http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/6512728 Rockets listed as 7th in the West and 10th overall. We are ahead of Phoenix even with our SF concerns. With Jeff Van Gundy as coach, defense and the utilization of Yao Ming will become a much bigger focus, and the youth should improve accordingly. With everybody healthy, they are dangerous.
I'd rather be the underdogs. 10th overall in the entire league is a little high considering none of our core players have ever reached the 16-team playoffs.
Yeah doesnt anyone else remember Mobley driving against shaq in the last seconds of game 1 only to get his shot swatted away? Damn with dream, barkley and even pippin he should not have been the one taking the shot but then again its cuttino
It wouldn't even have mattered if Quitten hadn't coughed up the ball with the game on the line and the Rocks ahead.
I like this ranking.....as long as we are ahead of the Suns...our new rival. But I do think we're a better team than the Hornets. What was our season record against them last season? Francis equals Davis. Mobley is better than Alexander or whoever... Mashburn is better than Rice... Griffin is equal to PJ Brown. Yao is better than Maggette... And they have a new coach too... so?
Griffin is equal to PJ Brown? I'm dumbfounded that anyone could actually think that. As for their new coach, Tim Floyd may be the worst coach in NBA history. The Hornets are going to start sinking fast.
What about Glen winning his ring at Lakers!!! And dont forget two All-star starters in the tough WEST.
That's not cuz Cat was ballhoggin it. Rudy wanted to suprise them and give the shot to someone the opponent didn't expect. Of course, they'd be playin Dream, Chuck, and that mother*****r Quitten tight. I hate him so much! Exactly right! Top 10 is a perfect ranking for the Rockets, although it should be higher....for example, above the Blazers and Hornets.
how is that too high (except off by a spot maybe)? 3 years ago, we were probably the 12th best team in the league (and would've been close to favorites to win the eastern conference considering we were 25-5 against them) and last year we were 12-14th. just b/c we can't crack 8th in the west, doesn't mean we aren't easily top 16 in the league. that's one thing i don't like when people start mentioning the whole missed the playoffs 4 years in a row then list the teams that also have and act like we're in clippers/warriors/nuggets territory. we've had 2 winning seasons in that 4 year span and if not for horrific injuries two years ago probably would've had 3 in a row. just b/c we missed an arbitrary 8th ranking in the west doesn't mean we're pathetic. when you're 10th in the league but 7th in your own conference, something is wrong.
I'd put us lower than that, actually. The Rockets are really too much of a wild card to rank with any precision. Maybe I'm just risk-averse, but teams that could do well or badly, tend to do badly. Not that I think the Rockets are a bad team. I think they're going to be pretty decent. But without any major acquisitions other than a coach, I just have trouble seeing them being *that* much better. Of course, if the light turns on for Yao, then they're elite. But who the hell knows if Yao's going to "take it to the next level?" IF you say you do, you're pretending, unless you work for the Rockets and see him train every day.
Yeah, so far, the cahnges we've made have been an acquisition of a new bench guard and a new coach. Guard and coach weren't the glaring weak spots on our team last year that both forward positions were. I can't say we've improved our situation all that much over last year. However, I suppose you could argue another year of experience should help us, but shouldn't that help every other team in the league as well?
but how much better did they really project us to be? they have us jumping the jazz (an obvious choice) and the suns (a team we finished anywhere from 1-3 games behind depending on what they do w/o tanking the last 2 games). they could certainly put us behind the suns, but then what's the difference in 10th or 11th? then they put 3 eastern teams ahead of us and NO is better-arguably even and any other eastern team would be arguably even-worse at best. so i don't feel they really improved us or made any major assumptions in development of our players nor do i think they should have.
but usually another year is most important to young teams (as opposed to the title contenders or older teams) and right now our guards have played 4 and 5 years and our pf/c combo has 3 years combined experience. so i would think of the list of teams that could benefit from more experience, we would be quite high, and probably higher than any team around us in the standings.
How long did it take Yao to catch his stride last season? 1-2 months? Even if Yao doesn't improve, he'll hit the ground running from day 1 this season. Do you think that is worth 1 game -- the margin we lost to the Suns? Everyone forgets that we essentially haven't had a full season of productivity from Yao. Plus now we have a coach that will emphasize his play more. Even if we don't make a major trade, I'd look for an improvement.
It is nice to see an outside source accuately depict the Rocket's chances, as opposed to the negative haters on this board. The sad thing about these haters is after the Rockets start winning, they will be the ones acting like they were huge Cat fans all along.
Lets see how to put this... in order for the Rockets to start winning more, Cat will have to start passing more, shooting less, and in-general, change his game to become a less selfish ball player. If all of those things happen, then the Rockets will start winning, and I will no longer have a reason to hate Cuttino. In fact, I will applaud him for being man enough to admit that he can actually improve his game and be better off to the team by shooting less, or at least taking smarter shots. This is one of the reasons Cuttino is on my bad side... he doesnt know when to pass and when to shoot. If he can become a smarter player under Van Gundy, I will have no reason to be a hater.
Actually, I'll go a step ahead of you to refute my argument. Another year of experience is particularly good for young teams with continuity. If you change half the starting lineup but every player has one more year of experience, what good does that do? However, as it stands now, the only Rocket starter we may lose to free agency is Posey. Plus, as someone else mentioned, imagine having Yao from Day 1. And imagine if he doesn't fizzle out at the end of the season, too! BUT ... the one year of experience gained has a problem -- all that previous experience the team had together was under Rudy T, so now are they starting fresh under a new coach and a new system ... as a new team? How does that equate into the experience factor? And still, we haven't made any moves to help what was our biggest problem -- the forward positions. I think if I were doing the ESPN power rankings, I'd have the Rockets (at THIS POINT in the offseason) pretty much staying pat in the Western Conference, though I'd bump them up to 8th in the West simply because I'd move Utah down after losing the core of their team over the past zillion seasons.
