Home court or be fresh?

I don't think these two things have to be mutually exclusive.

With mchale it probably is though.

 

ya gotta, ya gotta, ya gotta BE FRESH

 

The Rockets are two losses away from the 7th seed and 5 losses away from falling out of 8th seed. I would say they sit firmly in the middle.

Play hard EVERY game or they will be slapped pretty badly by the likes of Spurs Mavs.

 

Edited for the mistake.

 

Since it's been statistically proven that home court in the playoffs is an advantage, and thereis no proof that "freshness" means anything, I'll go with home court.

 

NBA postseason success is about super stars and elite role players clicking on all cylinders, playing with great chemistry.

Much of this is determined by style of play and execution.

Regrettably, this will be our downfall. While teams like Atlanta, Golden State, and San Antonio have a style of play that promotes ball movement, backs picks, screens and quality rotations, McHale's read & react, drive and kick (3s and layups), looks gimmicky at best--and desperately flawed at worst.

I really like and respect the hell out of McHale and his coaching staff but feel like our style of play just won't get it done. Not this year.

And certainly not out of the West.

Bottom line: to the extent of playoff success, rest or no rest doesn't really matter. It's about style of play, efficiency and execution.

 

Push as hard as we can and worry about the rest later. It's not gonna be easy making the playoffs with all of our squad playing hard every night. Say what you guys want but I don't want to play GS, Portland, or Memphis first round

 

Home court. Winning is better for chemistry and culture of the team, even at the expense of freshness.

 

Based on this article home court advantage is almost a must.

http://www.sportingcharts.com/artic...ayoffs-do-lower-seeds-even-have-a-chance.aspx

 

This article mentions the 1998-1999 season. But just go back a couple more years to the 1994-1995 season and you can find the #6 seed Rockets pulling off an upset in every round to make it to and win the Finals.

That year, the Rockets were the first and only team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed. They were the first team in NBA history to beat 4 50-win teams in a single postseason run. They won a playoff-record 9 games on the road. They were the first team in NBA history to win the title without having home-court advantage in any of the four playoff rounds.

I guess that means it can be done. But one time ever in the history of the NBA (or at least since the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams in 1984) is not a very good indicator of it happening again. I wouldn't be opposed to giving some of our main players a game off here or there, but overall we need to pursue home court advantage as much as possible.

 

We just need to win, to much talent on this team to be in the middle of all these teams. Time to break loose and move pass Portland and Memphis.

 

Last year we chose getting fresh over getting well oiled and gelled chemistry-wise.
We rested people and played lazy, tripping our way into the 1st round. In complete opposite fashion, Portland came in with a tight game and a big win streak. They knew what they were doing, and our guys were reintroducing themselves to each other.

I think resting guys in late March / early April is stupid as all hell. We need cohesion.

 

Lol

They are also 2 games out second.

Why are you Rocket fans such downers all the damn time jeez?

The Mavs have the worst record amongst any playoff teams and The Spurs have been very mediocre this year. Neither of them are going to slap us pretty badly. I'd take my chances against either of those teams.

 

The fact that the 94-95 Rockets won from the sixth seed is what led me to finding the article I quoted. I was trying to find how many teams have won the championship starting from the fifth through eighth seeds. My memory may be incorrect, but aren't the 94-95 Rockets the only team to win from a sixth or lower seed? Home court advantage is huge in the playoffs.

 

^
Sorry photojoe, I didn't completely read your post before responding. It appears you answered the questions in my reply in your original post.

 

Do we have a playbook or is it still one sided?

 

Home court is always huge during the playoffs and I would hate to have to go into another teams home and try to win. Especially when refs usually give the home teams the benefit of the doubt.