they are still above .500 without him and have beat dallas in dallas. also their two best players (butler and jamison) are going to have huge mismatches over battier and hayes. don't go counting them as a victory just yet.
they are above .500 with most of their opponents from the east. and... no one is counting a victory for any game of this season.
there's never been ANY doubt that we make the playoffs. how that goes down and what happens when we get there... who knows??? if nothing else this team is UNPREDICTABLE... the team has the talent they could go 30 and 10 to close out the year. when there's no expectations yao and tmac have pulled out some crazy runs over the years of course they could also lose 10 of 12 when we least expect it... on any given night this team is the best or the worst of the NBA
Well, to get to 50 wins the team needs to go 33-15 the rest of the way. Considering we had to play Boston 1x, SA 2x, Phoenix 2x, SA 2x, Detroit 2x, GSW 2x, LAL 2x, Denver 2x, Utah 1x, Portland 1x in the first 2 months of our schedule, there is no doubt the competition will be MUCH easier. In the next 2 weeks we have Minnesota, NY, Washington, NO, Philly, SA, and Seattle 2x. There is a VERY good possibility, especially with T-Mac coming back, that we will be 24-18 by the 23rd....to keep it safe let's say 23-19. Then we got 3 tough games in a row with Utah, Golden State and Portland to end the month. Say we go 1-2, that is 24-21 by February. Then in February the schedule gets even easier, with Indiana 1x, Milwaukee 1x, Minnesota 1x, Cleveland 2x, Atlanta 1x, Protland 1x, Sacramento 1x, Miami 1x, NO 1x, Chicago 1x, Washington 1x and Memphis 1x. It is very possible 11-2 for the month, and even more possible we go 10-3 or 9-4. Let's say we go 10-3, that would leave us at 34-24 by the end of February. In March the schedule gets tougher. Denver 1x, LAL 1x, Dallas 1x, Indiana 1x, NO 2x, NJ 1x, Atlanta 1x, Charlotte 1x, Boston 1x, GSW 1x, Phoenix 1x, Sacramento 1x, Minnesota 1x, then ending the month with SA. This is a month we will probably stick around .500. Because by then the team will probably be rolling after 2 good months of basketball, and assuming everyone is healthy, I say we go 8-7. That would leave us at 42-31 before hitting the final stretch. The last month is fairly light, with Sacramento 1x, Portland 1x, Utah 1x, Seattle 2x, LAC 2x, Denver 1x and Phoenix 1x. I can see us going 6-3 or 7-2. Let's put us at a safe 6-3...that leaves us at 48-34 to end the year. Right now there are 7 teams in the West with a better winning % than that, but there is no way teams like NO, Portland and LAL stay as hot as they have been. If even one of them does, that leaves the Rockets for th 5th or 6th seed, and a 1st round matchup with the likes of Denver, Dallas, NO, or GSW. I'd say Denver and NO are very beatable, Dallas and GSW are not beatable with the Rockets' history vs both.
Some signs of life of late, but this team is in a deep hole. It will take a spectacular run to really achieve contender status. My best hope at this point is a tad over .500 and a strong run right before the playoffs to gain momentum. Then, anything can happen. My brain tells me that the Rockets get beat out of the playoffs by either Golden State, Portland, or the Lakers. My heart says they squeeze in. Realistically, they must get red hot, and soon. The uninspiring play in late November and December may come back to haunt them in May. Actually, I prefer a "blockbuster" trade of TMac for a perfect fit of two or three players. A TMac return with his 30 something shooting percentage and "celeb" attitude could sink this team. Then again, he is capable of the unexpected, and could explode for 50 every night. The drama continues.
YES we can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a] Coach 'A' has to stay awake and alert to the needs of the team, especially with matchups and not over playing his charges. b] The Players must want it! c]Tracy Mc Grady must play a new game its called the team game, he must no longer insist on dominating the scoring with a low percentage but become an offensive force when the ball is passed to him in an open spot. d] Yao Ming must not be afraid or embarrassed to rack up huge numbers if the shot is open for him, close to the basket. e] Players like Scola, Landry, Novac and Brooks need to be developed and used. f] Players like James , Francis, Mutombo, Snyder should be only used sparingly. get the young ones ready by the playoffs. g] The NBA should receive a major complaint about the refering of our Center. h]The Rockets Management must not be afraid to admit that they make mistakes and should not be embarrassed to make mid season corrections.
I would like for someone to do this kind of analysis for the Jazz, Blazers, Warriors, Nuggets, Hornets, etc... To see how easy or tough those teams schedules have been thus far in comparison to ours. I sure as hell am too lazy to do it on my own. Maybe a rookie seeking member status can find the enthusiasm to attack such a task?
You can just go to the Hollinger rankings at ESPN and see the SOS numbers... that will give you a good idea. Utah has had a pretty rough beginning schedule as well. There is somewhere else you can look it up too, but I can' think of it at the moment.
two three weeks ago, I was ready to give up on this bunch, but now I'm seeing some life again. What I especially like is that the pieces we didn't have last year - Scola, Brooks and Bonzi (I consider this his first year with the team) - are playing pivotal roles, and Alston seems to be finding his offense which the team desparately needs from his position. It's far from perfect but these guys are starting to play some solid team basketball. And if they can keep it improving when McGrady returns (a BIG if), I can see them making a serious run in the second half of the season and beyond. Maybe Hollinger wasn't so crazy after all.
wow, currently 7 teams in the west are on pace to win 50 games. that is absurd ! its almost not fair that the west is this stacked
Of course we will, we have a rotation now, and players understand their roles. Now add in a little of our best player....Tmac....and away we go... DD
This is well done. I agree that Dallas and GSW would be really tough for us to handle. I'm still hoping for 50 wins, but I think your analysis is good here.
