How much will this season hurt?

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I don't want to see this stuff yet. We haven't decided who we're facing, and we're already talking about how bad we'll feel <B>when</B> they lose?

 

It's all about Playoff success.
I remember whiny Dirk said the MVP award meant nothing to him after their first round exit
Same with the Rox, replace "MVP" with "22-game-winning-streak" and "Dirk" with "T-Mac"

 

I'm really proud of the team, with emphasis on TEAM.

The credit for that HAS to be Adelman and Battier, off and on the court. Especially once Yao and TMac went down, they gelled, without their superstars to do it. They figured out how to win using Adelman's system and total hustle team basketball, which Battier specializes in.

Going on the 22 win tear undermanned was quite a sight to see, the first time ever done without a collection of superstars, and I think that teamwork and chemistry is a great foundation to build on, more important than getting out of the first round.

So, I think our determination for success has changed. I'm already proud of what they have done, and everything in the playoffs is gravy.

But, I agree with Scribo. We don't think we need to reduce our expectations.

What this team will do, who knows? That's sorta fun.

They could lose out, win a series, win 2 series, go to the Western or NBA Finals. It's been a crazy Western Conference battle with no clear victor until LA's last game. And that mystery will make the playoffs very interesting and competitive, in a hopeful way.

But, in the end, it'll be nice to be proud of them, no matter what they do. They shouldn't have made it even to the playoffs, after Yao got injured, and that's what all the prognosticators said. But, only a few days ago, not only had we made the playoffs, but there was a possibility we could still win the whole Western conference.

Houston, where more happened this year, than I expected.

 

I'm not gonna be satisfied with an early exit ever, but I 'm not gonna be as disappointed as last year since i feel the upside for this team next year with a healthy Yao, experienced Scola,Landry etc is tremendous. Just gotta stay healthy somehow. If it means changing trainers ( even though it's not their fault ) to stop the jinx so be it. Sorry Keith Jones!

 

whether or not we make the 2nd round, as long as we play hard in the 1st round and at least make it close, it'd be good. lots of the western teams are getting old, though many young ones are arising (saco, blazers), we are the right mixed. our rookies getting plenty of playoff intensity minutes, are huge. with the fact that our centerpiece yao, has alot more years left. tracy, whether or not we trade him, he'll be usefull someway somehow.

old teams (suns, dallas, spurs) have a possibility of going away.
new teams (hornets, kings, blazers) are few years away from championship

now teams with mid-aged are us, lakers, and several others.

i like our chances in the next few years, but ... only way, is to be healthy. i'm having 2nd thoughts on keith jones, cause i remember him being the team usa trainer, and yet, we are having these mysterious injuries that could have been healed earlier. it could have been sheer bad luck, or it's a new experience for keith jone.

 

Sherlock, you summed it up perfectly.

 

well, consider it's Adelman's 1st year as the coach, and lots of new guys/rookies, and half the team is injured, and we made history. I say it's a pretty good season. Hopefully nobody'll get injured next season.

 

All things considered this was a pretty good season. Making out of the first round would make it great, specially undermanned. But I think when you take it all into account this was a darn good season.

I just hope they are at least competitive during the playoffs. Plus, you never really know. It was a close race in the west after all. If we get lucky who know how far we can go?

 

I expected a championship contender with Rick Adelman at the helm, and that is EXACTLY what we got....until...the big fella went down.

Then my expectations dropped considerably, and to have the team only 2 games out of the number 1 seed at the end of the year all the while playing so many different players.

Harris, Novak, Landry, Brooks, Hayes.....has just made it that much better.

Also getting a quality hustling PF with skills who plays inspiring ball all the time is a huge deal to me.

I am very happy where the team is at, my expectations are not all that high in the playoffs, but I will be more than happy to be caught off guard and win a championship.

If we fall short, big deal, let's lace em up next year with the big fella and SQUASH em between our butt cheeks !

DD

 

The pressure is off this team. They are the supposed weakling amongst playoff teams and that is an advantage for them. I think we had some mentally weak guys on this squad that crumbled last year because they were favored (and rightfully so) to beat the Jazz. It was too much for them.

So this season Yao is out but you have a crew of guys who must be pissed that nobody is giving them respect. Then, remember that some of those mentally weak guys from last year have been replaced or their roles lessened by the introduction of some guys who are more battle tested. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that the two "real" rookies do their best impression of Horry and Cassell. I'm not worried about Scola.

My personal opinion is that the only reason the Jazz won that series last year was because the Rockets were almost the perfect disaster. Every man on that Rocket squad had a subpar series with a few of them playing some of the worst 7 games of basketball in their careers back to back to back to back.

Maybe this season the luck for this team will be the other way around.

 

the sting will be minimal for me because i have already accepted that we will not get out of the 1st round. no matter how much i want to believe, realistically i know we are not better than utah, phx, or SA.

those teams are so good, and we are down 1 superstar.... its just not in the card guys without a MONUMENTAL CHOKE by the opposition, or a serious injury to a key player.

 

Bill Worrell and Drexler mentioned earlier in the Clipps game that they felt like this season has flown by. To a certain extent, I've felt the same way, especially after Yao went out. When he went out, whatever we did this year became gravy, which gave me faith that we could pull off a big upset with no more pressure on our backs. I still steadfastly believe that we will win a series for the first time in a decade this year, but the barometer for success for this team has just been postponed for another year until we can see all our pieces working together.

To answer the question, I will be very disappointed the night our season ends (unless we win it all of course), but the next day I will immediately be checking Clutchfans again in anticipation of next year, our first 60-win season in franchise history.

 

i think Rick Adelman will get us out of the 1st round. He is very smart and since we lost to the jazz last game he will do his magic and find out how to win against them just like he did with suns. I BELIEVE STILL