All I really care about is beating Portland and break the 1st round curse. Anything after that is a bonus consider the huge chunk of payroll is missing. Rox in 6.
Mike Tyson beat Buster Douglous.. USA beat USSR. The Devil Rays made it to the World Series. The New York Giants beat the Patriots. The Arizona Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl. The Boston Red Sox came back from a 0-3 deficient to win against the New York Yankees just to win the world series. Basically what I'm trying to say is anything can happen. Just because the experts picked Portland to win doesn't mean they are going to win. They picked us to win against the Jazz and that didn't happen. They always said that Houston on paper has the tools to get to the WCF but that hasn't happened. The Rockets control their own fate. Not the experts.
Loser mentality all around how depressing....wins a win who gives a crap about what the future or near future brings us...lets just get pumped about whats here and now and want to win
Winning a championship should be the objective EVERY year. So to that end, whether we play the Lakers in the 2nd round or WCF makes little difference to me. If we want it all, we will have to send the Lakers packing to do it.
As long as Wafer/Lowry/Brooks are able to play at the same level they did in the regular season then we'll take it in 5. EAZY!!!
Tracy McGrady is the only player in NBA history to have won a scoring title but not a playoff series. When we win this series, will Tracy still have this scarlet letter or will it be considered a win for him, even though he did nothing?
Well honestly can you really blame them for picking Portland? The Blazers are 34-7 at home and arguably the hottest team in the league right now. The Rockets suck on the road and the majority of their team including their big star, Yao, has never gotten out of the first round of the playoffs. Knowing all of this, why in the hell would anyone other than diehard Rocket homers be picking us to win this series?
man even tim legler predicted against us. Portland even said they would rather not play us like 5 games ago. i am fully confident we are going to win this series.
Houston in 5. Portland simply isn't as good as their record would indicate. And Roy is the only one on that entire team I would trust in the playoffs at this point.
I don't remember Pryzbilla doing much "couple years back" (I do remember trading him from the Rockets though). But Yao loves the big physical centers, he tears through them. They'll let them play in the playoffs and Yao will handle business.
Wait wait. So getting bounced by the Lakers in the WCF is preferable to betting bounced by them in the 2nd round??
i believe houston will either take it in 4 or in 6!!! we lost by a fluke shot by b.roy at the rose garden... GO ROCKETS!
ESPN Chat: Sudeep (Houston, Tx): Thank you Hollinger for your great articles. Do you think Houston can beat Portland without home court? SportsNation John Hollinger: Flattery will get you everywhere. I think Houston is the third-best team in the West; too bad for them they're in the same bracket as Nos. 1 and 2. Rockets match up very well against the Blazers but that's a very tough building they're going into and the Rockets' place just isn't that intimidating (sorry, just the messenger) ... so that's why I'm taking Blazers in 6.
rockets building may or not be intimidating but the rockets are one of the best home teams in basketball. I think we're no doubt favorites but I could give a f$$k what espn thinks. houston in 5.
Up until last night most of us were saying "bring on the Blazers, best matchup for us". Now we're running scared, litening to the ESPN-Chicken Littles. "Portland's got the Big Mo, Rocks can't play for crap". Horsehockey! Yep, we played terrible last night, but I believe that's behind us and we move on. Worst case scenario happened to us, but no reason to panic. Blazers looked good last night destroying the Nuggets, only because Karl and his team chucked it in early. We owe Denver for that, and will take care of that in the WCF. In the meantime, I think we blow out the Blazers in 5, then surprise Kobe and Company in 7.
Playoff atmosphere is much different than regular season. I remember the Lakers and Rockets series back in the Franchise days. First playoff game I ever attended and it was about as loud and crazy as you could get. Plus, this team was 33-8 at home this season. In any case, I take this as a good sign. Past two season the Rockets had home court and were slightly favored, and we know the result. This season, they have a better matchup, no homecourt and not favored. Seems both times the Rockets won a championship the odds were stacked against them.
