I dont know how you could think we are not playoff bound. We are already a better team than last year. Why? We had no inside presence last year and crappy rebounding. We have no inside presence and/or rebounding for next year. But where we had an extremely inconsistent SF last year, now we have exactly the opposite. Also, we have another rookie who very well may be a top 15 player in a few short years. We have a team that has rid itself of most of its chemistry problems (Hakeem and Shandon) while loosing few of the real great locker room type guys (Bullard) thus far. We are a team that can score on anyone at anytime. We are a team that feasts on the East. We are a team that wont lose those games to the Clippers (no, they still arent good), Warriors, Nuggets, and Grizzlies this time around. We are a team with a GREAT coaching staff. We are a team that can still surprise people (such as those who think we arent playoff bound) and one that still has something to prove. We are a team with heart. We are a team with an enormous amount of talent. We are a team of the future, whether you believe it or not. Is Phoenix? Is Minnesota? Is Utah? Is Seattle? Convince me that they will make the playoffs over us! It is ok to have doubts, but optimism will make you a happier Rockets fan and that's the truth
We'll make the playoffs because we obliterated a conference whose staple was the guard, which is a testament to just how good our guards really are. Obviously they won't repeat that effort, but they also won't have such an abysmal record against western foes, no? It all equals out. It's also highly likely that they'll improve their mark at home, and if they can build on their road record from last season, and become more consistent at home, then they should get in. What has our competition done to improve? Phoenix? They unloaded Kidd, a player who made Shawn Marion look better offensively than he truly is, and brought in a more offensively oriented player in Marbury who people seem to think can run an offense smoothly. Fact; his numbers, especially in the assist department, are misleading. They unloaded Cliff Robinson, a player responsible for much of their success, and now they are BANKING on oft injured Tom Guggliotta and Penny Hardaway to return to their former glory. Who do they have at center? Lurch aka Daniel Santiago and Big Jake. *and the western conference trembles* I'm not impressed. Minnesota? They remind me of the Hawks and Cavs playoffs teams of the early 90's; just a good team with no chance in hell of getting past the first or 2nd round. They added a one dimensional player, Joe Smith, and I'm being kind calling him that, and a soft headcase, Woods, and THAT'S supposed to be a "good" offseason? Adding players to your roster doesn't result in a better team necessarily. Sczerbiak will not improve greatly, the only place Brandon can go is down at this point in his career, and their streak role players like Peeler could very easily go into a walt like slump for the entire season. The Clipps? Hype at this point. The problem I have with people evaluating their team, is that they equate athleticsm to talent. They have NO outside shooting, and their lack of experience in a halfcourt set makes them susceptible to defensive schemes to easily shut them down. The Rockets added a consistent Walt(hopefully), who won't get posted up and shot over as easily as Shandon. I don't think he's going to affect the chemistry of the team like many have hinted at. The way our guards are double teamed, and the number of kick outs that should result from those drives, I just can't see him developing an insatiable appetite for shots on the offensive end. He'll get plenty.... With Griffin now on the team, Rudy has an infinite number of lineups he can throw at teams due to the defensive flexibility he gives us. In the end, it all comes down to the players on this team acting like every game counts. Cut the bullsh*t celebrity posing that occurs in the 1st quarter of most games. Francis:stop pretending you're an airplane after dunking and strutting down the court in close games, and act like a man on a mission. Mobley; quit jumping up and down like a baby after not getting the foul call on plays where YOU initiated the contact. Keep your head up at all times and be decisive with your moves. Taylor: Act like rebounding is as important as scoring. Now more than ever, with Rice on board, we need you to catapult into the realm of "average rebounding for a power forward". No more offensive rebounds for your man and keep your hands straight up on defense! If this team acted like they were playing the Lakers every game, and felt like the underdog as opposed to their usual stance of presumptious superiority over the Cleveland's of the world, then it will be one hell of a ride.
An argument has raged for a couple of decades about how many star scorers you need on your team to get to the promised land. Some say 2, some say 3, apparently no one ever says one... How about 4? This lineup: 1 - Steve Francis 2 - Cuttino Mobley 3 - Glen Rice 4 - Maurice Taylor 5 - TBD / Kelvin Cato ... is impossible to defend against. How do you beat a team that you can't defend? You outscore them. What is they're outscoring you? You lose. It is that simple. Look at the Lakers. Are they a great defensive team? By all means, NO. They have two options that are impossible to defend - Shaq and Kobe. 2 is enough in their case. Look at the Spurs. Are they a great defensive team? No, but pretty damn good, and why? Twin towers + DA - wait, that's gone now... The Bulls of old had 2 unstoppable threats and won handfuls of rings by them (MJ did make Quitten an unstoppable threat). The best teams get where they are not by defensive prowess, but by having more than one unstoppable scorer. We did that both years we won. Hakeem did NOT singlehandedly win those championships; he had a very talented complementary team both years, and there was another prolific scorer on each team. We have 4 consistent threats now. Two seems to be the norm, 3 gives insurance. Four is overkill, and that's fine by me. No one will be able to defend this team. If nothing else, that will get us into the playoffs. 6th seed, IMHO. And the team that no one wants to play in the first round. PS, the Rox-Mavs series will be the most exciting games of the year to watch; the Nowitski/Finley/Nash-Hardaway lineup will be the only real 'neutralizer' we'll have to face - a real Texas shootout... No one else - East or West - can really match up against us.
