The garm has become quite a joke, especially in the pas year. However your articles or at least your lists are not any better. Sorry, but those lists you had come out over the past few weeks looked like they were written by someone who has never watched basketball before. It was laughable. It seems like you were more intereste din creating controversy than legitimate lists. I didn't even bother reading this article.
No worries KellyDwyer, all these...ah, "cocks" would shake your hand if they had the opportunity to meet you at some dinner. You know it, I know it and most importantly, they know it.
Kd's forcast is a tad bit lower than my expectations(40-45 wins). My low expectations are based on the fact that in Nov & Dec, we'll be experimenting to find the right rotation and our killer schedule then. On Jan. 6th, we'll have played Dallas(4), LAL(3), Portland(3), NO(2), Phoenix(2), Cleveland(2), SA, Utah, Denver, Detroit, Philly, Toronto, Orlando & NJ. Around that time T-Mac will return & we have another shorter orientation period. Again this year we hit our stride around the All-Star break, but by then it'll be too late.
I would like to predict in the range of 42 - 47 wins in this team, here are my reasons why. If the Tracey comes back like he was at least in the 07/08 campaign, he can help us get closer to the 47 win mark. The team as it is now with a healthy mcgrady is better than the team that won 22 games straight. This team will be better offensivlely and defensivly than that team, but teams went or will go without Yao. If we assume tracy stinks it up or gets injured, I would still give us in the nieghborhood of 40 - 42 wins..bc the cast of role players and their ability to step up, we seen it done already, not just against the lakers last year but I really believe in this team, I don't believe we will be much under .500 this year.
This is quite possibly the first time in the history of Chad Ford that he has been alleged to have provided anything even remotely resembling cogent analysis.
It amazes me the crap that KD has to put up with -- both here and on BDL in the comments. Even going back to the OnHoops days, KD was the best writer in the biz. No one does as much homework as he does. No one watches as many games as he does. No one else is out there combining that method with the new school stats. His BTB's are daily "must reads".
Err, it ain't like these people are saying this stuff to his face. Seriously. Last time I checked the internet is used by MILLIONS of people around the world. Also, last time I checked, most of those people are borderline r****ded... seriously. So what's it matter what they have to say?
So let's figure out a solution to the problem: Whenever you start a thread on an author's piece, a) post extracts of the piece and let the user visit the original site for the rest. b) Clearly write in the OP "Do NOT post entire article" Sounds reasonable to me.
Kelly - you only acknowledge you're "miffed beyond repair" when people plagiarize your articles - and you would be justified in doing so. But what you don't realize is the lack of patience you have for those who don't see eye to eye with you. And your responses quickly become personal and hostile, which I find crass and unprofessional. Your writing and ability to recap games or careers is great (Like this article on Toni Kukoc - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/kelly_dwyer/09/18/kukoc/index.html). Whether or not your basketball analysis is spotty is subjective as this thread demonstrates. One thing is for sure - you have a rhetoric heavy style that resonates heavily with journalists all over the internet, but pure basketball fans will hold you to something else. There must be something in the content of your articles that makes you feel you're constantly battling your readers, even on issues that have nothing to do with copying and pasting. The "snarky" responses only exacerbate the issue and result in a much more turbulent relationship with your readers than other writers. IMO tone down the emotion when you look for feedback. Tone down the emotion when you analyze basketball games. IMO sports journalists focus too much on off-court behavior and metaphors that make players relatable to the sedentary, non-athletic fan, instead of the game itself. Tone down the superlatives when you correspond with the people responsible for your paycheck. Your passion for the NBA will always be appreciated, but you have to come to terms on how to deal with your readers. Being snide with them just doesn't make sense (again, this is not referring solely to plagiarism). It's not the length of your monologue (or responses) that I mind, but the melodramatic nature of it. Have a more business minded approach to basketball in your writing and you might be seen in a different light, because the world only has room for so many Bill Simmons.
I remember the 28.8K days! seriously KD, I believe most people here enjoy reading your articles. the people who don't understand the whole idea that this is your job probably don't have jobs and don't see that point of view.
Nice read.. I disagree, with 37 wins maybe more like 45. I agree, Tracy was a team killing mope last season and he'll likely become a valuable chip prior to the February trade deadline. Or the Rockets can let his contract expire and take a dip into the free-agent pool.
I agree with both Kelly and you. The term "x factor" is an overused one but not in the case of McGrady this season. I don't know what he will be when he returns so all of my predictions have this team winning less than 40 games (37 sounds about right). If he returns to 07-08 form, comes back by December 1 and the Rockets are even playing .400 ball before he returns it's conceivable that they could win close to 50 games. If he does return and plays out the season at 60% of what he was two years ago then I think 41-43 wins is more likely. Then again, he could return and play until Jan/Feb before being traded (possibly with another Rocket player) and the team could conceivably have two new starters after the All Star break. My gut tells me he is going to return and be a 18/5/5 guy and a model citizen. That's going to be enough to see him and a guy like Battier (or Landry) being packaged with him and moved in order to bring in a young player with All Star potential (who is already a very good player) and a proven, starting NBA Center. That's just my guess based on what the team needs and the fact that I believe McGrady is done being a Rocket after this year no matter what. I think things are going to happen quickly around mid-season with this team and come playoff time things are going to be much, much different than they are now. I'm sticking with Kelly's guess of 37 wins based on me being wrong and absolutely no changes occurring with active players between today and the last day of the season.
I think people have underestimated the Rockets over the past few seasons but I'm not liking the Tmac factor. I think he needs to be out of the equation until the second he is ready to play. So for now, I think we're looking at around .500 give or take a few games. After Morey tinkers with the roster some more (and past seasons indicate that he will), and after Tmacs final test and after Ariza and Andersen start being more comfortably, then we say whether or not its right to say the Rockets have been underestimated this year. Because no one has said they are going to be pushovers. People are just saying they aren't going to make the playoffs. And right now, its too early to say.
i used to be waitin like 15min in the hotel business center in foreign countries, for the front page of clutchcity.com to download just so i could find out if that ****** quitten was gonna be coming to houston or not
