Would you like to make wager? I bet you anything the Rockets will finish ahead of the Grizz...or the "gizz" as you so affectionately put it. As a resident Grizz fans always had in his sig...Rockets will finish ahead of the Grizz and in the top 5, "book it." -V
By the same train of thought the rockets: Kept Tracy Mcgrady and Yao Ming two perennial All-stars and possible MVP candidates. They got the best coach available: Rick Adeleman who has taken two different teams to the NBA Finals and has proved himself to be a winning coach They got Francis, probably the best combo PG out there and for 2.4 million, not for the full MLE They got the rookie of the summer league who dazzled everyone and won rookie of the month honors. They were able to trade their second year guy to get a former Euroleague MVP entering his prime Novak will be in his second year and will be improved (because he'll actually get to play!) kind of fun to play "what ifs" right? the problem I have with your prediction is the rockets being that low. I honestly do think the grizzlies will be an improved team, possibly a playoff team going for the 6-8 spot. But they are very unproven with an unproven coach, 3 unproven major pieces (gay,conley,darko). While the rockets had a 52 win season last year with yao being out for over 30 games. And all the rockets did is go out and add more talent to the roster and get a coach who has shown he knows how to win. Barring multiple season ending injuries if this rockets team does not win 50 games i would be very disappointed. (but if they win the title i dont care how many reg season games they win)
Heck, I put the rockets in the top 10. I think that they are a good team. I don't think the rockets can make it 2 the finals with this team, but I could be wrong. The grizzlies have a really good mix of young and old talent, they probably have more talent on this team than when they went to the playoffs all those years. The two key ingredients for that team are still with the grizz, pau and miller. Add to that, Rudy and Darko and Lowery and Conely and our new coach and we could definitely be one of the top teams in the west, imo, better than the rockets. If pau is motivated, that is. If pau comes out making great passes and him and darko mesh, then yes they will be in the playoffs. It remains to be seen if they can get out of the first round though, because of the terrible rebounding they have. But the rockets are in the same boat. They are getting beat every year in the first round, because they don't have enough guns in the west. It is going to take Yao coming up and taking games over, if he can do that.
For me the Celtics is high for the number three the mavs is much better than the celtics because they won 67 last season... and for the rockets we need to prove to the league that we are a title contender..
Here is a question for rockets fans: you guys have had tmac and yao together for 3 years, explain why they have not yet made it past the first round of the playoffs? My observation: since we have evidence that the rockets cannot win a playoff series with just yao and tmac, they need to retool, yes? So they got francis which could be a brilliant move, but I still somehow see this team as broken, am i wrong? If the rockets were my team, I would be concerned about yao. He has been hurt the last two years in a row. Is it big man syndrome? I would also be concerned about tmac, because he could play all 82 games or he could get hurt again. Then to top it off, the rockets have no wiggle room with these guys on the payroll. I mean the whole season rests on the health of these two players? I think that I would rather trade one of them while they have high value and rebuild. To me, it is like this team is just good enough to screw itself in that they make the playoffs but then lose and get a really low draft pick. I would like to see a youth movement with the rockets and keep one of those stars or maybe trade both of them. If I were a roxs fan, I would love to see a REAL youth movement on the team.
I really believe that last year's postseason failure will be one of those franchise-defining moments for Dallas, the way Orlando losing to the Rockets in '95 killed their next decade. Cuban is moving on to baseball, Dirk will forever be mentally scarred with the fact that the championship was his until he choked it up, and little Avery will be screaming his butt off on the prow of a sinking ship. The Mavs are soo two years ago. They had their chance. So, with that in mind here are my rankings for next year's REGULAR SEASON, in condensed form for all the people who don't want to see everybody put a page-long ranking post. 1.Suns 2.Rockets 3.Spurs (age, injuries, everyone's gunning for them, they've never won two in a row) 4.Utah 5.Dallas 6.Chicago 7.Denver 8.Boston 9.Detroit 10.Golden State 11.Toronto 12.New Orleans 13.Cleveland 14.LAL 15.Washington 16.Miami 17.Orlando 18.LAC 19.Charlotte 20.New Jersey 21.Philly 22.New York 23.Atlanta 24.Portland 25.Memphis 26.Milwaukee 27.Seattle 28.Minnesota
yup insane. you want to blow a team up that will probably end up having the best regular season they have ever had in franchise history. completely insane. probably just screwing around, but if your serious then i would have to assume you either dont know much about bball or you just have a low IQ. if you asked ANY GM in the NBA right now they would disagree with you.
Darko still has to break out, Conley has never played a game, Gay has to break out, for all those those hypotheticals to happen in one season is statisically very low
well im obviously being over dramatic. but if you went to a general nba message board or as i just said asked any teams GM they would disagree with you on blowing up this team and going young. just doesnt make any sense. but carry on man if its really your opinion.
Here is a question for you: why did Shane Battier have to wait until he got to Houston to get his first playoff win?
Shoulda woulda coulda. Fact is they haven't won a playoff game. So until then, don't bring in any of that bull about not getting past the first round. Why don't you come back here when your team actually WINS a playoff game. That is, if they even make the playoffs.
yeah he's just taking a shot in the dark and wants to look like a genius if the grizz win over 30 games.
Top teams are West: 1. San Antonio 2. Houston 3. Phoenix 4. Utah 5. Dallas 6. Denver 7. Portland 8. Golden State East: 1. Boston 2. Chicago 3. Cleveland 4. Detroit 5. New Jersey 6. Washington 7. Miami 8. Orlando I'm not on the Celtics championship bandwagon, but I do believe they are easily the best team in the East.
thats just like saying if the rockets shot better then 32% they would have won...griz suck get over it = )
I don't know if Portland will make the playoffs. Lakers in my opinion have a better chance just because they have kobe.