I might be in the minority but Miles is going to be a star. I would of pulled the trigger on the deal if I was the GM of the Cavs. MemphisX- Haha. That was funny. Grizzlies ahead of the Rockets. Only Dallas, both LAs, and Sacramento have as much talent as we do.
Seattle? If they lose rashard, who isn't that good to begin with, they have Gary payton tossing to Predrag Drobnjac, Jerome James, and Ansu Sesay in the frontcourt. Ouch!
1. kings 2. the dreaded lakers 3. the lowly mavs 4. the hated spurs 5. our rockets (if miing aint a bust) 6. blazers 7. twolves 8. the clippers
If you guys are judging on PURE talent, the Clippers are the best team in the NBA. No one has more talent than them. Miller, Q-Rich, Maggette, Odom, Brand, WIlcox, Ely, and Kandi is the best collection of pure talent in the league. Lucky for us, that's not the only thing that counts. I'm not going to lie to myself. The Clippers are a lock for the playoffs, a probable 5th seed. But the Rockets are NOT in the same pool as Phoenix, Seattle, Utah. Phoenix will be starting Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudamire. Their bench is decent AT BEST. Penny will cause a lot of lockerroom problems. Marbury hasn't shown he can be the leader of a winner. As for Seattle, let's just say you can't be someone in the West without a decent PF. Radomanovic, Booth, James, Drobnjak.....these guys won't cut it. As for Utah, no one knows if Stock is returning, if Malone will be traded, if Marshall is coming, if they have a starting calibre 2-guard yet. As for us, we're locked and loaded at all 4 spots. Cato gives us a solid 30 minutes. Even without Ming, we're playoffs. But we DO have Ming. Which, at least, is ONE HIGH QUALITY BENCH PLAYER. At PF, MoT will bring his usual act in scoring with the flow, and getting us started, until Griffin comes firmly into his own. Our weakest spot is SF. But how bad can your team possibly be when your worst rotation is Rice/Nachbar? That's an excellent mesh of talent. Assuming Nachbar can stick the 3-pt shot at a decent rate, that's all we need from the SF spot. Our backcourt, the best one in the NBA, speaks for itself. I understand you think Memphis will make 9th seed, but I find it highly unlikely. The MAIN problem I have with that idea is Jason Williams. If he cleans up his act, which he almost SURELY won't, then you would be ok. Gasol is a master, and Battier is probably the best support-player in the NBA. Gooden makes for a good F rotation. But you still do need someone other than Wright to play C. it doesn't look like the Polish guy will be good any time soon. I must admit one thing though. Even though I know the Clippers will be damn good, the only reason I admit it, is because I know Sterling and Baylor will screw it up big-time.
Hey no need to diss Memphis, Most of my relatives live there! It's not thier fault the Grizzlies landed on their doorstep.
Realistically the Rockets have a very good chance of overtaking the T'Wolves and getting maybe the 5th or 6th playoff spot.
I fully agree with MemphisX here ... Memphis will be better then the Rockets next year ... Sure you might have a better PG than us but we have better players at SF and PF ... you may or may not have a superior center next year but our bench is stronger then yours ... As for the Clippers if they dont screw up next year they will be awesome in one or two years when they have played together for a while ... it sure will be interesting to see the combination of Odom and Miller ... a great point forward and great "pass first" PG ...
The Clippers get Andre Miller and lose Darius Miles. BIG DEAL! The Rockets, if healthy, upgrade at 4 out of 5 positions: 1. A healthy Steve Francis is an improvement over last year. 2. Replace Terrence Morris at the 3 with Rice and Nachbar. 3. Replace Kenny Thomas at the 4 with Taylor and Griffin. 4. Repalce Cato at the 5 with Ming. We've got 2 starters (Tmo and KT) who are now 3rd string. My money is on the Rockets doing much better than the Clippers.
