You can bet the Rockets make the playoffs this year!

Phoenix has done nothing to improve but get a year older. We did that too. Portland maybe? They could make some drastic moves so it's hard to say what they're going to have on the court when the season begins. Regardless I think the Rockets have a better team than both of these teams, but you're obviously a grass is always greener on the other side of the fence type fellow and that can be evidenced by your next statement.

Golden State lost Gilbert Arenas and gained NOTHING. Seattle doesn't have Gary Payton or Desmond Mason now, so consider them crap. Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen aren't going to take a team anywhere in the west. they may could do as well as the bucks in the east, but in the west they'll be eaten for breakfast. Memphis is improving but to say they're on our heels is a joke.

now on to the next anti-homer:

 

better talent than us? We have Yao Ming, they have Amare Stoudamire. I'd still rather have Yao and I don't care what their brass is saying publicly, they would too. (and I know they don't play the same positions but they're similiar in the fact they are they were rookiers together and are the big men their teams are building around)

They have Shawn Marion, we have Cuttino Mobley. Right, they play nowhere near the same position but they're similiar in the fact they are either now the third options on their team or are planned to be in the future. The Suns win here, but I really don't think by a landslide. Cuttino isn't quite as well rounded as Marion, but he is every bit as good of a scorer and I really think he plays defense just as well.

They have Stephon Marbury. We have Steve Francis. Before last season I remember reading a scout saying "Steve Francis is everything Stephon Marbury should be.". That was before Marbury having an incredibly season. A VERY STEVE FRANCIS LIKE SEASON. It's arguable as to who was better in my mind, but what can't be argued is it took Marbury six full seasons before he broke out like that. Francis is going into what? His fifth? I say this is a tie in all fairness, but I really think in the end Steve Francis is going to have the better career. We'll see.

They have Anfernee Hardaway. We have Glen Rice. AND NEITHER OF THEM PLAY MORE THAN HALF THE SEASON ANYWAY SO WHO CARES!

We also have Eddie Griffin, Maurice Taylor and Boki. Three young and talented players. they have Joe Johnson. we win in the young talent category.

as to the benches, hell, Cato beats out their starting center, but their bench still beat our bench last season on a whole. Lots of solid veterans. We didn't have that. This year may be a different story with the signings of Adrian Griffin and Piatkowski.


But what I really have to know, is if they've got superior talent and all that veteran leadership then how come they only beat us by one game? ONE GAME! Yao was dead tired and Rudy had cancer and they beat us by one game. If you ask me, they better not count on beating the rockets record next season.

 

Kudos jmwilliamson!

You made every point that I wanted to make. I hate to be a homer, but really to say phoenix is a far superior team is just ignorant bordering on stupid.

Head to head we took the series. Yao will mean more for his team than amare will to his. His position is more important, he has more skill, he's no one trick pony and above all he makes his teammates better. Had we gone to the playoffs do you really think amare would've gotten ROY.

On that point I don't think losing Rudy down the stretch helped things for us too much. You can argue that the guys should've played even harder rather than mailing it in, but changing head coaches at the end of the season can't be anything but detrimental to their success.

Oh yeah like it's already been pointed out...........one game.

 

JVG is a better coach than Rudy. Rudy is the buddy coach. JVG is the disciplinarian. He has a system at least, and isn't so laissez-faire.

He took an extremely mediocre NYK team to the playoffs a few times. He can certainly get our crew there, even in the West.

We can beat Phoenix (we did so, 3 of 4 last year). Portland has yet to make a move so we might even catch them. I'm still not sure we won't make a move of our own (Miami? Memphis?) but even if we don't we're in good shape.

 

I disagree (IMO).

Who says that JVG won't shake things up?

When JVG was in NY he seemed to bring out the best in his players. His players practiced hard and played hard.

IMO, we batter at least be an 8th seed or people will really start questioning this off-season.

 

Yeah. IF THEY ARE SUPERIOR TO US. Oh my God. My head is freakin hurting. This is so stupid. If they are so great....and are a better team....then how come last season when we played them, we won 3 out of 4 times?!?

You're right. Stephon Marbury stepped up LAST YEAR ONLY and led his team pretty good...I would say they are equal. But Marbury runs his team better.
Joe Johnson? HAHA. We don't even have to guard him. He sucks too much. CASEY JACOBSEN?!? Oh yeah...
Marion? We shut him down last season. He missed like 30 shots against us. He couldn't do anything against Mobley and Posey. Now we have lost Posey but now we have Piatkowski and Griffin.
Amare? He is way too inconsistent and has some nice dunks but that's it. All we have to do is put Cato on him. Too human freaks against each other...Cato can shut Amare down. They are meant for each other. Cato could be the Amare Stopper. Cato is crazy. Amare is crazy. They are probably cousins.
Yao owns both Jakes who suck.
Mo Taylor is way better than always injured Tom Gugliotta and Bo Outlaw.
Who else do they have? I don't even remember the backup point guard for the Suns. Do they even have one?
And yes....the Suns got 2 first rounders. They could be like Boki.
Jeff Van Gundy is a better coach than Frank Johnson.

We will see.

 

EHHHHHH.... all i know if we would of been in the first round of the playoffs last year i think we would had a better chance of winning the series against the spurs.

 

Yeah, because getting to the finals as an 8th seed is done purely on talent.

 

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA....

 

I never liked JVG, but I always acknowledged that (1) his teams play hard, (2) his teams play defense, and (3) he gets his players to play up to their talent level.

