CBS Sportsline underestimates Rockets - ranks them #17

Make that 4 roo hunter!

 

I believe defense is important. I believe the rockets can defend other teams better than most teams can defend the rockets.

Cato is an above average defensive player (player meaning when he plays not when he warms the bench for Langhi). The rockets are an average defensive team and there is a wide range of ability in this area on the rockets. With this said, some of the rockets have to be above average.

People that say the rockets have no one better than average defensively over estimate the average level of defensive ability in the NBA. For every Mutombo there are 5 Maloneys (This could be an understatement).

 

If this team only wins 30 games they're not going to be close to a Top 15 team. And when the Kings first got to the playoffs they were a horrible offensive team. Phoenix wasn't much better. This team can score and Jackson should help considerably with rebounding, and they have a strong backcourt. As for the Milwaukee and Philly showdown though, losing Scott Williams, as weird as that sounds, was a big blow to the Bucks. He balanced out the frontcourt for them and was playing real well.

 

I still don't understand what you all are basing your expectations on. The team that surged towards 45 wins last season would not have made its push had it not been for the inspired interior defense of Olajuwon. Admit it. We all like to think that that wasn't the greatest factor but it was. With Hakeem back playing goalkeeper, Francis and Mobley were able to do their thing on the other end. I still feel that with Kelvin Cato on top of his game, this team could win 55 games. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that Cato will ever realize his potential. You cannot just run a pretty offensive lineup (and the Rockets' looks to be <i>very impressive</i>) onto the court and expect to rack up wins. You need interior defense to win in this league. Even the Bucks, who so many of you like to use as a blueprint for the Rockets, wouldn't have been nearly as successful had it not been for Ervin Johnson and Scott Williams.

How will they have even an average defense? Many of you will probably argue that the Rockets will just play solid "team defense." You cannot play "team defense" without atleast 1 stellar defensive player. That's the whole point of team defense....great defensive players maximizing their prowess within a set defensive scheme to cover up for the weaknesses of their teammates.

Mobley: POOR

Francis: POOR

Rice: POOR

Jackson: POOR (I'll be lenient and say he could even be average though he is extremely slow of foot)

Cato: VERY POOR (has the potential to be a good team defender but never puts forth the effort. as an individual defender he is probably the worst on the team; he'd foul out in the 1st quarter if given the minutes, and has never seen a headfake he didn't jump at)

Thomas: POOR (undersized)

Griffin: POOR (will hopefully be the anchor we need in the future, but right now will get manhandled by big men and does not have the lateral movement to play perimeter defense)

Norris: POOR

Wizard: Defense is N/A to him

Morris: AVERAGE (I'm being very lenient based on what I've seen from him in college....we've yet to see what the rookie can do)

Collier: lol

Langhi: Poor

Torres/Others: I have no idea, but hopefully there will be some defenders in this bunch.



Every player on this team can put the ball in the hole. No player on this team can stop it from going in. This string of posts seem cruel and pessimistic as hell but they are the harsh reality. The Rockets will average more than 100 ppg but may give up close to 105.

 

And before anyone jumps on me with an Eddie Griffin argument, let me clarify that I like what Rudy is doing and see huge things ahead for this team. It's just way too early for the expectations you'll have set.

 

Wow Cabbage Didnt you have 2300 posts 2 years ago? anyways , Defense wins Championships , Offense builds Dynastys

 

If the Rockets get Jackson, i think they will be maybe a 5th seed. I can't count Utah out until Malone is gone. If everyone stays healthy, the Rockets are behind La,Sa,Sac, and Dall

 

