The folks at TheLakersNation are interviewing bloggers for each team to get their opinion on their team's prospects for the upcoming season. For the Rockets, they interviewed the bloggers from The Dream Shake. Jonny is the interviewer, and Lee and David are Rockets bloggers: [rquoter] Today, we are honored to interview Lee and David from The Dream Shake, in my opinion the best Rockets blog out there period. Lee and David were gracious enough to make time to answer some questions in the midst of everything going on in Houston regarding Hurrican Ike. We at TLN wish them both a speedy resumption of normal life. Jonny: Out on a limb, although backing it up with solid reasoning would be cool too, what do you think the ball park for the Rocket’s 08-09 regular season record will be, and do you think it will be enough to make the playoffs in the West? Lee: Last year, with Yao out for a good portion of the season (though only 10 of the 22 wins in a row), the Rockets went 55-27, the year before that they went 52-30, they’ve done nothing but get better since those two season. Adding Artest and to, obviously, a much less extent Brent Barry, should make the Rockets a favorite to get a top 3 seed. Disaster in every single way would have to strike to not make the playoffs at all. Disaster in the form of different players having injury plagued seasons would have to happen to not be a top 4 seed. I say they win 55-62 games this year. I know that’s crazy, but name me one team that matches up “well” with them. There are teams that match up decently, but I guarantee that the Rockets are not a team anyone will look forward to playing. Adding in Artest should do nothing but increase team chemistry (yes, it’s possible I am overlooking the crazy factor). It should allow Battier to come off the bench and expend every ounce of energy to defend and spot up shoot. It should also allow Artest to play with the two best players he’s ever played with, allowing him to go even more into a defensive mind set and only take over offensively if the other two aren’t getting it done. He had no problems chemistry wise with his one Adelman year and I don’t expect him to have any in Houston , especially not in a contract year like this. He may be crazy, but I don’t believe that he is stupid. David: I already did a game-by-game regular season analysis and concluded the Rockets would win 58 games - a franchise record, I believe, but just short of the magical “60″ number. Artest + Good Health could be worth another 5-7 wins… so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockets somehow found a way to win 62. I’ve also already predicted (guaranteed?) that the Rockets go undefeated in February. Again. ... [/rquoter] Read the rest here.
If I recall, the Ball Don't Lie Yahoo guys named ClutchFans the best blog. It's definitely the best Rockets site (just not sure how much "blogging" there is here!). Laker fans amuse me.
its like saying what tastes better, johnny walker black label or johnny walker blue label? ones older, smoother, experienced, and mastered than the other.
Lee: Last year, with Yao out for a good portion of the season (though only 10 of the 22 wins in a row), the Rockets went 55-27, the year before that they went 52-30, they’ve done nothing but get better since those two season. Adding Artest and to, obviously, a much less extent Brent Barry, should make the Rockets a favorite to get a top 3 seed. Disaster in every single way would have to strike to not make the playoffs at all. Disaster in the form of different players having injury plagued seasons would have to happen to not be a top 4 seed. Well... Yao, T-Mac, Rafer, Battier, Hayes, Landry and Francis are all injured or coming off injury and the season hasn't even started yet.
Wow... such a pessimist. And if the Rockets' season depends heavily on Rafer, Hayes and/or Francis - we are in trouble already! I'm really anxious for the season. Yao will be fine. T-Mac won't be able to whine and moan with Artest around. Battier might be more productive off the bench. Scola and Landry are back for year 2. Brooks, too. And the bench could go 12 deep every night right now (Battier, Barry, Landry, Brooks, Head, Hayes and Dorsey).
