Simple Math makes things better!

Um...if we had someone besides Deke to kill time in the paint and grab a rebound I would say playing .500 ball without Yao would be possible.

But after watching Harrington and Fostor dominate the paint against us I am thinking more like 5-15 in our next 20 unless we can land a another center to split time with Deke.

We can't win if we can't rebound.

 

For what? to make it into the playoffs as a 7th/8th seed and end up getting 'rewarded' with the Spurs/Mavs/Suns?

I would rather get a better pick than secure yet another first round playoff exit. As good as Yao has become, don't forget that McGrady is a shell of his former self, not to mention that the odds are against him staying healthy enough to be effective in the playoffs; do you honestly think McGrady still has another series in him like the one from a couple of seasons ago against Dallas? I strongly doubt it, his body won't take that kind of abuse any longer.

Sorry to be a pessimist here, but as far as I am concerned, the only chance the Rockets have of getting out of the first round is drawing a favorable matchup...playing the Suns/Mavs/Spurs in a 7-game series is not my idea of a 'favorable' match-up...

 

the only matchup that I consider "unfavorable" for us is Phoenix. I dont have a problem with playing Dallas or San Antonio in a 7 game series. I would rather play SA though.

I think we match up pretty well with the Spurs. we've been able to compete with them the past 2 seasons. do u believe that we cant beat SA with a healthy Yao and Tmac? and dont forget about Bonzi, AKA "Spurs killer"

and Dallas isn't that bad either. we have more depth this year than in 04-05. we almost beat them (hadn't the officials screwd up) in 04-05 with Padgett starting at PF and Ryan Bowen playing extended minutes. they got a little better this year, I agree, but we got much better. Yao improved a lot and we have some players who can actually play (compared to Rybo and Padgett)

the only team I wouldn't want to face is Phoenix. and I dont see us facing them if we end up in the 8th place because there is no way they will have a better record than Dallas or SA.

 

A fully-healthy Rockets team with Bonzi playing like he did last season would give us a very good shot against the Spurs. However, we don't stand a chance in hell against the Suns or the Mavs...

If I had to 'pick my poison' -- so to speak -- I would choose the Spurs too. We have a shot against the Spurs if McGrady and Yao -- plus Bonzi -- are playing great basketball. Otherwise, Spurs in 6.

 

The playoff are so far off that no one can really predict who will be where. But from the looks of things, the Rockets will not be in the top 8 spots so no playoffs this year. It's just sad that Yao is out for extended time. No chance he is back before March, unless he rushes it. Yao, don't rush it. It's not worth it.

TMac is rusty and is gone anytime. so no one can count on him because his back can act up again at any time.

Bonzi is getting better but without Yao and Tmac to draw the defense, he will be "guarded".

Battier is going to light up but thats too little for a top 8 seed in this conference.

 

then why dont you save us all having to see you repeat this post a million times till then and just leave till next season?

You wont be missed

 

Let's realistically break each game down.

We have the following left until the end of January, which is 6 weeks.

NJ - Loss: Don't think we can pull this one off.
Atl - Win: Their team is ehh meh. No Josh Smith.
Mem - Win: Gasol is rusty. Their team sucks.
Sea - Win: Lewis out. Supporting cast beside Ray is meh
Uta - Loss: Nuff said.
Min - Win: KG is good. But their cast isn't.
Chi - Loss: No win here.
LAL - Loss: No win here either
Den - Win: Win here without Carmelo
Sac - Loss: No win here
Dal - Loss: Naw, not here either
Pho - Loss: Nope, not yet.
Den - Loss: Nope, Melo's back.
SA - Loss: Naw, they're just too deep
Por - Win: Uhh, they suck. They only have Randolph
Phi - Win: The new AI isn't as good as the old.
Sea - Win: Yup, Lewis still out.

So when I total it, our record comes to 8-9. Hey, thats 24-21, which can still help us maintain 7th or 8th seed. Then Yao comes back and we end up owning again. =)

No worries.

 

Not a bad breakdown, but I would add at least 2-3 more losses to that.

I think if we're within a couple of game of .500 when Yao makes a comeback then we will have a chance at the playoffs. Otherwise, hope we can land a top-8 pick AND not trade it away this time around...

Of course, that's all assuming that McGrady can at least remain healthy and playing at a half-decent level. However, I wouldn't bet on McGrady remaining healthy enough to play...in fact, I will guarantee that he's out again for a stretch of games before the season is over.

 

I would like to be optimistic about Yao's recovery too, but 6 weeks is just the estimate for the fracture to heal, it doesn't include the time it'll take to get Yao back into basketball shape.

6 weeks - fracture recovery
1 week - begin conditioning
2 weeks - begin practice
1 week - begin playing real games.

I have a feeling it will take longer than 6 weeks, but I'm ok with that, because Yao is a long-term investment, and I don't want him to get hurt again.

 

One game proven wrong!

 

Please do. I'll help ya out.

Luther is also playing poorly. Add him to ur list. The guy has gone gun shy.

 

just reminding yallmean of this.

 

Sorry, but I was unable to pay attention once the Lakers were mentioned.

I am more interested in this math:

we go 33-20 in the remaining games and get 50 wins. IT WILL HAPPEN!

 

I still have hopes for a 50 win season.

Book it!

 

Don't be too pesimmistic. Yao will not let the time waste. I think last time his foot hurt, he even practicing shooting from the wheelchair.

We just have a much better role player set thise season. And as the rule the refs are officiating, I still think T-mac alone with this team will help us win more than yao with this team. We will not have home-court advantage, but we will have some chances getting into the second round.

 

Did you say GUN SHY?

Luther was jacking them up pretty good in the 4th. As well he should though. He's our best 3 point shooter

 

MartianMan's estimate sounded about right.

Yao is not the guy to take a paid vacation when he's injured, granted. He will be working on his arm strength, his shooting form, SOMETHING while he is down. That's for sure.

It will take him a good 3 weeks before he's ready to play NBA ball again after the fracture heals, which they say will be 6 weeks.

I can almost guarantee his rehab from the knee will go like this one it's healed:

Step 1: Weight training. He has to weight train and work out both his legs so they don't die on him 5 minutes into the 1st quarter. So he can have that strength that he relies so heavily on in games to keep him going. Two weeks at most.

Step 2: Jogging/Running/Explosiveness/Conditiong. He will have to get his hops (yeah, I said it, HOPS, for YAO MING) back. He will have to get his explosiveness back so he can have the spin move, the "Shanghai Shake", and his post moves. I would guess this will take about a week.

Step 3: Individual workouts/Full game Practices: They'll run him through some drills and some practices to see if he's ready to get back out there and compete. I don't know how long this will take as Yao Ming is a professional athlete, not the high school ballers I have known.

Step 4: Skills. Shooting. Dribbling. Passing. FT's. Etc. He isn't going to be very good the first few games back. He'll be rusty. It will take some time, but he'll play before he has all this back.

Those 4 steps aren't compounded. He'll start the weight training first but he'll start doing the conditioning before he's done weight training, etc.

I'm going to guess that once his fracture heals and he is cleared for physical activity (be it 6 weeks or more/less) it will take him a good 2-maybe-3 weeks to get back on the court playing, and maybe a few games to shake off the rust and get his touch back.

I'm sure the Rox organization won't play him until he's physically 100% ready, so that's why it will take so long once he's healed from his injury.

 

Yao won't be back before March at the earliest, I would say probably closer to mid-March.