Oh, please Santa Rudy, won't you please fill our stockings with a couple of wins!?!?

Cuttino Mobley, the only Rocket starter not out with an injury, came up clutch hitting a layup with just over six seconds left against the woeful Miami to tie the game but, the Rockets made the mistake you never make. You never leave the man inbounding the ball. Thet forgot and got burned...again.

It is hard to fault the Rockets for the abyssmal losing streak. Four of their five starters are in street clothes and the other is struggling with a pair of sprained ankles that would relegate him to the bench on most nights. On this night against Miami when they had their first real chance to right the ship, they lost another player as Walt Williams was out with back spasms.

That left their starting lineup to include a rookie from South America, a back up point guard, a 39-year-old center, a smallish power forward who is playing beyond his ability and a hobbling shooting guard.

If that isn't bad enough, their bench was made up of an undrafted rookie, a 19-year-old, a rookie who was shooting under 20 percent from the floor coming into the game and a second-year player so deep in the doghouse, he didn't even get minutes in this stinker. Houston, we have a BIG problem.

Whatever complaints people may have against Rudy T, before you level them, take a look at Pat Riley. Despite having most of his players, he may miss the playoffs for the first time in 20 years of coaching. Alonzo Mourning probably should be retired with his kindey disorder and Brian "I Be Jammin'" Grant is coming off of an injury, but if you have Eddie Jones, Rod Strickland, Anthony Carter, LaPhonso Ellis, Jim Jackson and Kendall Gill, you should win more than five games.

Granted, the Heat look like a team of middle-aged NBA castaways, but Riley's resume should count for more than five freakin' wins. But, this isn't about the South Beach Lukewarmers, this is about the Rockets.

I've been watching the Rockets for over 20 years. I've seen some really awful losing streaks and some really rough times. I've also seen some injury-plagued years that cost us wins. But, I have never seen anything like this.

In fact, I've just about decided that watching the Rockets is simply too depressing. With the loss to Miami, it puts the Rockets in an even tougher position. No Houston NBA franchise has lost more than 13 games in a row. The San Diego Rockets lost 17 in their expansion year, ironically with Riley playing for the team as a rookie. But, this is no expansion franchise although, minus the injured players, it sure does look like one.

The next four games are at home but all against playoff-bound teams: Portland, the Lakers, Milwaukee and Phoenix. Not until three days after Christmas does Houston meet a team they are capable of beating and that is on the road against Golden State. Who knows how the firing of their coach will effect them, but we can only hope negatively.

If they can't manage to steal a game on the road from the Warriors, they face the Lakers in LA and Detroit, Indiana and the Knicks at home before going to Utah to play a really horrific Jazz team. By that time, they will likely have Steve Francis back in pinstripes, but they could be on a 22-game losing streak at that point!

I feel so bad for this team it hurts. My wife, who is not a sports fan but follows the Rockets mainly to placate me, watched the end of the Miami game and just sat with her head in her hands saying "Oh no!" over and over. I think we all know how she feels.

It is obvious the team is working hard and they haven't given up but seeing them lose like this is heartbreaking for us as fans so we can only imagine what it must be like for the players. What's even worse is that there is little they can do about it. With all the injuries they have suffered, all the makeshift lineups, all the rookies and no practice time, they just plain suck and it is painful.

I guess I'll muddle through with the rest of them keeping in mind that it is always darkest just before the dawn and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel...blah,blah,blah and all that crap. Really, what I want to say is *$&@#!&^ %^@*!& *^@!*#^!~!!!! But, maybe I'll just cry instead. Hey, Mo, I think we all need a hit of whatever you're smokin'.