Rockets and Warriors in a tie for the 11th-12th place

Ok but you tossed CHI in there, OKC, ATL, are teams that at best won't see anyone's conference finals, let alone the 2nd round.

Their ceilings are at best 2nd round. So while I see your POV, it's a little flimsy in this league. To me, it's basically..."who do you want to be?"

You want to be the C's, Lake Show or Spurs...or do you want to be ATL, OKC, or Utah?

All have nice records, but 3 of those teams have NO shot of winning anything.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

What? The Thunder are one of the best young teams in the NBA. Will they win a championship this year? Probably not. But they'll be contending for one over the next three to four years. Just because they aren't winning titles right away doesn't make them a failure. The Bulls didn't win right away with Jordan, nor the Rockets with Hakeem. It's all about having that superstar player.

The only team on your list that makes sense for your mediocre argument is Atlanta, who is paying max money and relying on a 2nd tier/3rd tier guy in Joe Johnson. Of course, Atlanta had some high lottery picks that never worked out for them (#2 Marvin Williams, #5 Shelden Williams, etc.). Moral of the story? If you're ATL, don't draft Derrick Williams. They also had some good picks in #3 Horford and #17 Josh Smith.

I'd feel a lot better about being mediocre if there was no age limit to enter the draft.

 

Go Golden State!

 

thisssssssss

 

Like those teams you mentioned, the Rockets also had lottery picks in the top half, around the same time as well. But I guess you forgot. To refresh your memory, we had Steve Francis at #2 and Yao Ming at #1. We actually had more higher picks than some of those teams you listed. So in essence, we've done the whole "tanking" thing. Didn't exactly worked out for us did it? And it took us a while after drafting Steve/Yao to become an actual threat to advance pass the 1st.

Point being, early draft picks don't guarantee success. There are so many factors that play into the whole situation. You listed the teams that did well, but what about all the teams that are perennial loser lottery teams that never go anywhere?

 

I think we are projected to be number 30...

 

NBA Championship or BUST.

 

The point of using .500 as a measuring stick is to set a short term goal that is achievable by the quality of play the team shown this season. The only thing I did fail to mention is the timeline for that goal.

-The team has 26 games left in the season, and they need to win 19 of those 26 in order to be at 45 wins for the season (most likely in playoffs). 17 of those 26 games the Rockets are favored in. the next 6 games on the schedule the Rockets are favored to win.

-This tells me that they need to win 5 of their next 6 games in order to get to .500 by the beginning of March. This puts them at the mark to need 14 out of 20 games left in March and April. 11 of those games the Rockets should be favored.

-Forgive me if my calculations are off by a game or two. They are very close.

Getting to .500 is the first step. If they dont achieve .500 by the first two weeks of March, then I agree it is time to think to the future and play some of the play guys like Terrence Williams and Jordan Hill more. Thats assuming we still have the same team.

If they are that bad by the end of March anyways then they are still looking like a 8 to 12 lottery pick team based on their wins/losses. The team can still make trades in the summer to potentially move up in the top 5 anyways.

-So whats the point of tanking??? You might as well try and make the playoffs now right??? Worst case scenario the Rockets end up with 43 wins, dont make the playoffs and possibly draft two spots lower. Even then they can still trade up with all the "assets" Morey has aquired.

-The Playoff benefits are numerous
A. Revenue (More money for Les to spend next season)
B. Fan Interest
C. Momentum going into offseason( remember OKC last season was the 8th seed. The playoffs vs. the Lakers made Durant/Westbrook so much better.)
D. Player development
E. Fun and Excitement for the City/Fans
F. Everyone Loves an Underdog (Media coverage would help boost recognition of Rockets overall product and generate fans outside of Houston)
G. Chance at an upset over Lakers/Spurs (God that would be sweet)

-Im all in for the Playoffs. The Rockets have a short window to still make it happen. Until then, If you are a fan, please root for them. They need energy from their fans if they want to go anywhere.

 

Chris Bosh uses a skin whitener?

 

Hello 12th place!

 

what he said.

 

There's a big problem with "calculations"....they get preempted by actual games...such as tonight's. At home...on a day's rest...to a sub .500 EC team...

Time to "re-calculate". :grin:

 

True, but Hollinger's system doesn't know about Rudy Gay's injury and that Melo is likely to be traded.