It's generally accepted that you need to have a top 10 offense and defense to have a crack at the title. How you evaluate that is up to you. If you look at Hollinger's Team Stats, however, then only four teams now qualify: Miami at #1 OFF and #6 DEF Houston at 2 and 10, just creeping in after their defensive effort against SAS San Antonio at 6 and 2 OKC at 10 and 5 A fifth team, Indiana, makes it despite having the #16 most efficient offense. Because their #1 defense is just so much better than everyone else's. Right now it's actually at a historic level, probably the best since Boston's Ubuntu Defense the first year of KG Pierce and Allen. Of course, these numbers don't account for strength of schedule, so good Eastern teams like Miami and Indiana will naturally have their numbers inflated. But I think it's a good indicator of the actual quality of teams out there. The Rockets are still a work in progress and likely to push their team D into more rarified air given time and a healthy dose of Howard then Asik, rinse repeat. OKC once Westbrook and Durant get more chemistry back on the court together should improve its offense. Anyone besides these five is just a pretender. GSW are just outside this list at 12 and 7 and probably will be the 6th best team in the NBA when all is said and done, but still not as good as the previously mentioned teams. LAC have bad defense and no reason to suspect improvement out of the likes of Blake Griffin (injury prone flopper), Chris Paul (cherrypicker who inflates his steals numbers), JJ Redick, Chris Dudley, and Darren Collison. Plus they have the Utah Jazz effect going for them where they play cheap and dirty and are liable not to win a playoff series without home court advantage. Even Indiana if you ask me will have difficulty keeping up their scoring to make it all the way to the championship. So there you have it, five contenders. The Rockets against San Antonio proved to me that they deserve to be one of them now.
I agree completely. These are the 5 teams I picked off the top of my head before I even took a look at who you had. The NBA is so watered down outside of the top teams, it's ridiculous and I think you have to blame that either on very poor GM's or an inadequate commissioner.
No, they are not watered down. Just some r****ds being owner, and picked as GM. Plus most of the teams are tanking for the draft this year, anyways.
I think I've heard Morey say that each year there are only five teams really that have a shot at winning it all. Glad to find out that this year we are one of them.
Sure but there can only be one favorite and one winner. The team that everyone is out to chase after.
We're still in the same place, but I believe the NBA's official tracking is better http://stats.nba.com/leagueTeamGene...ode=Totals&sortField=OFF_RATING&sortOrder=DES
What's ridiculous is that our potential has not been shown in more than I believe one game, the Celtics game. The TT experiment was a failure which led to some crappy Asik play to start the year. Then when Asik became good again, Harden sat. And now Lin's been injured too. The Rockets are currently ranked very high by just about every standard you can have. Point differential, 5th. Expected win-loss, 4th. SRS, which basically combines point differential and strength of schedule, 4th. Actual record, 6th. Assuming relatively good health, and that we receive solid return for Asik at the deadline, we are definitely a contender.
Actually there are only TWO contenders and those are the two teams that make it to the finals and play for the championship... Hopefully the Rockets will be one of those teams...
I hate David Stern as much as anyone, but what is the he supposed to do? He can't stop top players from wanting to play together. I think the only thing that he can do is contraction, making the league smaller. I don't think many players or team officials would want that. And not all GM's can attract top players to their cities. Some can only rely on drafting good players or being lucky in trades.
Not saying Clippers are contenders but better not get too cocky until we beat them. Right now we don't have answers with their constant pnr. Last night was one hell of game and refs made it easier for Spurs but we still kept getting burnt on screens. We were lucky they were ice cold from down town in the first half.
For one, I'm confused about why total parity is a desirable objective. The most popular sports league in the world is not the NFL, but rather the EPL. It has almost no parity. The NFL is the anomaly.
I'm a little surprised our defensive rating is so high. I'm impressed that we have the 10th ranked defense in the NBA considering how much better they can probably get. Our offense is also much more efficient than last year's model. We aren't leading the league in pace this go around and our points are up. 2nd in offensive efficiency and 1st in points per game. This with the failed TT experiment ruining our offense for the 1st quarter every game at the beginning of the year and we're still only a tick behind Miami. Wouldn't be surprised if we pass them up too soon. Nice.
We are not contenders. We have potential but we're definitely not there yet. Don't get too excited after one win. I can't see this team beating OKC and SA in a playoff series yet. Those two are in a class of their own. I think our team still lacks mental toughness. That can change though. Still lots of time
Contenders: OKC, Spurs, Heat, Indiana Almost Contenders: Clippers, Blazers, Rockets. The Clippers just have to prove they can win consistently against good teams. The Blazers and Rockets have to prove they can handle pressure and run their offenses against tough defenses. Thus far they have both really struggled when defenses tighten up.
Rockets aren't contenders just yet IMO. I think it will take us at least a year to really gel and find our own identity. Miami, Indiana, San Antonio and maybe even OKC are contenders. Clips might get there too. Rockets, Warriors will need time to become ones. Not sure where Portland goes in this equation.
