With the recent discussions, I just wanted to see where the forum stood as a whole. Comments welcome.
SUNS If Yao and TMac both can be dominate players AT THE SAME TIME, then I like our chances against anybody. That said, the Suns have the best chance to take one of our superstars out of the equation (Yao). But even in a 7 game series, I think we can coral the Suns.
Defenitely the Suns, we can beat the Mavs in a 7 game series with our all-star Yao Ming, this guy dominates the Mavericks all the time, as does Tracy McGrady who had 45 in a losing effort, when both play I hate to say what we can do, its too beautiful.
Suns, by far. Dallas would be second but only due to the fact that they're loaded with talent and tend to wear you out in a long seven-game series, not because we don't matchup with them. Spurs are probably the best matchup for us head-to-head, and I like our chances against them the most in a seven-game series. The Jazz are a close second. Teams like the Nuggets and the Lakers have 'wildcard' players that could prove problematic to a solid team like the Rox. I am actually more worried about facing the Lakers and Nuggets than I am about facing more 'solid' teams like the Spurs; you just don't know what you're going to get from those two teams in the playoffs, it's difficult to 'game plan' for them. The following is probably the most ideal way the playoffs can go for us (realistically speaking): Mavs finish first, Suns second, Spurs third, Rockets fifth w/homecourt in first round, Jazz fourth. We beat the Jazz in the first round, and edge the Mavs in a close seven-game series. The Spurs and the Suns both advance to the second round, and Spurs 'upset' the Suns to set up a conference championship series with the Rockets. Rockets take care of business in 6 games and advance to the finals for a likely matchup with the Pistons (or Heat if they get their act together in time). Obviously, all those teams are great and it will take nothing short of consistent 'greatness' from the Rockets to surpass all those teams, but that's probably the most 'favorable' scenario I could come up with.
The Rockets don't do well against the Suns because we let them control the tempo of the game. Watching the Spurs play them they did a great job of slowing down the Suns by being patient when they ran their offense. The Rockets rush their offense and shoot a lot of 3's which plays right into why we lose to the Suns. The other reason we can't beat the Suns is they have 3 point shooters all over the court. JVG protects the paint and gives up the perimeter and that works against poor shooting teams, but the Suns pick us a part with their shooters. Oh yeah and don't forget that the Suns have faster players at almost every position and a great bench. They are built to beat teams like the Rockets. Let's hope the Mavs or someone else do us the favor of beating the Suns.
How about this instead: 1) Suns 2) Mavs 3) Rockets 4) Jazz 5) Spurs 6) Lakers Granted, the Fakers might be a slightly tougher first round opponent due to the Kobe factor, but Staples Center is a much easier place to win in than the Delta Center(or whatever the hell they call it these days). Plus, I'd much rather the Rockets finish ahead of the Spurs should those 2 clubs meet in the Conference Finals.
the only team I fear is the suns, and possibly the lakers because Kobe will have something to prove come playoff time
we've been obviously struggling against more athletic players like the suns, defending them. The only way to beat Suns is to match their offensive power, make our outside shots, thus the reason why Jeff tried fielding Novak in the first game against the Suns. In other words, when we play Suns, we're not playing our own game which is D. If Yao and Tmac are both healthy, I think we have a decent chance to beat them. Second is the Mavs. The good thing about this match up is that the Mavs BELIEVE that the Rockets team is a team that can HURT them. It's in their minds since we put them inthe edge during the 2005 playoffs. And now, they consistenly struggled against us. Spurs team is not as good as before. They don't have a consistent outside force. Just like us, they rely on their defense to win but they don't have a player who can defend Suns' agile offense. If we make it to the finals, the only team I don't want to face in the east is .... .... ... .. . East All-Star team. .
the suns. we can beat the jazz and lakers. we can hang with the mavs and spurs. the suns will cause a lot of problems for us.
The West is so strong. Dallas and San Antonio are so consistent. The Suns play at such an accelerated pace with control. I think the Suns are the toughest matchup. Their 3 point shooting and speed offset our defensive power in the paint. All those years ago when Seattle was such a tough team with Detleff Shremph, Sam Perkins shooting 3s, with a control point guard in Payton-them playing zone defense-they offset our power in the paint. So much of their scoring was far away from the basket. A seven game series could afford us the chance to adjust and adapt to the Suns-eliminating the "shock" of playing them cold. I hope we play Utah, Lakers or Denver in the 1st round and not Dallas or Phoenix.