30 games is just silly. Although there are obviously a lot of variables(as DoD pointed out), this team should definitely be better than last year. The biggest improvement in my mind was the trade of Rice for Shandon. I don't see how anyone can make an argument the other way for this one. That is such an obvious upgrade it is ridiculous. And I liked Shandon. The loss of Mo is a big blow, but we were able to to win 45 games last year when many on this board felt he didn't have a good year. Even those who were impressed with his play(like me) know that his numbers were down, so we shouldn't lose too much from last year with Kenny and (hopefully) Jackson and EG filling in. And as for Olajuwon, he was gone half the time, anyway. I think a young and improving Jackson can easily fill in the void left by an aging and declining Dream. Even if Jackson is injured for a large portion of the season, we would be getting the same production you could expect from Olajuwon. Just looking at those changes, I don't think I am being overly optimistic by thinking that we have improved over last year. And I didn't even mention the improvements of Steve and Cat after one more year together. Even if we don't win 45 games again, I still think we make the playoffs.

 

lol

and rockets at 17 is realistic.espn severely overrated the rockets. rockets are 8th seed in the west at best. most likely 10th

 

Tell us, in your infinite wisdom, oh great one who is better than the Rockets other than the Lakers, Kings, Spurs, and Mavericks and why they are better than the Rockets ?

 

The Rockets only gave up 94.9 ppg while scoring for 10th in the league. This is not bad defense. I see no reason that Cato can't play as well defensively as Hakeem did last year.

This year the rockets might actually have centers playing centers for the rockets. This would be a big addition to the defense.

Shannon was only a good man to man defender and doesn't help out others. A small drop off in defense, but imo Mobley did better against the elite guards than him. I am in the minority here though. Morris in my opinion will be better against the bigger SFs by February.....December next year at the latest.

So the rockets lost a disgruntled (for most of the year) Hakeem and ask an injury prone Cato to replace him. This is a wash in my opinion. Hakeem was inspired for what, three weeks?

Rockets lost Bull....this helps defense.

I see the rockets being as good at defense as last year and weren't bad last year. I remember Pfs torching the rockets, but I don't remember guards scoring more than they regulary scored often last year. The rockets also had what seemed like a 2 week strech of play without a center.

 

TEAM defense, guys. When has Rudy ever undervalued defense?

Look at each player individually if you want, but how they play as a TEAM is more important.

 

I agree cabbage. Sportsline's prediction is pretty objective and realistic, but just a tad low.

I personally would put the Rocks at #13 or 14.

Theproblem I'm having with polls like this (and maybe the reason why ESPN rated them so high) is that Toronto, Philly, and Milwaukee are rated ahead of the Rocks eventhough the Rocks DESTROYED them in head-to-head meetings last year. But once again, that was with a healthy, effective Dream in the middle.

The keys are Rice and Cato. If Rice is once again averaging 20-22 a game, Cato removes his cranium from his anus on occasion (I would've written 'all the time', but one must learn to walk before one learns to run), the Rocks could be a #4 or #5 seed.

 

If the Rockets even finish within 5 game of the Blazers (assuming no season-ending injury to Wallace), I promise I will never post here again....

 

Bye!

 

Geez, I figure there would be a harder challenge out there than this one!

 

But ESPN rank the rockets #9 in their latest power ranking. #9 is just below the serious contenders. That´s certainly not underestimating the Rockets. But we might very well be that good if the pieces fit well together.
A ver, el que vive sabré.

 

Mobley has a harder time guarding Steve Smith than Anderson. Thats one reason why i think we're better than they are. I did hear someone say Kemp was in better shape his year. Its hard to believe how fast he fell. I was watching NBA.com and they had The Reign Man, kemp was a monster at a young age. Game wise i hope griffin can play similar to him. At first he was just a dunker, then his little jumper was money in the bank. I saw some play when he would go to the hole and just jump over defenders. he was the truth.

 

Damn, too bad you didn't promise us that last year...

 

Perhaps, although the numbers last season don't really back that up (13.5 for Anderson vs. the Rockets, 13.3 for Smith). Neither were spectacular. The biggest difference I see in the potential matchup is that I would sure as hell rather have Anderson, Wells, or Patterson guarding Mobley than "no lateral quickness" Smith, as good as he is on offense. I can't tell you how many times we got burned by quick perimeter players last season and I think we've probably got better personnel in that area this season.