Yeah, poor choice of words. I don't fear the Spurs, I'd just put them as a 60-40 favorite to beat us in a seven game seires. I believe it'd go 6-7 games and we'd have a shot the whole way though.
If we don't win a Championship, I will be disappointed. But if the team plays with heart, I will love them no matter what. I think it's reasonable to expect to go as far in the playoffs this year as we get before we face SA.
if Rockets can beat Spurs in Western finals, we will win the championship. but we need another trade.
I don't expect a Championship this year [PLEASE ROCKETS SURPRISE ME] mainly because of the Gellin' Factor but it should not be enough of a factor to keep us from the second round Rocket River
^^ exactly. let's not get too unrealistic because there are a couple of new faces that are going to get major minutes and are coming into a very different system from which they are coming. as much as i hate the spurs they are the defending champs and return a terrific team which should be favored to win it again. i think our squad matches up well and should be the 2nd best team out west (even though they'll get the #4 seed) but winning a championship is stretching a little too far. WCF or wherever we meet the spurs in the playoffs should be were we end our season. i hope the rockets surprise me and get to the finals and win but i just don't think it should be expected.
I made a $100 bet with my manager yesterday that the Houston Rockets will be in the Western Conference finals this year.
We have a good shot at the WCF if we finish 4th. At 4 - assume SA, Phoenix, and Denver likely ahead, but I think we can beat out Dallas and Seattle this year. So unless SA finished as a 1, we have a clear path to the WCF assuming we are good enough to beat the other elite teams....but so much can happen....
getting beat by anyone except for spurs or heat would be exteremely disappointing. gettin beat mavs would be devastating!! I dont understand why there is so much fear of spurs they arent unbeatable and both yao and tmac dont have to play very hard on defence. other than miami shaq and zo we have best set of bigmen to shut duncan down. last year duncan shot 38% against us I think our defence will be even better next season. miami will probably win 65 games, but in a 7 game series they will have a tough time with us like the payton malone laker team did. They would win I think zo gives them an edge they can play him and shaq together.Our best chance against that team would be to play big ball yao, juw, swift, tmac anderson.
Exactly. We should not fear Spurs. Spurs almost lost to the Detroit, and i know we are equal to Detroit. So it should be a tosss up to who will win in the Rockets v/s spurs series. We will have to beat out Mavs and Spurs in order to move on in the playoffs.
I'd say fear's the wrong word - more like the reality that they are a better team, in fact, there the best team since the Bulls. Could the Rockets beat them in a 7 game series? Well, I don't think anyone has proven they can beat this version of the Spurs in a 7 game series.
Actually, home court advantage is awarded to the team with the better record, not seeding. If we deserve home court, we'll get it.
If the Rockets have the third best record in the West this year, with the top two records being San Antonio and Dallas, then the Rockets will be the 5th seed (again) and play either San Antonio or Dallas (the 4th seed). Perhaps if the Rockets get the 6th seed with a better record than the 3rd seed, they could get homecourt advantage. But that is not as likely as getting the 5th seed.
We should make the second round easily. I expect a good showing there no matter what. I'd give us about a 40% chance of making the WCF.
We can DO EEET!!! I agree that WCF is highly DOABLE!!! Even if we go up against the Spurs, whether it's 1st, 2nd or CF round, I think we can win!! I say this because frequently, by that time of the season, the Spurs ususally have some injury/durability problems and them overcoming those issues is one reason they're looked upon with such reverance... That's because nobody has taken advantage of the Spurs weakness, which come playoff time is SCORING!!! Our defense only has to be 1 pt better than theirs, and our offense will now have a balanced scoring attack, backed up by a bevy of full court, kick ass defenders (including three, on the ball, full court, perimeter defenders to take on Ginobli, Parker and company. Let's see them stop the combo of T-Mac, Yao, SS, and DA... Folks this is higly doable, and I guarantee you that JVG will be telling this players this from the opening of camp!!
I wish I could be with you guys, but to lose in the WCF would be dissapointing to me. Nothing short of the championship would satisfy me after this offseason.
