Rockets projected starting 5 Francis Mobley Rice Thomas Cato/Willis now compare this to any team in the NBA and we are doing ok.....I mean there are matchups that we lose, but never completely overmatched.......... Lakers Harper/Fisher Kobe Fox Walker Shaq Rockets win maybe 3 of those position battles..........PG,SF and PF only problem is that the other 2 are arguably the best 2 players in the league at their positions........ Portland Stoudamire Wells/Alexander Pippen Wallace Davis Rockets win 3 maybe 4 here........PG, SG, SF, C ? ........ Willis may be just as valuable at the C position as Davis........ and I would much rather have Rice than Pippen.......... Suns Marbury Hardaway Marion Googs Tsakalidis Rockets win maybe 3 here.........PG, SG, C..........Big Jake hasn't proven anything and hardaway is still hurting......Marbury is not as good of a PG as Franchise..........this team is worse than last years team......... Kings Bibby Christie Stojakovic Webber Divac WOW.....this team is good.......better than last year........some good matchups......Kings are definately better at PF and C ...... the others could depend on the night.......... Mavericks Nash Finley Howard Nowitski Bradley this is a good team too.......better when you look at the bench, but that is not the focus of this post..........Rockets win 2 possibly 3 positions...... PG,SF,C.........not sure about Bradley/Willis matchup.....but tend to think Willis will treat Shawn like his B*tch.............. Nowitski is a monster.........Finley is an all-star........Howard is an underachiever............but gonna be a force in the west Minnesota Brandon Billups/Lopez Garnett Smith Garrett/Nesterovic/Woods Rockets win 3 maybe 4 here......... PG,SG,PF, C ?......... difference here is Garnett.......but look for the Rocks to be better than the Wolves Grizzlies Williams Dickerson Battier Swift Reeves lots of talent here, but they don't prove it on the court.........rocks win all of the matchups here......... Utah Stockton Stevenson Russell Malone Ostertag Rockets win 4 of these matchups.........problem is the experience of this team....and that they are cheap shot artists.........PG,SG,SF,C Clippers McInnis Miles/Richardson Odom/Miles Brand Olowakandi Rockets win maybe 3 here.........lots of talent on this team, but they are still the clippers for now........PG,SG,C .... Odom is the real deal and Brand is a 20-10 player........ Warriors Blaylock/Hughes Richardson/Arenas Murphy/Mullin Jamison/Fortson Jackson/Foyle/Dampier this team has talent but no starters..........we win almost every matchup........except maybe PF....... Spurs Daniels Smith Rose Duncan Robinson Rockets win 3 of these matchups.........problem is like the problem we have with the Lakers.......Duncan and Robinson are so strong that it will be hard to makeup the difference from the outside.......but Rocks can play them tough My opinion, Rockets have the talent to compete every night........this season is going to come down to chemistry/coaching and desire............ I think this is going to be one of the most exciting rockets' seasons of all time.......... WATCH OUT NBA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think even cato can be considered better than divac...his only move is to get the refs to call a foul...which can be good at times...
great post. I really enjoyed reading it. If you have time sometime, you should make a bench comparison
Actually the Laker's starting lineup will probably be: Hunter Richmond Bryant Walker Shaq Looks a lot closer that way.
Good post but I think you are overrating how our front line players stack up. We are not sure Rice will be better than Fox, Russell/Marshall, or Pippen for instance, I think under the healthiest of circumstances for Rice, Peja will be better than him next year. Also, I assume Cato will start at the center position. Give us the C edge over Mem, but certainly not GS (they are clearly better than us) or LAC, though Minn, Dallas, Phx or Utah are arguable. Also, our PF position only looks solidly better than Mem (see a pattern here) and LAL. How about as a collective front line? I could make a strong case ours is less skilled than every one sans Memphis' (look at that, same pattern). On the plus side, our backcourt is solidly the best with the Mavs maybe not too far behind than Phx following the Mavs. Also on the plus side, I think our depth is quite good. Moochi, Walt, Willis and Griffin are solid bets to be high quality subs. We might also get something out of Torres, Morris, Langhi or Collier, but we go 9 deep (barring injury) w/o counting these more quesitonable players in terms of what they could contribute this year. Most teams do not have 4 solid quality bench players dispersed at various positions, and are counting on the more questionable variety players that we have in the 10 spot and lower to contribute for them. In short, we potentially have one of the most formidable bench brigades IMO. Having terrific guard play plus 7-8 mostly decent interchangable frontline players might be a pretty good formula, at least good enough to get us in the playoffs.
Stevierebel I knew there would be someone to find a mistake in my post........thank god you are here to catch them all........ I hope that everyone can figure out who I am talking about...... Derek Anderson........SG for the Blazers....... maybe Bonzi Wells, depending on how he comes back from his injury last season......... Dave Jamerson thanks, I will work on a bench comparison........that is a lot harder than starting five, but I will work on it..........
Googs has no chance against Thomas, hes too fast for him. Googs sux now, he was ok with t-Wolves but now he sucks
Good post, great moniker. Those were the days (political comment?) I like Desert Scar's collective front/back line comparisons. I would like to see a comparison of teams' abilities to utilize their advantages (hey guys, you're the experts, i just come to read). Seriously, maybe when the season has a few weeks underway and we get to see how teams approach the new rules, both offensively and defensively, I could give a decent appraisal. Until then, perhaps some of us could guess how well some teams will adapt. It already looks as if Minnesota has had some success with a pure zone.
