap his elbow into your throat. I, now, even question whether his knee into Yao's knee was really inadvertent. Then there's Derek Fisher -- apparently a "closet" jerk who decided to "come out" on Wednesday night. His explanation of his "foul" on Luis Scola defies imagination, and the actual event on tape for the whole world to see. He said in an interview before the game, his grandmother told him, "Watch out for the quiet ones" they may actually be tough. I wonder if she also told him that sometimes the quiet ones also will lie through their teeth about their motives because some of the "tough" quiet ones aren't tough enough to man up to what they really did. Running into a pick hard? All he ran in to was your own lack of class. He also said the Lakers "would do whatever it takes to win a championship". If what the Lakers have shown so far is "what it takes" then I don't want the Rockets to have any part of that kind of championship. Interestingly, pre-game, there was a camera-shot of people entering the arena. There were a couple of what looked like guys in there teens or early twenties. One was wearing a jersey with "Worthy" on it. How ironic that the game that followed would in any way have this Laker team seem "worthy" of their ancestry. The talk before game 2 was about "toughness". Are the Lakers tough and physical enough? There is a difference between physical play and dirty play. It's something their coach has neglected to explain to them. This is one thing I appreciated so much about the Portland team. When that series ended I wanted to send a note to Nate McMillan and his team telling them just how much I appreciated and respected them. No one comes to mind when I ask myself, "Who on that team do I really dislike?" They played physical but they didn't play dirty. And as for Artest saying Brandon Roy was the best he's ever faced and people were shocked that it wasn't Kobe or Jordan, he later explained that he was "tired of looking up to Kobe". I have to agree with him 100%. I'll take Brandon Roy any day over Kobe Bryant. He and the rest of the Trailblazers have something Bryant may never have -- class. Roy has a humility that Bryant can't even understand, much less emulate. Seeing Fisher deck Luis Scola I couldn't help but think of the sucker punch by Kermit Washington on Rudy Tomjanovich. It was cowardly and almost ended Rudy's career. This "good, physical" basketball that Kobe and others think is "fun" can end up tragically when tempers flare. If Stern (and the irony of his name isn't lost on me either)can't see that Kobe Bryant is a problem "child" -- and I do mean child -- then he needs to resign as commissioner of the NBA and let someone take over who won't stand for dirty play, flopping, and behavior that is beneath the title of "Professional" sports. (That could be a whole other commentary.) So what will Kobe Bryant's legacy be? If Bill Clinton ruined his legacy with a sex act, then I don't understand how Kobe Bryant has any kind of legacy. On top of cheating on his wife (and I understand that a lot of athletes take advantage of that part of the "sports life") he plays beneath his talent by resorting to childish, cheap shots. There's more to being a legend than skill. Character does count. Hide the tapes and maybe in a few years nobody will remember or care what he did in this game. Too bad that as a society we care so little about such things. Boys will be boys. Yeah, and some boys grow up to become abusive and criminal, beating their wives and girlfriends -- or maybe any player on the court, if, in a childish rage, things aren't going their way. So to me, the Rockets are already champions. If they don't win this series, I won't consider them NOT champions. In 2 games they have already shown the world which team is really a champion in the highest sense of the word.
if winning this series means playing dirty, i am not sure i want us to win, i like us because we aren't cheap, we don't flop (alot) we play hard even without our stars, we continue to show we deserve the title, but we may never get it if things go the way they did in game 2....i like how you mentioned roy and the blazers, i really respect that team, i wish we didn't have to beat them, i wish they would have played someone else, because they are good guys, they don't talk trash, they play hard, they have a likeable guy in brandon roy who is just as good as anyone in the league imo, i have ALWAYS hated fisher, he has always flopped and been a baby, i felt for him when his child was ill, but as a player i can not stand him. as a player i respect kobe's skill, as a person and his basketball character i am disgusted, he talks too much quiet trash (where he says stuff all game, and makes gestures, you're not michael, you never will be michael) if i was rick i would say keep playing hard, when they get tough, get tougher, but don't go beyond that, like you said there is a difference between toughness and dirtiness i expect us to come out strong friday which is important, when we win the 1st we tend to win the game, we need to focus on the starts and ending of each quarter, especially the 1st, the start of the 3rd and the 2nd half of the 4th, not to say the rest of the game should be lallygagged, but we need to be strongest during those periods
I forgot to put one other thought in my original post -- lost in my notes. The other irony is the contrast between Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant in handling adversity. Right now Ron seems to be beyond what anybody would have expected in his response to what has transpired in games 1 & 2. I think if anything, Kobe should be looking up to Ron Artest -- not the other way around. Maybe Ron will be able to offer him some counsel in the off-season as to what it means to grow up and be a real man.
f that "we are already champions" BS i commend the rockets for showing the difference between PHYSICAL basketball and DIRTY basketball how sweet would it be to beat the dirty lakers with hard-nosed tough basketball? we have to overcome adversity instead of make up excuses like "no matter what, we are champions"...thats loser talk lets just clamp down and win this series
Trouble is, too often we separate an athlete's character from his skill. It's sort of like a beautiful women, who when she opens her mouth sounds like a squeaky frog and then proceeds to demonstrate an extreme lack of intelligence... sorta.
