With 19 games left before the all-star break going .500 puts the Rockets over 30 wins at that point. That's a very favorable spot given where this team was projected to be at the beginning of the season. With 26 games after the All-Star break on a very favorable (home game heavy) schedule throughout the remainder of the season, they should be in a good position to get to 45 to 50 wins barring any major injuries. With a little luck, they should be right there fighting for the 8th through the 6th seed EVEN AS A .500 TEAM the rest of the way! Thats not too shabby. They really just need to keep the pedal to the metal here througout this road trip to increase their cushion. Also, dont forget that the trade deadline is coming up in February, and given where this team is likely to be at, I would expect Morey to upgrade the team at very little expense much like the Camby move from last year that will help them win more games down the stretch.
Individually the Rockets can beat all these six except the Clippers, for which maybe 25% chance. The Rockets will not be able to play at their normal performance level though against these six team in 9 nights with two 4 games in 5 nights stretches. With only 3 days' rest among the 9 and only one home game, my biggest concern is how they are going to recover after each game and maintain their energy level. I am predicting that some of our players will be over-criticized again for these games, while few posters will comment what our coaches have been doing to make sure our key players get enough rest in less play minutes. This will not happen if McHale continue to play just eight players. For some reason he has not given Greg Smith more minutes even when he played him as the 9th after TD, Delfino and Patterson. In our last game lost to the Hornets, they played 11 players to lock us down and finding a new weapon in Mason from the bench who scored 17 pointed including three 3-pointers. All these six team's will learn from the Hornets report and do the same to us. No matter how good we are, Harden, Lin and others, can we win on the road with 8 players when every well-rested team play 10 or 11 on their home court? Actually I started to have this concern for minutes and energy management by McHale since his return on 12/8, the night we unduely lost to the Mavericks at home. He played Smith for only 2 minutes. I should have voiced my concern earlier when we were winning like crazy. I hope now is not too late but I have little hope for McHale to use Anderson and Beverly when he still want to win games with players he is more familiar with. Having said all this, I still think we are going to win at least half of the six games before 1/19, and we will still be six games above .500 by then.
This should have been the end of the thread. Anyone that uses and injured players stats to prove a point doesn't deserve my time.
I thought it was obvious what the OP was doing? If everything goes right, I could see us going 4-2. A loss to the Clips seems likely, as well as losing to either Dallas , Indy, or Boston.
It could happen. We are a young team and can be inconsistent. HOWEVER, the Mavs and Sixers are playing terrible, and Boston and Minnesota are average teams. It's unlikely.
I would rather have this tough stretch of games now versus in late March when we are trying to make a playoff push. This is a young team, they will have energy in a back to back. If they can win half the games consider that a success. They are still growing as a team. Please dont forget, this team was projected to be at the bottom of the conference. We have been playing well and the pieces are starting to come together. Let's not have the expectation that they should be a top 4 team in the west this year. I think a lot of posters on here see a couple of wins and a few 4 to 5 game winning streaks and change their expectations. Just enjoy this ride. Young teams will win games you dont think they should and lose ones you thought they should have won. Its all a part of the process. I believe they will win half the games coming up...
I didnt watch the game last night but looking at boxscores the 4th quarter only 10 points? This 7-8 man rotation is not healthy for everyone. PPat looked good after coming back Delfino looked good after his having 2 games off. Cant Mchale do a Pop and rest some starters?
