CNNSI power rankings

no offense, RY, but i don't agree with YOUR rankings, either.

those cnnsi rankings are WAY off, though, you're right. how stupid do you have to be to call the west "super-competitive," then make 10 of the top 17 teams from the eastern conference? i don't buy that the eastern conference has improved that much.

there is one east team on that list that deserves to be ranked higher, though: detroit. i think richard hamilton has proved that he can put points on the board. true, he is not stackhouse, but on the other hand, he's not stackhouse!! i think detroit is in much better shape than #21 (wtf?).

 

All that matters is as the top. The West's top teams are dominant - SA, LA, Dallas, and Sacto. However, the bottom of the west is simply pathetic. The East has a lot of near-equal teams that are among the top half of the NBA; that doesn't mean anything in the end, of course, but there's plenty of logical reasoning behind 10 of the top 17 teams coming from the East.

As for Detroit - they should be higher, for sure. Hamilton is more than capable of scoring like Stackhouse did last year, and even if he isn't, well, they also have Chauncey Billups to pick up the slack.

 

you know why those teams are rated higher than us. They're in the FREAKIN Eastern Conference. That's why.

 

I think Rockets is NO.4 because of Ming and Francis.

1.Lakers
2.Spurs
3.Kings
4.Rockets

Now it is a center times. A great center add a great guard would
change everything.

 

Excuse me if I don't want to be a complete "homer" but some of ya'all are in for a rude awakening.

The Rockets will be struggling for the #8 playoff spot. Without injuries, with Yao adjusting quickly and with Yao not being too burned out since he hasn't had a month long vacation in 3 years...they might fight for spot #7.

That's not just me blowing hot air. Do a search on the thread by NJRocket and see what the Vegas boys with the big bucks say.

That means there are at least 7 or 8 teams better the Houston.

We haven't beaten Orlando in half a decade and Hill appears to be back. They've added Kemp who can be motivated by a Doc Rivers type coach.

Francis and Mobley had 64 points in a loss to the Nets who now have Mutombo.

Without Francis, the Pistons smoked us - 7 players in double figures and 1 player with 9 points. With Francis and his 36 points? A 2 point win.

I know there were injuries, but we lost the season series to both the Cavs and the Bulls.

I think 18th is a little unreasonable but the Rockets at this point just are not a Top 10 team. Too many question marks.

Before you blast me keep this in mind:

1) Francis has yet to prove his headaches are history.
2) MoT has a 5 game suspension and is still slowed in his rehab (IMO).
3) Rice looks to be recovering but is still an unknown commodity.
4) The Rox are learning a new offense.
5) Yao Ming is going to help, but as a rookie his stats will be more like Rik Smits than Shaq.

 

GATER,



understand that after winning only 28 games last year most people want to take a wait and see approach, but you have to admit that this looks to be a better team that won 45 games just 2 years ago.

Differences from last year:
Mo is healthy and on the active roster
Glen Rice is healthy and on the active roster
Steve Francis is healthy and appears to be playing with out the migraines
Eddie and TMo are a year older and better
We have two new quality players in Yao Ming and Boki.

I guess the question you need to ask your self is was last year a fluke or was 2000 - 2001 a fluke. The only major loss from the 45-win team is an old Dream that only really contributed positively in about a third of the games. I choose to believe that last years bad record was driven by injuries and the fact that the a large portion of the minutes were dominated by 4 rookies (two that were un-drafted, one that was only 19 and a second round pick).

 

crash -
the two major things about that 45 win season that eveyone quickly forgets:

1) The 45 win Rockets were undefeated against the Central Divison. Do you really think we are going to go 16-0 again against the Pistons, Hawks, Hornets, Pacers, Bucks, Raptors, Bulls & Cavs again? The 16-0 performance is not easy to replicate.

2) The 45 win team was as hot as asphalt in August during the March and April portion of their schedule. The two hottest Rockets? Olajuwon and Walt Williams. They were both smokin' during this stretch.

Remember also that the 45 win team was horrid against the WC playoff teams that year.

I don't want to rain on anyones parade, but I just happen to be an ultra-realist.

 

I What I am saying is that this is a better team than the 45 win team. While we may not go 16 and 0 against the central east I do still expect a very good record against the east. I also expect us to do a lot better against teams like the Jazz, Sonics, Timberwolves, Suns and Trailblazers this year than we did in our 45 win year. I don't think that expectation is a stretch.