Amen. Artest has matured as a human being.. Kobe has matured as an NBA system player.. I'd rather be a good human being, as jerks are never remembered past their moment.
Precisely. I didn't say I doubt they will win. But if last night's game is any indication, the Rockets may be fighting what seems to be a "desired" Lakers/Cavs Final. I absolutely agree and even posted it in another thread. I had said that beating the Lakers would be almost as sweet as beating Utah and/or Dallas. Well, after last night's game, the Lakers have bumped themselves to number 1 on my list.
And to add something else, that's why I don't think Kobe will ever be a "champion" in my book. He may be good on the court, but a real champion shows class and destroys his opponent with ability and wisdom, not thuggery. Thus, he may win all these championships and awards, but at the end of the day, he'll be lonely and unsatisfied b/c he has not conquered the most important trait of a true champion--being a human being.
Yes, I bet he gets a bizarre reaction to "walking into a room". I think the conversation would get quiet but not because of his towering personality.
Thanks. I don't start threads very often -- when I get really exercised about something. And last night was over the top for me. As far as spreading it, have at it.
I am actually very proud of these team because Shane, Chuck, Brooks, Lowry, and even Yao (although I hate it when he does) take legit charges and don't flop. Scola will flop about 40% of the time, but considering he never gets the call and it usually leads to an easy dunk or lay-up, it hurts us more than it helps us. To stand up and punk the Lakers to the point where we are actually in their heads, is an amazing feeling. And to hear people talk about our toughness rather than our tendencies to choke away when confronted with physical play is also a great feeling. I really hope we re-sign Artest because he and Yao are a great Ying/Yang personalities for this team.
Some will overlook the personality and say it is so. But I don't think even on that level he is as good as Jordan was.
If he maintains his high level of behavior I think it is possible. But even if he doesn't his contribution will be somewhat like JVG's. This team didn't have a defensive identity until Van Gundy instilled it in them. And now, even after he has gone, the players he coached have kept that passion for defense. I feel sure that the young players on this team will one day look back and remember the season they played with "Ron Artest". He is intense and leads by example more than precept.
Thought I'd share this.. hope you enjoy it. Difference Between a Champion and a Kobe. What is a champion? Is it simply the person that's left standing when the dust settles? Or is there something more to a champion? Besides the winning and other quantifiable measures of being a champion, there is the humility, the strength, the ability, and the wisdom. Being a true champion entails not just excelling at what you do, but excelling in a way which inspires. A champion uses his mind to overcome obstacles--he digs deeper than imaginable, and musters up the strength and courage to do what is unthinkable. A champion should be the epitome of a human being, inspiring greatness onto others. A champion should be courageous in his path, able to admit failure, pick himself up, and use wisdom and perseverance to try again. Kobe Bryant will ever be a "champion" in my book. His pettiness on the court is just that, petty. He resorts to outright thuggery. He takes cheap shots when he thinks no one is looking. And worst of all, he plays only for the glory of himself, inspiring others only as a means to an end. He struts pompously about the court with a sense of entitlement, complaining when things do not go his way. When he speaks, it seems as if he expects a championship to be handed to him, while the present is just a way for him to add drama to his fabled story. He shows absolutely no class, and portrays a sense that he expects his opponents to lie down and crumble for him. Well, Mr. Kobe, I've got news for you. The Houston Rockets, true champions in my book, will not succumb to your thuggery. We may not physically fight back after your cheap elbows, but we will get up stronger and with more determination to succeed. We will not tolerate your miscreant acts, and we will come together as a team, as champions, to wake you from your dreams of a storybook ending. Kobe Bryant--he may be good on the court, but a real champion shows class and defeats his opponent with ability and wisdom, not thuggery. A real champion respects his opponents and does not look down on them. A real champion must also conquer something Kobe Bryant has not: the becoming of a virtuous human being.
Couldn't agree more! Speaking of inspiring others... if we judge by what he has brought out in many fans (i.e., our reaction) then what do we conclude?
I deliberated on whether or not to comment on this comment. I assumed it would be obvious that I wasn't saying the Rockets are champions, as in, "we got the trophy."
