I thought it was interesting that Yao seemed to call out his team (ahem, more specifically, maybe you know who…) when he made this statement on Sunday that many of us were also thinking during Game 4:

“Look at the play before (halftime). (Deron) Williams drives from halfcourt all the way to the paint with five seconds left. We still have time, and we just … shoot a running 3-point shot.

“That’s like, ‘How much do you want to play?’ “

There was only one player involved in that play. I don’t need to name that player, do I? But I’m glad Yao made the statement. Time for some toughness. I wonder how that will play out in the locker room, though?

Speaking of toughness, I wonder if Tracy McGrady watched the amazing game Sunday night that Baron Davis put on against the Mavericks? Baron is a baller. 33 points, 12-of-17 from the floor. 8 boards. 4 assists. 2 steals. Only 2 turnovers. Reminds me of Dwyane Wade last year during the Finals. The guy is dominant and gets to the rack almost any time he wants.

I hope McGrady watched that game, or any of the other 3 wins that Golden State has put on Dallas, and is getting inspired to have a Baron-like performance in Game 5, and NOT pull a Dirk instead. I really believe this is the most important game in McGrady’s career.

If McGrady is able to will his team to a victory in Game 5, and can be the guy who carries them to a series win over the Jazz, I might even go back to calling him T-Mac. In the meantime, I now only think superstars who take their team deep in the playoffs deserve to have their names abbreviated, or to have nicknames. Hell, Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade, and Kareem don’t even abbreviate their names or have nicknames.

Yao’s face during the fourth quarter tells it all. The Rockets were blown out again in the third quarter of Game 4 against Utah, so Yao and T-Mac were pulled out of the game in the fourth quarter as a precaution. Houston ultimately lost 98-85, and head to Toyota Center for Game 5 on Monday night. Will the Rockets be able to bounce back? Click here to see more photos from the game.

Boy, there are so many things to say after Saturday night’s disaster in Utah for the Rockets. Most of you on Saturday night probably have already seen (or read about) the 98-85 Game 4 debacle that has tied the Rockets-Jazz series up at 2-2, so I won’t go into the gory details. At the same time, I’ll try to refrain from ranting too much or I might say something I’ll regret later.

My emotions are all over the place. However, here are a few sound bites going on in my brain at the moment, from light optimism to severe pessimism, like…

“The series is not over.”

“I’m glad I didn’t buy put a deposit down for next year’s season tickets in order to get playoff tickets this year.”

I can take two losses in a row in Utah, but the way the Rockets lost Saturday night in such an important game is inexcusable. There just seemed to be no effort in the pivotal third quarter where they were outscored 33-17, and 64-41 in the second and third together. They blinked in the face of pressure.

My earlier fear I wrote about a couple days ago of Juwan not hitting his jump shot is becoming an absolute nightmare. Take out the garbage baskets he had in the fourth quarter, and he was 0-for-5…again. Unlike two seasons ago, it looked like he may have peaked too early this season.

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Here are a few links to video from last night’s game:

* Video Highlights of Game 3
* Video of Van Gundy’s press conference
* Video of T-Mac’s press conference
* Video of Carlos Boozer’s press conference

Yao shoots over Mehmet Okur, who tried to flop to draw a foul, Thursday night in Utah. Yao scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but the Rockets and their bench shot terribly to lose Game 3 in their playoff series with the Jazz. The Rockets still lead the series 2-1. Click here and here for more photos from the game.

Well, I wrote before Game 3 (see blog post directly below) that Rocket fans shouldn’t panic if Houston loses it. Although they were pathetic in so many areas Thursday night and lost 81-67, I still feel it’s no time to say the Rockets are doomed.

It’s no surprise for the Rockets to put up a stinker every once in awhile, even during the all-important playoffs. But the thing about this team you have to give them credit for is bouncing back after disappointing losses this sesaon. And that’s what I think they can still do in Game 4.

There is no need to panic that:

* The Rockets shot 32.8% and scored the lowest number of points in a playoff game in franchise history. After all, the Jazz shot 38.8%. There was a reason why this game was televised on NBA TV, a channel that many people don’t have compared to ABC, ESPN and TNT. Bad shooting doesn’t get good ratings.

* Only four Rocket players scored, the first time that has happened in a playoff game in 52 years, according to TNT.

* The Utah bench outscored the Rockets’ bench 33-0. Near the end of the game, I was kind of hoping a Rocket bench player would NOT score a bucket during garbage time. The damage had already been done by them not contributing anything, so I wanted them to end up with a big zero because I knew the bench would get more questions from the press over the next couple of days before Game 4 by being shut out, and I wanted them as angry, fired up, and wanting something to prove in Game 4 as much as possible. And I have no problem how T-Mac said after the game the bench has to “step up.” Now is not the time for the team leader to be “Mr. Nice Guy.”

* The Jazz went on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter to open a 17-point lead. The Rockets defense fell apart. That’s rare. The best defensive team in the league will address that situation in Game 4.

