If healthy, this team will get on the radar real fast!!!

I completley agree with you and we still have more than half the MLE and a TE to get even better!

 

I read an article about McGrady a few weeks back and he said he will back with a vengence this year. He claimed to prove everyone doubting him and writing him off due to injury wrong.

Movitated and healthy Tmac =

 

Who says McGrady has been slowing down? What is one injury plagued season? Many players have at least one. It's not like he averages 55 games a year. If this squad stays healthy, or normal injuries at least(avg 6-7 missed games) we have a legit shot at 60 wins. 55 is where my money's at. And anything less than a Game 7 West Finals is a dissapointment. We got the best 1-2 or 2-1 punch in the league, a top 5 perimeter defender, and a legit backcourt rotation. They're not superstars as some people want, but good role players in Alston, Snyder, and Head. Any improvement at the PF position should result in a title.

 

I am pretty optimistic, but who knows until the season actually starts? If McGrady and Yao are healthy and competitive, this team has what no other squad in the West does: two legitimate superstars who can outplay anyone at their position on any given day.

Will they play like it consistently? Will Yao get more favorable officiating? Will McGrady trust his teammates when he needs to? Will both of them stay healthy? Will we settle into a workable rotation in the backcourt and at the four?

The remaining moves will go a long way towards determining some of those questions, but the rest are just wait-and-see issues. I am optimistic, if only because teams like Dallas and the Clippers did so much more with healthy lineups that anyone could have imagined, while neither has the mismatch capabilities that only players like Yao and McGrady can create.

 

I agree. I think the two biggest unknowns, in my opinion, are VSpan and Snyder. Will VSpan adapt to the NBA game and will Snyder by into JVG's system? I'm not at all worried about Battier, JLIII (when he signs), and Sura. I'm also confident Novak will have a relatively easy transition and will get more playing time than most folks anticipate.

 

IMHO- I think Franchise stars like Tmac and YAO SHOULD NOT PLAY all 82 games.

I think even without injury- we should rest them over the season, not with an intention to lose the game- but also do a gut check on the rest of the team.

I would say 10 games off would not be as bad.

This way we will prevent unnecessary injuries and let the stars rest- while it provides the bench players to shine. I would never agree with the Stupid Bravado of "playing hurt"- that kind of crap is OK for Street ball not in a business where your assets are your players.

 

i want the rockets to be strong enough to be able to remain competive even if Tmac were to go down for a stretch with an injury. That why i hope they add more weapons with the rest of the MLE and trade exception. The Rockets still have by far the best center in the NBA and some good pieces, it should be possible....

 

To the original post:

I agree with everything you said. You bring up an interesting point about Yao's dominance only lasting for short while. If Yao starts dominating from the beggingin of the season, rockets will get more publicity of being contenders because they (rockets) will have a dominant big man. Battier also doesn't appeal as a big acquisition because his stats only show him as a 10-5 guy, but he will shine once people see the impact he makes on this team.

I'm also looking to see for rockets to get off to a good start, something they have failed to do the past two seasons with t-mac. I think getting off to a good start will be very important, espeacially in the West, and it might give them the oppurtunity to get a better seeding than one of the top 3 teams in the conference (Mavs, Spurs, Suns).

 

I don't really understand why is it that most posters used the word IF on McGrady and Yao health. Every teams will probably have a IF too so it pretty much cancel out the IF in our team.

Yes, McGrady has a back problem and Yao had a toe problem, but the injury McGrady suffered from last season is different from the one that he had played without much problem throughout his career and Yao's toe injury is in the past tense. The present injury on is in fact a foot injury that was caused by player stepping on his foot during game. This too has been fixed.

Maybe, it just me but at time when I read the words 'IF HEALTHY' it affect my spirit for next season and it is really disturbing and at the same time hoping there will not be a deja vu of last season.

 

this team will be over-looked this season.

that's the perfect chance to surprise everyone.

look at what the hornets did last season! this team will OVER-achieve this season due to people overlooking us.

 

Maybe rockets can pull off something like what the pistons did in 04. I didn't think they would even make the finals

 

I agree with you completely in that we should stop using "IF". TMAC says he is healed and we should trust him. Yao and TMAC's injuries are in the past and we should stop bring them up!!! They are not important any more. I look forward to a healthy TMAC and a heatlthy Yao in the start of the season. AND THEY WILL DOMINATE FROM BEGINING TO FINISH!!

 

I am skeptical by nature, so, in my mind, the jury will really be out awhile on this team. I am hoping for some more help before the season starts. Hopefully, some "known" players. The "scrub club" will be interesting to access. Last year's group was largely a bust. Synder is a mystery and so is VSpan. Is JLIII new and improved, he didn't show me much last year? Alston was a huge disappointment to me last year, so I am not too excited about him. Head might have improved his game. I would like to see what roles the new guys are going to play.

Most interesting will be the impact of Battier. Of course, we will all be watching Ming's foot and TMac's back. A Sura comeback would be something special. I don't see a contender at this point, but the team might be entertaining, and, if they jell and become more than the sum of their parts, they could be special. But they have to prove it on the floor.

I might be excited if they just shoot 45%. The shooting last season was nothing short of horrible, I can't take much more of the "brick brigade."

 

The key to a successful regular season and playoffs is making sure we have enough depth so T-mac and Yao can stay healthy and coast through the regular season and turn it up when need be. Currently, I feel we need one more proven well rounded player to give us solid minutes at the 4. If Juwan could play at the level he did in his 04-05 campaign (consistently knocking down the 17fter) prior to getting injured we're there.

 

i'm starting to finally come around on the trade i think.

battier holds a lot more cards than he thinks he does right now. i just hope that he figures that out now rather than allstar break. no doubt that he's to be the emotional leader on this team. a good pass here and there... a charge here and there... a dive on the floor here and there. that stuff is contagious. hopefully it'll wake yao and tracy up when the wear and tear starts midseason. as long as he doesn't say anything like "super-duper stars" anymore. that was terrible.

all that being said... what are we? five or six deep right now? not sure that depth can get any better with carroll mentioning that they are looking for trades. gotta give depth to get depth considering the lack of trade bait players on our roster. however, considering where we were at the end of last season... we've improved a little.

battier, snyder, and plan v... isn't a bad offseason and it's not even over yet.

keep posting these positive threads, y'all. the sting is slowly, but surely going away.

 

I completely agree. I love the optimism from so many here, but there are question marks everywhere. Hope we're good...

 

I agree wow what a feel good thread finally one that "rockets fans" if you can call them that are not hating just to put a damper on everyone else. Thanks man great job!

 

I WANT THE SEASON TO START NOW!!!!!!!



But really, offseason needs to hurry up

 

Just like 94, this team will come out of NOWHERE to hit the opening strong...like 16-3 type of strong and win the NBA championship by beating Miami 4-2.

DD