Honestly I think 2 is a little high for the Rox myself. I would have landed them 4 or 5 and I was expecting more like 9 from Stein. Best get to work living up to it I suppose.
Yeah from what I see in my eyes so far we are #1. If Okc was fully healthy that is the only team I see maybe giving us problems. The Ariza holding Durant match up would be intriguing.
Agree with this. A fully healthy OKC is the only team that concerns me. The Warriors were not impressive to me. I do want to see how we do against the Clippers this year that was a bad matchup for us last year.
It'll take months of rankings in this ballpark before the Rockets get any real respect from the media, in my humble opinion. Maybe I missed the praise, but most of the talking heads that cover the league (except for righteous guys like Jeff Van Gundy) tend to dismiss the Rockets for one reason or another, adding an asterisk to whatever accomplishment we just pulled off or simply ignoring Houston altogether.
Yep. ESPN podcast today ranking the top 3 west teams. Guy A GS - head and shoulders ahead. Have quality wins in beatin Portland and Houston(no mention whatsoever of our 3 starters out) Memphis - slight edge over Houston because "they know who they are and I'm not sure Houston knows if it's Dwight's or Hardens team" Houston - weak bench, weak schedule Guy B GS - again head and shoulders better than Houston or Memphis Houston - really likes the starting 5. Weak bench, weak schedule Memphis - weak bench, weak schedule Can't say that I have seen Memphis play even once so I won't comment on that, but I haven't seen anything from GS that puts them far and away better. Terry, Canaan and Kostas all look like solid bench guys and GS beating us down 3 starters is just as much of a throwaway as our win over SA Like you said it will take weeks and probably months before analysts will give up on preseason predictions. No one wants to be wrong.
Analysts quick to say our victory over Spurs didn't count because they sat starters. Warriors victory over Rockets without starters? Statement win.
They were only the last unbeaten because they played less games. Rockets and Grizzlies were 6-0 before they lost. Warriors only got to 5-0 before losing.
I personally am not giving this much thought. The rankings will sort themselves out over the next four months. To me, the Rockets are looking good.
I fail to see why people worry about what talking heads say. The NBA season efficiently separates the winners from the losers. The proof is always in the regular season record and how far a team goes in the playoffs. In the face of that opinions matter naught. Just words, nothing more.
Agreed. I also prefer the talking heads to rank the Rockets on the lower side. The team doesn't need to get complacent with media hype. They just need to take care of business and win games. We still haven't had any playoff success. That's the goal.
Power rankings do not reflect the whole picture. They only view how teams are doing from week to week, or within months. Within a period of time. That being said, Rox could have been No 1 had they defeated the Warriors.
I don't "worry" I am just intrigued on how guys who are supposed to follow the league view things. There's no doubt that I have a Houston bias and don't get to see all the games but I consider myself an avid NBA fan who watches as many games as possible, checks every box score and reads plenty of articles on what's happening. Sometimes I'm just dumbfounded at the logic and reasoning used to rank teams when compared to how I view things.
The "whose team is it" argument so lazy! Just a cop out statement that requires no reason whatsoever. People will say anything if they think it validates their uneducated opinion...
It's amazing how at this time we still have to explain Power Rankings to people. How hard is it? lol.
