There's something happening here, What it is ain't exactly clear... Buffalo Springfield It was a Rockets season... no, it doesn't feel like it was a Rocket's season. Actually, it was so disjointed it's hard to figure just what IT was? In addition to the usual (or we hope, usual) off-season work by the individual Rocket players to improve their skills... shooting, dribbling, lay-up drills, dribbling, passing, dribbling, weight training, dribbling, etc., dribbling -- did I mention dribbling? -- sorry, it's just become so much of a habit... I would like to suggest a couple of other activities that I think might prove very instructive. I think they should watch a lot of TV. Around 246 hours to be more precise. I think the players would learn a LOT from having to sit through ALL the games as we the fans saw them. No editing for team film sessions, no commercials cut out, they should watch every single minute that the fans watched this season. The pain of bad/stupid dribbling, passes, airballs, turnovers, poor shot selection and being, well... just plain cavalier about winning, gets softened by the snips of the coaching staff in the editing room. They only get to see isolated parts of the game for "instructional" purposes. The season is busy. It's hard to find the time to see anything other than a distillation of a game during the season. But now, with the added bonus of additional time that would have been wasted in the playoffs, the players can get a jump on their off-season training, sit back, relax and enjoy the season the way the fans did. Les should make this mandatory for everyone, including himself. In addition, at regular intervals, every 2 or 3 weeks, there should be a break - a change of scene. Then they should be shown the opening speech from the movie Patton. Heck, there's time, why not the whole movie? See! This part of off-season training isn't physically demanding, just more TV. What could be easier than watching TV? And what is to be gained by this off-season "training?" Maybe, just maybe it would help the players who need to, grow up, get serious and FOCUS on whatever is revealed by watching themselves as we saw them this past season. Sure it's just a game. But it's also a business. And it's also more than a diversion or entertainment for most fans. If it weren't, losses wouldn't feel so bad. We all know that not everyone can make the playoffs. And only two teams every year go to the Finals. I don't think the fans would begrudge the Rockets for not making it to the Finals again, although admittedly, the further a team gets in the playoffs the more the fans for that team "expect" that they should be able to reach the Finals in a year or two. We all understand how the pieces of the puzzle -- chemistry, lack of injuries, etc. must fit in an almost magical way for this to happen. But there is NO EXCUSE for lacking focus, drive (passion) and striving to improve and lessen your mistakes. The Rockets playoff hopes were lost in the first half of the season as much as they were in the second half. Too many cavalier, lacadaisical performances... losses to teams they shouldn't have lost to. Michael Jordon had focus. The Rockets are in dire need of it. Can watching TV inspire one to learn focus??? Maybe, maybe not. Recounting the sobering words from the opening speech in the movie, Patton... "Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken-out under fire... When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do." and applying it to the Rockets... When you watch the games the painful way WE watched them, somehow, I think you'll know what to do.
