Is this a turnaround season?

as with most people said up here we have several players on the team this year that are looking to prove to the league that they are still relevant players.

that being said i am hoping that egos will not be an issue when it comes to this. i can see bonzi being somewhat the more problematic player because he is in a contract year where he will be looking to get paid, or at least recoup some of the money that he lost out with the kings contract. at least james has already a long term deal in place and francis has gotten his buyout and chose houston over more money elsewhere. also bonzi had more than just a subpar year last year there were several questions about his attitude and work ethic which would turn a lot of GMs away when compared to francis and james whom more people seem to believe they've just declined dramatically.

That to me will be adeleman's most difficult task. Somehow manage the egos of all the players in the backcourt so they can play but not to the detriment of the team. Right now the only player i see in the backcourt getting major minutes (at least 30) is Tmac. Other than that its really up for grabs how minutes will be dispersed.

So....I dont think anyone can call it a turnaround season until the season is over. There are just way too many various variables that are in play during the season and playoffs. I do believe there are "turnaround" points. Like when the lakers drafted (yes they essentially did) Kobe and then were able to sign Shaq. The results came to fruition years later, but that was the point of origin. The kings trading for webber. Same with the Mavericks when Nelson took over and made a trade of Kidd for Nash and Finley and getting Dirk. You could possibly say that this offseason could be one of those points, I am not too sure about that since a lot of the pieces that people are looking to (bonzi,francis) could be short term while another 2 are rookies (scola, brooks) Getting Yao trading for Tmac those were turnaround points imo, but still have to see long term results like the other points from above, it was year 4 when kobe and shaq won their first ring, hopefully the same happens with Yao and Tmac. And of course all of these solid turnaround points are all in hindsight years down the line.


I guess i would be part of the very very optimistic club when it comes to this upcoming season. It seems for the most part everyone is coming in healthy. tmac hasnt cured his back problems but he clearly has found a much better treatment. yao has had rest and is getting back into shape playing a few games overseas. Scola just winning the FIBAs MVP. Brooks torching the summer league and then impressing on the junior usa team. Francis and James back to their adopted hometowns with something to prove. Bonzi not opting out to be re-united with his former coach under which he had arguably his finest season. A promising backup in Butler. There is a lot to look forward to. I am going to reserve judgment and hold off on predictions until at least the season is half done.

 

Yes, no questions.

 

i hope so...scola makin me feel like its gonna be

 

I think the rockets will be able to get past the first round this year. Knowing that RA has a lot of experienced players to work with, he can turn this franchise into a potential champion. Will we win the championship this year? Maybe not since we got many question marks surrounding our team. We still don't know how bonzi is going to play out this year. After a lackluster year, i really don't know how much impact RA has on bonzi wells for this year. Hopefully, coach A can resurrect Bonzi's career and bring out the form he has during his sacramento days. Another question is how is luis scola going to perform this year? He is the reigning MVP for FIBA and is one of the most promising players in Argentina. However, we still have to put him in a rockets uniform and throw him on the court to see how much help he can give to Yao at the frontline.

 

it'll be like this.

we WILL win 50+ games.
we WILL get AT LEAST the 4th best record so we will have homecourt in the first round at least again

will WILL get past the first round even if none of our acquisitions turned out to be as hope IF tmac and yao play to their caliber (which they didn't last yr and we BARELY lost). it will be an easier road if our acquisitions turn our right

we WILL get past the 2nd round if scola + either james/francis pan out

we WILL get past the WCF if scola + james + francis + bonzi pan out

when we get there, we'll win in 5.

 

Most definantly this is a turnaround season, we've made the best aquisitions possible with barely any assets/money to work with. I say this is one of the best offseason's in a long time. The only problem is we have alot of ppl w/ egos and hopefully they can keep them in check, play teamball, and create great chemisty. If that happens I believe we "could" make it to the finals.

 

My thoughts exactly. Yeah, we've been bumped out of the playoffs the past few years, but it's not like we've been mired in mediocrity, missing the playoffs every year. IMO, winning a handful more games and getting past the first round would simply be steady improvement, not a turnaround. A turnaround would be a team that missed the playoffs last year making the conference finals this year.

 

i am still trying to figure out what the word "deceny" is?

 

It's highly unlikely everything is perfect, to win a title, we must have at least:

0: good chemistry
1: both yao and tmac are healthy
2: scola becomes an above average PF starter
3: francis or mj develops 70% of Bibby's PG skills under Coach A

and there's a long list of X factors can replace the above items: ab, wells, snyder, butler, ...

 

Don't get your hopes up! I'm not against Scola but he hasn't played in NBA so we cant really say much.

 

Any change in lineup automatically makes this year more hopeful than last.

 

I do not understand how I can have an even greater expectation from one season to the next only to be let down time after time. But this season I am so excited, I think we can go all the waaaaay.

Now that I think about it...if the excitement keeps building from one season to the next then the excitment I will feel at the start of next season can only top this one if we win the championship this season, woo-hoo!

 

You forgot the third one: 'Juana.