I agree with that 100%, which is why I haven't responded to that comment. I made the same argument somewhere after the end of this past season that they could easily have been a 50+ win team and made the playoffs if they had simply beaten a few of the worst teams in the league. IMO last year's defense was highly overrated, which is not the case this year as I am seeing more activity and pressure on the defensive end. We have definitely taken a step forward in that department compared to last season.
A weak conference doesn't mean a team in it is weak. I would certainly not call NJ a weak team. Regarding injured/suspended player. I beg to differ with you. We have no PF because of injuries/suspensions. That is not an significant disadvantage. I meant before this season. I think we've won more games by 20+ points this year then all of last year. And i don't overestimate our accomplishments either. Things will indeed get tougher with the schedule but to me the difference between this year and last year is night and day so far...
And these so called "pessimist fans" are always rooting for the team as well, probably even more than you are. They question the team because they want the team to achieve greatness. The pessimistic fan you're referring to in this post I call a realistic fan, one of the few I see on these boards. Do not allow your allegiances to block your view of reality. You can be a good fan and be critical of the team. I don't know what loser came up with the premise that a fan never criticizes the team he roots for.
For a young team to stay focused, played diciplined ball, and beat all the teams they're supposed to beat is a huge. Compare us to the Suns, who are losing to all the crappy teams they play and have the worse record in the Western Conference, we're in really good shape.
I wouldn't call the weak either, but their competition is without a doubt, weaker as the majority of their games are versus Eastern Conference teams. Debate all you want about us not having a PF, when the fact is Cato and Braggs, the two Rockets that have been playing PF since Mo-T went out only a couple of games back, have held their own through these first 6 games versus guys like Udonis Haslem, Drew Gooden, Brian Scalabrine, Tyson Chandler, Pao Gasol and Nene. Now only one of those guys is someone that would possibly put the Rockets at a significant disadvantage(Gasol). The rest of the guys are no where near being dominant over any of our 4's, with or without injuries and suspensions. If you're going to quote me, quote me accurately and completely. I'll leave it up to you to go back and re-read my statement and if you wish, figure out how many 20+ wins we had last season. IMO it's too early to make a broad statement like that. I will say again that our defense has looked exceptional through 6 games. Tonight will be a true test.
I don't know why people bash the thread starter as "pessimistic" and "do you want the Rockets to win?" That's not pessimism. That's just cautiously realistic. The reality is, the Rockets have not beaten a winning team yet. And the one team that beat them at our own court is a .500 team. This is not bashing. This is just a reminder for those who get too high on the 5-1 record. And yes, we lost to bad teams last season. But we beat some damn good teams last season too. We haven't played any of those yet. The next 10 games we see if we can do that. It's all the thread started is saying.
OK, Pimp, you asked for it...i'm gonna go look up every 20+ win we had last year...those shouldn't be too hard to count.
OK, my bad, i had said that we already had as many 20+ wins as all of last year...we're not quite half way there yet...still we're well ahead of schedule... here are the 2002-03 20+ wins: Sat Dec 7 Philadelphia Win 97-72 + 25!!!!!!! Tue Dec 31 Milwaukee Win 105-80 +25 !!!!!!! Fri Jan 31 Minnesota Win 121-101 +20 !!!!!!! Wed Feb 12 at Utah Win 106-76 +30 !!!!!!! Fri March 14 Chicago Win 121-91 +30 !!!!!!! Sun Apr 6 Orlando Win 114-93 +21 !!!!!!!
While our schedule has been easy, it is worth considering that all five of our wins are double digit victories, with the 3 aftorementioned 20+ point wins. We also rode a 4 game streak coming out of the preseason. However, the stats behind it are just unreal- we are leading the league in field goal percentage (46.7%) AND field goal percentage against (35.5%) not to mention 3P% (41.9%). That's just unreal-especially the 3-point stat, considering our best shooter (Pike) hasn't come back yet. It's unfair to expect that to keep up, but these were games that would've been closer last year, that have turned into laughers. We're dominating the percentages, and outrebounding our opponents by ~4 a game-good formulas for victory. Right now, we're also 2nd overall in turnovers, which I don't expect us to keep up- or at least I'd hope not. We're 14th in the league in opponent steals, which means most of our turnovers should be mistakes that can be cut down on-travelling, throwing the ball out of bounds, etc.
