reasonable guesstimate. hoping for over but I really have no idea what we'll trot out come season's start. will DMo play or no? which DMo? new coach make a positive difference? dreaded "i" word? too many uncertainties ...
First power rankings are out; we are at 15: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17604715/nba-power-rankings-training-camp-edition
I bet a lot so if like to think I have a good read on this somewhat although gambling is just that gambling. In all I think almost any major gambler would tell you that the over on the rockets is actually one of the best bets you can make this fall. Us rockets fans and a lot of you are saying 45 wins not by much but you have to remember to win $$$ they just need to hit 42 wins. Tbh I think a lot of us have forgotten how good harden is if he's in shape and focused which from what we have seen and heard looks to be the case. I think this team can win a lot of regular season games, like 50+. The problem this team is going to have is when the playoffs come around. We still only have one superstar/all star. Safely even if he is the MVP this year it's still not enough to beat any of the top teams in the west outside of maybe the clippers, although I would still favor them. The difference In this year and last is the season as a whole in the west should play out more like 2 years ago. Not in the sense were you need 50 wins to get a top 7 seed but that you really only have two teams as of now that are clearly better than the rest until further notice in the Warriors and the Spurs. The clippers are that 3rd team that on paper should clearly be seen as the closest to that top two and def better than the rest. Then you have Houston, OKC, Portland, Utah, Memphis and Dallas all on paper fighting for seeds 4-8. When you looks at all these teams you have to ask yourself this who has the best player? And is said best player at his best absolutely better than the best player on those other five teams? The answer for both is James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Then it comes down to which team has an elite skills set around either guy. OKC is def on paper the better defensive team to Houston but are they elite? Last year they were 12th and just lost Ibaka and KD both two of their better defenders not to mentions both starters. They replaced them with Olidipo who's a good defender and Kanter is now going to see more pt and start, poor defender. Are they better or worse? Prob the same so they are better than avg on paper but not top 10 and def not elite. Offensively I'm not sure that will even be a top 20 team. They have absolutely no shooting in there too 8 players. None whats so ever. Until proven otherwise teams will dare all their perimeter players to beat them and on most nights this will fail. Let's go to the rockets, now let's start with their offense. Last year thy finished 7th with the 24th ranked shooting team. They also ranked 21st in wide open 3 point shooting bit were tops in the league in such attempts. Subtract Howard for Capela who had a better offensive rating and was the better pick and roll player, This should be a small uptick in the center department offensively. The team has also added two elite shooters for their position in Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson. It's easy to see the offense taking a leap from 7th to possibly top 3 especially when you add they new coach they have brought in. So offensively the rockets were already pretty close to elite with legit chance to be top 3 maybe even the best. Defensively they finished last year at 21. They were not avg I fact most would agree that they were one of then worst and I tend to agree. It's hard to think that 9 teams actually rated worse. Ok let's looks at some key departures in Dwight Howard. No matter what people want to say about the guy he will at least for this season still prove to be a better rebounder and defender than Capela. It's a loss for the team on that end now how big a loss will shall see but caple won't fill those shoes year one. Ryan Anderson is a bad defender but we had pretty terrible pf defense all last year so I'm not sure from a numbers standpoint how much worse it can get. Harden should be improved how much I don't know but I think it's an easy guess that he will be better than last year which will help. It really comes down to can Ariza and Bev return to form? I think if I was a betting mans which Iam I would say this team finished around the 18-20 range with and outside chance to get to number 14. Anything better than 14 and this team is a lock for 50+ wins and maybe even challenge the the Spurs for that 2 seed legitly. So what does this tell us? That the rockets should be better than the OKC thunder and on paper should be the 4th/5th seed. Elite offensive teams historically have always had a faired very well in the regular season. Houston Should win a lot of regular season games this year. So take the over. Portland is an easy under. They did nothing to improve their team and outside of a 25 games stretch the other 57 games they played at a top 8 lottery team pace. They were actually a very poor defensive team and have a very poor backcourt on that end of the court not to mention there very small. Utah is tough because they were really good when healthy last year. The problem with that is there guys have been injured a lot over the years with small nagging stuff. They added some good vets in diaw, hill and Johnson. None of Those guys are game changers. It's still Going to come down to wether you think gobert, Hayward, hood or favors take that next step to become a legit perennial all star. I don't see it but I do like all those guys and collectively they are a deep team with talent. 48 wins is high though that would be a 10 win increase and that's and awful lot. I think they make the playoffs and I think they could win 48 bit that seems more like there ceiling imo. I wouldn't bet on them but if I had to take one it would be the under. The rest of the teams are a wash Memphis is old and weren't gagging good last year when healthy. There older now and have guys coming off very serious injuries in Gasol and parsons. It's no sure thing they even play a full season and if they even get back to even close to their peak. I would bet the under. Dallas is old get added a nice vet center in bogut and Barnes will prob be better than parsons was for them if only for the fact that he'll be available to play in all there games. Still i don't see more than 41 wins. I would take the over on them But imo it's a bet I would leave alone. 1. GSW (over) 2. Spurs (over) 3. Clippers(over) 4 rockets(over) 5. Utah (under) 6. OKC (under) 7. Portland (under) 8. Dallas (over) The west imo could see a team under .500 get in the playoffs this years. I think OKC, Portland and Dallas are all teams that will be fighting for seeds 6-8 and all Could easily be 36-41 win teams. It would not shock me if Portland and especially OKC missed the playoffs. Obviously Dallas could miss also but I don't think that would shock people as much as OKC and Portland missing out. Westbrook top five player status is in serious Jeopardy. Nobody expects them to win big but a lot of people media included are really drinking his kool aid and think OKC can still be a 50 wind team. If they miss the playoffs or worse finish with 35-38 wins his elite status is going to take a big hit.