Also it was not Dream and Walt that got smoking hot it was Dream and MoT. Walt was hot the previous year down the stretch but not in 2000 - 2001. One of the big reasons we fizzled in April was MoT's ankle problems.

I think our team has improved at every position since 2000 – 2001.
1. Francis is better,
2. Cat is better,
3. We have a group of threes that will be much more consistent than Walt ever was.
4. Eddie Griffin is primed to have a great year at PF and MoT is healthy again plus KT is much better than he was in 2000 – 2001.
5. And yes I think our center position is going to be much better than in 2000 - 2001. Dream only had a run of about 35 or 38 games where he played up to his standards. I don't think we will see KT starting the game at the center this year against Shaq like we did in that 45 win year. I'm not saying that Yao Ming will put together a stretch like Dream did that year but I expect that over the course of an 82 win season that we will have better and more consistent play from our 5 spot.

I’m not saying that it is a slam-dunk that we will waltz into the play-offs but look at the competition and tell me who we don’t match up favorably against? The Lakers, Kings and maybe the Spurs. Yes I did not include the Mavs since when healthy Steve and Cat has always matched up well against the current version of the Mavericks. I am expecting to get 3 out of 4 against the Mavs this year. I don’t think the Mavs have won a season series against the Rockets since Steve has been on the team.

The Sonics, Blazers, Timberwolves and Jazz made up the last four play-off spots. Which one of those teams do you think we have not closed the gap on? Which non-play-off team do you think is better than us? The Clippers? They have yet to even break .500 with that group. The Suns? They have some good players but are they as complete front to back as us? Who’s going to be their center? Is Joe Johnson they’re shooting guard or Penny? Is Denver or Golden State supposed to be better? How about Memphis? They have talent but they also have Sidney Lowe coaching and have never reached .500.

Like I say I don’t expect making the play-offs to be a slam dunk but I do expect us to have just as good a shot at the 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th spots as anyone else in the West.

 

Interesting how anyone can even include the Rockets in a 'Power Ranking' considering no-one has ever even seen our starting 5 play together.

Francis - Injured much of last year
Mobley- had trouble generating chemistry with new starters every day
Mo Taylor - gone all year
Glen Rice - gone most of last year
Nachbar - wasn't here
Ming - wasn't here

the list goes on...

No-one has any idea how it will go with them, they might be dominating and they might not.

IMHO I think they will be great, but who knows - certainly not CNN/SI etc...

 

First of all, who cares what teams are strong or weak in the Eastern Conference? We match up very well with most, if not all, Eastern teams during the regular season. Feasting on Eastern Conference teams will give us the 52-30 record I am predicting for the Rockets.

In the second season we won't have to worry about them at all until the championship series.

 

Allright, this is how I see it. These preseason ratings, polls, and whatever else there are mean literally nothing. (Well except in college football.) So many things can happen in a season its impossible for these sports "analyzers " to predict what will happen. I mean seriously, how many "analyzers " do you think predicted the World Series to be Angels-Giants? Probably none. So while I do think the Rox are low in most ratings, I am teaching myself to ignore them and just see how the season plays out.

 

crash -
I may have gotten the season wrong but....

IMO, there isn't any way a player can be a DNP or on the IR and be defined as "smokin'".

From March 1, 2001 to April 17, 2001 the Rockets played 24 games and were 14-10. During this 24 game span, Mo Taylor was a DNP or on the IR for 11 games and Olajuwon 13 games.

Dividing the total points by all games possible, Walt averaged 7.4 behind Taylor at 8.2 but ahead of Hakeem at 6.9. There isn't any way you will convince me that a player can average 20 points for 3 games and DNP 3 or 4 and be "smokin'". If you want to argue this, then argue that Sam Bowie and Ralph Sampson belong in the HOF for their professional careers.

Considering Walt's function of standing at the 3 point line and tooking fewer shots than Olajuwon or Taylor as no plays were run for him, you can not make a valid claim that the 14-10 was driven by Olajuwon and Taylor. It's either all three or it's Taylor and Walt.

PS - 14-10 translates to .583 which translates to a 47.8 win season.