The Rockets Lost

The Rockets season is over. I can't say this comes as a surprise by any means. I had a feeling in game 5 that the series was over. Something about that game changed everything. It's almost as if the Rockets gave up and didn't really try again until the 4th quarter of game 7. Of course by then it was far too late for them. I heard it said about the Mavericks that they let off of the accelerator in the last month or so and couldn't get revved up again when it came time to battle the Warriors. I kind of see the same thing happening with the Rockets. It seems like they went up 3 games to 1 and let up on the Jazz, then couldn't buckle down and finish them off when they needed to. They've done this all season. This series has been in macrocosm what many games this season have been for the Rockets. They have a horrible habit of getting up on a team in the first half, phoning in the second half and losing the game. Yao and McGrady are just as guilty as everyone else on that team. I fear that Yao's upbringing in China will prevent him from ever becoming a truly dominant player. His inability to use his anger to fuel his play is obvious to anyone who's watching him play. This combined with McGrady being forced to play as a point forward is destroying the potential of the team. The Rockets need a play-making shooting guard or small forward. Yao is incapable of creating anything, leaving the bulk of the offensive responsibilities on the shoulders of McGrady. I hope they do their best to fix these problems in the offseason. McGrady needs help and the Rockets aren't going to go anywhere until they give him that help.