People rate the Pacers WAY too highly for a team that won only 49 games last year. Yeah they did well in the playoffs, but they got kinda lucky to be honest. Even though they improved this offseason, I don't think the Pacers should be in the top 5, let alone the top 3. People are also way too high on the Clippers. This is a team which barely scraped into the top 5 in the West last season, and IMO they have barely improved. Their trades were lateral moves for the most part, so the only real improvement is adding Doc, and it's hard to really define how many wins a coach can add. In any case, the Rockets are better than the Clippers now. They were barely worse last season and they've improved a LOT more than the Clippers did this offseason. The Bulls also need to prove DRose is back to form before they get ranked so highly. They COULD be the 6th best team in the league, no doubt, but it entirely swings on Rose's performance coming back from injury. As for the Rockets, I would put us ahead of the Bulls and Clippers right now for sure, and possibly even ahead of the Pacers (who should be around #5 or 6). The Thunder, Heat, and Spurs are the only teams which I would definitely rank ahead of us right now.
This is exactly where I'd put us. Fourth in the west is perfect. We are not a proven product to say we are better then the thunder, spurs, and clippers. The pacers and bulls are godly on defense, and both improved a lot.
The writer has the Lakers as 9th in the west. Just out of the playoffs. That being said, I don't see how they're better than an improved Portland without a healthy Kobe for a bit.
Why do people talk like the Clippers are a proven product and we're not? They only won 2 more games than us last season and they totally bombed in the playoffs. We improved a LOT more than they did this offseason.
They won 11 more games then we did. 56-45 = 11 And they are proven because we've seen what Paul and Griffin and crew can do. We haven't seen H Town in action yet. I think the addition of Rivers and the increased bench depth makes them contenders to nab the first seed. And we didn't? We would have got swept if Westbrook had been healthy. Maybe the distaste of the Clippers comes from the floppers, but to say they aren't a great team is silly. And to cliff note the rankings: Eastern Conference 1. Heat (1) 2. Pacers (3) 3. Bulls (6) 4. Nets (8) 5. Knicks (11) 6. Hawks (16) 7. Wizards (17) 8. Cavaliers (18) 9. Raptors (21) 10. Pistons (22) 11. Celtics (24) 12. Bucks (25) 13. Bobcats (26) 14. Magic (29) 15. Sixers (30) Western Conference 1. Thunder (2) 2. Clippers (4) 3. Spurs (5) 4. Rockets (7) 5. Warriors (9) 6. Grizzlies (10) 7. Nuggets (12) 8. Timberwolves (13) 9. Lakers (14) 10. Mavericks (15) 11. Trailblazers (19) 12. Pelicans (20) 13. Kings (23) 14. Jazz (27) 15. Suns (28)
How many teams can you say are clearly better then the rockets? I can say Miami, Indiana and San Antonio. I have my doubts about OKC.
7th seems pretty good! We still need to prove how the pieces will come together. Not only that, this guy even says 'I think this could be a growing together season for the Rockets with 2014-15 being the season they explode.' I'm not sure what he means by explode, but I like it!
By the writers thinking, if Miami is 1st then it goes without saying that Spurs would be 2nd since they made it to the Finals. However, he chooses to ignore his criteria and just randomly rank teams which is fine. His list is full of holes though. No stock taken in it.
Totally agree, the difference is 48min of top-notch defense and solid offense by Howard. Maybe I'm a homer but like you just mentioned, the Howard/Asik combo is a vast improvement from Asik/Smith, so I'm envisioning that to have a greater impact than Rose for the Bulls. ....... ....... .......
The Spurs, Grizzlies, Thunder, Pacers, and Heat all have solid team defensive strategy. Rockets don't. McHale/Moreyball was all about putting up points and 3's, not about getting stops on the other end of the floor.
Okay now you're underselling this team. Seriously??? Dwight Howard was the main attainable all-star thru this entire free agency period. Why do you think 5 teams were all vying for his services? I would put us right around that area too, given we haven't played any games yet. But please don't short us the accomplishment of attaining our 2nd star by stating he isn't that much of an improvement over Asik. That's asinine to say the least.
Clippers are a regular season team. Their depth alone proves that. We are right where we need to be. We haven't proven anything yet.
PR are people's opinions. In the grand scheme of things, they mean absolutely nothing. To those who are upset or feel slighted, LOL.
