And what is wrong with that statement? Can any team in the league say they have a lock on the championship?? That they are far superior than the rest of the league and that the title is in the bag? Really? Who can say that?
The Warriors are the clear favorite to win the West. Then the order to me is as follows.. Spurs (Only bc of past history) Rockets Clippers Grizzlies Blazers Mavs Thunder
I know right. Portland lost Matthews. OKC lost Durant for most the year and WB and Ibaka parts of the season. Both teams hurt equally by injury amirite?
That is a different thing. People are complaining because posters say things like "We are very good and we could win it all, but the west is difficult and any playoff team could", that is the question, why is it unreasonable to think that way? is that not true? who can say the ship its in the bag for them? Warrior fans can be confident that they are having and extraordinary year and they are the favorites, but is it impossible that they lose a 7 game series against teams in the West? If a warrior fan said something like "we are great but the west is tough we could still lose a series" isn't he being reasonably cautious? Is that not true?
Its all about expectation. If I am a GSW fan, with a historical regular season like this, I don't care how tough the west will be, anything short of a NBA final is a failure this season. If I am a Rockets fan, I don't care how many injuries we have, with Harden and Dwight both healthy for the playoff and the way Harden played this season, a first round exit is a complete disaster, a second round exit will be disappointment and at least I want to see is a west final for this team.
The level of ignorance among sports fans is perplexing at times. Nuance in arguments is completely lost on most. Every see the movie The Little Giants? Rick Moranus gives a great speech that sums up the playoffs. He tells the kids that he and his athlete brother used to run up some hill all the time and he would lose everytime. But once, just once, he beat him. They must have run that hill 100 times, and even if he lost 99 times out of those 100, he still had one. Morey can put together a team that is better than say, the Blazers by a margin that should make them the favorites. Maybe they would beat them 6 out of 10 7 game series they played. Unfortunately in the playoffs, you only get one series. Better teams lose and it doesn't mean they had a bad coach, bad GM, chokers, etc. If you figure that in a 7 game series you win 3 games because you are better, but they win 2, that leave you 2 games to decide the winner. A couple of bad foul calls, a mistake turnover, an off shooting night, so much randomness and can flip those 2 other games either way and cost you a series where you were the better team.
Blake Griffin has played 59 games this season and Jamal Crawford has played 60 games. Contrast that to the Rockets where Howard has played in 35 games, Jones has played 25 and Beverley has played 56. Dwight is 100%? Then why is he only playing 20 minutes/game and not playing back to backs? How do you figure that we're 98% healthly? Our starting PG is out for the season, our starting PF has a collapsed lung and our 3rd big man is currently out with a bad back.
I agree with everything you wrote, i posted earlier today that i expect us to reach the conference finals, and i agree that a first round exit would be kind of a tragedy, and a second round exit would be disappointing, but..... that doesn't mean that "the west is tough" argument is not true.... the west IS very tough and any playoff team could win any match up.
They lost those players permanently. We got ours back and with plenty of games left. Whats your excuse? The mavs are healthier? no reason we should lose to okc, portland, or dallas but guess what. I have us penciled in for another first round exit. "But why cheke, why cheke, why do you follow the rockets"
Warriors fans, of all people, should know that nothing is guaranteed in the NBA playoffs. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kbn72J8ass4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Clippers are a great comparison. Their top 6 guys have missed 41 games. Dwight has missed 39 by himself.
This website measures the impact of injuries on a team, taking into account the value of the player injured. According to them, in the West only the T-Wolves, Thunder and Lakers have worse luck this year than the Rockets. Of course, the Rox are 3rd in the conference, the Thunder are 8th and the other two are at the very bottom. Anyone who says McHale and Morey haven't done amazing jobs this year simply doesn't know what they're talking about or has a grudge they can't bear to let go of. For the record, the same site lists the five teams that have had the healthiest seasons as: Raptors, Warriors, Clippers, Grizzlies, Mavs. Had the Rockets been as healthy as those teams, we'd be comfortably above the Grizzlies in the standings.
We're not talking championship, slow down there. We're simply talking 1st round playoff series. Are we good enough to win a 1st round series? Absolutely. So their aren't really any excuses. Morey has his team, has his coach & his Moreyball principles. If he's truly the genius innovator he's proclaimed, we should beat ANYBODY we play in the 1st round. No way around it
i agree. time to back up the talk. im tired of talking trash to my friends and them bringing up playoffs
Are you saying that isn't true?? Anybody who's even remotely into basketball sees that this year's Western Conference is about as deep and talented as it's EVER BEEN. By the time the WCFs roll around, there will be SIX teams who will be watching from home that ALL felt like they had a legit chance at winning the title. You criticize the Rockets for every single thing imaginable, and yet the team is sitting at 50-24, with destiny in their own hands for the 2nd seed. You've literally watched this entire season go by, and I don't think you've enjoyed one second of it. That's sad.
Now I wanna see that movie But this is exactly right, The margin between winning and losing in the Western Conference are paper thin. Will anyone be incredibly shocked if OKC beats GSW or if Dallas beats Memphis? The GM and the Coach are responsible for the broad brushstrokes all the little details that make the difference in winning are up to the players. That's why these threads are so inane.
But here's the thing: nobody gives a **** why you watch them. That would imply that people actually care about your opinion. Enjoy wallowing in your "realism", while I enjoy watching the most consistent, and entertaining Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon lead us to into the playoffs.
Making us good enough to win a series is Morey's job. He can't actually play the games. If you think we are good enough he has done his job.
