Myth: The Rockets ceiling this year is the 2nd Round

Another factor to consider is home court advantage in the playoffs. Its inevitable that the Rockets won't be playing their best basketball out of the gate. We could lose ground early on for one of the top playoff seeds, as we're adjusting to incorporating Dwight Howard and experimenting with different lineups. As a result, we may not even have HCA after the first round.

 

I think a lot of you guys don't play sports. You can't "predetermine" what you should "accomplish" based on what's on paper. Really crappy teams can win if they play harder and the better team screws around. And yes chemistry is *important*, because if you have no chemistry its easy for opposition defenses to take away your preferred option, then your whole team is screwed. It takes *time* to build chemistry. Why are the spurs so ******* consistent year in year out? Why do they never go away when some team is up by 15? A decade of discipline and chemistry. They know exactly what to do in every situation, they've practiced it. Rockets doesn't. This team is still young, and I dread the moment Howard gets frustrated and Harden starts going iso ball.

You also gloss over the fact that over the season there is very *few* practices. I've played pickup with people in *games* and even if its with the same people for a couple years, its really really hard to build chemistry in games alone.

 

All I can say is, last year they ranked us as a lottery team even with harden. they are still under-rating us... so it's time!

Go Rockets!!!

 

Playoff experience counts.

Our two best players have been to the final.

For that, our ceiling is the final.

 

I can understand analysts predicting 2nd round, but to say that's our ceiling is a little silly. Our best 2 players have both been to The Finals. Our ceiling is the Finals, but I predict WC Finals.

 

Gelling is a continuous process that doesn't magically happen after a season, after preseason, or a few months in the season. I can't remember the thread, but there was an analysis done on this had a +/- increase of 2 ppg (about 5 wins) for having 8 players return from the previous season (these numbers are approximate going off memory).

That said, the Rockets are returning Harden, Lin, Parsons, Beverley, Garcia, Motiejunas, Jones, Asik, and Brooks. It is much easier for 1-2 players to gel when the other 6-7 players in rotation are where they are suppose to be (I can hope DMo and Jones are in right position if they make rotation). I don't see it being an issue as it pertains to the Rockets, but gelling is real. It takes more than a few months for teams with very few returning players which the Rockets aren't.

Miami had (and still do) a huge talent lead over most teams. Gelling is a marginal victory that only matters if you are close in the talent department which did not apply to most teams after Miami was assembled. The Rockets have the talent to compete with anyone in the West. That said, OKC (provided Westbrook returns to health), the Spurs, and LAC can basically say the same thing.

 

Aren't these the same people that predicted we wouldn't make the playoffs last year and would be well under a .500 club?

 

Rockets are NOT a contender.

It's not just time to gel. We're still way too young and inexperienced of a team. Lin, Harden, Bev, Dmo, TJone, Parson - all of these guys are very young and early in their careers. THey still make mistakes that you can't afford to make as often as they do. It's not gelling, it's just maturing.

And Howard is in the midst of changing his game. That isn't going to happen in just one year.

Young teams don't win rings. Our avg age last year was 24. The youngest team to win a ring in the last 30 years was 27. The last time a team that was 26 that won a ring was 1980 Lakers - 33 years ago. A different era!

Need to be realistic here - this team is good, and fun to watch. But we are not going to the WC finals this year. Not unless SA and OKC, and the clips really have something bad happen to them.

 

also, i think our coach is unproven

if we had a Van Gundy or a Phil Jackson, I would bet their tunes would change

We would play the Heat in the finals if we had a real coach

 

Depending on how everything pans out with the PF situation and if everyone meshes pretty well, I think they are sleeping on us just a little bit. I'm not saying championship because that's a daunting task, but I do think we can make it to the WCF at least.

 

We will have to let the season play out, but I see no reason the Rockets are not in the discussion to win the West. Further, with Howard and Asik inside, it is very possible the Rockets could cause serious match up issues with the Heat.

 

Sam - nice post, fun to read and almost completely agree

1. Spurs/Thunder (Clippers/Rockets for that matter) are 1 injury away from being non-contenders. Having said that i think when playing at their best any of those 4 teams could win a 7 game series depending on luck and divine providence.

2. Heat not winning the first year may not have been an angry God, however i think Karma had to have played a role in the over the top and smelly arrogance spewing from the Heat locker room. (RocketScientist hits SamFisher in the back of the head with crumbled paper ball as he walks away from the conversation )

3. Gel time is over rated. We are dealing with all the millenials and they aint waiting 10 years to become an executive manager at their firm. One needs not to look any further than the Heat.

We have a legitimate shot at reaching the Finals. Period. Once you're there its anybody's for the taking unless you run up against a focused, disciplined, and hungry team.

 

McHale has done nothing to make me believe he is not capable of being the coach of an NBA Finals team. He also has excellent help surrounding him.

 

The Lakers could be a great example for gelling if it wasn't also dependent on age and health. Nash, Gasol, and Howard all performed better than two years ago than they did last season. Howard was coming off injury and seemed slow. Nash and Gasol may have hit aging wall.

Talent is the most important thing in the NBA. It really looked like the Lakers had more than anyone else in the West at the start of the last season.

Adding Star Player> Asik> Gelling

 

Response

Agreed. I don't see the "leader" type of player who will command respect for other players to follow.