ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Celtics 1/11/2013

I get PDXs strength of of schedule, bad point differential, etc etc, but for me just going by the eye test they look pretty damn good. How many teams have a starting 5 better than theirs? Elite PG, elite SF, Star PF, solid SG and C. Yes there bench is terrible but that starting 5 is very very good. Im still optimistic about us and i think we can stay in front of them, but a lot of people are still saying they will fall out of the top 8. I dont think so

 

The bench being terrible is a HUGE reason......when you get the later months of the season and the wear and tear starts becoming significant, you're going to need a solid bench to consistently get wins

 

But back to this thread's purpose....

I can't wait to see how our youngin's handle the Boston Garden crowd and atmosphere

 

We got this! write.that.down.

 

Just keep the goal in sight for this season... Make the playoffs. Even if it only means he 8th seed, getting to play the clippers or OKC in the first round would be great for learning/experience. Look at the Knicks getting bounced by Miami last year in he first round and they have blown them out twice this year. Playing the elite teams in the first round may carry more value in the long run than getting bounced by a Memphis or GSW in the first round.

 

I will guarantee you with the squad that we have right now, we ain't gonna end up being the 8th seed... I see us sitting on the 5th or 6th seed by the end of the season... We are too damn good to be the 8th seed, no?

 

We will win this. Anyone know if any players are suspended from Boston? Seems like they have been causing some trouble as of late.

 

Call me a pessimist, but I see some regression coming. I hope we get 6th seed. I don't see the Rox getting any higher than that; moreover, I wouldn't be that surprised if we drop to 8th. We'll make playoffs for sure, but we can't really seem to grind out close games and that worries me.

 

Guarantees as a Rockets fan so far from the finish line? We can barely win against western conference opposition. As fun as the Rockets are to watch can you say we are better than the Blazers or the Nuggets?

 

Personally I think we're better than Portland, simply due to depth.

Nuggets I think are better than us. They're similar to us but more experienced so are potentially dangerous. Also, Denver has the 4th easiest schedule for the remainder of the season according to Wages of Wins, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up ahead of us.

As for final seeding, we can end up anywhere between 4 and 8 depending on how the games go. It's a wide window, but given our youth and learning curve, there is a high volatility in terms of predicting this team's performance.

Still, that most fans are expecting a play off spot and HOPING for a 4-6 seed shows how quickly this team is developing. It's a nice spot to be in for such a young and inexperienced team.

:grin:

 

I'm not so sure... Two overtime losses against the Blazers but we're a different team right now and the loss against the Nuggets was early in the season I can't remember...

 

Better or not, I think teams have a way of over performing, or under performing relative to their "place" in a strength chart. With youth, energy, and commitment, who knows whether there's a real underdog story emerging here, but it's fun while it's happening. Just the simple fact that we're all hoping for higher seed vs hoping to barely squeak into the playoffs says something.

 

The pace we play and the reliance on a few key players makes us really susceptible on back-to-backs and 4-in-5s or 4-in-6s.

Reality is, if we lose to the Celtics and run out of legs against Philadelphia, we'll have undone a lot of the good work we did in the recent 15 games or so.

Because home or away, teams in our bracket (Rockets, Blazers, Nuggets, Wolves and Jazz) also haven't been losing much to eastern conference teams and the other teams are less susceptible to losing the back end of back-to-backs because they don't play at our pace and rely and 3 players playing nearly 40 minutes a game most games.

And there's still the risk of the Lakers catching fire out of desperation.

In the West, if you lose 2 to 3 against teams you shouldn't lose to (back-to-backs or not), you've lost any buffer you've built up throughout the year. And as a young team, I'm not sure we'll respond positively or negative to that.

Our finish last season should be a warning. We were at one stage playing to move into home-court advantage also.

 

Personally, I think the Lakers are out of it, so if they catch fire (which would be ideal in my opinion), it will hurt other teams more than us as we have already played them 3 times. Tonight they play OKC... they aren't beating OKC barring a meltdown from Durant and friends. That would put them at 15 and 21... 6 games under .500 without a lot of games left.

If they lose tonight, they would have to play .700 ball the remainder of the season just to get to 46 games and contend for the 8th spot. .700 ball in the WC? With chemistry still messed up, Dwight with nagging injury and Pau playing a sub-par season? I just don't see it happening (though great if they make a run at it).

As for last season's melt down, it's good as an object lesson in getting overconfident, but the team records are VERY different.

This year's team is young and growing, last year was pretty much at their potential.

This year's team is a scoring machine, putting up 8x 120 point games. Last year's team didn't put up 120 in a single game last season.

This year's team has closed out more late games than melted down. Last year's team had far more issue in closing out games.

That's not to say this team couldn't melt down. The only thing consistent about youth is inconsistency. Still, given they are still finding their stride and chemistry and are already holding such a good record, barring injury I don't foresee a repeat of last year's melt down.

One other difference is that Harden, Parsons and Lin are well known pressure players. They elevate to the competition more than folding under pressure. I do think they still have a tendency to "play down" against weaker teams... I think that's more an inexperience and youth issue than anything.

Many of their individual best performances are against the toughest teams in the NBA... that is one of the most encouraging things about this team.

Anyway, we'll see... not ruling out an implosion, I just don't see it as highly likely (barring injury). :grin:

 

I think Houston is a good matchup for every team in the West, with the exception of OKC and perhaps Clippers (have not played them yet). Two losses against OKC were pretty bad....2 of the 3 games against SA could have gone either ways. A winning January should solidify Houston's chance of getting into the playoffs....barring injuries to key players.

 

This will be a tempo battle. The Celtics play slow, ugly, disgusting, putrid, shameful (feel free to add your own words here) Eastern Conference basketball.

The Rockets do not.

It will be interesting to see which team is able to impose its will on the other and dictate the tempo of the basketball game.

 

The Hornets just put out 48 minutes of tape of how to slow us down tremendously and effectively. Boston plays similarly to New Orleans, so hopefully we can change some things around.

 

celtics has being playing great lately. this will be a tough game.

 

Houston was bricking things in the 4th...will all the TOs and shooting woes in the first half...Rockets was still up. It was just a sad night in the 4th...nothing more to be discussed.:grin:

 

Definitely not going to be as easy as last time. Now they have a very good wing defender in Bradley and Sullinger has stepped up. Expect Lin/Harden to be harried into dumb mistakes by Bradley and Sullinger to outhustle Morris/PPatt.