Don't let that 4-0 record blind us. Rockets ranked 1st in ppg - 106.2 OKC / Nuggets ranked 2nd - 105.8 But for starting line-up: OKC ranked 2nd - 76.5 Rockets ranked 5th - 74.7 Niggets ranked 17th - 64.7 Opponents's ppg OKC ranked 11th Nuggets ranked 22th Rockets ranked 28th The Nuggets relied much on their bench. It's an advantage in regular season. But in PO, we played starters more minutes. Last year in PO Durant played 48 minutes in a game. The OKC's gonna kill us. We should avoid them at all cost. We have a better chance against the Nuggets.
We match up better with SA or OKC. Terrible against Denver. They share our strengths (quick, fast breaking, 3 point shooting) and not our weaknesses (they have a killer front line, don't turn the ball over as much, and play stronger D). It's just a bad match-up for us at this stage. I think Denver is a legit WC power now. They aren't one tier behind SA. Anyone who thinks that is putting to much emphasis on the first half of the season.
In the regular season. But in the post season they really struggled against OKC's young & athleticism. But I guess you can't compare OKC to Houston. OKC is actually a very good defensive team. We can't defend to save our lives.
As long as we don't draw OKC I am happy. I think the prospects of upsetting either SA or DEN are about the same. Probably slight preference to playing SA.
Overall, this is largely correct. But there are plenty examples of deep teams who use it to their advantage in the playoffs, as well, especially when the key contributors off the bench are great defenders like Brewer and McGee. Your post focuses too much on offense. Denver has the best defense in the West right now, imso. Explosive offense and great defense is a fine combination, and throwing fresh legs at the opponent works for a team like this.
You sure do love throwing around the term "overrated" dontcha. What a way to disrespect the greatest PF to ever play the game. Of course Duncan is doing less in the regular season because 1) He's 36 years old. 2) He's not in his prime. 3) He gave the keys to Parker to run this team. Yet he's still had a very good season and you're saying it's overrated? Okay. I really hope you're not referring to Faried as being one of the best PF defenders whom you're expecting to slow down Duncan.
I am saying that faried and McGee are not the best matchups for Duncan. Neither is ibaka You're right. I have overused the word overrated in this thread, but I did say Parker is not overrated. What I meant about Duncan is ppl are saying, statistically speaking, this is one of his best seasons ever. Look in the dish. This isn't even top 12 best seasons in his career. This season of his cannot be compared to the PF era of his prime Am I not making sense. Despite the fact this is a weak PF era that he can take advantage of, he still has to face the OKC and Denver frontlines. Bad matchup
I think you're forgetting an important stat. In 28 minutes. Do you really think TJones, Motiejunas, Robinson can box this guy out for 38+ minutes, which is likely what he's going to log in the playoffs? It's cute that you think Lawson and Gallo are such great defenders that, in the event that Harden were taken out of the game by Iguodala, if they were not injured we'd be screwed offensively. Newsflash. It makes no difference. We'd be screwed either way if Harden gets locked down. Why am I incorrectly assuming that when I CLEARLY showed you how spectacular Chandler has been lately? Your argument has everything to do with Harden's defense because Harden guards Iguodala if Parsons guards Chandler. So what if Iguodala gets to dominate the ball more? Do you think Harden's going to stop him? Does Harden's defense magically increase over time? LOL! What if I told you it was the Nuggets' 3rd game in 4 nights as well?
kaitanuva, Somehow, you managed to misinterpret all of my arguments and I don't have the patience to teach you. We'll have to agree to disagree.
Somehow, you managed to sound like a complete ******* while trying to conveniently bail out of the argument. Remind me to never try to discuss anything with you ever again. Waste of time.
Very well, I'll try to explain it to you. Good luck. They have a better chance than you think since they'd be fresh. Have you seen Faried play? His game is dependent on high energy, hustle, and athleticism. There's a reason he only plays 28 minutes. Look at his substitution patterns. He wouldn't be able to sustain his production for 38 minutes... You missed the point. Let's assume that Iggy does lock down Harden. A Rockets team with a locked down Harden is better than a Nuggets team with a gimpy Lawson and no Gallo. You didn't clearly show anything. You gave Wilson Chandler's stats for the month of March and the first few games in April. Gallinari was injured April 4th. Lawson's last game was March 27. So basically, the stats you gave for Wilson Chandler were with a healthy Lawson and Gallo. And you think that in the playoffs, without these guys, he can replicate his production? Do you see how that's a flawed assumption? My argument had nothing to do with Harden's defense. With Gallo out and Lawson limited, Iggy will increase his offensive workload, and that means he'll use more energy on offense. And the more energy he expends on offense, the less he'll expend on defense. And look at Iggy's stats this year. Career lows in fg%, 3pt%, and ft%, and with Gallo out and Lawson limited, he becomes their primary offensive option. Like I said, for analytical purposes, that game would be irrelevant. In the playoffs, you get a day of rest between each game. So stats from a game where all the players were fatigued would be absolutely useless.
I don't want to speak for everyone, but the main reason I am afraid of Denver is because John Denver once drugged me and stole one of my kidneys. I am assuming this is why most Rockets fans are afraid of Denver, but I can't be certain.
Denver has a better coach.. And they have no star.. so anyone can kill you on any given night.. How do you prepare for that?
Pretty much this. Spurs are our best chance of an upset (besides Memphis but they're likely not drawing the third seed) because we match up better against them, even if we aren't necessarily the better team. OKC can really hurt us but Denver especially as they're just a rich man's version of us.
The Rockets have no chance against OKC, SA, or Denver. It doesn't matter which team. I don't get why people want to tank to #7 against either SA or OKC. The only hope is Memphis beat out Denver to get the 3rd seed and we beat out GS to get 6th.
Bima and I had an exchange about this a few weks ago. I said denver is a good matchup because they don't have a lot of playoff experience. Also, the style the rockets wish to play is the same as denver. The problem is denver has more quality depth and more explosive as a collective. I mean mcghee comes off the bench as did chandler b4 gallo went out with an injury. It would be a great,fun, series,but the rockets would lose 4-1,4-2 tops.
