Longish post. Sure, we are 2 deep at every position. But take a hard look at our WC foes. It's really staggering to see how many teams are stacked 2 deep, and the quality of the "best 5" that the teams can put on the floor. IMO - it's the "best 5" where the Rockets fall short in comparison to the best teams because we have too many one way players. Lakers (this is ridiculous) Fisher/Blake Kobe/Brown/Vukobitch Artest/Barnes (Barnes is a great pickup) Gasol/Odom Bynum/Ratliff (Best 5: Fisher/Kobe/Artest/Gasol/Bynum - Odom mixes in) Dallas (gutless in playoffs, but clearly No 2 in talent and depth) Kidd/Barrea/Beaubois Terry/Stevenson Butler/Marion Dirk/Marion Haywood/Chandler (Best 5: Kidd/Terry/ButlerDirk/Haywood - Marion mixes in) Portland (if you discount due to health, you have to for Rockets too) Miller/Bayless Roy/Fernandez Batum/Wes Matthews Aldridge/Camby Oden/Pryzbilla (Best 5: Miller/Roy/Batum/Aldrich/Oden or Pryz or Camby) OKC (Westbrook, Sefalosha, Durant and Ibaka all have huge upsides) Westbrook/Maynor Sefalosha/MoPete Durant/Harden Green/Ibaka Krstic/Collison/Aldrich (Best 5: Westbrook/Sefalosha/Durant/Green/Ibaka - Harden, Collison and Kristic mix in) Rockets (Balance, but we lack a closer; need find defense again) Brooks/Lowry Martin/Lee Battier/Buddinger/Jefferies Scola/Hayes/PatPat Yao/Miller/Hill (Best 5: Brooks/Martin/Battier/Scola/Yao - the problem is that too many of our players are not good on both sides of the court. This separates us from the teams above). Denver (Drop off in quality, but still dangerous) Billups/Lawson Afflalo/Smith Melo/Balkman Martin/Harrington Nene/Birdman (Best 5: Billups/Smith/Melo/Martin/Nene) San Antonio (age, health and depth at the wing) Parker/Hill Ginobli/???? Jefferson/Bonner McDyess/Blair Duncan/Splitter (Best 5: Parker/Hill/Ginobli/McDyess/Duncan) Utah (hole at SG, lacking in depth, and health is a factor) DWill/Price Raja Bell/some white guy AK47/Miles Jefferson/Millsap Okur (Best 5: Dwill/Bell/AK47/Millsap/Jefferson) Phoenix (Nash still wins you some games) Nash/Dragic JRich/Childress Hill/Dudley Warrick/Turkeyglu Lopez/Frye (Best 5: Nash/Jrich/Hill/Turkeyglu/Lopez) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A couple of additional points about the regular season: - The Lakers are a lock for the No 1 seed. - Dallas is a likely #2 seed and will do no worse than #4. - Phx and Utah: neither will crack the top 5-6, and one of them will miss the playoffs. - Portland, OKC, Houston, Denver, SAS: tightly packed group that will resolve depending on health (mental health in the case of Denver) and OKC's youth development ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A couple of points about the post season: - Lakers will make the WCF. It's a complete scrum for the other teams but let's not leave it at that. - Dallas is gutless and, regardless of seeding, a potential/likely first round exit. - OKC, Portland and Denver have closers at the wing -- a decided advantage in the playoffs. - Hou v. LA: LA too big, skilled - Hou v. Dallas: Advantage Dallas, but choke factor is huge. - Hou v. Portland: Advantage Portland. We beat them 2 years ago, but our wing defense is worse and Yao's health a question mark. - Hou v. OKC: Advantage Houston. Classic matchup of craftier old guys beating up the more athletic skilled young players, particularly in the paint. - Hou v. Denver: Advantage Houston b/c Denver is a mental mess and I don't trust Melo. - Hou v. SA: Advantage Houston. SA's big 3 just aint what they were. - Hou v. Utah: Slight Advantage Houston. Utah's style is still a problem for us, but Boozer's range and quickness was a huge problem and he's now in Chicago. - Hou v. Phx: Advantage Houston. If they make the playoffs, Phx gets exposed in the half court sets.
Good post, but it is not about individual fit, or talent but how they mesh as a team. I think the Rockets are more versatile than any other team in the NBA, they can go big, they can go small, they can go slow, they can go fast, they can go offense, they can go defense. They are truly loaded with options, and on a nightly basis able to cause mismatches against every team they play. DD
Not at all, we have very good players at all 5 starting spots, and very good players as backups. If one of our players breaks out...say Brooks...or Martin, or Yao.....we are more than good, we are great. DD
I don't think Thunders are that good. Let's faced it...the reason they made the Playoffs last year is cuz Rockets are dropping....so someone had to get in the Playoffs as a result.
What? I like the entire team....as stated above, yep, Cbud included. FYI Reading is fundamental....... DD
That's fine against the patsy's in the league. Or against good teams when they're not focused or giving max effort in the regular season. Please explain how "mesh as a team" will help us match up with and beat the best 5's of the good teams. Playoff success is about matchups, closers and elite players dominating on both ends of the floor. If you put out 1 way players, they'll get exposed on the other end.
My post is about the current roster and all the folks exclaiming how we're "2 deep" at every position. But you nailed it really - to push upward and deeper into the playoffs, we need more moves. Morey's hunting for the star that shakes loose, and one of the points of my post is that we need exactly that.
Agreed, it is about matchups..... Which one do you want to break down? Because we can match up with any of the teams you listed above and have an advantage at multiple positions. Agreed, but in the meantime, you hope one of your young players becomes that elite player, or you build enough assets to field a winning team and try to do it as a team like the Pistons and Kings. DD
Other teams: Hornets: Paul, West, Ariza, Okafor, Thornton. Grizzlies: Mayo, Gay, Gasol, Randolph, Conley Clippers: Gordon, Griffin, Davis, Kaman, Gomes Warriors: Curry, Lee, Ellis, Reggie Williams, Biedrins Kings: Evans, Cousins, Landry, Greene, Whiteside. TWolves: no idea about their roster. Hornets might be able to make the playoffs.
I'll skip the Lakers. I don't think anyone can credibly argue that matchup but you can identify the 5 Rockets that would topple the Lakers' best 5 if you like. Start with Dallas, explain who we roll out when Dallas has Kidd, Terry, Butler, Dirk, Haywood, with Haywood fronting Yao. I'm not saying we get crushed, but this is advantage Dallas. Fronting yao works. We don't have as much of a matchup advantage with Brooks as Dallas has with Dirk. How about Portland with Miller/Roy/Batum/Aldrich/Pryz or Oden. Similarly, advantage Portland. I'd like to see what 5 Rockets you'd use and how that gives us enough offense and defense to have the advantage.
Agreed, Thunder are just too overrated. I know I'm a broken record but just because they're young doesn't mean they're necessarily that much better. If we are to include such arbitrary factors, why not do the same for our Rockets' own health issue? As for your (TC)'s comparison, I agree with much of them, save for some. For LA, I don't think that they're THAT much better than us, given our last playoff appearance vs them and the fact that we've improved that much. So I would give LA a considerable advantange but not a very large one. Also, I don't see how Portland is any better than us. If anything, I would at the very least put them equal to us. Granted, they haven't improved much (with the exception in Andre Miller, ofc), but we've improved alot (barring health because both teams are injury prone), so I feel like I'd be generous by placing them on the same level as us.
