Why CAN'T this Team Win as Many Regular Season Games as the 2014-15 Squad?

1)This thread is specifically discussing the Rockets' chances of repeating their WCF game record a few years back, we don't care if Portland or Denver has a much harder time to win games in general point is it will be easier for Rox to reach the WCF now than their first run before so I don't know why you're talking in generalities but avoiding the entire topic of the thread. I mean at the end of the nobody nobody really remembers how many games you win it's how far you can get in the playoffs so really 50-55 wins it's all the same thing as long as you get a 1-4 seed that should be enough to have a good chance to get to the WCF. Hell, as long as the Rox avoid the 8th seed and see GSW in the first round they should reach 2nd round at least.

2) Rox reached the WCF not last year, but the year before that. In comparison to last, last year the West was way better then because the superstars and stars haven't been concentrated on the Spurs and GSW yet so Portland had LMA/Lillard etc and a lot of teams were younger back then so guys like Randolph, CP3, Dirk etc were better. Dallas' defense didn't really improve significantly because Tyson Chandler is already a good defender so adding Bogut was like a lateral change from back then, Barnes has been playing horribly he clearly is not used to being the 1st or 2nd option on the team and has lost his shooting touch. While I make fun of Portions for being a role player when healthy he has shown to be way better than someone like Barnes so this is clearly a step down for them esp. when you realize before they also had Monta as the 3rd option now they have Wesley Matthews.

3) Very few teams reach 60 wins regardless, last year only Spurs and Warriors reached 60 wins so you're not saying anything new and even the WCF rockets didn't win 60 games they just won 56 games. That's very doable because the Rox should be the 3rd or 4rth best team in the West.

 

This team like many other Mauri teams is built for the regular season only to be found out come playoff time. Ultimately what matters to Murray is we have the 3rd winningest record over the last 10 years in the regular season. And this team is built for regular season success and playoff duds.

 

As of right now I have us

As of right now I have us the 4th or the 3rd best team in the west. Depending on what the Clippers do I think our offense alone will get us an top 4 seed.

 

I mean, I wish last season didn't exist as well.....

 

Why can't they? Overall lack of talent and serious health concerns for half the team.

 

Crap.

That means it will be *more* than 1/2 the team once we resign DMo?

 

If, and yeah.

 

Because we have:

Less depth
Weaker rebounding
Weaker defending
Weaker shot creating

 

Eh. A lot of it depends on intangibles like locker room and chemistry. If the guys are happy and there is a good comradery and health issues leave us alone we could maybe slip into the mid 50's. Don't underestimate mindset and chemistry. With all that was going on last season I am shocked we crapped the number of wins we did.

 

I believe 2014-15 was the anomaly. 2015-16 kinda proved that.

 

The difference is that this roster has one star and a bunch of injury prone role players. Another difference is that this team has no defense whatsoever. I'm just against the way it's built....which is made worse due to not having DMo for depth.

Anderson, Gordon, Nene, Beverley are all players likely to miss at least 20 games and there's piss poor depth behind them. The reason the 2014-2015 team was able to overcome injuries was due to that depth.

No defense and no depth is a poor recipe for success....but it's what we're rolling with.

 

$30. Whats your o/u?

 

UNDER UNDER UNDER.
Lock it in.

 

As others have said, the lack of depth is going to be a big issue. As the season wears on, the starters will wear down if they're asked to take on too much.

Also, I don't see a lot of toughness and/or experience in the frontcourt. Playing a fast-tempo game will compensate for that somewhat, but probably not enough to do damage, especially in the postseason.

The Rockets front office insists that defense will not be a problem, but we'll see.

At this point, I see this team as a lower playoff seed, and getting to the second round may be its ceiling.

 

I think it is the lack of defense from last year plus d'antoni disregard of it. Plus the last two coaching stints for D'antoni. Plus NBA experts and Vegas (I think the line is at 41.5 wins) but they tend to get things wrong from time to time and if think they will be wrong the rockets.

51 wins is what I'm thinking but I doubt they get to 56. Just don't trust D'antoni and you can't rely on Eric and Ryan staying healthy

 

this is why

 

Lol.