BSPN forecasts the Rockets to finish 8th in the West

Go ahead, then. Bet against Vegas.

 

Not saying they're wrong, but keep in mind Vegas adjusts lines to get even action on betting, not to reflect what they think the team's actual chances of winning are. Those odds may be more reflective of the casual fan placing action on the Rockets due to them having 2 superstars.

 

People are over-estimating what we lost while under-estimating what we have.

Parsons - Ariza is a wash.

Lin was a neutral to net negative on several nights and some combo of Canaan / Johnson should be able to replace his production.

Asik was good but for 12 minutes a night can be replaced by an improving DMo.

Add to that the improvements expected from Bev, TD, TJ, Harden, DMo and another year of H & H and Rockets will be fine.

Main thing holding this team back is the coaching or lack thereof with McHale being possibly the worst coach in the league. Rather than trying to upgrade the roster at this point, Morey should focus on getting a new coach and assistant. Only reason to retain McHale that was plausible was a long shot at Love but that is gone so fire his clueless arse ASAP and let's move on.

 

They are over estimating Parsons. The guy has never seen a double team in his life and he got a max contract. That's crazy.

 

And when we don't lose in the 1st round, how will Morey be judged for retaining his azz?

 

Fixed

 

No Christmas game for Houston.

Cavs Heat
Thunder Spurs
Warriors Clippers
Wizards Knicks
Lakers Bulls

 

weird one but i guess for timezones purposes it works

im not mad at not getting a game because one of Australia's biggest sporting days (boxing day cricket) falls on the same day

 

and they're excited with additions of washed up players like richard jefferson, felton, nelson, TC lol.

 

The Wagon of Disrespect just keeps on rolling. Who in the bloody hell wants to watch Wizards Knicks (outside of maybe Kevin Durant )??

 

Vegas odds tend to be more accurate than ESPN Insiders' predictions. It would be interesting to look at several sites' betting odds and see how they think the standings will end up.

 

yeah you have no clue

 

I sure hope Ariza plays for us like he played out for his contract year. His track record is against him though. If we have a coach that can hold Harden accountable for lack of defense, we don't have to rely on Bev and Ariza to cover him up. I really hope Harden can mature this season and start making efforts on D. He's a good defender if he tries. Don't want to get my hopes up, because I wished the same thing last season and nothing changed.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The 2014-15 NBA schedule will be released at 5pm CT today. We'll post it on <a href="http://t.co/zzp8LZLzRS">http://t.co/zzp8LZLzRS</a> with links to download to your calendar.</p>&mdash; Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/statuses/499558627842088960">August 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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I wish there was a way to add it to my Google calendar (or Hotmail). I don't think they do that; they only have a way to add it to your Outlook account.

 

Not a fan of Outlook
ugh

 

One of the more insane things about that is forecasting every single Western playoff team to win less games than last year except the Mavs. And this is even with the Timberwolves now ripe for sweeping. That's basically saying "hey, the East is rising this year. We got...
...
...
Pau Gasol!"

Overall they have the East winning 22 more games and the West 22 less.

Anyways, I'm not going to get too pissy about the Rockets' ranking because the West is a slaughterhouse. Projecting them as a 49-win team in the West is like slotting them at 3 in the East.

 

You know what, that's alright with me. I hope they post this inside the Rockets locker room.

 

As usual, people claim they don't care about ESPN or any other media/mouthpiece, if Rockets is not presented in a very positive way. But then this thread is still going for 12 pages, and likely to double.

It's the same in GARM year after year, people overestimate role players on the roster and under-appreciate anyone who has left the team.

Asik was huge in the first year with us, and he was the reason that we had a defense, and he contributed a lot to our playoffs appearance. As many have pointed out, Asik did his job last year in the games he played, with almost identical efficiency.

Parsons was celebrated as the ultimate glue guy, the most important factor of winning (with all kinds of complicated addition/subtracting of Harden, PB, Lin in and out comparison in some hot threads).

Lin, well, as an Asian, I am not allowed to talk about him unless I label him as utter garbage, so I will just save this.

But now they are gone, so all of the sudden, history has completely changed - they weren't important, we are sure that their input can be easily replaced, not because of stats, but due to our "belief". Same thing with PPat or Hamilton or any role player.

People got worked up for one or two games difference in a "forecast". With McHale's ability to adjust or pay attention to details, or lacking thereof, a few late game swings are actually a better projection.

Some even talked about Asik/Lin stealing money, is just beyond rationality and honesty. They were paid 5 million a piece last year.

BTW, I disagree with ESPN's projection, and I would place Rockets at 6 - as if it matters.

 

Knicks fans don't use the excuse of "we will show up if you guys are contending". It sucks to be a Knicks fan, but it's always been good for their team and players.