damn it i'm really shocked that the nuggets beat the lakers. are you kidding? ugh... they beat the hawks, but only barely off a miss game winner by flip murray. if joe johnson takes that shot, hawks could have pulled it off. lakers did not play well and lost. then indiana did what i thought they might and beat denver. denver could have had a pretty bad losing streak and we could have been in 3rd today had we taken care of the bulls and lakers beat the nuggs.... these games are gonna cost us
Nuggs have a decently tough schedule coming up on the road. Pistons tomorrow then the 2/05 they play the blazers, then they fly out the next day to play the Jazz. Hopefully they go 1-2 or 0-3...
The Nugs are for real as far as being playoff contenders..........as long as Chauncey stays healthy. They have a "chance", just like all the other teams. There is no clear cut undeniable Champion this year............if Garnett stays unhealthy. Sure the Lakers are good. But the Spurs are proven even if old. And the Nugs with Chauncey are a different bunch. Yep, they've got their weaknesses. But when they traded out Iverson for Chauncey, anybody that understands basketball should have been able to tell they were going to be better. Especially come playoff time when the half court game is even more prominent, Chauncey, if healthy, is going to make a huge difference for them. I can see them getting to the WC Finals if the chips fell right for them. And depending on health and matchups, I can see them making it to the Finals. I can see the Lakers making it also. I can see the Spurs making it also. And I can see us making it as a dark horse also. We are not that far behind if behind at all, to those teams. It all depends on health and matchups. The Nugs can compete for a championship as currently constructed as long as they are healthy. Chauncey is a huge difference maker.
revenge can be taken in the 2nd rd, even 3rd rd, with a full chance to beat them. but 1st rd vs Utah is a huge mental burden for rockets. more, they get division champion means they get homecourt advantage for sure.
There is another name for "huge mental burden": loser's mentality. But you are entitled to your opinion. That would be incorrect. HCA in playoffs is decided by regular season record.
Yes, I check this part and I was wrong. but one more win means a lot for a team about HCA in this close race, right? anyway I prefer nuggets to win over jazz, anyday this season. that's not from pure hatred angle, but from an angle about rocket's chance. least wanted 1st rd opponent: lakers. second least: jazz. vs all others, rockets have a solid chance even including spurs.
If the Rockets' goal is merely to get pass the 1st round in playoffs, I would be quite disappointed. The Spurs are known for kicking it up another notch in playoffs, so be careful what you wish for. There are really no easy opponents, opponents that the Rockets can take for granted.
I agree..Nuggets to me are not going to make any noise in the playoffs...especially if they play a team like Utah or even Dallas. To me that win against the lakers was more the Lakers losing it rather then the Nugs winning it. Chilcutt
you HAVE TO past 1st rd to go further. I don't see what's wrong with setting the expectation at first round pass, for now. we are talking about a team which never past the 1st round in many years, with 21 millions wasted for the rest of the season. after passing the 1st round, the team could be highly boosted in morale, could reset their goal anywhere they like, could really overachive. that's why 1st round opponent match-up is so important. It is nice to have a champion's heart and be free of worry against anyone, but it is also impractical to claim such things when you are repeatedly proved 3 rounds away from championship. when high expectations got beaten by low achivements, it changes into mental burden. this is happening to many fine sports team, many fine players, not only to the "losers". I think that's reasonable and exactly what's happening to Rox now. So forget about the great dreams, just focus on beating 1st round opponent, we can think about other things later.
Reasons for disbelief: 1) George Karl team - typically front runners that are not committed to defense 2) Chauncey Billips - great leader and clutch shooter but too slow to guard the speedster point guards in the West like Paul, Williams, Parker and even Aaron Brooks, which will put more pressure on their overall D 3) Carmelo's taken a step back this year; shooting pect is down and is not the same unstoppable force. 1st exit probably against the Spurs again.
You are absolutely right the Rockets have to get past the 1st round before they can talk about something bigger. My point is it's not a good idea to overlook any potential playoff opponent from a tactical standpoint. Rather than "strategically" avoiding any particular 1st round playoff opponent, the Rockets are better off working on improvement of their own games. For instances, in crunch times, how to counter fronting Yao, or how to prevent opposing PGs from breaking down the defense and scoring at will at the expense of Rafer's replacement. Funny thing is, on the eve of '06-'07 Rockets-Jazz playoff series, the biggest problem that feared the Utah fans was how to contain Yao. The Jazz somewhat succeeded in that series. There is no reason to believe the Rockets can't turn the corner.
George Karl teams aren't committed to defense? Payton's Sonics? How are the Nuggets going to end up facing the Spurs in the first round? You think the Nuggets will drop from 3rd to 7th?
