Who, besides the "Big 5," is better than the Rox in the West?

Denver is above us right now, but I truly believe that they're going to wear out as Melo is bound to hit the rookie wall, and Voshon Lenard is having his seasonal super-freak stretch.

Houston hasn't played its best basketball yet - Francis and Yao still haven't clicked, and JJ has begun firing on all cylinders.

In my eyes, anything below 6th is a dissapointment, and missing the playoffs this season would merit ripping this team apart.

 

This is a real possibility with Denver ahead of us with a soft schedule in March and April. Memphis and Seattle has deeper benches that can get streaky and over take us. Rockets still hasn't prove they can beat the big 5 except lakers. I am pretty much convinced Rockets won't win another game except maybe sweeping the lakers. That might mean the kiss of death come April. 1 in a tightly contested West.

 

Right now, inconcistency is the most consistant thing in the NBA, we are not a unique case, Seattle is 19-17, which makes them a mediocer team at best, Denver is in my opinion going to deflate sooner or later, that leaves Utha and the Rockets, I think that if this inconsistency keeps up around the NBA, we should get in to the playoffs at the 6th or 7th seed, getting in in the 8th spot would be a disapoinment for some fans, but I personally don't care how they get in just as long as they get in, because being a Rockets fan isn't easy, and it's certanly not easy watching all these mediocer eastern teams get to the playoffs, when the rockets are a better team than most of them, so I for one would like to see them get in I don't even care if it's the 6th spot or the 8th.

 

Conversely, it could mean that we're due some wins against the big 5 - I mean, out of those 20 games, we're bound to win more than 1 all season right?

I can't see the Rockets dropping below 8th. Right now, they're tied with Dallas, with Dallas being 6th and Houston 7th.

Seattle are playign well, but as evidence by their loss to the Cavs today, they're VERY inconsistent, much like the Rockets. I don't think they have the inside scoring to do better than 8th. If I had to project, I say we beat Denver out of 6th spot by percentage points, with the teams ending up like this:

Kings
Spurs
Lakers
Minnesotta
Dallas
Houston
Denver
Seattle


Can you really see Portland (who are VERY likely to trade Rasheed at the deadline), Utah or Golden State overtaking us?

Playoffs are a lock IMO. Sixth seed is probable.

 

Most obviously it's because the West is much more competitive.
Even our "pushovers" can't be taken lightly. I'll be surprised if any team wins 60. Maybe Indy has a shot just bc they're in that joke of a conference out east.

It's so much cleaner when you just have the bad teams who never win and the good teams who win alot, but whatever they did with the collective bargaining agreement seems to have evened out the talent moreso than in the past. It could be my imagination though, so please feel free to contradict.

 

Our division is so stacked almost everyteam in the MidWest has a playoff spot except Memphis who is only a half game out of the 8 seed. That's how tight playoff spots are right now. We're only 4 1/2 games out of first place in our division but are I believe just 2 games away from falling in the 9 spot. I can't recall a division being this closely matched.

 

Problem is the west is that those "gone" teams can still haunt you.

So far, Rockets did not lose to bottom teams like last year games (Cavs or Clippers). However, they also did not get big wins (Loss to Spurs twice)

Not sure if I can say Rox is more stable in this year.

 

I think the Kings look better now than they really are because of their very soft schedule to this point. Almost half of their wins are against the East, where they are 12-2. In the West they are 14-7. I'm not saying that they are not a good team, but I wouldn't write them in for the #1 seed just yet.

 

Right now, Denver is a better team than us. But anything is possible after the all-star break. Memphis, Utah, Seattle and Portland may also get better in the 2nd half of the season. So we will see...

 

Dude, you really need to lay off the Rockets' red kool-aid. At the beginning of the season, I predicted that the Rockets would be clumped in the same group that you have listed: Seattle, Memphis, Denver and I'd still include Portland who will "mysteriously" get their act together by end of season. Utah is a wild card - they get far more out of their talent than anybody in the league and they could slip past the Rockets with a good run.

So far the only real surprise (to me) in the West is that Phoenix has thrown in the towel. That fact alone may be the deciding factor for the Rockets making the playoffs. If Phoenix had continued to build on what they showed last year particularly in the playoffs against SA, I'd be ranking them ahead of the Rockets. Don't let low scoring victories against bottom feeding Eastern Conference teams cloud your judgement here. The Rockets are still at best a .500 team and have miles to go - especially on offense - before we can start declaring them a lock for the playoffs, much less the 6th seed.

 

Denver is definitely better than the Rockets. Utah is better than the Rockets, though their record doesn't show it.

Are we including Eastern Conference teams? Everybody talks about how bad the East is, but the Rockets would only be fourth in that division.

 

SA, SAC, LA, DAL, MIN.

DEN? SEA? UTAH? these are in the same category. On paper we should be better than this second tier though....

 

A-train, if the rockets were in the east, wouldnt they play the east twice as much, and play the west half as much??? Ya, nuff said

 

It just got colder in Haides!

Denver will wearout, Harpring has knee surgery on Jan 16th and is out for 3-6 months, and SEA lives and dies by the 3.

 

Portland I guess can be lumped in there too. It all depends on whether they implode further....

 

My feelings are as follows....

Those five are locks for sure.
San Antonio
Sacramento
Minnesota
LA Lakers
Dallas

The next batch are:
Denver
Houston
Seattle
Portland
Memphis
Utah

The bottom feeders are:
LA Clippers
Golden State
Phoenix

So that leaves 5 teams to battle for the final 3 spots in the playoffs. I feel Portland will fade and wont be able to catch up to the top 8. I feel Memphis puts up good fights nightly but wont be able to catch up to the top 8. I feel with Harpering gone for the year in Utah that leaves them in trouble. While their system is tremendous, it cant keep losing talent and expect to win over the long haul.

I personally feel that with the final 3 spots that Denver, Houston and Seattle will take it. I think Houston will be either 6 or 7 with Denver and Seattle will be 8. Seattle has nice weapons but no inside game so that is going to hurt them througout the season.

The way the Western Conference is shaping up, I am officially on record now as saying if the Rockets DO NOT make the playoffs then it is time to rip appart this team. If Memphis, Portland or Utah pass us (assuming Denver, Seattle in) then that is a REAL bad sign for us!