Need we say that this is a young, exciting team that will cause many match-up problems around the league and be a blast to watch. Two years ago who would have thought we'd be here so quickly... so many young, talented, up-tempo players? The Hakeem era is over, but let's keep things in perspective. It was bound to happen soon or later and it has been coming for a long time. He's over it, most of us are over it, and it's time for the last 3 or 4 hold-outs on this board to get over it..and to PLEASE stop posting new, not-new Hakeem threads. BTW, mention 'lottery bound' again at your own peril...I have confidence that this team will embarass you.
I'm "over it" in the sense that I have regained my excitement for the Rockets' upcoming season, and I won't start any more Hakeem threads. But, I will continue to respond to Hakeem bashers with my strongest passion! I think they'll make the playoffs, but will be swept right out. That's what happens when your only vet with titles is Matt Bullard.
Right. We're actually really lucky when you think about it, there was a good chance that we'd be rebuilding for years once the Dream era was over. I'm happy with what we have, lottery team or not.
I still think it is going to be a tough road in the West. I'm not completely convinced we can get out of the lottery with the teams that are out there and, I agree with ZRB (wow, did I say that? ) that the lack of much of a veteran presence will take its toll. The problem isn't the Rockets. We have a terrific young team that will be a blast to watch. The problem is that we are in an UNREAL conference right now. I mean, no team had ever won as many games as we did last year and missed the playoffs. That's pretty ridiculous. IMO, how we start will determine a great deal. If we can stay right at or slightly above or below .500 for the first half of the season, we will have a great chance at making a run later once the team has begun to gel. I tell you though, this is going to be a FUN team to watch over the next few years.
I think that the Wolves, Suns, Sonics, Jazz, and Spurs have all gotten worse this offseason. There is plenty of room for the Rockets to move into the postseason. There's no way I could remain a fan if the Rockets missed the playoffs again. They have too much talent to be a lottery team.
How do you figure the Wolves, Suns, Jazz and Spurs got worse? The Wolves brought back Joe Smith, drafted Loren Woods and lost no one. The Suns traded Kidd for Marbury, a guy who will love running up and down the floor with Hardaway (who is finally healthy) and Marion. The Jazz are the same exact team. The Spurs lost Derek Anderson, Avery Johnson (who was hurt most of the year) and Samaki Walker (who didn't get much playing time anyway) but brought in a terrific veteran in Steve Smith, Bruce Bowen (who will help them a lot on defense), Mark Bryant and the rookie, Tony Parker. We were already better than the Sonics, so they aren't a consideration. The Lakers have improved as have the Trailblazers. The Mavericks are still a better team than us at the moment. Sacramento is the same. I don't see where you get your logic, but few do. So, you'd go root for another team? You aren't much of a fan.
Does that mean you'll never post again if the Rockets miss the playoffs? With the Rockets iso style it would seem they would be most hurt by allowing zone defenses. I don't know what to expect from the team next season. I hope we are in the playoffs, just for the sake of experience.
Just to add, I won't go so far as to say Denver has improved much this summer or that Memphis will be much better, but the Clippers probably will be. That is just one more team to compete with us for a spot. I still think the Rockets <i>can</i> make the playoffs. But, I won't be shocked, disappointed or pissed off if they do. I also won't stop being a fan.
No, I'd give up following the NBA. This is not the Warriors or Bulls. They are too talented to miss the playoffs. If they miss the playoffs, then that means that they didn't give the season their all. I can't be a fan of a team that doesn't play it's hardest. Now, they should have made the playoffs last year, but they didn't bring it every night. If another season goes by where the Rockets don't try their hardest, there will be nothing left to root for. The Suns traded their franchise player for someone who has led the Nets to three consecutive crappy seasons. Hardaway will never be the same, and they gave up Cliff Robinson for nothing. The Wolves have remained the same. Losing Ellis will hurt them, and Joe Smith is NOTHING. They were lucky last year. The Sonics have gotten worse, so the Rockets should not lose two games to them this year. The Jazz have gotten a year older. There is no reason why the Rockets shouldn't finish ahead of them. Their age will show, the Rockets simply have to bring their "A" game, and they should take 3/4. See the NBA forum to see why the Spurs have gotten worse. The Rockets should at least split the series with them. This team has all it needs to get a lower seed. They will make the playoffs if they truly want to. Barring injuries, there are NO excuses. NADA! You might as well root for the Rockets to miss the playoffs. You'll be rid of me if they do.
You know, Tweak, if you just set your expectations a little lower, you would enjoy the season a great deal more. To me, what you just said you expected for the Rockets next season sounds like a best case scenario. How often does the best case scenario work out? Not often. I anticipate the Rockets being an exciting, young, talented team next season, who will put on quite a show in some games, and severely disappoint in others. Anything more than that is a fringe benefit of being a Rocket fan.
I sincerely think we are a lottery team unless a few things happens: 1. No extended injuries to Stevie, Cat, Mo-T or Griff. 2. Cato, or someone, can at least play with some passion at C. We don't need an all-star there just someone to bust their tail and to give 100%. 3. Stevie & Cat take their games to the super-star level and can lead our team. Obviously we can't contol #1, but some teams get lucky with the injury bug. I really doubt if Cato will play hard, but sincerely hope I'm wrong or hope we can make a trade. I'm not sure is Stevie/Cat are ready to take the next step yet. But the positive side is these guys seem to have so many of their personal friends playing that they will definetely have the support of their teammates. I think we will have an exciting team and would guess about 45 wins. I further agree that the lack of a proven veteran will not help us. But 45 games probably will leave us in the lottery again.
