AI and Melo won't let that happen...IMO, Denver has one of the most talented rosters in the league, but I think George Carl is an overrated coach. He preaches D all the time but never gets his players to play it. JVG would have that team win 60+. LA will fade, starting with this 11 out of 14 or something on the road. Portland's young and yeah maybe they don't know any better and have nothing to lose so the pressure may not affect them but I just don't see them finishing in the top 8. GS is a BD injury away and a Stephen Jackson meltdown away from fading, although I hope they make it (as long as it's not over the Rockets!) because they're so fun to watch.
Only if we can go 28 and 13. A 6 game improvement upon our record. It really depends on the next 6 games, which requires a 4-2 record in order to reach the playoffs.
it's close. we need a 10game winning streak and the best time/sked to get it is 8 games before the break and the first 5 after the break. If we don't at least win 80 percent on that period, we're screwed.
Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, and the Nothwest winner in the top five. Add in a surprising Lakers team and Utah climbing back in, and you have one or two spots left for teams like the Rockets, Nuggets, Warriors and Blazers. Personally, I think the Rockets can do no better than 7th, or 6th if a couple teams fall. It'll be tough to make the playoffs at this point.
They can beat the Sonics, Blazers and Jazz so they have to get out and do it. No more 4th quarter collapses, no more quick shots (especially threes) and please Hayes make some layups and please Battier get your shot back. Then we will be fine for now. I answered we need a trade because saying yes is definetly yes which i can't say. Eerybody's got to step up and mainly the starting Forwards have to get their form back like last year or else a trade should be made imo. Start Scola / Landry if Hayes keeps performing like he does, put McGrady at SF if Battier doesn't get his offense going and make a trade maybe for a good SG. Maybe Rafer and Brooks as starting guards. You have to take risks if we keep losing critical games and keep collapsing like we do.
Let's analyze by looking at out schedule: i think the best we can do is to win 52 games, going 30-11 the rest of the way. this is possible guys and within realm of reasoning provided we beat some gd teams and never lose out to teams we should beat. the realistic/without major injury worse case, however, will have us going 24-17, which will put us at 46-38. in the west, 46-38 will probably only give you the 8th seed at best, which simply means another first round exit. so to make the playoffs and also have a chance to make some noise, we better win 50 games and hope for a 5th or 6th seed.
houston: 48-34, give or take 4 games now lets look at the warrior's schedule: they are one of the teams to drop out ouf the playoffs. they could lose 15 +/- 3 games. which gives them a 49-33 record, give or take 3 games. therefore to bump them out, we HAVE to win against them the next two time. as for the jazz: man they have a tough schedule: just by looking, i think they will lose 18 games +/- 5 games. which gives them a 46-36 record, give or take 4 games. we still have 2 games against them. so again, beat them up and we're fine. denver: they don't have a easy schedule either. they can lose 19 games, +/- 4 record: 47-35, give or take 4 games. again two games left against them. portland: they also have an easy schedule. prolly goona lose only 13 games, +/- 3. record 53-49, give take 3 games. we have three games against these guys. so from how it looks, it seems like we can realistically surpass denver, GS, and UTH, for the 6th seed. from how it is shaping out, portland will be the forth seed or 3rd seed almost for sure. so if we're lucky enough to be in position to face them in the plaoffs, i think we can get out of the first round due to superstar power and superior experience and defense.
I have discovered the best approach to maintaining any degree of optimism about this team: read this board and don't watch them play. Because the Rockets on this board are not the same Rockets on the court. The Rockets on this board are surging into the playoffs; the Rockets on the court look bad when loosing and bad when winning. They appear to be ready to head to the bus toward the end of every period. They consistently shoot poorly. They struggle to perform the basics. Free throws are a huge challenge. Lay ups require super human effort. At the first sign of pressure, they fold like a cheap tent. Therefore, I am going to visit this board and avoid watching the games when possible. Then I can feel happy instead of sad. It's like my best game now!
Bravo. I agree completely. Just one word of advice: don't go to the Houston Chronicle's web page, or the bloggers who liveblog the Houston games. Because they'll just bring you down. If you're curious about what the paper's saying you can read the posts here from homers who want to crucify guys like Blinebury for pointing out that the Rockets look like crap even when they're winning.
the lakers w/o bynum looked nothing special even when they blew out a melo-less denver team at home the other night.
There is no way to predict who will continue to thrive and who will struggle.....too many variables.... I believe......gotta have faith. DD
You can mark my words on this. 50 wins will be PLENTY to make the playoffs. I don't care how good everyone looks at this point, the final playoff seed won't have more than 46-48.
