I'm pretty sure we have one of the hardest starting schedules in the NBA. If we continue to play .500 ball even against scrub teams, that's when you can make some sort of conclusion.
I can already make the conclusion that we can beat bad teams, and lose to good ones. That's a conclusion i'd rather not make ;/
yes I was expecting 40 to 45 wins, so 8-8 doesnt surprise me. what surprises me is that we have totally lost our identity, we aint a defensive team anymore, currently our D is horrible. without getting our identity back, even if we sign BOSH or whoever, we aint going anywhere.
Considering we're 8-8 without our 2 "franchise" players, I'd say were a damn good team. The fact we have half of our payroll tied up with Yao and TMac who aren't even playing, I think this team is incredible. They're fun to watch, just beginning to learn how to play together and are 8-8 against one of the toughest stretches in their schedule, I'm not only content, but would love to see what we could get for both TMac and Yao.
I completely agree! Some of these people do not know basketball. It is more than fantasy teams and looking at individual box scores. We have one of the hardest schedules in November, period. This schedule would be difficult if Yao was playing 32 minutes a night. Come on people! This is almost a new team, and we are at .500! We also have no superstars on the team. Great role players can score, but superstars score a lot of points every night. Look at the schedule. Take a look at how many playoff teams we play. Look at the back to backs. Our leading scorers are Ariza (18.4), Brooks (16.3), Landry (15.7) and Scola (15.1). Again, Look deeper in the stats for the 16 games. We are allowing 102.6. Look more in the for and against stats. We are averaging 33.8% behind the arc and attepting 23-3pt shots per game (1/3 of our total shots). We are barely beating our opponents on the boards. We are averaging 49.7% inside the 3pt line. Of course, our free throw shooting percentage is down with Landry shooting out of his mind (90% Free Throws). We are playing very well for a new offense against great teams in a difficult schedule to BEGIN the season. Our team will get better when we get more into the season. We played 16 games not 41 games. Guys take a chill pill and cheer for your team that are gounding it out with tenacity and heart.
I've thought all along that this team, as is, is a sub .500, non-playoff team and I still think that. I think the beginning of the season is too small and too early a sample to judge a team. We're just now starting to show our true face.
Let me restate part of my reply again and include more description. We are playing very well for a new offense against great teams in a difficult schedule to BEGIN the season. First, we have a very difficult schedule. How many wins do you think we would have with Yao? Look at Last season. We had a difficult November. Yao Ming was the leading scorer for most of the games and after Novermber 29, 2008 the Rockets were 11-7. We were 10-6 through our first 16 games in the 2008-2009 Season, and we had McGrady playing well while hurt in some of those games. Second, we have changed the whole offense around. We are not dumping the ball into the paint. Our leading scorer is new to the team. It usually takes at least half a season for a primary scorer to get comfortable in a new offense. Especially, if that player was a third or forth option on another team. Third, We are not playing good defense consistently through a stretch of games. We are not consistent on offense end either. Forth, I believe in this team.
what is SO new to our offense other than the pace is faster? we still run a lot of p&r's, and we still post a ton - just with different players. you're right inconsistency is the issue. but to me that's more of a reflection of the talent level of our team. with more practice time, the team may be able to fine-tune some minor issues, but don't expect anything major. plus, an nba team usually don't hold that many practices during the season. i said earlier in the season that i had expected this team, as is, to be a 35-40 win team. anything beyond that would be a bonus. i still stand by that. but of course, should a major change to the roster happen, i'd never get a chance to see if that expectation was right.
It seems like your cookie got dream shook right out of you. As for the thread itself, I think that the OP made a valid question. As for me, I think that the team will end up slightly above .500 but not quite 50 wins; maybe somewhere around 45 wins. This team is really fun to watch at times, and I think that eventually some kind of injury might hit us that will possibly make it more difficult to win down the road.
I have to agree with this to a point, but remember that no team is immune to individual player slumps, which Brooks' current slump is hurting the team to a degree, or injuries. Personally, I like this team and I don't think that it's very far away from contending. I also think that believing that we will get a Bosh-type player is not very realistic, as I think that we would have to gut the team to do it. If we just let this team grow it will get better and better. I think that we should just hold down the fort and enjoy the playoff experience or the lottery pick that will be added to this team. Next year should be even better with Yao returning.
The Rockets are roughly a .500 team, and their most important offensive player is slumping right now. This shouldn't surprise me, but these losses are difficult for me to stand anyway.
i don't see why ppl are making this a big deal, we lose a few games and now all of a sudden we're a team that everyone thought we were? the nba season is 82 games last time i checked, not 15.
Everyone knew this was going to be a wasted season. Seriously. The great start and the "this team is so much fun to watch" and "their style is so fast with AB on the break--playing full court" BS that Bill, Clyde and Bull keep throwing out there is just a pathetic attempt to manage the loss in revenue that comes from having a crap team with no chance to either make the playoffs, or go past the first round. I agree with the op, this team is what it is--a bust your azz team that gives it all it has, and is still a 500 or sub 500 (soon) team. Unless they fix the Tmac issue and the Yao health issue, I don't see it changing any time soon.
We've played 16 games so far. The season should no longer be considered young. Our roster has been consistent and been given time to play with each other, and allow our players to adapt to each other.I can't foresee this team making any drastic improvements on the court unless it comes in a trade. And at the beginning of the season I considered us a .500 team. A record that many organizations would love to reach. Even if we finish below .500 I won't mind as much knowing that our players contributed all they had in them. This season will be all to familiar for Rockets fans. The team gave it all it had, but came up short.
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Well before the season I thought we were a .500 team maybe even below that. Now I don't think we will go below but we will be a .500 team or just above it a little. With or without T-mac we are a .500 team this year. I hope they prove me wrong.