Matchup has nothing to do with it if you want to go all the way. The goal is to win the championship. I never understood why getting past the first round is such a bigger accomplishment than losing in the first. Do you get a medal for getting to the second round of the playoffs and losing? If it's meant to be for the Rockets this season, it's meant to be. If it's not, it's not. If they become a great team this second half of the season and they impose their will and style of play on the opponent, matchup is less relevant. I really think that if Tmac and Yao are healthy and dominant, we can beat anybody. I am one of the few that thinks that Phoenix is a regular season team. Carrol Dawson said that it's tougher to play Dallas than Phoenix in a 7 game series, because Phoenix's success is based on the shock their style creates in 1 game. After playing them a couple of times, you can slow them down. I think Dallas is the most difficult matchup by far. The Lakers are second. The Nuggets are third. The spurs are fourth. Phoenix is the team I would like to see in the second round. I know you guys are scared because we have a bad record agaisnt them in the regular season, but it's a totaly different ballgame in the playoffs. Those rims get tight and those jumpshots rim out. THey have no low post threat. You're going to have to go through Phoenix or Dallas whether you play them in the first of last round. The only team that can prevent the Rockets from winning it all is Dallas. We can beat every other team.
I'd have to say the Suns and I don't even consider it to be close. Seems a lot of fans here fear the Mavs more and I don't really see why. I think the Suns would be much tougher than the Mavs. I honestly think the Rockets could wipe the floor with Jazz/Nuggets/Lakers/Clippers even the Mavs and Spurs. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they swept the Mavs even. But I have serious doubts about a 7 game series with the Suns. At this point I don't see the Rockets winning that series.
The obvious answer is the Suns, therefore they should have been left off the poll. Seems to happen with every question someone asks on here.
I don't see what the big deal is about the Suns. Because they're fast and we're slow. It's a 7 game series, we have the ability to take away an important element of their game and make big stops. The Suns can't take anything away from an opposing team and they can't make big stops. In a 7 game series, you prepare and make adjustments every game. You get familiar with your opponent. The game slows down. You get more predictable. And as predictable as we are on offense nobody can stop it just because of pure talent, and our defense will always keep us in a game. It's not like we're gonna try and run a track meet with these guys. We're gonna physically abuse them inside. It's the Mavs. They have enough bodies to throw at our 2 superstars and wear them down. The Suns have no answer for us inside. They shouldn't be able to compete with us on the boards. And if we limit the 3's we launch to a certain extent which prevents long rebounds leading to fast breaks it's pure pwnage.
i think we are taking this team too seriously. We have a very long way to go to prevent a first round exit. The power rankings mean NOTHING.
While I agree on your point the goal is to win it all I disagree with most of the rest. If the Rockets get healthy and humming (integrate Yao back from injury, Wells & Snyder, and keep the their guys playing well, etc) I think the Rockets cam take anyone in a traditional half court playoff series. We can play better defense than the Mavs (or numbers have been better for 2 years), and have 2 great scoring options versus them, we can take them in a slowed game. Of course do need to get more rolling offensively, but in Yao, Tmac, Wells and the perimeter players we have the firepower if it comes together. Phx does present a different challenge. Our defense is much more organized to take out a great player like Dirk or Duncan. But Phx has a great creator and efficient scorers everywhere on the floor. You can't cheat on anyone to try to limit 1-2 or even 3 guys. And the idea they haven't been successfull in the playoffs is crazy. Nash has been to 3 WCF leading this style of play, two strait with far less deep Suns teams. If not due to significant injuries all three years (Dirk/Nash in 03, Johnson 05, Amare/Thomas 06) they could have won the West, maybe the title (two of those teams ended up winning the title). If Phx gets their 8-9 man rotation healthy and fresh this is a much better team than others that has done serious damage in the playoffs. CD may think Dallas is tougher for us in a series, but then CD and lots of league brass were WAY off in thinking the Spurs were the team to beat this year--maybe they rely too much of past history and not enough judging each team today on their merits and challenges. And as far as Phx not having a low post scorer, hello Amare? (Diaw gets most of his buckets around the rim too). Maybe Amare isn't quite in the form of a few years ago, but he still gets a lot of easy baskets and neither us nor the Mavs have very good players to throw at him. Either bigs too small or too slow. Unlike the Mavs however, we can make Amare play an even more impossible match-up on the other end--Yao. But if Yao wears out or down versus the Suns and our half court offense slips, we are absolute toast. In sum the Mavs are a huge challenge and are our #2 threat, but assumig good health Phx is the toughest obstacle. We would need to be more disciplined than ever, and need Yao and Tmac be very efficient offensively and totally control the slow half court game. Much easier said than done with this Suns team.
The suns. I posted this in another thread, but I think it applies here as well. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=124105 The Rockets whooped the spurs twice, and should have won three times. The Rockets whooped the Mavs, and should have had two wins against them. The Rockets whooped the Lakers, and should have lead that series 3-0. The Rockets without Yao and T-mac gave the Suns a run for thier money. I feel like we are exactly where we need to be. Under the radar, hungry, fighting, underdogs. The Rockets can take any of these teams and should fear no one.