I meant take the under on the Warriors. 67 wins is a lot. My guess is they get around 63-65. There the best team but this still won a lot of close games were curry bailed them out with half court shots to win. Everything went their way last year. History says they will not be as fortunate this season plus they lost a lot of there depth to add a top 5 player to a team with another top 5 player and two other top 20 players. There very good but 65 wins seems right. But they will be better in the playoffs then they have been the last two season which is scary.
Talking about getting 45 wins like that would be pretty good for our team is just pathetic to think about after watching the Warriors get 73 wins. Let's just say they are ALMOST as good as they were last year and get to 70. It just makes 45 wins seem like, Why are they Playing and why are we even watching?? Shoot if we hit the 50 win mark this year, it still feels pointless. The Warriors are going to Beast again this year and we are going to run out there with over half of our squad that plays sub-par defense in a new offensive/defensive system with 2 coaches that have never worked together and specialize in opposite ends of the floor. Other than watching the new guys suit up and seeing how they look in Rockets Red, there isn't a whole lot of reason to watch them. We aren't competing for a championship this year. Period. Sorry to break it to the hopeful. And sorry for being a Debbie Downer tonight. I'm a Rockets fan, but the Warriors have got it wrapped up. The End.
I don't think so. Did you live through Clyde, Barkley and Hakeem? Payton, Kobe, Malone and Shaq? Great chemistry can beat great talent, and I am not so sure that the Warriors will not have issues. Only one basketball.
that might be the best team that you're hoping for. I'm hoping for a 50 win team. I believe that we have a serious shot at a top 4 seed. Warriors and Spurs will undoubtedly be better than us. Clippers probably will be but i think that's debatable. Chris Paul is gonna hit a wall soon. That leaves the rockets/grizzlies/thunder to battle for the 4th spot in my opinion. I don't have any faith in the trailblazers/jazz/mavericks/pelicans to get that 4th spot. I think they can shock a lot of people this year. Everyone seems to know their role. I think this offense is gonna be a well oiled machine. in 2014-15 season we played great without Dwight when he was injured. This year we should play better than that considering we have offensive help finally.
This team could win 35 games, and it could win 50 games. Just so many question marks around health and defense which is really not a good sign at all so can't blame a 41 win forecast - I would have said 42 or 43.
41 is a joke. We will be in the mid 40's at the very minimum IMO but more likely around 48+ This team is built for the regular season.
I'm thinking we go over, however with the the injury histories of Anderson, Gordon, Beverly, and DMO(if he should return)... I can see why the line is where it is. Can't lie though.. I'm more excited about this team than I was for last season.. With Dwight moving on, don't think we'll be as ridiculed and are definitely flying under the radar...
Basically, the media continues to labor under the impression that our offseason went something like: Losing Dwight: -10 wins Signing Anderson: +5 wins Signing Gordon: +2 wins Signing Nene: +1 wins JBB to D'Antoni: +2 wins They could be right, but I think the eye test for those who actually watched last year would say that they are either severely overestimating Dwight's positive impact, or at the very least they forgot to add a generic +5 for eliminating the rock-bottom bad chemistry. I'm thinking about 48 wins.
Because of very injury prone players it's hard to predict the Rockets wins. But I can't see the Minny and Phoenix predictions. That's the most ludicrous imo from the West. The Suns easily should be +10 wins since Bledsoe is healthy and cancer Morris is off the team.