treeman, you almost had me convinced. 4 star scorers is impressive. But then I started thinking, well, we had 3 of those last year and missed the playoffs. You would think that 3 "consistent threats" should be able to dominate, but that wasn't the case last year. Although, it's conceivable that 4 legitimate scoring options could get you into the playoffs, if not very deep. Everyone else had some points, but I'm not going to argue each one. Looking at those 4 scoring options, that is just going to make our center that much better. Being the weak leak, I imagine he'll be rotated off of the most. Leaving him open for the pass and hopefully a dunk. Given that lineup of Francis/Mobley/Rice/Taylor/Cato, you wouldn't think Cato would get many looks, but I can see him averaging 10+ ppg. Thanks, treeman. We may make the playoffs on our offensive firepower alone. Pray for health.
Not every team gets better with age. Only teams that are very young. Like, oh, say the Rockets? yeah, that's right, the ones that have an average age of 25yrs old or so......
OK, this doesn't prove we're a playoff team, but it shows IMO that we have the same talent level of the playoff caliber teams in the West. I ranked the players (1-10) on each 12 man rosters for the contending teams and added the total points up for a team total. I dropped the lowest two ranked players on each team since they probably won't contribute much to their team. Rockets C Cato 3 PF Taylor 6 SF Rice 6 SG Mobley 7 PG Francis 10 6 Norris 5 7 Griffin 5 8 Thomas 4 9 Williams 3 10 Collier 3 11 Langhi 3 12 Morris 2 (Rockets total 52) Spurs C Robinson 7 PF Duncan 10 SF Bowen 4 SG Smith 6 PG Daniels 5 6 Parker 5 7 Porter 4 8 Rose 4 9 Jackson 3 10 Ferry 3 11 Parks 3 12 Bryant 3 (Spurs total 51) Mavs C Bradley 5 PF Howard 6 SF Nowitzki 8 SG Finley 9 PG Nash 7 6 Hardaway 5 7 Buckner 4 8 Griffin 3 9 Manning 3 10 Echmeyer 3 11 Najera 2 12 Bouges 2 (Mavs total 53) Wolves C Garret 3 PF Smith 5 SF Garnett 10 SG Szczerbiak 6 PG Brandon 7 6 Woods 4 7 Peeler 4 8 Billups 3 9 Nesterovic 3 10 Mitchell 3 11 Slate 3 12 Lopez 2 (Wolves total 48) Jazz C Ameachi 3 PF Malone 9 SF Marshall 7 SG Russell 6 PG Stockton 7 6 Kirilinko 4 7 Ostertag 3 8 Starks 3 9 Polyniece 3 10 Stevenson 2 11 Lewis 2 12 Crotty 2 (Jazz total 47) Kings C Divac 6 PF Webber 10 SF Stojakovic 7 SG Christie 6 PG Bibby 7 6 Jackson 5 7 Pollard 4 8 Turkoglu 4 9 Barry 3 10 Funderburke 3 11 Wallace 2 12 ? (Kings total 54) Lakers C O'Neal 10 PF Horry 5 SF Fox 5 SG Bryant 10 PG Fisher 5 6 Hunter 5 7 Richmond 4 8 Walker 4 9 Shaw 3 10 Harper 3 11 George 3 12 Madsen 2 (Lakers total 54) Suns C Tsakalidis 3 PF Gugliotta 4 SF Marion 7 SG Hardaway 7 PG Marbury 8 6 Rogers 5 7 Delk 4 8 Wallace 3 9 Bell 3 10 Elie 3 11 Del Negro 2 12 Buchler 2 (Suns total 47) Blazers C Sabonis 4 PF Wallace 8 SF Pippen 3 SG Wells 6 PG Stoudamire 5 6 Anderson 6 7 Davis 5 8 Patterson 4 9 Randolph 4 10 Kemp 3 11 Kerr 3 12 Harvey 2 (Blazers total 48) Clippers C Olowakandi 5 PF Brand 8 SF Odom 8 SG Miles 6 PG McInnis 4 6 Magette 4 7 Richardson 3 8 Piatkowshi 3 9 Rooks 3 10 Dooling 2 11 Strong 2 12 Boykins 2 (Clippers total 46) OK, that ranks us 4th as far as talent is concerned. I know my rankings are argueable, but they are how I truely see it. Tb-Cain, I hope this at least shows you we have the talent to make the playoffs. As far as chemistry and intestinal fortitude we will see with time. (sorry if my post took up too much space)
