I was down on the trade initially but I think I was wrong as Legler is now. Certainly, Brooks has a bigger responsibility now but it isn't all on him (hehe). Not only that, but I think he has less pressure on him now than he did before. It can't be comfortable to be a second year player who routinely outplays the guy ahead of you who is also one of the most outspoken veterans on the team. Now he can focus on basketball and not locker room politics.
I think that Legler would be right if JVG was still coaching the Rockets about them missing the playoffs because the Rockets rarely could win a game without T-Mac during his tenure. The thing is, under RA, the team is just simply playing more team ball with T-Mac out of the lineup, thus has learned to win without him. I would say that the Cleveland game Thursday night should be a real measuring stick as to where this Rocket team stands with the elite teams in the league, especially after the Rafer Alston trade. I know, we got to seem beat the Celtics in their home court, but that was with Rafer. Legler is only basing his prediction on the Rockets losing their entire starting backcourt. If the Rockets were caught completely off-guard on losing their entire starting backcourt so suddenly (like what happened in 1986-87), then he would be right. But I feel that here in 2008-09, that is not the case since it seemed the Rockets were playing better as a team without T-Mac, and Aaron Brooks seemed primed to play a lot more minutes each game than he had been playing with Rafer starting.
I say well get the 4th seed and play Portland or New Orleans, i think we´ll be better against Portland, a team with no PO experience, but we will see, i see portland making a big push, i also think Denver will fall down a few seeds. I don´t see us with lower than 5th seed by any means.
with the increased amount of talent we have today, jvg would do a much better job if he's still coaching this team. there is no doubt in my mind about that. but in any case, those so-called analysts' opinions are just as good as any of us here. i doubt how much they really know about the teams and analyze on a routine basis.
I'm fine with them picking us as underdogs or even saying we won't make it to the playoffs. That will make our success all that sweeter.
The discussion this past week about the Rockets' playoff chances has really underscored just how superficial the national media is in it's analysis with regards to each particular team. I can't say I'm surprised, but you would think that in this day and age commentators would be held to some professional standard and expected to have some familiarity with the teams. Any idiot off the street can get paid to note that we lost our starting backcourt and then subsequently conclude we will fall in the standings. Anyone who's been watching knows that this team has played its best this year with either McGrady sitting or Aaron Brooks starting, and now we have a combination of both conditions. I don't think there's really any chance of us missing the playoffs, barring injury.
We'll make the playoffs, and I like our chances against a young Blazers team in a seven game series. I think some of the other teams are a bad matchup for us.
I don't like the matchup vs the Blazers. They have bigs that can shoot from the outside and pull Yao away from the middle.
Difference between Hollinger and Legler is that Hollinger actually watches games. Legler watches statlines and headlines. Saying the Rockets aren't going to make the playoffs is an easy knee-jerk reaction to the headlines ESPN scrolls on their ticker and the stats of our remaining players. But anyone who actually watches games and pays attention to what matters knows that we have the kind of coach who can really capitalize on the team-first mentality that our rotation will bring the rest of the season. I'm willing to bet that Yao will be the only consistent 20 points-a-night scorer we have, but that's not a big deal. Artest, Scola, Brooks, and (hopefully) Wafer are each capable of shouldering the scoring load on any given night. It just depends who's the hot hand. And if we can reclaim the same camaraderie from last season, our defense will improve mightily. Mark my words: we're going to surprise some people (members of this board included).
so tinman which team do you think will be a good matchup for us? all western playoff teams have bigs that can shoot from outside. spurs - bonner mavs - dirk lakers - odom and gasol to a less extent hornets - west blazers - aldridge utah - okur and boozer denver - well, maybe denver is our best matchup with regard a ranging shooting big?
we can compete with denver, portland, NOLA, and dallas. we have no chance against LA and SA. despite their record, i want no part of Utah. our young point guards have no chance against the physicality of jerry sloan playoff defense. portland is probably our best bet. either way, aaron brooks needs to grow up fast. he's the only guy on this team capable of raising his game to a higher level than it's already at.
i would contend that the spurs have not been a bad opponent for us in the last couple of years - mainly because we have yao to contain or largely offset duncan while many other teams can't say the same.
Who cares? Let's go out, take care of business and not worry about what Tim Legler says. I believe someone already mentioned it, but it is a little ironic that this is the same guy that liked us to go to the Finals at the beginning of the year...just sayin'.
Yeah, unfortunately, we're just going to have to rely on team defense and give a jumpshot every now and then. Yao should be fine holding Oden and Pryzbilla. Yao just has to learn how to make that matchup (between him and a shooting 4) a plus for our team. He needs to get deep on every possession and force the opposing coach to adjust to HIM. That matchup isn't going away.
Legler and the media said the same thing last year when Yao went down with his injury. Only difference is - back then that analysis actually made sense. This time it makes no sense. Second or third seed, here we come!
