But why would we worry about reality? The only way to find out how good we really are is by competing against better competition.
the playoffs are completely different from the regular season. i think we are fool's gold but i hope to be proven wrong. harden has a rep for shrinking in the playoffs. the ref baiting doesn't work in the playoffs.
I remember once DaDakota started a "Kevin Martin is Fool's Gold" thread in a (truly boring Rox) year when the bbs was talking about him deserving All-Star recognition (24ppg or sumpin), and everyone came in to defend KMart, just like they are here. good times
btw OP: what if we were 17-4 but 3rd in the West, behind GSW and a Kawhi SAS or "getting it" OKC, would that 17-4 still be Fool's Gold? Or would you be talking about how we are better than our record because Paul was out in all 4 of the losses. I guess we'd all be more wary. anyhoot -- I think we all know that Kashi is Coming Someone needs to edit that with Ginobody replacing Duncan't and Kawaii replacing replacing the word"Championship"
If u cant tell that ,if healthy, this team is scaring the cavs and warriors go watch another sport because you dont understand basketball
I don't think it's "fools gold." I do think it's foolish not to thoroughly enjoy this ride we're on. When we lose a couple of games in a row, and we will at some point, talk about it then, in my opinion. Until we've come up against a b**** of a team that gives us 48 minutes of playoff caliber basketball, and manages to squeeze out a win, I'm going to stay on this high I've got going. Watching the best Rockets team we've had in several years, perhaps since the mid-90's. The only "recent" team that comes close is the group that had the Lakers by the balls until Yao went down.
Well, we're on a 66 win pace, but I don't think we should expect to win that many games. We'll hit rough patches at some point, and the competition will get stiffer. How often do we see teams jump out to really fast starts at the beginning of a season and then "regression to the mean" kicks in? D'Antoni said 60 wins is the goal, and I think that is realistic from what I've seen. Beyond that, just enjoy the process. There's no downside to having conservative expectations while remaining an avid fan. Rough patches are taken in stride rather than panic mode setting in, and when the team is on a roll you can enjoy it like anyone else.
at this point, if we win by less than 20 it would feel like a loss. so from that standpoint, we could "lose" another 10 games between now and april. then again, maybe we dump robert brown for a nice bought-out pickup off waivers. and in that case we always win by 20+ i'm still hoping for 78
Jeff Sagarin has us with the 26th hardest schedule (or 5th easiest) to this point. I for one are glad that we get to develop our chemistry before the schedule Hardens.
I don't think you have to be worried about Heat. I'm watching them a bit because of Dragić and they are a mess right now. Also Whiteside has lingering knee problems and may be out for extended period of time. Dragić has to perform like an all-star consistently just to give them a chance to compete, and that's WITH Whiteside. Last two games Goran laid an egg because he was tired, and also chemistry isn't there. Easy wins unless they figure it out before. We've always been good against SAS in regular season. I expect it will be no different this time around. Minnesota can't guard anyone. Clint will be dunking lobs from Beard and CP3 over KAT whole night long. KAT will get his, but it won't be enough. Butler is a good matchup against Harden, but luckily there's CP3 to help around that. Washington will crumble after the bench comes in. Eric should have some good scoring games against them. Boston is a defensive juggernaut, but they can't shoot good enough unless a role player like M.Smart goes crazy. I'm more worried about Detroit (they are playing really good right now), Milwaukee (can switch everything and are reeealy long on defense) and NOP (Boogie will probably have at least one career night against us).
Yes, it is what fools would consider gold. There aren't a lot of fools here though. The Rockets are doing what they're expected to: beat worse teams. We can be happy about that. The schedule gets harder and the real tests will come and certainly require more effort to win. But all the signs point towards Rockets wins against better teams. The schedule gave them a quick test at the start of the season to get the guys focused. Since then it's been easier with a lot of practice days at home that I expect the Rockets to take advantage of. Our current blowout wins indicate that the team is benefitting from practices. I expect a lower win rate starting from the end of this month through the All Star break (lots of travel, cramped schedule, good opponents). I want gritty wins in the beginning of March, after which I hope the team catches fire and starts blowing teams out again in the 4 weeks before the season's end, and roll through the Finals.
