I voted for "Oh, shut up!" And I voted that way because I've been seeing a lot of these "boo negativity... let's be positive!" threads lately. If you're gonna be positive, try to stay a little positive when we're not playing as well as we are now (12 of our last 15, right?). Otherwise, this thread is as meaningless and reactionary as all the "trade T-Mac!" threads when we're losing. We've had a pretty easy schedule, after all.
can you name a team that is healthy and playing well THAT YOU DO WANT TO SEE....well besides the blazers sigh, not trying to be a hater but i can't stand that everyone says that about our team news: every team goes through injuries every team goes through low points IMO the rockets have yet to truly impress me with a real solid win over a contender, what i've seen is the ugliest wins that barely get by even on the weak teams in the league its the same thing with the mavs, they'll never make it because they lack jordan's killer instinct I've seen Yao dominate, ive seen Tmac take over games, but i have not seen it consistantly and when playoff time comes - that is what really matters Not scraping together a 2pt win over the spurs when manu coulda easily won it - i guarentee the spurs won't be missing those ez jumpers come playoff time but rafer ya, good luck at this point we can just keep hoping for more fallout from the middle contenders and make our way to 7/8 rather then what JVG had to learn the hard way, 50wins doesn't cut it in the WC
^ we've beaten the lakers, jazz, suns, spurs (2x), pistons, magic, nuggets, warriors. that's with a team in PROGRESS. we might not blow out teams, but when we play elite teams, we'll be ready
I have always been optimistic about this team and will continue to be. Why is it so hard to realize that we are in essence in the midst of a huge transition. That transition started in December when we hit that wall after the 6-0 start and Aldeman started to experiment with different line-ups. Have you not realized that the only people playing from last year's team are Yao, Mac, Battier, Rafer, Head, and to a lesser degree Hayes. There is a reason teams suit up more than just the starting line-up and thats because you need back up players to play some minutes. Take into account that Landry, Scola, Brooks, and Bonzi are all new to this team. Add to that the fact that we are running an system that is 180% different than last year's and you cannot honestly expected to hold the #1 spot in a Western Conference that is as tough as it is. My honest expectations were that we would get a mid to low seat in the playoffs and then make a run if our players had adapted to the system. Can we still achieve that? Yes. And mark my words, if we are healthy and get even a 65% understanding of the system, we will beat anyone in the playoffs because Yao and Mac are hard to stop and add how well Scola and Landry are holding down the PF spot and we are truly dangerous.
I voted yes and here is why I personally have a model to roughly analyze the Rockets' performance. I mark Tmac for 20 points when is healthy and motivated enough, Yao for 20 points as he is the best center in the league, and other 3 whoever on the court totally for 50 points. Thats totally T+Y+O= 90 points suggesting we are a very good team that we are supposed to be. Since Tmac is not fully recovered, he's only at 15 points. And because he's relatively new to the RA system, our system isn't running as fluent as when he's absent, I take 5 points out of Others. Thus overall we currently have 80 points with him on the court. When Tmac wasnt there with the team, we had a Replacement(Luther=5 points) who has much lower points. However our Ra system run pretty well and we tend to see our role players having their big times every game. As a result I add 5 bonus points to the team performance and that totally counts to 80, which is the same as when we have Tmac. That is prolly the best we could do without him, I say good work. However 80 points will definetely not bring us to the lengend field we hope to be, and that's why we need Tmac. When Tmac backs to his 20 points and better adjusts into the system, we will get 90 points and that is good enough to be in the Playoff. Whats more? When our role players tend to stand out like the Tmac's injury days, we will get 95 points and deserve a championship. The only point is will Tmac back to his 20 points and adjust himself into the system? I say YES. Having watched the recent games, I see Tmac trying hard and the whole team getting better and better. Thus I believe our team will be a 95 points team in the playoffs and grab us the championship .
Yes. I would love to see the Spurs, Lakers, Jazz, Suns, Hornets, and Mavs. Why are fans so scared to face these teams in the playoffs? When we win, I want to win the hard route, not because we got to face lesser opponents. If you think your team can win, then you want to beat the best, not the worst. I have never understood this concept from fans who claim to be "true Rockets fans!" Any true Rocket fan will remember the words of the Legendary Coach: "Never underestimate the heart of a champion!" If we have the heart, then we can beat anyone. If you don't think we have the heart to win, then I suggest you get off the Rockets bandwagon and go somewhere else. A gutsy win over a GS team that has given us all types of problems over the last few years, without one of our stars, is not an impressive win? Add Yao's domination and clutchness and you are still not impressed? A hard fought victory over the Spurs is not an impressive win? Beating the Pistons while making every mistake in the book and not hitting your free throws, but still finding a way to win isn't impressive? Open your eyes man!
