If it is not obvious yet, I expect this to be a crucial and recurring theme as the season gets underway. It's painfully clear that there are six teams head and shoulders above the rest in the West this year. Of those six, four will match up in a first round battle royale while the top two seeds get much weaker opponents. I could throw numbers out at you about the chances of teams seeded 3 or lower to make the Finals, but even those poor percentages would underscore how big a deal it is for us to get a top two seed this year. You want to make it to the second round as healthy and mentally intact as possible. Bloodbath series early in the playoffs don't bode well for the team that survives. Most eventual champions go relatively unscathed through the first round. The only exceptions that come to mind are the 95 Rockets when we came back against the Jazz...and possibly the 2009 Lakers when they faced off against the Rockets, but even that was in the second round. Anyways, if you want a worthy and lofty enough goal to aim for in rooting for the Rockets this upcoming year, make it the chase for the 2 seed. Once the playoffs hit, all bets are off, but at least we maximize our chances this way. Lets have that great awe inspiring series against Golden State...in the SECOND round!
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Great point. Truthfully I don't think this season will be a 55 win team. There are 2 reasons for this. 1) The team needs chemistry 2) Howard's injury is still in the air
Does this mean that we can have the great, awe-inspring, sweep against the Lakers....in the FIRST round?
I think we will rank between 4-6 seed, 3 isnt imposible but i doubt it. Spurs, Okc, Clippers are ahead of us Then its a toss up between Rockets, Grizzles and Warriors.
Why exactly do the Clippers get this much respect? I genuinely don't get it. They were a mid-tier playoff team this year that was easily dispatched in the first round. Blake Griffin remains soft, doesn't defend well and isn't a true star. They swapped out Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler for J.J. Redick and Dudley. Marginal upgrade at best (for an offensive player, Redick has cracked the 15-PER line once in his career, which isn't great), and possibly a downgrade, because if/when Paul gets one of his usual leg injuries, Collison doesn't have the upside to create offense like Bledsoe did. They got Doc Rivers, yes. But I don't know what Doc has accomplished outside of guiding a loaded Boston team with three (arguably four) stars. And the problem with the Clippers was personnel more than Del Negro. It's easier to blame the coach, so that's what most around LA did, but the bottom line is that the team just wasn't talented enough. In my opinion, it still isn't. If the Rockets stay healthy, I think they're a better team than the Clippers.
I think the Clippers will be a fantastic regular season team, and will probably be the # 1 seed due to their depth enabling them to avoid the injury bug. However, I think they'll be knocked out early in the playoffs. Most likely by us :grin:
What upgrades them so much over this year, when they were on the 4/5 line the entire year? Just not seeing it.
Everything is based off of them getting doc rivers. People are putting a lot of stock into getting him. Either way, they have no assets for the next two years. Good luck with that.
I couldn't agree with this post more, and would rec if I could. I think BSPN is just overrating the Clippers because they need an LA team to root for and because they have a tendency to overstate the importance of the head coach as well as overstating how good of a coach Doc is. (Don't get me wrong, he's a solid coach, but he also had a GREAT roster for years in Boston--not that hard to get a good record when you're coaching KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rondo). The Clippers could wind up 5th seed again this year and I wouldn't be surprised at all. If CP3 goes down with a serious leg injury before the halfway mark they'll be struggling to make the playoffs.
Never consume information without understanding who the source is pulling for. Mainstream media will always bias toward bigger markets, everything else being equal.
They weren't on the 4/5 line for the whole year though. They were the #1 seed last year and were looking like a lock for a top 3 seed, and then they had that injury bug that went around in small doses with CP going down for little stretches at a time, resulting in him missing around a dozen or so games and messing up the rhythm that they built after going on that month and a half long winning streak.
Precisely. Everyone loves to blame (or credit) the coach because it's easy. It's much more convenient to "fix" than remaking your team, which usually needs another star. In reality, nine times out of 10, the coach is largely a product of the talent on his roster. Doc is a good coach, but he's not a transcendent one that's going to make the Clippers something they aren't. When you look at the supposed "elites" of the West, these are the prominent names: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, James Harden, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin. One of those eight isn't like the others, and unless Griffin makes that leap, the Clippers aren't going to be a serious contender. Especially considering Paul has historically the highest "nagging injury" risk as well.