* Luther Head was 0-for-5 in Game 3 and is now 2-for-16 in the series (1-of-12 from three-point land). I really believe he is going to start hitting some clutch shots because he did it so often in the fourth quarter during the regular season. They don’t call him Cool Hand Luke for nothing. In some way, he reminds me of Kenny Smith during the 1994 playoffs (championship season) when Kenny’s 3-point shot abandoned him during the playoffs big-time, but he finally got it together when the pressure was on. That’s where Luther is.

* The Rockets turned the ball over 19 times, with Rafer Alston making at least 3 dumbheaded passes into the post for TOs (5 turnovers overall).

* Yao turned it over 8 times and was terrible at the start of the game. It all started when didn’t block out Carlos Boozer for a rebound, who laid it in for a score. Yao was so out of position trying to contest the shot of a Utah guard (Deron Williams I think) on the perimter, T-Mac slapped his back after the play to let him know he shouldn’t take himself that far away from the basket, and should have been in better position.

Let me tell you how bad it was for Yao in that awful first quarter, and part of the second….

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The Rockets are on somewhat of a roll going up 2-0 in the Jazz series, and all Rocket and Yao fans are feeling pretty good with tip-off for Game 3 in about 3 hours.

However, the chances of the Rockets pulling out a ‘W’ in Game 3 is fairly low. Utah fans are going to be fired up, and I predict Mehmet Okur will finally have a big game.

We also know the Rockets, and most Houston teams, can’t stand prosperity. Just when you think they are going to cruise, they lose a big game or go on a losing streak, with the Astros’ 5-game skid the latest example.

So don’t be surprised if the Rockets lose Game 3. The bright side of losing is the following:

* more focus for Game 4
* another game at Toyota Center will be played Monday night
* last but not least, if the Rockets were to sweep the Jazz on Saturday (4/28) in four games, they may not play again for over a week!

About that last point…I believe the Dallas-Golden State series is going to go at least 6 games, maybe 7. Game 6 of that series isn’t until Thursday, May 3rd, and Game 7 is Saturday, May 5th. Then tack on 2-3 days for the next series to start, and we could be talking May 7th or 8th, a total 9 or 10 days before Houston would play again!

That is just way too much time for Houston to get rusty. Although it’s always nice to have some extra rest, I think 3-4 days rest is ideal for this team. Heck, even with 3 days rest during the regular season, I believe the Rockets’ record was pretty lousy. They need to keep playing to keep the momentum going. It was like that during the 1994 and ’95 championship season when most of those series went 6 or 7 games.

So I’m not advocating the Rockets should lose Game 3 or 4, but there is a bright side to losing if Houston can take care of business the remaining games of the series.

I was scouring YouTube for some good Rockets videos, and found someone uploaded the pre-game introductions for Game 1. I had mentioned in my post after attending Game 1 that the intro was pretty cool and awe-inspiring, and the crowd loved it.

I have been to many Rocket games in my lifetime, and this pre-game intro had to be one of the best.

Here’s a link to some video interviews that T-Mac, Yao, Shane and Van Gundy gave after Wednesday’s practice before heading to Utah for Game 3.

I saw these funny photos in the YaoMania! forum linked from HoopsChina and another site, respectively. Click here to see larger versions in the forum.

The Houston Chronicle’s John Lopez has a nice blog post about how Yao is on his way to becoming one of the top centers of all time if he can dominate this post-season. Nice work, John.

Yao high-fives Rafer Alston after their 98-90 victory over the Utah Jazz Monday night. Yao scored 27 points and grabbed 9 boards in the win to give Houston a 2-0 advantage over the Jazz in their playoff series. Click here for photos from the game. Click here for photos of Yao before the game.

With all the photos, video highlights, stories and blogs posted online (NBA.com, Houston Chronicle, etc.) about the playoff games, it doesn’t seem to make much sense for me to go into much detail about these games. You’re probably overwhelmed with too much information like I am. And you probably already watched the game yourself.

So what I’ll do is point out some of the stuff that you might not have read or seen anywhere else, especially since I was at the game, or haven’t had time to digest. I’m making sure not to waste this opportunity since I don’t know how long I will be able to keep getting a media pass from the Rockets as more demand from the national media kicks in as the team continues to win.

First, here are some helpful links if you haven’t seem them already in addition to links to photos underneath the picture above (I’ll continue to update these links with more goodies as I find them).

Link to Yao video highlights on NBA.com

Link to game video highlights #1 on NBA.com

Link to game video highlights #2 on NBA.com

TNT’s halftime highlights with Kenny, Charles, Ernie and Magic

JVG’s press conference

*New – Yao & T-Mac press conference

ESPN.com’s Greg Anthony – “How Jazz can rebound”

CNNsi.com – “Open Letter to T-Mac”

*New – I’m not able to find online any transcription of the quotes from Game 2 like what was available for Game 1. However, I have transcribed some myself. Check ’em out at the end of this post.

Now about the game…

When I got there about 1 ½ hours before tip-off, you wouldn’t believe what was playing on the TV in the press room. It wasn’t the Orlando-Detroit game. Instead, it was Dancing with the Stars. Very strange. Coincidentally, Clyde Drexler was in the other room nowhere near the TV. But finally someone asked for the channel to be changed to basketball.

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