Hollinger Western Conf. Breakdown

jjsto · Dec 20, 2011

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/prev...st/nba-western-conference-projected-standings

I thought this paragraph at the beginning summed up the conference nicely:

"The end result will, indeed, be competitive balance. While the West cleaves neatly into three groups -- the haves, the have-nots and the Rockets -- this season's Western Conference standings figure to be unusually compressed. "

Barring a deal, we are in "no-man's land."

clos4life · Dec 20, 2011

jjsto said: ↑

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/prev...st/nba-western-conference-projected-standings

I thought this paragraph at the beginning summed up the conference nicely:

"The end result will, indeed, be competitive balance. While the West cleaves neatly into three groups -- the haves, the have-nots and the Rockets -- this season's Western Conference standings figure to be unusually compressed. "

Barring a deal, we are in "no-man's land."
Click to expand...

Can anyone tells us what the article said?

Acedude · Dec 20, 2011

Excerpt

9. Houston Rockets (32-34)

All they can do is lament the trade that wasn't. The Rockets hit an absolute home run with the Pau Gasol deal before the league voided it -- they were getting Nene in free agency and Gasol to pair with him in the frontcourt. A Lowry-Lee-Budinger-Gasol-Nene starting five had the league's most underrated point guard, a defensive stopper who shoots 40 percent on 3-pointers, a wing scorer who can run, and two All-Star caliber big men. That was a top-four team in this season's West, and it would have been the culmination of an impressive rebuilding job -- going from "T-Mac & Yao" to "Nene & Pau" without ever dropping below .500.

Thanks to the league, they instead have a mess. Houston was a better team last season than many realize, winning 43 games with the scoring margin of a 47-win club. Unfortunately, some of the reasons for that success won't carry over into 2011-12. Most notably, they had an unexpectedly productive center platoon with Chuck Hayes and Brad Miller, who are both gone. For now, Patrick Patterson, Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet are manning the middle.

Also, their two best players exhibit downside risk. Scola produced a career year at 31 and will probably take a step back. On the perimeter, Kevin Martin may have trouble duplicating the league's second-best point-per-minute rate, although he'll probably also play more than the 32.5 minutes a game he got a year ago.

This team will score, but Lowry and Lee are their only good defenders, and Lee may not play much with Martin and Budinger around. The latter pair are two of Houston's three best scorers, but Martin is a brutal defender and Budinger isn't much better. Somehow, one of them has to guard the Kobes and LeBrons of the league.

Overall, it looks like this will be a mildly rebuilding season in Houston. Assorted reclamation projects dot the roster (Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams, Thabeet) and if the Rockets can get one of them back in working order, that will help.

The main reason I have Houston ahead of the Minnesotas and Golden States of the West is opportunity -- sitting on cap space and champing at the bit to use it, with plentiful trade assets to make a deal, the Rockets are likely to be a better team at the end of the season than they are now. They may have missed out on the Gasol-Nene home run, but they're still out hunting.
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