If At First You Don't Succeed...

Rockets proving they've learned from mistakes of the past

Aaron Brooks' growth was clear for all to see during his stellar performance in Game 1 against the Trail Blazers.

 

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Portland - “I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

- Michael Jordan

We don’t often think of Michael Jordan the mistake-maker. In most minds and memories His Airness looms as a nearly infallible player; having come through so many times and in so many clutch situations that it almost seems unfathomable to envision him actually failing.

Yet fail he did – repeatedly, in fact – as the above quote would suggest. Jordan didn’t hit every shot – he missed a whopping 12,345 over the course of his remarkable 15-year career – and many of those misses, hard as it might be to remember now, occurred in crunch time. Team success was elusive early on, too. Not only did Jordan fail to win an NBA title until his seventh season in the league, but his Bulls didn’t even make it out of the first round until year four; winning just a single solitary playoff game during his first three postseason appearances.

But every one of those defeats and missed shots carried with them a lesson. And the fact Jordan went on to compile a career which would ultimately place him at the very peak of the pro sports pantheon demonstrates his willingness and ability to derive something valuable from each and every one.

Within that, too, lies a lesson; one which deserves to be digested by anyone craving success: There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes – far more important is learning from them and seizing the opportunity for growth they present.

It is that unassailable truth which seems to have served the Rockets so well this season. Throughout all the ups and downs – and there have been many – this team has experienced, it’s managed to emerge stronger, tougher and more unified than ever before. Time after time this season, the Rockets displayed a knack for following up particularly devastating defeats with emphatic victories over quality competition. And never was this phenomenon more perfectly illustrated than it was in Houston’s Game 1 win over Portland; a thorough dismantling of a red-hot team which just so happened to come on the heels of the Rockets’ disappointing loss to Dallas during the final night of the regular season.

Saturday’s victory stands as further proof of this club’s resilience, a characteristic personified by one of the Game 1 stars, Aaron Brooks, who went from fourth quarter afterthought against the Mavs to pouring in 27 points as part of Houston’s best all-around performance of the season.

“He was ready for the challenge,” said head coach Rick Adelman of his second-year point guard. “He had the tough game in Dallas, (but) Aaron responded like he has all year. If he has a bad game, he usually responds and he was very, very good (Saturday) night.

“I watched him a lot when he was at Oregon, and I watched him have huge games against the best teams. He has always responded. He’s got a real toughness about him and we’ve seen it in two years that he can get down on himself and have a tough game, but very rarely does that extend beyond that one game.”

Naturally, Brooks attributes his ability to bounce back from having already learned the importance of trial and error.

“You have to have confidence in yourself,” he said. “You get eaten alive if you don’t have confidence in what you can do. I just want to be aggressive and attack the game, and not let the game attack me.

“I know there’s going to be rocky times. I mean it’s been like that all through my life; in high school and college you have bad times, but things get better and it’s all about growth.”

That growth was also evident in the performance turned in by Luis Scola Saturday night. After struggling on the defensive end against Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge this year, Scola – also in just his second NBA season – perfectly executed a game plan which limited the Blazers’ power forward to a mere seven points (15 points fewer than his regular season average against the Rockets) on just three of 12 shooting from the floor. Scola revealed he was the beneficiary of familiarity and good scouting, both of which helped him harass Aldridge into an off night.

“It’s kind of like a battle,” he said, “with me trying to not let him do what he likes, and him trying to impose his move and do it anyway. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to change his game for a playoff series. He’s going to try to do his best moves and, sooner or later, he will start making shots. He’s a great player. That’s what great players do.”

It’s Scola’s last point which indicates that he and his teammates are already ahead of the curve when it comes to grasping one of the most important playoff lessons of all: Beware desperate teams in must-win situations. The Rockets know Portland figures to be a completely different club by the time Game 2 rolls around and that another blowout win is highly unlikely.

“They’re a great team and we know that,” said Scola. “(Saturday’s) game doesn’t change that fact. They’re going to respond and it’s going to be a close game and it’s not going to be like (Game 1). If I was Portland right now, I’d be like, ‘It’s just one game – 30 points or 1 point, it’s exactly the same.’ So it’s going to be really tough and we have to know that. If we know that, we’ll have our chances to win.”

A victory Tuesday night would put Houston in firm control of this series; up 2-0 and heading home for a pair of games at Toyota Center where the Rockets have been dominant this year. The significance of such a scenario is not lost on anyone, but neither is it seen as cause for celebration should it actually occur.

“I’m looking forward to winning the fourth game in this series,” said Yao Ming. “Being up 2-0 with home advantage or without home advantage means nothing.”

Of course, the memory of the 2005 postseason – when the Rockets won the first two games at Dallas, before ultimately succumbing to the Mavs in seven games – is still burned into the psyche of Yao. He’s been there before and has no desire to feel its sting again. Just like Mike, Yao has experienced his fair share of failure. Now, lessons learned and growth charted, he and his Rockets teammates are ready to reap the benefits.

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