Let's not be to hard on the Memphis fans. If you go to another team's forum, you'll be considered an idiot too. Fans are supposed to be biased and irrational. Realistically, the Rockets will be fighting with the TWolves, the Clipps and the Sonics for the last 3 playoff spots. But if Seattle doesn't sign Lewis, then the only fight will be for the seeding. BTW, while the Spurs and the Blazers are going to be in the playoff, they are not locked in the 4th and 5th spots. The only lock is the top 3 with the Kings, Lakers and Mavs.
THANK you, that's the truth right there. They could make the playoffs, but they all know they won't get paid as Clippers.
Wilcox? Ely? Kandi? For a start, Kandi and talent should not b placed in the same sentence (even though I just did so). And what have those rookies done yet? Not only that, where is their spot on the Clippers roster? Now, if we are talking about "talent" like you did for the Clippers. That means we have Francis, Mobes, Boki, Griff, Ming, Cato and you may as well throw in J-Coll in there too.
I think no i know that the rocks will make the play-offs next year! so why are all these Memphis fans here talking that if we make they'll make it......... we don't belong to the same team/organization so why even bother to fight with Memphis fans! As for the clippers i don't really know alot about them so i can't really set my opinion on that!
Without over-doing themselves and irritating us Rocket fans with dumbass comments such as those. If a normal human being with any form of intelligence thought that Memphis is better then the Rocks, they obviously haven't been keeping upto date with their ball. (Or be a complete moron).
HotRocket, it is not possible for teams in the same division to be classed 1 and 2. In this case, Kings and Lakers of the Pacific Division, cannot go in that the order. The one of the first two teams has to be from the Mid West Divsion (division champion) unless none of the teams in this division made the playoffs. Just a clarification and I hope it will be appreciated. Thanks. All the Rockets!
Count on one thing, the Kings and Lakers will be at top. They have proven that with any key player out, they still have enough team to win. Dallas and San Antonio will battle for 3 & 4. IF Rashard goes to Dallas, the Mavs have an edge. Beyond this, it's a free for all depending on who can stay healthy longest. If injuries are a factor, the only teams that have deep enough talent to still win are the Rockets, Clippers, and Portland, in that order. Utah, Twolves, and Seattle will be lesser teams from last year, especially with the loss or potential loss of key role players. They will struggle for the last seed in the playoffs. So to all the Rockets fans, look for a 5th, 6th, or 7th seed in the playoffs. So who cares if the Clips get Miller.
Yes, the Clippers have a helluva lot of talent. Yes, they have a better pure point guard than the Rockets. Yes, they can match up their talent against every other team in the league. But you guys are all forgetting one thing. They're still the Clippers. The Clippers suck. The Clippers have always, will always suck. They are by no means a lock for the playoffs. They are one of the worst organizations in all of professional sports. Noone wants to play for them. You have to either be drafted or traded to play for the Clippers, and then you're only waiting for your contract to expire so you can buy that one-way ticket out of Basketball Hell and go play some real ball somewhere else. A healthy Rockets squad knocks the Clippers out of playoff contention. At best , they make the eighth seed, but that's only if one of the other, better teams catches the same sort of injury bug we caught last year. You guys are freaking out over nothing.
The Clips also don't have a single go to guy nor outside shooters the quality of the competition in the West . They might overcome it by shere numbers and being above average to well above average at every position except SG--but it is no sure thing. I wouldn't be that surprised if we finish ahead of them in the standings even if I would say the odds are against it. Still, I take our future of their's regardless of what happens this year. They don't have anyone with ceilings as high as Ming and Francis.
The Clippers are certainly better, but don't reserve a playoff spot for them just yet. Keys: 1. Consistent outside shooting. 2. Incorporating all that talent into a solid team concept. 3. Defense, defense, defense. 4. Locker room issues and distractions. Will Brand, Miller, and 'Kandi get the max? How will the team adjust to the trading of the popular Miles? How to balance all of those young egos? Granted, they seem to have leap-frogged the Rockets & a few other teams with this deal, but let's not put them in the WC Finals just yet.
