And that is correct. Interesting that 73% of the Rockets most rabid fans do not believe that they are a contender. And Morey is on record for being one of them.
I put contender, b/c if you get in the playoffs then you are considered a contender, b/c you are contending for the championship. I expect the Rockets will make the post-season, therefor they are/will be a contender. Not to mention I like our chances versus anyone in the first round... Except the Jazz.
My personal thought is that with Rafer Alston at the point, we may never be a serious contender. We need an upgrade in passing and scoring there. He's a good ball handler, but that's just not enough. We need a guy who can add more from that position. When you have t-mac and yao, any decent pg could push 8 assists a night. We need to upgrade over battier as well. He's a great bench guy, but definitely a bench guy.
It would be nice to have another "star" on the team but that should not be necessary. Think about the only championships in Houston history. The first year Hakeem was the one clear "star" on the team, the rest were supporting cast. In 94 with addition of Clyde the Rockets had two true stars, but when we added the third (Barkley) we failed to win a championship. If Scola, Landry, Alston, Bonzi, Battier, Brooks continue to play solid team basketball, Tracy and Yao will put us over the top and the team will continue to win games.
Sam Cassell was an all-star, and vernon maxwell was a near star in his own right. Throw in clutch horry and a very good pf in otis thorpe, and that team wasn't too thin in stars. but more importantly, those rockets have perhaps the greatest center to ever play the game....something that none of these teams do....except the lakers in having kobe.
Define Contender. IMO if you are in the playoffs you are a contender. Look at GS last year. How about Cleveland the year before and Miami the year before that. The Rockets have a good team. If they get hot at the right time or if a star or 2 gets hurt, why not? Of course, we are a contender. A favorite no, but a contender yes.
Nice try but Sam only made it to the all star game once, in the 2003-2004 season. When the Rockets won their first championship he was a rookie contributing good minutes off the bench (ala Aaron Brooks). If you are going to imply that the '93-94 team had 3 "stars" then you must have a radically different understanding of the what a "star" is. OT and Mad Max were good players, but neither was an all star during Rockets championships. The whole team played solid basketball thats why we won, because the role players stepped up and supported Hakeem. Right now the Rockets have the best center in the NBA. And also one of the best guards. Two perennial all-stars. That is enough to win assuming the supporting cast plays at a high level. Shane, Alston, and Scola are really starting to click in the starting lineup, while Bonzi, Landry, and Brooks are bringing the heat from off the bench. Even Luther has stepped it up. Mark my words this group is about to make haters look silly.
I can't tell what we are. But I have a lot of confidence that we'll be a real contender sooner or later.
