[MSNBC] Rockets the only Western team can challenge the Spurs

nice to be included as one of the 4 best teams in the L.

I have no idea who the journo is, but i like, and agree with, his thinking.

 

I bet it's Matt Goukas. He seems like the only one who writes about basketball at MSNBC.

 

I agree. Unless the Spurs are hit hard by injuries, I don't see any other team that can beat them. Our tough defense and two superstars make us a tough matchup for them.

 

Matty likes T-Mac a lot. He still hasn't gotten over the fact that T-Mac left Orlando, that's why he's a little negative towards him. He's a very good writer though

 

Spurs are the odds on favorites but I think the Rox can challenge because the additions of SS and DA filled gaping holes in the lack of athleticism and speed the Rox were missing last year. SA did make themselves better by adding Finley and Van Exel but that improvement is mostly in depth and gives them some more outside shooters that are going to fight for minutes this year.

Our upside is off the charts, if Yao has a breakout year, SS has the kind of year that he is capable of and DA has an injury free year.

 

i agree wit this article. and i think the rockets will knock them out.

 

I agree, I believe rockets have a chance to beat SA at least

 

Swift needs to work on his positional rebounding. Right now he is no better than Swift.

 

Err... I meant he is no better than Howard at rebounding.

 

I don't see Swift slowing down Tim Duncan, I'd loved to be proven wrong though...

 

When push comes to shove (obviously depending on fouls), I'd rather have Yao on Duncan. Yao does a pretty credible job on him for the most part. Yao's bulk usually pushes Duncan out of the post, and gets him to shoot face up bankshots. That's still a good shot for Duncan, but it's still better than 5 ft jump hooks.

 

Hopefully Swift can develop alot like Kenyon Martin did. They share plenty of similarities, only hope Swift can become as good of a defender, in this case, at a fraction of the price.

 

That's where Ryan Bowen comes in. He's gonna work on his new nickname: the Duncanator.

 

Erm. I hope you're joking. Bowen can handle Dirk fine because he has no post-up game, but Duncan would eat him alive down low.

 

I like our chances against the Spurs if healthy. The key words are of course "if healthy". I'm glad these writers are seeing what Swift can bring to the table for us and how much easier he will make Yao's game. Yao does need to however make his free throws when they count, especially in high pressure situations. It's hard to make it during crucial games and in the playoffs when pressure is higher by a 1000 but he just has to do it. I also like how he does point the finger at Mcgrady as well. He is our leader now and he deserves to get the credit now for whether we lose or win. He's just going to have to take the good with the bad and I'd like to see how he makes his team respond. We know he will put his stats up there but hopefully this motivates him to get other laters to push harder. If they don't do their jobs it looks bad on him as well. He's going to be responsible for getting us past the Spurs.

 

He was clearly joking.

 

I'll never like our chances of getting past the Spurs in a seven game series until we improve our backcourt. And not with patchwork improvements like Sura, Wesley, and Anderson. They're great as role players, but we need more than a role player in at least one of the two guard spots. Every game seems to follow the same pattern. We hang with them for awhile, but that backcourt speed and quickness wears out the Rocket guards by the fourth quarter.

The Rockets will win a game or two during the season, but the tremendous guard advantage in a series against the Spurs makes for a huge obstacle to overcome. The frontcourt matchups are good, but the backcourt...no way.

 

If Ming plays up to his potential, something he has rarely even come close to doing, the Rockets are a solid contender for the NBA championship. If Ming goes on a rampage, nobody beats them. I don't expect this to happen, however. Nevertheless, the Rockets will be entertaining, win close to 60 games, and will aggressively compete in the West. Without significant injuries, this should be a fun season.

 

I can see the Rockets getting to the WCF and playing SA for the chance of going to the big dance. We do have the best chance of knocking them off. Tony Parker is a joke in the playoffs, all you have to do is get a little physical with him and he disappears. Ginnobi is a problem because he can go to the left hand and that always creates matchup and penetration problems. Yao, Deke, Howard and Swift will do fine against Duncan, he tends to dissappear in crunch time as well. SA has nobody who can stop T-Mac but our guard will have to play great defense and be physical with the SA guards. If we can do this we stand a great chance of beating them.