#23 is retired already... wasnt that Calvin's number... So i guess artest wont be number 23 in houston, but as long as he is known as artest..
I change my mind...the Rockets won't be contending any time soon. How in the world can they beat the Lakers? Lakers have 5 Hall of Famers...even with just Shaq, they will own everybody until he retires. The Spurs have Tim Duncan, who is only like 23 or 24. He has Horry, Turkoglu, Nesterovic, Bowen, Ginobili, and Parker who is only like 20 or 21. They also have Malik Rose and some other guys that they signed...too many good players. They are an organized team with a good system with a good coach. Champs. The Mavericks have Nowitzki, Finley, and Nash as well as Jamison. They will be better than us for a while unless something happens. The Timberwolves have Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, Wally Sczerbiak, and Michael Olowokandi. I think we can win one game against them, but they have a better chance at contending than us. They also have NBUDI EBI! But Cassell and Sprewell are getting older..They still have Troy Hudson though. The Blazers have so much talent. They won't be contending like us though. The Sonics are a good team like us but like us...won't be contending! I think we are equal to the Sonics on talent. Suns are a good team. They aren't better than us. They don't have any chance of contending either yet just like us. I would love to have Artest....without trading Francis, Yao, or Mobley.
We can beat any team, any time. Beating the best teams in a 7 game series though - I don't see it on the horizon.
I think we get into the playoffs this year... no question about it. (don't mention the "i" thing) Contending? Obviously, so much depends on Yao's development... if he can last a season without wearing down, ever, with his offseason schedule. How JVG runs the offense and if the guys buy into his obviously intense focus on D. The Rockets have shown over the years, going back to the early '80's, that if you can get into the playoffs, anything can happen. We haven't seen yet what the current cast can do when they get there. And we don't have anyone who has shown they can step up when it counts in the playoffs, partly because they haven't made it there yet, and partly because there are no obviously comparable players to Malone, Reid, Sampson, Wiggins, Olajuwon, Elie and so on. Guys you know will play big when it counts. That's one of the reasons I was so disappointed that we didn't make the first round last year, even if we'd been swept. The experience is invaluable because, no matter how much they play these games in their imaginations, there is nothing like real playoff experience. We need some. Real bad. Then, the Rockets can possibly surprise some people. They've done it before.
1-3 years. We should make the playoffs this year, and then we need to get the correct role players in place. We don't even know how all the parts will mesh yet - but if Yao and Steve blossom and we have the right parts around them, we will be perennial contenders. The reason I'm not too worried about most of the other contenders is that I believe under the current CBA, the NBA is going to turn out to be like the NFL - it will be hard to keep a dominating team together due to cap reasons. Look at Phoenix - Starbury(max player), Matrix(max player), and Amare(will have to be maxxed). How do you keep a team like that together under the cap and still have decent role players? Once in a while you will get a team like San Antonio that gets lucky and has young players that contribute, or a team like the Lakers that gathers some HOFers for a last title shot or two. However, they will be the exception, not the norm. The norm looks more like Sacramento - everyone talked about how deep they were. Then Bibby had a great playoff series and they gave him the max. Now they've had to dump off a lot of that quality depth. Most teams will only be able to afford two MAX players. If you have maxxed out mid-level stars(like the Matrix and Bibby), your championships chances look pretty dim. This is why it seems like the most dominating player in the NBA usually has a good shot at the title. I believe that Yao can be that dominating player - but we really need to surround him and Steve with shooters and smart team players before we can contend.
People is always saying negative things about steve he'll be entering his prime this season with four years under his belt and entering his fifth year as a pro....I think he is due for a break-out season
Once Yao becomes consistently dominant like he was at times last year, the Rockets become contenders right away. The NBA is about creating match up problems and with the way that Yao can pass, the Rockets could have the same sort of dynamic that Bill Walton's Trailblazers did. Van Gundy will also make a statistically solid defensive team get that much tougher, so I don't think the Rockets are as far away as a lot of people think. I also like Van Gundy's approach to the team: "what are you willing to sacrifice to win." There is not a team in the West that would not have problems with a tough minded team with dominant play from the center position and great defense. The Spurs can go as cold as Antartica, the Lakers are old and vulnerable to ego meltdowns (not to mention juries in Colorado) and the Kings and Mavs have the same issues about defense and toughness they always have. The Timberwolves could sneak out of the West, but I don't think the Rockets should be overlooked, either. Optimistically yours, SR
From Yao's performance in his first games against Duncan and Shaq, Rockets can be contenders in a year or two. Yao can play at the same level as Shaq and Duncan in a year or two, with proper training, conditioning, and proper guidance. Shaq is getting older. Yao has definite height and weight advantage against Duncan. When Yao matures, I can comfortably predict him to overtake Duncan as NBA's most dominant big man.
We have a chance to be a title contender with the current pieces. Realistically, I'll be God himself if I could answer the question.
