52 wins and advancing to the 2nd round of playoff. Anything less is a disappointing season. I'll give them until All-Star break to gel. All the acquisitions the Rockets have made in the off season are veterans (except Gaines, which I have NO expectation). 30+ games is enough for them to get used to each other and JVG's system.
They just missed a lot of shots last night. I don't think 29-80 FGs, or whatever it was, can really be put on JVG. If they knock down 5 more shots, add a couple more FTs, the game's closer if not won. The Spurs got to the line quite often in comparison (this was probably the difference) but had less FGAs. Everybody's had good looks, but the shooting %s are down (including The Ones). This is still preseason ... I believe the shots will eventually begin to fall. I thought the defense, on the other hand, was outstanding for the most part. We have a lot of haters here in Houston. Let's give our a guys a chance. This is a brand new beginning for the Houston Rockets. And it's only the beginning. No great dynasty has ever grown overnight. This will be a spectacular team in time. I think we should be more encouraging of the growth, and have a little more faith in our squad. Sincerely, I don't think it's a matter of excuses. Just patience and faith. I think the doomsayers and negative thoughts get posted more often than positive. Hopefully that will change in time too.
I believe that JVG runs practices before the pre-season games to make sure the guys are in JVG-ball" conditioning - I remember SF3 and Cat complaining about it last season.
wow...you guys have much higher expectations for this team this year than i do. i think you have to give this team more than half a season to gel before you render a verdict. i don't think all the pieces of the Rockets are in place fora real championship run. i hope like hell i'm wrong. but i'm fully expecting that this team will make the playoffs and exit early. i don't want that to happen...but i think expectations past that are pretty unfair at this point.
The Magic and the Lakers have just as many new faces they have no problems scoring. Defense is great and all but we still have to put more points on the board than our opponent.
I don't think the Lakers will but the Magic bein in the east will give them a little bit of a chance at having a good record. We are playing in the hardest division right now and we have to play these teams a lot during the season so that will show up.
yeah....i'd be surprised if we finished the season with a better record than the Magic. having said that, i think we'll very clearly be a better team than Orlando.
This is not about the PRESEASON however as someone pointed out .. they are veterans Ward knows the system already people who have to learn it are J Howard and T-mac mainly Has anyone notice an difference to incorporate T-mac's game [which is different than Cat's or SF's]? Rocket River 2nd round of the playoffs. . . AT LEAST \ more important than wins
And, by the way, nobody blamed Francise for comitting 18 turnovers. They blamed him for not setting up the offense. If the Rockets main problem is the PG position, and we're having the same problems we had when we had Steve, like you stated, what does that say about Steve?
Many words: Yao should stop p***y footing. Hey I love the guy but my love for team is always greater than that of any player. We know what TMac can do. I am holding out hope that Yao will pick it up. Niceness and cordial approach is out of the window after the first 2 years. The Plague (Steve Francis is gone) - now it is up to Yao to be the man and stop active like a UT Texas girl. God knows that JVG will not give any excuses. It is on
This is the preseason. How many teams have tore it up in the preseason and then fell flat in the regular season? We'll see if the Lakers and Magic keep scoring at that pace when first team players are playing and teams are making adjustments. Orlando will be fine, we'll see about the Lakers.
No excuses! The Rox need to get to the second round or bust. Otherwise, JVG will be on the hot seat all of next year.
If there's a valid excuse, it's that there are 8 new players and they haven't had enough time to gel. They've used that plenty of times already and will continue to do so, and that's okay with me because it's the truth. Eventually, they will have had enough time, though, and there are no excuses. I expect around 55 wins and at LEAST second round. Anything less is a HUGE dissapointment.
