We beat teams by playing fast. We cannot beat Denver playing fast because they play even faster. They can also do a great job defending Harden. I don't want to play them.
Parsons will be back, rooster man won't! bring them on. bring anybody on, 1994 rockets/ 1996 bulls. we're not scared! can't wait!!!
Animal instincts warn you of predators you can't win against. Seeing the depth of that team, combined with its coach are more then enough to want anyone with basketball knowledge and not blinded by kool-aid to not see them in the first round.
Stop being so dismissive and you get your reasons. 1. Manimal 2. Iguodala shutting down Harden 3. They FEAST on our turnovers 4. Interior defense of Manimal and McGee stops our penetrations quite easily 6. BEST home record in the entire league 7. Did I mention Manimal?
Agreed on Denver All teams are designed differently and the Nuggets match up well against our strengths. They are great rim at protecting the rim. The Rockets guards like to drive to the basket. They also have the length to protect the 3 point line. On top of that, Denver doesn't lose at home. I'll take the Spurs who won't have much of a home field advantage when the Rockets play in San Antonio. And they won't have Ginobili in the first round of the playoffs. If I have the option of playing them in the first or second round, I'll choose the first round when they are not at full strength.
3 of your 7 reasons are Faried. Faried is a great hustle player, but his offense is limited, and he plays about 30 mpg. McGee plays less than 20 mpg. Iguodala may be able to slow down Harden, but he isn't our only scoring option. Their home record is irrelevant since they're now a different team. Don't forget that Wilson Chandler missed half the season, Gallo is out, and if Lawson plays, he'll be limited. Now look at things from the opposing point of view. In a half-court offense, where will Denver get points? Can you realistically expect a 37 year old Andre Miller to keep up with Lin/Beverley/Brooks? And what will happen when Miller sits and Fournier has to run the point? Is Wilson Chandler a good enough defender to stay with Parsons? If Iggy increases his involvement on offense to compensate for Lawson/Gallo, how will that impact his defense on Harden?
The YoYo THANK YOU! I have been having to restate this over and over, some people just look at the win/loss column. Most of those games were winnable, people are just like "DENVER OH NOES!!!" Please sticky this post on the front page!
Exactly!!! The game slows down a lot more and a 7games series turns into more a of a chess match. For a team riddled by injuries they have been playing on nothign but high energy. That doesn't last.
7 game series Rockets win in 7, steal one away game. Called it and will be quoting this if the rockets get the 6th seed.
If we are going to get swept I would rather be able to watch the games. If we play denver we get stuck on nba tv.
1. There's a reason almost half my reasons are about Faried. Here's his stats against us: 4/6 - 13 pts, 6 rbs, 1 stl 3 blks in 24 mins 1/30 - 19 pts, 9 rbs, 2 stls 1/23 - 0 pts, 6 rbs, 2 stls, 1 blk in 20 mins 11/7 - 16 pts, 16 rbs, 1 stl, 1 blk He just wrecks us offensively in the paint with ease. When he doesn't, he provides invaluable defense anyway. 2. You take away Harden's game and we have no chance in hell to do anything worthwhile. I would end this argument right here based on this fact, but I'll keep going. 3. What does Chandler missing half the season got to do with anything? In March he's averaging 15.2 pts, 4.8 rbs in 28mins on 52%/46%/77%. In April he's averaging 17 pts, 5.8 rbs in 29 mins on 53%/47.4%/78.4%. This are just insane numbers for a Gallo replacement. 4. I don't recall the last time Harden defending Iguodala pretty well to the point of Iguodala being exhausted on defense. Here's his stats against us without Gallo and Lawson 4/6 - 18 pts, 7 rbs, 14 asts, 2 stls on 54% fg Seems like he's had no trouble whatsoever on Harden on offense.
I wanted to avoid Denver by all costs and I picked them as my Darkhorse to come out of the West over OKC but this was prior to Lawson's foot issues and Gallo's season ending injury. I think Denver is still dangerous but if Lawson is only around 80% I'd like our chances against them especially sans Gallo. Lawson is the engine that makes that team run and if he's not 100% that team just isn't going to run as smoothly. Factor out Gallo who's their 2nd leading scorer, best 3 point shooter, decent rebounder with good size and length he's their most skilled big man. Now I know Denver has other guys to step up and make up for Gallo's production but this is a huge blow to their depth regardless and puts more pressure on guys like Iggy, Chandler and Brewer to step up and play well on a regular basis. Before you could bring guys like Chandler and Brewer off the bench and their production would be a bonus especially if Iggy or Gallo were off but now they need to rely on them to contribute. Basically the Nuggets losing Gallo in terms of impact is similar to us without Parsons. It's a big deal. Aside from a healthy Lawson I'm most worried about kenneth Faried but I think Greg Smith would be the perfect answer to try and slow down Faried from beasting. At the end of the day we still have the best player on the court if we do in fact face the Nuggets in the 1st round. They will have a harder time stopping Harden than we will trying to stop any of their players. I don't care how good Iggy is defensively. Harden is going to "get his" regardless. On a final note in terms of depth we're equally deep with the emergence of some of our younger guys like Bev, Smith and Jones. I know Denver is really good at home but I know we can take at least 1 on their court. This series would go 6 or 7 easily. Avoid the Spurs by all costs. We would have no answer for Duncan and he'd take Asik and anybody else we threw at him to the back of the woodshed. Playing OKC in a 7 game series would be a true/best test to see how good we really are but I would try to avoid playing them in the 1st round if possible.
You don't follow Denver, do you. Lawson is back, and Gallinari is overrated. The Spurs are going to miss Ginobody more than Denver will miss Gallo. You do know this team is 20-2 over the last 22 games, right? And just beat the Spurs soundly.
It's understandable why people are trying to avoid Denver because Rox did not break through this year with any wins against them. I feel OKC and SA are the two best teams in the West and if you have a chance to avoid them, you need to take that opportunity. If this series takes place, cutting down on TOs and Harden playing up to his capabilities is key. Iggy is one hell of a defender, however Harden is gonna have to learn to counter tough defenders. Harden can't continue to allow Iggy or any other tough defender to repeatedly shut him down if he wants to be a true "franchise player" moving forward.
