fans are somewhat assured by this victory tonight. I never had a doubt. RAPM says that the Rockets are the second best team in the NBA. WP has them at number one. Don't run around in circles and scream and shout like a bunch of little girls. It would not surprise me at all if the Rockets take the WC by storm. One loss to a great team does not make a season. It is remarkable how the "old hands" on this forum have attempted to temper your anger and doubts. Kudos to them. The coaching staff is great, the Rockets have as much if not more talent than any team in the NBA. What more can I say?
I'm not going to worry about EC teams. But in the west, we're as good as any. And no, one loss to the Clippers on the road on a west-coast road trip isn't kill my enthusiasm either. That said, this upcoming homestand is going to be important. I want 3-0 against Lakers, Clippers, and Raptors.
Indiana has had it easy so far. Magic, Pelicans, Cavaliers and Pistons. Not saying they are overrated, but not one of these teams have won more than 30 games last season. The closest was Detroit, with 29..
Clippers have more chemistry than we do at this point. Their core players have had more time playing together than ours have. With that said I think we did pretty damn good considering they made every single shot they threw up at the basket. It was that first quarter and slow start that cost us the game. When you play bad teams you can afford to come out slow and plan to run them off in the 2nd half. You cannot do that against good teams though, and the Clippers are the first good team we played all season. After the first quarter of that game we hung in there with them punch for punch. But they could not miss a single shot, it was beyond an amazing shooting performance for them. I think our next game against them will be much different.
I picked the Clips in the West, but am having second thoughts. True, the game against us was impressive, but the losses to LAkers and Magic are very telling: this team just cannot win ugly, and you need to be able to win ugly against lesser teams in this league if you are contender. Over a season there will be times when you're out of sync, Dudley and JJ Redick shot is not falling, but you still should be able to win against against mediocre teams if you want to be considered among the best. The Clippers remind me of last year's Rockets: when the shots are falling and the team was in sync we looked like world-beaters, but otherwise we could lose to anyone. This year, we seem like a team that will find a way to win on most nights even if we don't have it going. I think we end up with better record than the Clips.
And how good are the Bulls this year (so far)...? They haven't looked good. I think Dallas and Portland are better teams than they are at this point. But unbeaten is unbeaten and the Rockets have to prove they can beat a contending team and they have the Clippers this weekend.
I think the Rockets just caught a good team at a bad time. JJ had one of the best games of his life and he hasn't had many like that. Everything was falling for them. CP3 was toying with Jermey and abusing Harden with JJ in the process (2 birds one stone). But as bad as Harden played and with Howard hardly on the floor they stilll crept within single digits several times (down by 6 at one point). I think Houston and Golden State will battle it out for the top spot...
Yes, OKC will be better than I personally thought. The reason is Westbrook's injury was fake. If it was 4-6 weeks as they said, that's ~20 games, plus he'd need a longer adjustment after a longer absence. Now they are formidable. Our "assets" Lamb and Adams will contribute, too, this year.
The Rockets are initially going to be at a disadvantage against teams that made no major roster moves this season. It takes time to integrate a major talent like Howard. As the season wears on we should begin to see more accurate lobs to Howard. The Rockets certainly have at least 3 players that can make that pass. The defensive rotations should get much better. Howard's post ups should improve. Casspi and Garcia hopefully will continue to contribute. The trick to getting a top seed in the NBA is beating up on the teams in the bottom half of the NBA talent arms race. The Rockets so far have accomplished that. If we can go 35-7 against the below average NBA teams then the Rockets only need to go 25-17 against the top half of the NBA to reach 60 wins.At this point both appear to be achievable. We can hope for the best. I personally am optimistic.
We've beaten the dregs and so has Indy. I think that's the point. Indy hasn't faced anyone even close to LAC's level. They beat the Bulls, but the Bulls are **** so far this season, (only a single W, a one point win vs. the Knicks, 82-81). I do think Indy's a great team and could very likely unseat Miami in the ECF, but thus far this season, they haven't played anyone close to a top tier team.
okc, warriors, clippers... same fast pace offense but more ball movement and will get out coached. gotta Hope harden can score 30+ everynight of the series
i just realised, this is an jtr thread with no graphs, no spreadsheets no anything. WHAT HAVE U DONE WITH THE JTR WE ALL LOVED.
LOL it was a 1 a.m. semi-drunk post that I totally expected clutch to deep 6. I am completely surprised it is still around. Maybe a little embarrassed too.
I agree with this, when they are hot they are unstoppable. They are going to have a rude awakening in the playoffs, especially in a 7 game series. Memphis on up can all take the Clippers in playoff style basketball. The style is totally different in the playoffs and hence the addition of Howard is a game changer for the Rockets.
