#1 seed(SAS): 9 games behind #4 seed(Mem): 7 games behind It's still a young season, and let's keep an eye on our opponents and see where we are along our way to reclaim our elite status. I still haven't given up hope of us getting that #4 seed and first-round home court advantage. Through these years of JVG/TMac/Yao, I've learned that we should never give up on these guys and their team, because these guys are tough and they rarely give up themselves. We still have hope, guys.
good info...but im not worried about memphis because they will falter. Im worried about Dallas they are playing well WITHOUT stackhouse and josh howard
Let's set our goals with the second round in mind. 7th seed - 5.5 games back 6th seed - 6.5 games back First round matchup against the Clippers or the Wolves? Forget the stars, shoot for the moon Rockets!
Agreed. Even if the Rockets were playing well, you could argue that the 4th seed would still be hard, because San Antonio remains unstoppable and Dallas is just good (though not playoff great). Accepting that as a likelihood, the worse seed you could possibly get would be the 5th or 8th. Heck, even if you think you could make it up to 4, you'd only have homecourt for 1 round and likely have to play Dallas (tough), and if you win, play San Antonio. It's sad, but 6th or 7th seed gets you a matchup with the likes of Minni, Denver, Clips or Suns for the first 2 rounds before having to face a San Antonio. But, like GATER said, I'd take 8th seed over nothing, so that should be the focus. Rocks still have a lot of improvement to make, but have won 3 of 4.
The Bulls had to go through the Pistons, the Red Sox had to go through the Yankees, the Astros had to go through the Cards, the Spurs had to go through the Lakers. Trying to avoid your conference foe is never a good idea. And now we will HAVE TO go through the Mavs and then the Spurs.
i think we can shock people by ending up in 5th again. we will need a trade or two to help (wesley and da). i agree with gater. short term attainable goals are the best way to go through the rest of the season.
None of those guys had to go through their foe in the first round. Let's win a round, then bring on whoever the hell you want.
And the Rockets avoided Seattle...you try and win every game you play, but there's no harm in looking at who you would like to realisitically avoid.
Yeah, we also avoided Jordan. But guess what, people will for ever challenge the legitimacy of our two titles without facing Jordan. Jordan is believed to be the greatest player ever, and Hakeem isn't even said to be the best at his position. If the Rockets faced the Bulls in the final and beat them, you think people would still say that?
actually the bulls avoided hakeem. i'd easily rather have played the bulls during any of their championships than the payton/kemp supersonics. people challenging the rockets legitimacy for not facing jordan are absolutely STUPID. also i'm pretty sure #45 was playing when the magic took out the bulls in 95.
We were stupid last year to take the 5th seed instead of the 6th seed. It is possible to be the home team as the 6th seed, never as the 5th seed, and more than likely the 4th seed is better than the 3rd seed--which by defualt is the worst of the 3 division winners. Give me Minny/Denver/Seattle (probable 3rd seed) at their place to open the playoffs and I'd be fine. Besides, we are only 5 games back from them, it is not entirely implausible that we could be the 6th seed and have home court in the 1st round. More likely that this happens than to catch SA for the #1 seed, that is for sure.
