Sneaking in with 45 wins? I don't think 45 wins gets you the 8th seed, and I don't think he does either.
Don't see why not. Portland has a winning percentage of .531. .531 x 82 = 43.5 wins. Add a few games here and there, and 45 could do it.
If you look at the schedule, with 44 you probably make the playoffs. The question is if we can do 21-10 until the end. That's a VERY good record, for a team with (an easy schedule, yes) but no all-stars and no 7 footers. The trade -and the health- will be the keys. With the current team + Brad, I don't think we can win 21 out of 31, so I guess Daryl's probably doing the calculations with the trade (and the improvements) in mind.
Portland has had easier schedule so far compared what they will be facing in the March. That does not mean they will drop; they are usually good when they play against good teams, but still if we consider schedule.. we have easiest schedule from now on.. especially March and April time. I took all playoffs team from the west and only top 6 from the east (.500 +): Houston: 13 games against those teams (8 at home to 5 on the road) Portland: 18 games against those teams (10 at home to 8 on the road) Memphis: 19 games against those teams (9 at home to 10 on the road) Phoenix: 19 games against those teams (10 at home to 9 on the road) Our schedule has a 13 game stretch, where only 3 teams are .500+. That actually comes after the break so we will be well rested to make a solid run (may be a trade). Portland has a 11 game stretch, where 9 teams are good teams - 2 against Lakers, 2 SA, 2 OKC, Dallas, Utah and NOH. I predict that stretch will be brutal for them. BTW, we have played 3 more road games then portland and 5 more than phoenix. Memphis is tied, but again.. they gotta 6 more games against good teams than us. Schedule favors us a lot.. Allows us a stretch where we can make a huge run (well-rested & may be a good trade?).. Hopefully, we will make a full use of it.
I think going 21-10 until the end is possible, but the question is, what would we need to go, after THE trade actually happens..... If the trade(s) was made today, I would be pretty optimist about our chances.... The problem is, we are still going to play against Dallas, Mem, and 2x Denver before the deadline, and I know we play 3 of these games at home, but man, we dropped so many winnable games this year, with this team no game is an easy WIN. Granger and a legit C can´t come soon enough PeAcE
I really think this is the case , he is the most marketable of the Rockets players who's contracts expire after the season and he's going to want a substantial raise in salary. Cant see him sticking around so might as well get what you can for him now. Ive mentioned this in a couple other threads but I'll restate it again. I believe the Rockets are in a use it or lose it situation with many of their "assets" because many are set to expire at seasons end - Battier , Brooks , Jeffries , Hayes and Yao all expire at the end of the season. The Ariza trade exception expires on August 11th. Some time on this but if its packaged with some of the above .... They have to move those assets or risk getting nothing in return. That wasnt the case so much at last seasons deadline other than McGrady's contract. I expect the Rockets to be much more active in their attempts to either move those contracts for a talent upgrade or to simply swap them for assets with a longer shelf life.
I just asked Feigan a question in his Q/A part of his blog. Don't know where to post this. Based on this response, look for Morey to make a trade that will get us into the playoffs at all costs.
Morey held onto Brooks for too long. They should've dealt him in the off-season coming off his MIP when his trade value was at its career peak.
We really needed a big and Charlotte just lost Raymond Felton to the Knicks via free agency. I think we should have sold high on Brooks and offered him up for Chandler and also get Beasley from Miami when virtually no team wanted him.
Sounds like Morey realizes Melo maybe the last star he can actually get for a good while and he is slipping away. Good to hear he is frustrated and tense...something is going to happen or he may decide to blow this bad boy up.
I think Morey is awesome, but he says too much publicly to keep a comfortable home. Mentioning that you are looking into sign and trades will affect the young players and passionate players on this team. I know it's part of the business, but you have to be more sensitive with the loyalty of your current players.
I think there is a good chance Denver either keeps Melo or trades him to a rental like Dallas or us. NJ backed out of the deal and according to Stein, the owner was serious about it. And reading the recent article by Ken Berger of CBS, I think even the Knicks don't want to trade for Melo this season and might not even have as much interest for him. http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/27352641
Yup. I am not convinced that Portland and Denver will drop off. We are only a few games ahead of the Clippers and Warriors. I would take the lottery spots, to be honest.
Not with George Karl coaching. We have to go 22-8 to get 45 wins. They have to go 16-17 to get 45 wins. I believe they have the tiebreaker as well, as does everyone. We are Greg Fockered We need to blow this thing up before I start a riot.
Well, we picked the wrong time to blow things up. Even if we lose every single game the rest of the way, we still will end up with a pick no higher than 10th or 11th pick. There are no studs in this years draft as well and some might not even declare because of the lockout. Morey and Les have gone on record as saying they will not tank and will make moves only to upgrade the team. Moving Scola and the rest of the vets, you better be asking for a legit superstar in return. We should have blown this thing up last year if we needed to. Sadly, we played Scola and Battier when we should have been playing Hill and Budinger more minutes.
i've gotten the impression their target is 2012, and if they don't get anything out of that, then stuff gets blown up, this season is pretty much dead and next year if it happens, may be heavily shortened, so its not that much to lose.
Only FA I can see that we have a chance to sign is Howard, if Hakeem lobbies for him to come to Houston. But I don't want Hakeem to subject himself to Isaiah Thomas status and lose his integrity.
I know why Morey is talking playoffs...it's his job. I'm baffled that anyone else would think a team that wins 4.5 games out of every 10 for 60% of a season is suddenly going to win nearly 7 of 10 for the remaining 40% of a season. Especially given the Rockets record against +.500 teams.
