I know the game 7 lost was a blowout, but everyone who watched the entire series knew that we were one to two players away to just beating these guys down. Problems we had against dallas: 1. Rebounding - if we improved rebounding by just a 3-5 boards during the series, it would have gone only 5 2. Defense on guards - if we had lessen Terry and Stackhouse by 4-8 pts per game, we would have won it easily How we solved these issues: 1. Stromile 2. Luther What's left? 1. Phoenix -We're better than Phoenix, they lost too much in Richardson and Joe Johnson (if he gets traded), we also matched up better with these guys 2. Spurs - We need a quick scoring PG to counter Parker. When Billups started scoring more points, the Pistons won and Parker dissappeared cause he had to exhaust his energy playing D. We need a physical two guard to pressure Manu. Look at what Kobe did to the Spurs back in the Laker championships. How we solve these: 1. Nothing needed 2. Nick VE as our PG? Spreewell as our 2? who knows. but i'm sure CD will surprise us. Other than that, we need Calvin Murphy back then the new season will be the most exciting in years.
Considering even CD said Luther's on a 2 year timeframe, I don't know how much he's solved. Swift is still a question mark - he's never really had major starter minutes from what I recall. Spurs? They were light years ahead of us. Swift will help, but they are the elite team in the NBA.
Forget about Swift, just having Juwan Howard in that series the rockets win it in 4 or 5 games. They were not the same team when Howard went down. Now the rockets have sandwiched Yao with two athletic freaks in Swift and T-Mac. Let the good times roll.
exactly. ultimately what matters is the potential second round meeting in the playoffs. still with a healthy sura and jho i think we have only the spurs to be worried about
How disappointing would it be if the team does not do as well as they did last year? Answer, real disappointing! Swift does seem like a fit, but he is no All Star. TMac is, but his health has to remain good. Ming is big, but he really needs to take the "great leap forward." The quards are my biggest concern. I love Sura, but his physical health is a major concern. He has not proven he can last through a season. James is big and fast, but seems to play on the edge of control. Let's face it, Wesley is small, slower, and couldn't hit the side of barn last season. Head is a Rookie, who was disappointing in the Summer Leagues. Newsflash, the Rockets do not have a consistent shooter from the guard position except Barry. That's scary. Also, none of the guards are "lock down" defenders. How long can Barry and Mutombo play at the level they played last year? I am excited about the team. I am hopeful that they can be even better than last year. BUT, realistically, many things can go wrong and the Rockets still need more talent to seriously challenge the elite teams like the Spurs.
we lost because the NBA wanted to see the suns play the mavs. two high scoring teams with a history between nash and dirk. IIRC the sonics got even more calls against the spurs than the mavs got against us...didn't help them though. this year if the nba knows whats good for it they will have us play the heat in the finals.
Do you guys think we can challenge SA for the Southwest division title? I know its going to be tough, and you need to have that consistent winning mentality. If we beat them to the race for the division title, i think we have an easy route to the Western Finals.
Esp. how Howard was playing before he went down, his 15ft jumper was true as could be, if we would have had a consistent 3rd scorer, the Dallas series would have been over in 5 games.
here's another complaint. Why don't we just pick and roll them to death? When the Tmac Yao pick and roll machine was in action, it was unstoppable. Also for the Spurs, they beat Detroit by putting Bowen on Billups. He got locked down. As I recall, Bowen let Tmac score 12 pts int 13 seconds last year. Tmac can shoot over any one. Also, I don't understand Rasheed Wallace. Wasn't he on that Portland team that choked against the Lakers? Didnt he remember all those Robert Horry three pointers?? Why did he make the same mistake again in the Finals?? Swift can be the new Horry minus the 3pointers. He can block shots, get dunks, cause trouble for the opposing PFs.
Right... the NBA doesn't want to see TMac (one of the exciting and recognizable players in the league) and Yao (think 1 Billion Chinese watching the finals on NBA TV) in the finals. That is a crap statement.
tinman... you need to lay off the bottle until the weekend and stop posting such optimistic predictions. either that or give me a bit of what you are drinking cause it makes you talk crazy and i like talking crazy. in no way what so ever are we as a good a team as the spurs. what? three championships in the last four/five years? dallas... swift is nice... but don't match up with dirk. no one does. and we still don't match the dallas guards. the suns? the have the best point in the league, the 2nd best center/pf, and guys who can fly and score. plus they added size this offseason. i will be so happy if we get the 4th seed.
Agreed about Swift, although I have high hopes for him. About Luther? I think CD's references were to Luther's ability now, and the fact that he will be buried somewhat on the depth chart anyway (Sura, Barry, James, Wesley if he isn't traded; and if any of the guards ARE traded, you can be sure, it will be for a better guard). If CD and JVG believe Luther will play significant minutes this season, they won't say so, because the other guards will say, Hey, I'm a vet; what about me? Wait! That must mean I'm getting traded! Oh Gawd! (hershey squirts; calls agent) What's this all about? You better call those people and ask some questions, I ain't riding the bench!
O.K., here is my "Mary Poppins" version: Swift becomes an All Star, Ming enters manhood and starts pushing people around and slams on everybody, TMac remains All-World, Howard makes the come back of the century, James finds peace through Yoga, Sura has a body transplant, Wesley finds his shot, Barry and Mutumbo find the fountain of youth, Bowen finds his locker, and Head becomes Rookie of the Year. Result: the Rockets sweep the Spurs in the Western Finals and the Heat to win it all. It could happen.
besides game 7, there wasnt one game in the dallas series that we didnt have a chance to win with 2 minutes left, with juwon back and stro down low, we are head and shoulders above dallas this time around
Some of that has some truth. To a certain extent Yao is not playing to his full potential and if he does step up I think alot of things do change. T-Mac will remain great but I think this offseason will make him mature a lil, I think he will only get better. Wesley had surgery that he assured CD it will help him find his shot.
Yao is the weak link in PnR with Tmac. It became too predictbale in game 6 and 7. Yao dropped the ball several times. Pretty much Dallas knows what we are going to do when ball was in Tmac's hands and Yao set a pick for him. They swarmed Yao a couple times resulting fumbling. Yao was not quick enough to counter it.
