BSPN forecasts the Rockets to finish 8th in the West

People still pay attention to ESPN?

 

But we got better?

 

Good to know. Now I don't have to waste all season thinking what could happen. Maybe I'll watch regular season hockey. Congrats to all the teams ahead of us!

 

With Mchale coaching anything can happen I give you that. Replacing some guys with unproven potential is a risk but I wouldn't predict that rockets would be 8 unless Howard or Harden were out. Ariza is severely underrated as a 3rd option on this board and Jones offense is not looked at honestly because all most can see is how bad his D is. The rotation will be tighter too and better equipped to play defense. Dorsey's D is also underrated. Playoffs you need more athleticism, physical strength, hustle and more defense. Having a bunch of "I'll dive to the floor and go all out" players will help more than it will hurt. Not to mention better 3 point shooting... we lacked that last year. Rebounding we lost Asik but Adrien and Dorsey can get boards off the bench. Lose Lin a player who can create off the dribble... but we lose a lot of silly turnovers and silly off shots especially late in games. We lose Parsons and gain Ariza... better D and 3 point shooter but lose a play maker only to a certain extent because Parsons was not Leonard on the spurs by no means. Parsons wasn't taking it to Batum consistently enough to be considered a back breaking loss.

 

But like Others have said, If the Best SG and Best Center in the NBA has u barely making the playoffs, then this team wasnt meant to go far anyway.

 

While, I think Houston will finish as a top 4 seed in the Western Conference, as currently constructed I can see why ESPN would put them as an eigth seed. Most of the other play-off teams in the Western Conference made additions to their teams with known commodities. Think Vince Carter to Memphis and the 2 Chandlers to the Mavs.

Houston as a contender did a semi rebuild after missing out on Bosh and Parsons. The players the Rockets signed are either unproven or clearly role players with the exception of Ariza. The reaason why I think Houston will become a 4 seed or better is because IMO I believe make a trade during the season (when more GM's will believe Houston is content with the current roster) to really improve the team from its current state.

 

1. Calderon is a good player who is very efficient and hits the 3 at 45%. Losing him hurts.

2. Devin Harris was on Dallas last year. They got Raymond Felton as a replacement lol.

3. Marion was a solid part of their team last year and so was Carter.

4. Parsons is a nice addition but I think people are over-rating him a lot. And Richard Jefferson? lol... he's been washed up for a long time. I bet a lot of people don't even know he's still in the league.

5. Tyson Chandler isn't what he used to be, either.




There is no way the Mavs improved.

 

To everyone saying The Rockets got worst because we lost Parsons, Lin and Asik.... YALL are sum stupid ignant fools..... The Rockets actually got better with Ariza even if yall want to go ahead and crown Parsons a better offensive threat despite the numbers proving otherwise....... Oh yeah and defense, something Parsons has no intention of practicing. Lin sucked... He pretty much just sucked and any pg on the team can come into the game and match his production. Asik sucked as well... He didn't want to play here and made sure he showed it every second on the floor. We didn't lose $hit.... If anything we gained defense and players who accept their roles instead of trying to be something they are not. Pat Bev, Harden, Howard and Ariza can play any one in the league and compete...... Expecting Jones to come back beast as well....

 

Stats lie, and Omer stole a lot of $$$ last year. The man is good but was not for '13-'14 Rox.

 

Gasol is an integral part if the Grizz, that would be us losing Harden or Howard for a year. The Rox didn't lose talent overall because Ariza and Parsons were a wash and mopey Asik and Linconsistent didn't play to their true potential and gave us jacksquat last year.

You also forgot the main factor here: time. 1 more year, TD, Manu, Dirk and ZBo get older, slower and injury prone while Tjones, Bev, Harden, Daniels, DMo get better. Howard won't be affected because at 30 he's still in his prime.

 

To be fair, we still have McHale. With a decent coach, I can see a top 4-5 seed

 

Only 2 games out of the 4th seed.

It's not that big of a slight. I ain't even mad.

 

Your attached to Parsons... Jefferson is not giving you more than Marion or Carter... no stars were even on Utah and all he could give you was 10 points a game. Devon Harris I would bet not even averaging 10 points and 5 assist a game then they plan to start Felton C'mon... upgraded my a$$. This team will not play D and at the end of the day I bet we average more points then they do as a team.

 

I absolutely 100% will take our new bench over last year's bench.

Losing Asik is not the end of the world. Caspi, Cisco and even Hamilton/Brewer are very bad bench players, I will take an improved Cannan/Johnson over Brooks/Lin. I will take this year's Dmo over last years Dmo. I don't expect too much from Dorsey and Adrein but I do believe they are more than just 6 fouls. And last but not the least, I expect some surprises from Daniel and Papa - which something called hope that last year's bench can never provide.

 

I think Portland gets the injury bug this year and falls to 7th or 8th seed.

 

The year before with Asik starting the Rox went from ave defensively to 4rth worst when he sat down. Howard had that same effect last year...meaning Asik manning the C had almost no impact. What should've happened is there should've been minimal impact when Dh sat down because you had Asik backing him up. Opponents fg% is misleading because as a backup Asik was guarding backup players as well so if it is the same as the year before when he was guarding starters then obv he regressed.

 

i see us finishing 4th or 5th like last season. i dont really see us dropping much. at MOST i see us fighting for the 6 or 7th spot in the end, but no way 8th.

 

No, stats don't lie. People can interpret stats wrongly, but they do not lie. They are what they are.

Asik was just as good last year as the year before in every conceivable metric. Even watching him he was still good on defense and rebounding the basketball. The only thing that was different is that he'd get tired faster after he came back from injury and when he was the starter when Dwight was injured.

But he was just as good.

 

And let the hate drama begin. BRING IT ON HATERS!!! JUST BRING IT!

 

That is absolutely 100% false.

Rockets had virtually the same defensive rating whether Howard or Asik was in the game.

Rockets DRating with Howard ON in 13/14 = 102.2
Rockets DRating with Asik ON n 13/14 = 102.1