Rockets -- Road to Western Con Finals 2025 -- Poll/updates

1 round exit confirmed

 

anything beyond making the playoffs is gravy as far as i'm concerned. 1 playoff series win would be a massive achievement.

remember Tmac never got out the first round...

 

Why not?!?


Go Rockets!!!
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There has to be a closer in the final stretches of games that we can rely on and go to in the playoffs. As of right now, I dont think we have that.

 

The first round will be all about the matchup. If we are the second seed, I like our chances unless GS is the matchup (refs and Curry). Not scared of Dallas, because Amen will shut down Luka. Leonard will be hurt by then and Harden playoffs, nuff said. If Phoenix is healthy they could be tough, but I think we get them on depth. Sac no problem. Lakers no problem unless they make a trade (and the refs). Wouldn't want to face Spurs if they pick up Fox and the rivalry and refs would work against us, but still think we would pull it out. I still think Denver wiins the West, but if we're second seed we won't have to face them in the first round.

 

By not trading for Fox is going to come back to bite us in the playoffs...when the game slows down to more half court action (especially in the playoffs), I don't know if we can trust FVV...his production is starting to slip as of late and him getting passed his defender is becoming problematic. Besides his defense, he's shooting 38% from the field and 34% from 3...in addition, he's turning 31 next month and his prime is behind him. I appreciate what he brought to the team, but it's time to take this team to the next level!
When you have the opportunity to trade for an All-Star point guard in their prime, you have to swing at that opportunity!

 

I chose why not because match ups and injuries mean more in the playoffs than people think, but I have a hard time seeing it. We can't shoot and absolutely collapse every fourth quarter until someone different saves us each night. It simply doesn't feel sustainable if we have to play someone with a superstar whistle and we can't stop the bleeding when we need a bucket. We can defend our asses off though, so we will not be an easy out.

 

I'm in the "too early" camp for now.

Our season has been great so far, and we smashed all expectations. And the best part is that there's still so much room for improvement and growth. We showed grit, toughness and great energy so far.

It's easy to get carried away and start dreaming big, and I'm all for it, but I want to wait for the last game of the regular season to do so. We have 35 more games and around 80 days to go, and a lot can happen in that time. The west is pretty tight, and the seeding will be up in the air until the very end. It took us b2b2b wins against the two top teams in the league just to hold on to our spot this week.

We also have to remember that this will be the first time for our core in that calibre of games, and we don't know who will step up and who will shrink. It's not realistic to expect the vets to carry us through a series, and the young guys will need at least a couple of games early to get rid of the jitters and settle down.

If we continue playing like we have, and finish the season on a high note and relatively scar-free, we can make some noise for sure. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and matchups are a huge deal.
In a right setting, maybe we can go beyond the second round and further.

For now I want to enjoy the rest of the regular season. When we're done with it and know the bracket, then I'll start convincing myself that we're gonna go deep.

 

Was Fox a playoff closer at 22?

 

Rocket River

 

Selected too soon..... but I'll be happy if I'm wrong.

I'm of the mind that due to the Rocket's youth, depth, and talent, we have an advantage in the regular season.

 

You know what, I was probably closer to expecting a 1st round exit but looking at your post, most of those teams are old as hell and we might actually be able to overwhelm them with energy and athleticism. Then if the standings hold and we get Memphis 2nd round, Ja has never had a healthy playoff run in his whole career. I'm really only afraid of OKC, Den, Dallas in the conference. Who knows, maybe it actually is possible? Also props to OP for making the goal WCF instead of championship/finals. Even the optimism thread is grounded.

 

We have a better team and coach than the Sac Kings 2022 squad...we have 8 guys averaging 10pts+ per game on this squad. Also, it's all about matchups...the Warriors were a bad matchup for the Kings just as the Kings are a bad matchup for us this season...does it make the Kings a better team than us: NO!
Just saying, we're banking on Amen or Reed to be our future point guards, and I think that's not the right path. Amen will take over the SF position and Reed will be our 6th man. Reed's liability on defense will keep him as a reserve and this can be our window to win the West if we get Fox without breaking up our core!

 

conventional knowledge suggests "too early", thankfully there is nothing conventional about what we've done thus far this season.

voted "why not" only because hell yes wasn't an option.

 

We wont make it until we can solve offense drought.

We are lack of a real star player.

 

Plus Dillon the Villian and Uncle Jeff have experience. Depending on matchups it could be us and OKC in the WCF. We can pray OKC loses in the 2nd round and we might F around and compete for a ring.

 

western conference finals?



we can still miss the playoffs, technically.

 

This..most don't get it. Until JG or someone else develops or we get one... history says we aint winning ISH. And history aint kind AT ALL.

 

A fully healthy Mavs team w Luka in the playoffs is going to be tough, it will be 8 on 5 w Kyrie and Luka getting calls. The Nuggets are also going to look very different from the last time we played them with no Jokic. OKC is adding Chet back to their lineup soon, the last game the Rockets won against them there was no Chet, and then they got blown out the next game.

A lot of variables here. OKC also has not won in the playoffs w this group, the Mavs easily beat them last year, nothing is guaranteed. Another X factor is the Warriors, they may be old, but they are very experienced and may make a trade at the deadline to give them another shot at a title (where will Jimmy land?). They just beat OKC (w SGA scoring 52 points) tonight.

I still believe anything can happen, the playoffs come down to matchups and who is healthy vs who is injured. Your path comes down to some luck, if the team you don't match up well against gets eliminated early, or Luka's hamstring gives him issues again I can see a path to WCF. Steph can knock out a good team, and then that old team could run out of gas the next round etc.