Agreed, Bowen hasn't touched the floor all preseason, and Sura just needs to see if he can come back in April. There's a good case to keep Jacobsen and Padgett on the roster.
I love how a good pre-season trumps two championships.... I guess the toronto raptors who had the best pre-season are shoe-in's for the finals...
LOL...well...it is impossible to know if this is the best team ever until enough time has passed..I mean yes its preseason, but we have to see how the team gels, how they handle crunch time, injuries...I will admit this is one of the most entertaining teams in my memory since the champs because all squads on the fllor run the ball, we have shooters, we have steals...its just more fun to watch a team with this much potential...not too mention we now have so many new players to watch and learn...to watch them grow....soooo..I will not say this is the BEST team ever...YET...but I will say this is probably going to be the BEST/MOST ENTERTAINING season we have seen in a LONG time...imo ~J
This might not be the most talented, but it has a lot of great players from top to bottom. Sometimes, that is enough to win championships (Pistons), and sometimes, it's not (Jazz).
I'd admit that I was very disappointed when we didn't get Mike James. But maybe it is a blessing in disguise. See below the article from St. Paul Pioneer Press (specifically look at the highlighted phrase). [Begin quoted] Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey had some of the NBA's top three-point shooting teams when he was with the Seattle SuperSonics. Players such as Gary Payton, Sam Perkins, Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis gave the Sonics enough firepower to contend in the Western Conference. Casey would like to see the Wolves shoot more three-pointers, but he doesn't expect them to be like his teams in Seattle. "We don't have the personnel," he said. "We're more of a mid-range team. We have guys who can shoot the three with Mike James, Randy Foye, Troy (Hudson) and Ricky (Davis). But we're more of an inside-out team with Kevin Garnett. The three is not what we're going to live and die on." The Wolves were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the West last season. Not much has changed this exhibition season even with the additions of James and Foye. Minnesota shot 28.6 percent from three-point range through six games. It showed Wednesday night when the 6-foot-11 Garnett had the Wolves only basket from beyond the arc in eight attempts in the first half against the Chicago Bulls at Target Center. They finished 2 for 13 after Davis hit a three-pointer in the second half. The Wolves won 109-105 in overtime. Casey said three-point shooting is still a work in progress, as is the team's offensive flow. "If you can get it within the offensive scheme of things, then we encourage it," he said. " But we're still learning (to play with) each other. A little like last year, we're more ahead defensively." Wally Szczerbiak was Minnesota's top three-point shooter at 40.6 percent after 40 games last season. After Szczerbiak was traded to the Boston Celtics, Troy Hudson took over that role, but he played only 36 games because of an injured right ankle. If Hudson can't stay healthy this season, that will put more pressure on James to give Minnesota a reliable outside threat. James was fourth in the NBA with a career-high 44.2 percent from long distance and made 169 three-pointers to lead the Toronto Raptors last season. But he is just 2 for 11 in the preseason. Briefly: Hudson (ankle), forward Mark Madsen (knee) and guard Marko Jaric (calf) missed Wednesday's game. But Casey expects them to be ready by the season opener next Wednesday against Sacramento. Marcus R. Fuller can be reached at mfuller@pioneerpress.com. [End quoted]
Id have to say its not the most talented team weve had, but it is the deepest. Since really only the first 6-8 guys get any real playing time, I gotta say 94-95 Rox get the vote as most talented. The return of Phi Slama Jama, coupled with Sam, Horry , Mario, etc...hands down.
No, not yet. This team has the potential to be the best. But I still think the Rockets in 93-95 is the best team, they brought us 2 Champions!
Another Question: Is this the most injury prone team the Rockets have ever had? This IS probably the best team ON PAPER that the Rockets have ever had. This IS probably the best video game team in the Rockets history. 2nd best Center in Rockets history. 1st best small forward in Rockets history. Olympic team caliber power forward. Decent pass first point. Decent defender and 3 point shooting 2 guard. Bonzi Wells coming off the bench. Novakaine hitting threes all day. Some more good youth on the bench. Yes, this team has the potential to be one of the best Rockets teams of all time, but they will never be considered BETTER than the 93-94 team, they'd be lucky to be considered equal. But this team does have that kind of potential if they can stay healthy.
fair enough. Rating all time centers is tough, especially late at night, but yeah you've got a good point.
If everyone stays healthy, possibly. I still feel that this team lives and dies with Tmac. If he stays healthy and Yao plays decent, and Battier lives up to what all of you are claiming him to be, then yeah, i'd go with it. I'm not really sold on Rafer and i'm not sold at all on Bonzi. I love Tmac, Yao, and from what i've seen so far, Battier. The jury is still out on these other guys, they have a lot to prove. And Juwon Howard, well I won't get into that one.
Exactly. The Pre-Season means absolutely nothing in every sport. Teams are experimenting and usually defenses are weak.
No. the team of the dream, barkely, glyde , Kevin willis, eddie johonson, randy livingston, matt maloney, chucky brown was better..
I have to agree with this. Despite the age of those guys, that could have been one of the most talented squads ever. I fully expected them to be in the Finals that year. If you kept putting that team out every year with those guys in that stage of their career, they'd win some Championships. Think about it...if it wasn't for Jordan, Barkley and Drexler could have won Championships as the main stars on their own teams...then to put them with Olajuwon on the same team? That team in 96 or 97, whenever, was only 3 years removed from those three guys all being top 10 players in the league. Ridiculous. Stupid cheating Jazz...stupid Malone manhandling Elie off the illegal pick for Stockton. Boo.
ok, I hear ya about the Dream days, but my opinion is this is the best talent top to bottom. I didn't ssay they were going to win it all, I didn't say the pre-season has me fluttering ( well yeah ok it kinda does), I am talking talent 1-15. Hakeem,, glide, etc., of course unmatched pros in many ways, but frankly those benches were good..I feel this one could be better. Talent wise. I like balance, and even though rotations get small in April, having a bench this deep can keep you up on top when those "injuries" which we all know are coming...come. Been with the club ( supporter) since they played at the U of H.
This is probably the best team based on the rules that are in place today. However, if you go back to the mid nineties, this team would get killed with the slow-down, illegal-defensse, hand-checking style that was played then. If you brought any of those nineties team up to today, they would get killed with all of the up-tempo, running style that is used today. It's tough to compare things when you have completely different rules.
Time will tell if I'm wrong, but this one may be #6 in my book. The top five until this squad proves anything: 1. 94-95 2. 96-97 3. 93-94 4. 85-86 5. 80-81