Those are things the Rockets need, and the reason I am content to make NO trades, only make cheap free agent veteran acquisitions. I really do believe coaching can make this team run well. For example:

Cat and Steve

very talented, and CAN be the best backcourt in the league by changing their mindset. first, by thinking defense all the time. nothing creates more opportunity for high flying grandstanding than the breakaway steal. Is there anything sweeter in bball?

Eddie

last year he looked like the only kid on father's day who didn't have a daddy. he's got a bad flaw in his shot form, and he has to get that fixed. he's got to learn that every offensive rebound does not have to be shot within 1 second of snagging it. he needs to learn better positioning and timing. Patrick, time to earn your pay. this young man needs a coach.

Cato

this guy WANTS to learn more shots. give him his chance. the Dream he ain't, but a little big man coaching and he could surprise. remember last season a few times when he shocked us with a face up or a fade away? because he is seldom guarded, if he can juice his offense a little, it will help us. another guy who should respond well to big man coaching

Mo

he's the easiest to coach. go workout and don't come back until you weigh 255 pounds and it's all muscle. this guy's shooting percentage went down because of gravity holding his lard azz down. how many shots did he blow because he couldn't reach the rim or couldn't get the elevation? a bunch

This team can and should get much better simply by fine tuning the parts we have. I'm not saying it is a championship roster, but we have enhance the values of tradeable assets to improve the roster.

 

Heh... the Rockets making the playoffs should be a bet with a pretty low payoff.

I mean, who else is going to make the 8th spot? Seattle? Golden State? Plausible, but long shots at best.

The Rockets, at worst, didn't lose much. At best, they gained a better head coach and added a little depth in addition to gaining experience for a young team.

Utah's almost certainly finished, so they shouldn't have a problem making the playoffs barring unforeseen injuries.

Now, being competitive once in the playoffs... that's a different story.

 

LOL! You Rocket fans kill me. You guys lose a starter but hey Pike and Griffin can replace that no problem. Boki is a good bench player but Joe Johnson sucks...WTF! Joe Johnson is better than Boki and YOUNGER! Mobley is not on the same level as Shawn Marion...that statement is crazy. Googs should be about good for what Rice will give you. Marbury played on toothpicks for ankles last season so he should be even better.

And just win you thought Rocket fans couldn't get sillier:

They think that due to their stellar record of not being a playoff team, they would have had a chance of beating the NBA Champions

Go Grizzlies! The drive for the 8th spot begins on Halloween!

 

Who the hell said that if we made the playoffs instead of the Suns, we could beat the Spurs? The Spurs are better than every single team in the NBA right now.

And you shouldn't be talking either because the Suns are better than the Grizzlies.

But since you probably have a Grizzlies Total Access Pass, could you please tell me what James Posey said in the chat?

 

We're second tier to Phoenix because they play a better brand of basketball than the Rockets at this point in time. Now that may change with JVG in charge but the proof will be on the court and face it: they have yet to show improvement on the court where it counts.

Until then, it's unwise to expect or hope for their making the playoffs based upon a decline in performance by the other teams in their division. A lot of folks here turn their nose up at Phoenix as if they got into the playoffs on a fluke or something. Not so! Phoenix was a BETTER TEAM than Houston and deserved to be in the playoffs. Houston may have JVG but Phoenix also has a very good coach in Johnson and a talented roster of players. They are firmly on the right path.

The Rockets have lost their starting SF and replaced him with the 10th & 11th guys on their bench. This is hardly what I'd consider to be a recipe for making the playoffs. Phoenix may have done nothing this summer but neither have Rockets either. Look at it this way: at least the Suns didn't end up in the lottery only to wind up losing the pick to another team.

 

THEY DESERVED IT?!? Everybody was saying that we were going to get the 8th spot. We were on a 5-0 winning streak and we whooped the Suns. Unfortunately, Rudy T. found out he had cancer and had to leave. AND we got stuck with the dumbest dumbdonkey in the whole f!@#in world. Useless Larry Smith.

 

Guys Guys Guys,
Remember you are only as good as your last effort. Last year the Suns were better...period. They made the Playoffs we didnt. Lets quit making excuses like ewwww rudy had cancer and coach x sucks and francis did this and dis that... I mean WTF Our guys had a 5 game winning streak but they didnt seal the deal.. thats it. Yao tired out.. Yes he tired out he didnt finish strong. Stoudamire did.. his last month is what pulled him up over Yao for ROY. We sound like a bunch of babies and Homers (although its ok to be one when you talk of your Team) But bottom line is They did it and we didnt. Also Francis' career numbers are not as good as Marbury's so I don't know if it is fair to say that Francis is everything Marbury should be etc... Lets relax And see if our team and new coach can do what we expect. I like this rivalry with phoenix, it could be a lakers king type for years to come.

 

The Suns were not the better team, but they got the better result. They performed in April, when Yao and Steve both fell off badly, while Stoudamire and Marbury got better.

 

the fact of the matter is that i care less about whether we make the playoffs or not and more about us playing good team basketball and maximizing our talent. everything else will then fall into place.

 

I disagree with that. Phoenix had an outstanding draft, gaining a legit backup for Marbury and one of the big surprises in the draft in Zarko.

And the Suns didn't lose a thing.

Now, I think Houston will come on strong if JVG can get his program up and running the way he wants, but Houston is by no means in a more advantageous position.

Both teams will make the playoffs, IMO. We'll see where it goes from there.

 

Thats like saying 2nd best isnt really second best, its just that the other team did better

And the Better team gets the better result.. If our rocks are better it will show, it didnt last year.