I used to be drained earlier than this recreation even began. I had simply spent two straight days in 10 hours of conferences, and I used to be mentally accomplished. It was my division’s annual assembly at work, and often it’s a “vacation spot” occasion. Typically it’s in San Antonio — sure to that! It’s my hometown, a straightforward drive from Houston, and the Riverwalk rocks. It’s been in Dallas earlier than (no enjoyable — longer drive and an uninteresting metropolis for my part), however this yr, it was going to be in Florida! (Enjoyable, plus I haven’t been there since I used to be 4 years previous!)
No matter the place, it’s alleged to be wherever however Houston since over half my division is right here, with the remaining scattered across the japanese half of the nation, and the aim is to have everybody collectively the place there’s dinner and bonding afterwards whereas nobody can slip out and go house. It’s tiring, however I benefit from the bonding a part of it (at the very least dinner, I’m not a part of the group that goes ingesting till 2AM simply to be struggling via the subsequent day of conferences).
Nonetheless, for budgetary causes, Florida obtained canceled, and the assembly was right here in our downtown Houston workplace, with all of the distant people on convention name. With out being in a lodge, there was nonetheless the commute to and from work, making the day even longer, and I didn’t get to see coworkers from across the nation whom I discuss to typically however am fortunate to see in-person every year. And for the cherry on high, this was the third yr in a row the assembly was impacted by a winter storm, which ended up canceling Monday’s occasions and jamming all the pieces into Tuesday and Wednesday. In different phrases, it was simply two tremendous lengthy work days with the one plus being free breakfast and lunch.
In any case that, an 8:30 Spurs-Rockets tip-off felt much more brutal than common. Compound that with a horrible first 20+ minutes of motion the place the Spurs regarded fully helpless — it felt like they weren’t even making an attempt whereas the Rockets had been slicing proper via their protection on their method to a 16-point lead with 3:22 left within the first half — and I used to be prepared to jot down a cranky WWL this morning. Longtime Pounders most likely know I’m often an optimist and take a look at to not be too vital (they’re younger, that is Mitch Johnson’s first full season as a head coach, give him an opportunity, and so on.), however I wasn’t having it final night time. Not after they confirmed a equally atrocious effort in a house loss to the Pelicans a number of days in the past, and never after this problem with complacency and inconsistency has been happening for over a month now.
This was what I needed to say whereas texting with Jeje Gomez and Jacob Douglas through the first half, proper after a slew of Rockets offensive rebounds (together with one the place the ball bounced between three Spurs who had been simply watching earlier than a Rockets participant who was outdoors the play grabbed it) and careless backcourt turnovers: “I may give them (the Spurs) a grace interval for stuff like taking pictures slumps, however poor effort and complacency is unforgivable. What number of extra ‘get up name’ video games do the necessity (earlier than they get the memo)?”
Apparently, my superpower is the reverse jinx, as a result of not lengthy after that, they figured one thing out. They obtained extra bodily, stopped being careless with the ball, and began getting stops and rebounds. I used to be personally shocked that they had been nonetheless within the recreation and solely down by eight on the break, and in a reverse from final week’s recreation in Houston, the staff that began scorching fell off a cliff within the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, and by then the Spurs had been operating over them so badly that even Kevin Durant was about to throw a match.
That is what we count on to see from this staff: bodily, hungry and decided. The second half introduced me pleasure the identical manner the primary half introduced me frustration, and it turned this complete WWL on its head. Was this lastly the wakeup name they may take to coronary heart, or are we destined to be pissed off once more if a Charlotte Hornets staff at the moment taking part in nicely above its file catches them off guard on an early Saturday tip-off? We’ll discover out then, however within the meantime, I’ll relish the win in opposition to a rival that I already noticed as a scheduled loss, which appeared much more probably after 21 minutes of play.
