According to them, it's: 1.GSW 2.Spurs 3.Clippers 4.Blazers 5.Jazz 6.Thunder 7.Grizzlies 8.Rockets 9.Mavs 10.Wolves http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/17131591/2016-summer-forecast-west-standings
Excellent. Rockets play best when disrespected. I'm actually surprised by these rankings. I thought they would have ranked Rockets outside the playoffs. Jazz kinda high.
Rockets have a lot to prove after last season. I would rather they be under the radar. Seeds 4-9 are totally up in the air as far as I am concerned. This line though.... not really.
I am not feeling the Blazers, Jazz or Thunder above the Rockets. Honestly I don't really see the Grizz either.... Wolves will be better than expected now that they have a professional coach.
Even though I'm not a fan of his anymore, you have to kind of admit that our interior defense is worse now with him gone. As it stands right now, Capela <> Howard(in any capacity or effort level)
Disrespected? That's a little much. They're slightly overlooked, at worst. Let's not revisit similar threads to this last year, where everyone on CF was screaming bloody murder because the haters didn't have us winning 60+ games.
Same.... I'm a bit baffled by the Blazers love. They over-performed last year. Did they improve that much in the off-season? Henderson out, Evan Turner in. Lateral. Depends on Turner. He can be better, but usually isn't. Ezeli? Likelihood of him being better outside of GSW? I'm not sure I put it that high. They added some pieces, but as noted they overachieved, and people are only high on them because they made it to the 2nd round... but forgetting why they made it to the 2nd round. Jazz are high, but one could understand that jump, given the changes they made. PG was their biggest whole... they clearly addressed that. Bench and leadership was a whole, they clearly addressed those. Didn't add superstars, but added solid players to address their needs. Still high though.
It's like they don't know anything about the Rockets last season. Dwight sucked. His interior presence last season was useless. Not-to-mention, the chemistry issues will be better with him not being on the team. Then add in the Rockets' new additions. There is no way they are not better than last season and don't finish better than 41-41. Jazz and Thunder are too high in my opinion. I don't think the Blazers do any better than last season and I think the Grizzlies are being underrated. I'm seeing it more as.. 1. Warriors 2. Spurs 3. Clippers 4. Grizzlies 5. Rockets 6. Blazers 7. Thunder 8. Jazz
If he played last year how he did the previous 2 years... then you'd have a point. But last season, Howard wasn't any better than Capela. Therefore, by losing Howard you aren't really losing anything.
You didn't see where I said I thought presason ranking would have had Houston out of the playoffs? Should have put disrespected in quotes.
disagree and we all are going to see a major dip in interior defense this year regardless if you liked DH here or not.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/13431835/2015-summer-forecast-west-standings Here's exactly how much their predictions were worth a year ago. And they weren't worth any more the year before that.
A little low, but not worth getting excited over. It's understandable from a national media perspective that the loss of Howard would seem to be a major downgrade to offset the depth upgrade. I think most of us who watched the games know better. West is still going to be tough, I don't personally expect much more than 6th seed.
Just wait for some tweaks here and there. There is no way Les and DM are going to be an 8th seed twice. Also, as I told you awhile back, while the Philly talks have merit, please remember, DM likes a smoke screen. NN is a popular choice, but we have a history of low-risk, high reward acquisitions. Lat "ear" I heard is that Mr. Young Footwork is still in play, for cheap. And, with this ties to #FOE it has become pretty clear he wants out. Just FYI. The dream is still one of the birds, so don't give up quite yet. Allegedly, we're looking for another big who can shoot beyond 2 ft (Hi,Dwight) and a PG who will run the PnR the way MDA prefers. Unfortunately, some of this DMo nonsense is holding things up. That part is obnoxious...do we really wait for CF's own "Super Role Player?" I promise we'll be better than 8th. This is not the final roster, and an ear said we may be looking at a "No Mediocre-Amber Rose loving sharp shooter with a shoe addiction" haha. My last talks with Ne tell me that he didn't come here to lose. He could have received more than the minimum, but he came here to be part of a winning franchise. He's a smart man, as a i know personally. He didn't come here to struggle to make the post-season. Be patient. Watch the beautiful birds and the firesales. Peace and Love.
EXACTLY! Punk-ass Dwight quit on the team when things got tough and he wasn't getting the ball exactly the way he wanted. He stopped playing defense when we needed him the most. Dwight inexplicably thought his contributions were needed on the offensive end; Rockets had Harden for that. Harden from 2 years ago got Rockets to the second seed when he was playing with starting centers Tariq Black and Joey Dorsey. Don't see why Rockets can't be competitive with Capela and Nene.
