It seems like every year we say say to our self " It's time", sorry lame reference, but did we really improve that much. I remember this time last year that I was so impressed with john lucas jr. and was sure he was going to contribute after dominating the summer league. Remember, alot of ESPN analysts were boasting of Novaks skills as well. I love many of the changes we've made but hope It's not another season of fool's gold. Let's face it, the players we did get that have played an nba game are coming off dissappointing seasons, especially BONZI who is a huge X factor of my hopes for this season and my huge dissapointment of last season. We've been a top 5 or 6 team in the league for 3 years now. What's scares me about adelman is that the three best defensive teams in the league were all from texas. Those three were also in the top 5 or 6 best teams in the league.With Detroits' and Clevelands elevated Defensive play in the playoffs you could say that defense is what wins in the playoffs. With every player we have hopes upon being an offensive player, and somewhat a defensive liability, what are YOUR THOUGHTS as to how this off-season compares to others. Are we the Next Phoenix. Almost Good Enough. Ps i forgot to mention VSpan's potential after he Scolaized USA.
The best teams in the NBA are good defensivly but their offense is also great. Last year and not only last year we were good defensivly and we were awful ofensivly. You can say what you want but our team is all about ofense. So I'm very excited about Adelman, cause he's the best coach we could pick up, he'll change the team. I really think we improved well this year, and i can say that I'm more confident than last year. Rockets understood that bench is the key. When your superstars go to the bench someone has to step up...(that's why we lost to Utah) With these all additions of Francis, James, Scola, Brooks and maybe Butler I'm really excited and I can say "It's our time". I really hope it will be our time...
I have 0 expectations of butler. Because I am a huge rocket fan i have big expectations of every one else, even Bonzi, again. I'm just a little scared because the current suns are like the past kings, all O no D. Neither of those teams are worth emulating. NObody except the bills wants to be number 2 every year.
I wasn't confident at all last yaer since Tmac's back concerned me a lot. This year I am condident becasue Tmac's back seems ok after he visited the witch doctor. Even if Tmac gets hurt, he have a deep enough bench to make up 25pts a game - Mike James, Bonzi, SF3, Brooks, Scola, wow.........
what are you talkin about. suns D is pretty good. Rick's teams were at least top 5 defensive team in the nba. their were several posters that posted stats. basicaly, we're going to be a little down in D, just a little, and a much higher in offense.
HoHo,I am still have expectation of Rocket in the future season.Scola makes a huge domination in FIBA.Maybe someone say it is not in NBA.Right,that is one of the reasons.But,after I have seen Argentina vs American.I am proud of Morey.All the things say now is prematurity.Expectation,we have.
Both the current suns and past kings plays good defense, And as said above, Rick's team do plays excellent defense just look at the kings a couple season back. Every beginning of season will always bring optimism, thats the fun part of being a fan, with the addition of proven players(scola), players with something to prove(bonzi, SF3 and james) and promising players (AB and butler not to mention Novak as it usally takes shooters a couple season to find their ground). This do seem like "its time". Maybe its time to say good bye to rafer as well. hehe.
last year i thought we could win in the playoffs against anyone except SAS, PS or DM. feel the same this year, but i'm more hopeful about breaking into elite status in the west. sounds sick but if 50+ wins and a playoff cameo was not enough last year ... Adelman & his men have great expectations to fulfill.
Honestly, I though we were ready last year. I was saying we were championship contenders(said it every year since we won our last title ). But of course, we got exposed in the playoffs. And no, it was not ONLY the coaching. We didn't have enough offensive talent to help out Yao and T-Mac. I thought T-Mac had a very good series but Yao could have done better but still played well. It's just that nobody outside those two stepped up. You are not going to win playoff series with two guys. This time around, we are not going to have those same offensive problems. We can put out a lineup where each position can create their own shot. HUGE difference from last year where we had only about 2 guys that could create their own shot.
Yes Suns are great defensive team. They have Marion and Amare inside and you know what they can do defensivly. Then you've got Bell who is a very good 1on1 defender, Barbosa who's very quick, etc...
At this time last year, I was still pissed about the Rudy Gay trade. I was especially skeptical of Shane's value. One bright starlet of the offseason was Kirk Snyder's acquisition. I hoped that he would be the big swingman the Rox needed, but he disappointed last season (in fact, lately, I've been forgetting he's still on the team). I was never really big on Bonzi, probably because I didn't watch the Sac-SA series. And I was worried about Tracy aging a decade in one season. I only had a few things to look forward to last season. One was Yao's eventual rise as the premier post player. I had no doubts after watching post-injury Yao. The other was Vassilis Spanoulis. I thought this guy would eventually carry the leadership of the Rockets for years to come. It's ludicrous to many, I'm sure; but look at the 04-05 Rockets. That squad went far for quite a few reasons. High on that list was Tracy being T-mac. Not terribly efficient as his Orlando years, but still a bonafide MVP no matter what angle you look at. However, the biggest reason was the competitive fire. Barry, James, Wesley, and most of all, Sura brought that night-in, night-out; and Spanoulis had that same fire. I can't say that I'm disappointed Spanoulis didn't work out. The fact is, the Spanoulis situation worked out very well, at least for the Rockets. However, I'm sure that Span would have been a great, great fit for the Rockets if he was handled better. This year, I am very confident. If anything, the organization finally feels firmly adept at what it's doing. The Carroll Dawson years were fine, mediocre at the least. What irritated me the most was that, for all his professionalism and good intent, CD just didn't get the job done. Daryl Morey has made me feel, for the first time in my brief history as a Rockets fan, that the Rockets don't just want to go somewhere, but also have a map and a plan to get there. I'm confident in the new coaching system. I supported Jeff, and liked him (somewhat, anyway); and I admire what he brought to the organization, and what he brought out of the players. Still he never did anything that could erase the nagging thought in the back of my mind telling me that JVG was shy of championship calibur. Last season's Rockets overachieved in the regular season, simply. Rick Adelman, on the other hand, has only one thing left to do in his career: to win a championship. We already know what we're gonna get: a coaching pedigree you'd expect from a champion prospect. I'm confident in the moves the Rockets have made so far and the position they're in now. They've done so well this offseason, that I'm having difficulty giving adjectives. Resourceful? They acquired players of credibility without even touching their own stock. It's more like the basketball gods finally smiled and gave this team their blessing after years of drought. Bonzi + Adelman will be the bane that downs the reigning champs in the postseason. The theft of Luis Scola will forever bite Spurs fans in the ass. Aaron Brooks made me cry upon hearing his name on draft day, but has made me eat crow 3x a day since then. The Rockets are gonna make all the analysts go "Huh?" at the same time. Soon, all the news will be written in Rockets red.
i guess you could say that there are many reasons why this team did not beat utah last year. without criticizing jvg's coaching style (okay maybe a little), his 8 man playoff rotation (we know the starters), specifically mutombo, howard, and head was the ultimate reason why this team failed. we know that the team is going to get very little offensive production, if any, from mutombo. but when you have the 2 other primary bench players struggle with their shot like howard and head did, it was set to fail. it is okay to tighten up your rotation for the playoffs, but you still better have at least 2 other players on the bench who have played a fair share of playing time in the regular season who can be called upon, if needed, in the playoffs. neither of the 2 happened.
last summer we started the season with one nba pg on the roster and hardly anyone on the bench who can make a bucket. so to answer your question, i'm more confident than last season.
i was confident after our first game where we thrased dallas, but as the season unfolded i realized we were far from an elite team. i didnt think we were going to beat the jazz and i was right.