No disrespect to Jeff or anything, but the concept of ".500 halfway, THEN make a push" is not what you should put into a player's head. Hakeem said it perfectly. We started to push for the playoffs too late last season. We're a deep team, there's no chance we'll get worn out. Every player on our team has a talented backup. Francis/Mooch, Cat/Shandon, Eddie/Lnghi, Mo/Eddie/KT. Cato and whoever we sign will prolly split the minutes there something like 28minutes for Cato, and the rest for the other guy. We should push for the playoffs from the first game. Have the playoffs in the players heads from day 1. One game at a time. In each game, think about winning THIS game, and playing hard to be able to get into the playoffs. Like I said, depth is not a problem on this team, so this is very possible. Btw, the Rockets WILL NOT get sweeped. I even go as far as to say, Francis and Mobley have so much heart, that they'll NEVER get sweeped in a playoff series. Let's see some playoffs baby!
i think the suns are worse than last year. they got marbury, sure, but gave up jason kidd, and penny is still a question mark, imo. they also lost cliff robinson, let's not forget, one of their main scorers, and rodney rogers didn't play as well last year as he has been. marbury wanted out of minnesota so he could be the man, how well will he gel with this phoenix group, where he has to share the ball with a few different guys, instead of just kg? they'll still be a good team, no doubt, but i think we can pass them. in fact, we NEED to pass them.
I think you misunderstood me. I am not suggesting that as a GOOD idea, just as a realistic one if they want to make the playoffs. They are deep and they do have talent but all of it is VERY young and they need time to learn each others' games, especially guys like Griffin. I'm suggesting that they will probably need an adjustment period. But, hell, if they want to rip off 10 or 12 in a row to start the season and go 15 games over by the all star break, I'm ALL FOR THAT! ZRB: You make me want to root for Tank Job 2002!
I agree jeff. I don't think the rockets upgraded to the point that they are better than last year. Those crazy lineups won't mean a thing to the teams in the west. If griffin comes and steadily improves like Francis did his rookie year then they might have an outside shot at the 8th seed. Personally, i think the Clipps have better personell than the Rockets. I mean when brands at the four, odom can play anywhere, along with miles and magette, the rockets will have a hard time matching up.
I think we will make a push for the 8th spot and get it. IMO, Phoenix is 3/4 of the team it was last season. Starbury is a good player, that's very fun to watch, but not half the playmaker Kidd is. Not to mention losing a 17ppg player for spare change in John Wallace and Jud Buechler(That's who they got right?)
I thought I was a blind Houston homer....until I read this thread. We pose matchup problems for other teams...sure we do. But guess what...having the softest frontcourt in a conference that features the best big men in the game doesn't help much...that presents matchup problems for us as well. We worked a great record last year by beating the crap out of the East. Didn't we all learn during the Hakeem era that having a strong frontcourt was generally of more value than having a strong backcourt?? How many titles have the Suns won with their up-tempo game?? Did the Suns really get any worse??? Whether they did or not, we didn't finish close to them last year. If I remember right, we were at least 5 games behind them in the season's standings...they ran away from us, despite the fact they had a tougher schedule. Do you guys honestly believe the Rockets are SOOOO talented that if they don't make the playoffs they'll be underachieving?? I don't see that at all. I think they overachieved last year. They beat a lot of teams last year that they snuck up on. I don't see that happening anymore. They won more than a few games down the stretch thanks to the contributions of Hakeem....he's not here anymore and his replacement sucks. This is a team with little to no frontcourt talent AT ALL!! To say that they would underachieve by not making the playoffs is laughable...particularly in a conference where 50 wins wasn't enough to make the playoffs the previous season. Come on!! I freaking love this team...whether they make the postseason or not. I always give them the benefit of the doubt. But looking at it realistically as they enter the season, I don't think they'll be one of the 8 best teams in the West...and if they are, I certainly don't see them beating the Lakers or the Spurs in the first round!
Jeff, Your logic sounds good, but I am putting my faith in Stevie. He is a year older, and I expect that we will start seeing more superstar. With the talent and athleticism around him, I believe that we will start to win many more games in the West than many expect..even against all of these good teams. Remember those incredible stretches of scoring we had last year? I don't think that it would make any difference what team they were playing when they got hot; other teams simply cannot keep up with us. We could reasonably expect those to increase in frequency, and for an improved ability of this team to hold on to good leads. I do agree that there will be some adjustment time for the changes (team and rules both), but we will still win some tough games early on. The West teams are scary, but we will be by mid-season also, and dangerous before that.
Originally posted by MadMax ...We pose matchup problems for other teams...sure we do. But guess what...having the softest frontcourt in a conference that features the best big men in the game doesn't help much...that presents matchup problems for us as well. True. Who will win out? We will lose some games, but if we are shooting I think we will win more. They cannot keep up with us. ... Didn't we all learn during the Hakeem era that having a strong frontcourt was generally of more value than having a strong backcourt?? How many titles have the Suns won with their up-tempo game?? Anecdotes don't prove a point. Maybe it was the right frontcourt that won and the wrong backcourt that lost? BTW, who, exactly, did the Bulls have for their Center? Do you guys honestly believe the Rockets are SOOOO talented that if they don't make the playoffs they'll be underachieving?? Only because of Stevie. I don't think they'll be one of the 8 best teams in the West... I do. and if they are, I certainly don't see them beating the Lakers or the Spurs in the first round! I would hate to conceed anything at this point of the season (this team has so much potential), but at the present moment I would have to agree with you here.
