[Grantland] Bill and Jalen say The Rockets are sleeper title contenders

They ended up giving 8 teams out of 16 a shot to win it all. Thanks, that was nice analysis.

In reality there are three teams that have a shot. Miami, OKC, and San Antonio. The Clippers are a dark horse, and anyone else who might happen to luck past Miami into the finals would get PUMMELED by whichever team survives the West.

The Rockets are a Cinderella the same way the NCAA has Cinderellas. In the NCAA, the Sweet 16 is where Cinderellas go to die. In our case, let's not lie we got a favorable bracket. In our mini-tournament with SAS POR and MEM we actually have a great shot to come out the survivor. But OKC or LAC in the Western Conference Finals will be our worst nightmare.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I can't wait.

 

I do believe the rockets can get to WCF only if Mchale can get them to play defense which is unlikely

 

GS is the most overated team holy jebus

 

The Rockets are a work in progress to the extent that they had to clear capspace and lose assets to bring in Harden and Howard. It isn't realistic to have a strong bench after making those types of moves. The same thing happened to the Heat. It takes sometime after clearing space to rebuild the bench.

 

We're a longshot this year. After this offseason, we will be a favorite/true contender with a legitimate window.

Morey, more aggressive ...C'mon.

The reality is Daryl has been asked to do the impossible...and delivered.

 

I love how all you Mchale haters got a hard on watching this.

 

I'd be pissed if I were a Blazer fan. They're getting overlooked like crazy.

 

The path to the conference finals will never be smoother than this. Sure, the Rockets have holes, but anything less than either winning the semi or stretching the semi to seven games is going to be a huge disappointment.

 

Frankly, we're used to it. We're a podunk town in a corner of the country no one thinks about, and when they do, they think of Seattle.

The only way we'll get recognition is by earning it in the playoffs. We haven't gotten out of the first round since the 99-00 season, so we haven't earned jack squat.

The games will be played, and then we'll see if we're being overlooked or not. Like I said, a healthy Rockets team is our worst matchup, so the amount of "recognition" we may be getting for the playoffs may be accurate.

 

The starting 5 is rock solid, save for TJones. He can be really good when engaged or a liability otherwise.

To get to the finals, Asik, Lin and Garcia will really have to come through. That means Lin and Garcia will have to be much more consistent in whatever they do, especially in being able to hold leads. The bench play has been porous but if you compare this team's overall talent to last year's, we are in much better shape with the addition of Jones over Greg Smith and Howard over Asik.

You just never know when a team really gels. Just hoping it will be during the playoffs. Our talent is not overwhelming, but it is there.

 

i seriously don't get the love for golden state and the "they can beat the clippers" sentiment. I would not be surprised at all to see them absolutely steamrolled by LAC.

 

I think it's two reasons:

First, that team can get ridiculously hot, even more than our two teams (HOU and POR). At that point, you're just trying to keep up.

Second, I've never seen a playoff atmosphere as intense as the one in Oakland. Remember the D*llas series where they were #1 and GS was #8? The Mavs were completely taken out of their game by the fans.

Losing Bogut really hurts them. He did a lot of the little things that made the Splash Brothers click.

 

I don't understand the love with these two...Bill dumbs himself down too much...Really Parson could put up ten 3's in a game? He did that once and it was NBA history. They just keep throwing names and stats around with no specifics. Well hell Lin put 38 in a game maybe we should count on that in the playoffs.

 

What is the purpose for the darn bat?

 

I mostly agree but I think the real X-factor is Garcia/Casspi/Hamilton. I think they can potentially squeeze by if Lin and Asik just do their usual thing, although it would be extremely helpful if Lin shows up. But they absolutely need somebody behind Parsons to start hitting shots and making plays. I feel like the team goes into a fetal position whenever those guys brick their open 3's, which unfortunately is almost all the time.

 

Sneak in? We will destroy Portland and we have already swept the Spurs. WCF or bust.

 

I think you can keep sorting through young players looking for upside, but I agree, now that the Rockets have Harden and Howard, the priority should be solid veterans to fill out the team.

 

IMO the rotations will be shortened for the playoffs. Unless guys get in foul trouble, you are not going to see much of Casspi and Hamilton.

 

How does Indiana get more recognition over Houston again?

 

Fight off the haters.