Right now the Rockets look like they will be playing the Blazers. If the Rockets get the 2 or 3 seed, they could end up playing New Orleans/Utah. What do you feel about "throwing away" some games if the Rockets get the 2 or 3 seed, ie. resting starters, giving the backup unit more time.
thats a dumb idea im sorry. we need to play so we can have a better seeding and have a chance to avoid the match-ups that will cause us problems. you think the idea of throwing games so we can rest is horrible idea. 2-8 seed are like 2 games apart and with us throwing games there is a chance we might be matched up with the lakers. bad idea.
Idiotic. Utah will fall (bold prediction here) to the 8th seed anyways...they only won 1 away game against a team above .500 and they have 4 more of those before season's end. Therefore if that were to happen, the Rockets could get matched up with either the Hornets/Mavericks/Blazers, all teams we can beat with ease. Assuming this also happens, we would most likely face the Denver Nuggets (another team we have a number on) in the semis. We could win that series in 6 or 7 games (with our without home court) and lookie there, we are in the Conference Finals. Utah gets kicked out of the first, easy match-ups and make it to the CFs where we will get our asses whooped. Yeah, my dream scenario but possible.
Give me liberty or give me death! err wait... Give me a real/legit win in the first round or give me death. If we win against a team we manipulated to play against, I don't wanna hear all the BS about how the only reason Rockets won is because they threw games since they were afraid of [insert team name here]. I can't stand teams that do things like that.
I hate it when polls are organized to lead people. "Do it, anything to get out of first round"??? Of course everyone wants to get out of the first round. But the way you word it sounds like selecting the first option means that we do not get out of the first round.
i say win all the games possible you never want to give a team that mentality of losing games...if anything going into the playoffs with a 6 game winning streak will just add to this teams momentum and confidence. plus as it stands now the only team that I fear that the rockets would not beat in the playoffs is the lakers and we wont be facing them in the first round.
Personally, I would sacrifice homecourt advantage if I had to to avoid playing Utah. It wouldn't surprise me if they threw games to ensure that they face us. However, it's still too early to do that with how close everything is.
This is a dumb idea my friend, lets screw up any chemistry we have gained in the past month, just because the Jazz are mean to us. Play your butt off and get the seed you deserve, but we NEED the 2,3,6,7 seed. I feel confident that we can match up well with any of the teams that end up there, which wont be the j*zz because they will fall to the 8 seed because they cant win on the road in their last few games. Give me the guys from the Old Folks Home over in SA. Give me the Hornets, they have CP3 and then.....yeah thats it. Give me the Nuggets, they cant stop Yao and even if Nene had a last name. Give me the Blazers, I would love to see another 2 point, 7 fouls game from Oden and B*tchbilla. Give me the Mavs, their point gaurd signed up from Social Security last week.
this is exactly the mentality the 06-07 Mavs got when they think they can beat the Warriors in the first round even though the Warriors swept the regular season series. They had the chance to avoid the Warriors had they not win the last game of the regular season against the Clippers...
Despite the last win against the Blazers, I'd still rather play the Hornets in the 1st round. The Hornets are one-dimensional. Slow down Paul and they can't do anything. Assuming Adelman was willing to play Lowry heavy minutes, he could frustrate the heck out of Paul with his defensive prowess. If we do end up with the Hornets, I would start Lowry for defensive purposes. Let Brooks light up their 2nd unit off the bench.
How about not throwing away games and giving us a legit shot to make it to the Conference Finals? 4th seed = 2nd rd matchup with Lakers 3rd seed = 2nd rd matchup with Denver I'd rather play the Blazers in the first rd, but I'll take the risk with the Hornets if it lets us dodge the Lakers in the 2nd. Evan
This is the 1 example i can think of where playing hard and getting the best seed possible backfired on a team. Can you tell me another one that I just cant remember??? Or are we looking at a Fluke?
I voted no, because we need every game we can get. There's no way we can calculate games to avoid Utah, because for all we know, we throw away a game, but Utah makes a jump, we meet Utah as 4-5 instead of 3-6, and yay Lakers in the 2nd round. The standings are way too close. And shouldn't our goal be to win it all? Easiest way to win it all is to get the highest seed and home court advantage, even if that means playing utah the first round, because somethign crazy might happen and we get home court in the 2nd round as well. Denver isn't a lock to beat the 7th seed, so we might get HCA in the 2nd round (or play Denver, we we coudl easily beat), and by then Lakers have a stastically higher probabiility of not being there in the 3rd (big what if). Basically, the higher the seed, the later we meet the Lakers, and more likely to get HCA.
Only crappy teams do stuff like this. If you are admitting the Rockets are crappy, then by all means throw away games to get in position. I don't think the Rockets will admit to being crappy position jousters. Besides, this type of stuff can and does backfire. Oh...you got the match-up you supposedly wanted...but now your getting your asses kicked. Dos Mio! Hay Caramba!
Throwing a game at the end of the season isnt going to kill chemistry. Not to mention the fact that chemistry means nothing if you're playing against a team that owns you. Remember when we were absolutely on fire to end the 2005 season, only to eventually get dismantled by the mavs? The Jazz are to us what we are to the Magic. They play against us with incredible confidence because they know that we cannot stop what they want to do. Our team as constituted, with young guys at key positions, and Artest, does not have the discipline to beat them.
I dont see Utah catching up with NO in getting the 6th spot. I see them staying at 7th, or falling down to 8th. Hopefully, we can oust the spurs, and get into the 3rd spot. I really really really dont want to play the lakers in the 2nd round... So lets all hope the blazers beat the spurs tonight!
COME ON!! I want a FREAKIN DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! Hello MCFLY! Wouldnt you think that would give our Rockets players an added boost of confidence? A freaking divisional championship!! Que the song Against All Odds by Phil Collins! We need this baby! HOUSTON ROCKETS 2009 SOUTHWEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS!
I'll take home court advantage every step of the way. If we can't defend home court we don't deserve it. Plain and simple.
So what do you suggest the rockets do, because currently the Jazz are 1 game out of the 8 spot and they are projected to fall due to their lack of ability to win on the road. I can almost promise you that at the least, they will not pull to the 6th spot which leaves them 7th or 8th. The Lakers are set already and the Nuggets have a 2 game cushion on us for the 2nd seed with a cake schedule left. Therefore, it is pretty well assured that if we can get the 3rd seed we will miss the Jazz all together and also miss the lakers in the second round that the 4th seed would give us. Soooo again, why do you feel it nessisary to tank games?
