[theScore] Why not Houston? The Rockets are built to hang with the Warriors and win

GSW team was ridiculous. With both Green and Iguodala declines this year, they no longer look invincible. Against the Rockets, Iguodala is going to be their key player. No one else on that team can contain Harden.

 

Wow, bold claims. Do you think he'd be the best player of the entire NBA if he was on a bad team? Does he alone have the capacity make a bad team great?

 

Capela better show out in the playoffs lol

 

C'mon now.

Really, man?

 

"They ain't even that good..." - MVP

 

It is so amusing how quickly the Warriors quotes & media stories changed from "we're just waiting for Houston to make a mistake" to "we actually don't care about getting first place, it's just the regular season"

I'm also amused by how much the media talks up OKC and the Cavs, who are irrelevant.

 

No one in league history can make a genuinely bad team great. You have to guys who can do some things well on some basic level. Even Lebron's Cleveland teams could rebound and shoot off the catch at a high level.

I'm not going into semantics on that pointless hypothetical.


How many teams could make a good team GOAT? That is what I value more.

It's like taking Russell Westbrook over Chris Paul because he could pull a pathetic roster like OKC last year into the playoffs with brute force. Meanwhile CP3 turns a fringe-contender Rockets team into a historically good team. Give me CP3 every time.


And by the way, I don't think Westbrook carries teams better than CP3 either.

You need to look at what Draymond did to the Rockets without Curry. Rockets and Blazers for that matter. He was an absolute monster. If Draymond Green is shooting 3s at the level he was in 2016, he is as impactful as anybody in the 'eague.

 

I never said he was the best player in the league, I said he was the most important that year and in that years playoffs because the production is not something you could replace. It was very obvious how different the warriors looked that year without Draymond on the floor. You can replace Steph that year with Lillard, CP3, etc and still be fine. You can replace Klay with KD, PG, Harden, etc. Keep in mind that year KD was not even on the Warriors, it was Steph, Dray, and Klay. Draymond was the most important player on any team that season because his production could not be replaced. If you take a guy like Kawhi and put him on that team, I still don't think its the same value. Draymond not only was having a great shooting season, defensive player of the year season ( he won it the following year), but he brought a toughness that you need in the playoffs. Klay does not bring that and neither does Steph. 2015-2016 Draymond Green was like having a prime Dennis Rodman on your team, not really someone you can look at the box score and say he can be replaced.

 

Nice post. You cited some valid points regarding their bench and overall potency as a team...or lacking from previous years.

For the record, this Rockets team is better than the Warriors WITH KD, so your hypothetical question without KD is moot.

If a healthy Rockets team does not win it all this year, seriously something is not right. This team has shown grit, determination and versatility in winning games multiple ways.

Health withstanding, the Rockets should take that next step over a stellar regular season and win the title this year.

 

And WITH all 4 of them, Rockets can beat them....