Couldn't have said it better. If everyone doesn't get healthy soon enough for the team to develop chemistry going into the playoffs, oh well. Time is running out.
Sure, but as a team we are in a really good place. - Looks like we are comming together, Tracy, Ron will come back soon and hopefully healthly - We have already played the toughest part of our schedule, now it will be a lot easier - Despite playing without McGrady and Ron, we still managed to win 25 games and right now we are 5th in the West Things should only get better from now. And hopefully they will.
Given the circumstances that have occurred this season... a resounding yes, I am happy that the Rockets are even in the playoff hunt. Summarizing what I said in another thread... In my opinion, the Rockets have had the fourth toughest schedule in the NBA (Hawks, Bucks, and Wizards are the top three). Sure our schedule gets easier, we only have seven back-to-back and one 4-in-5 games sequences remaining. However, the strength of our opponent remains the same. In addition, take a look at our schedule from Feb 28th through March 14th...we play 10 games in 15 nights. No matter who the Rockets are playing that is a tough stretch and prone to have losses to bad teams. This stretch will define and shape how the Rockets will be seeded in the playoffs.
Great Stat! I would be tempted to add wins against Cle and LA if we had gotten any respect at all from the officials. In both games the officials took Yao out of the game. Perticularly against LA when the Rockets were really aggresive in the paint scoring half of their point in the paint but only getting 8 freakin free throw attempts the whole game when LA got over 20.
Sorry to burst your bubble but we have a 0.500 winning record against teams that have a record of 0.500 or better as of today's standings. Losses 1) Nov. 4 - Boston 2) Nov. 6 - @Portland 3) Nov. 9 - @LALakers 4) Nov. 14 - @San Antonio 5) Nov. 19 - Dallas 6) Nov. 30 - @ Denver (what a brutal month) 7) Dec. 23 - @Cleveland 8) Dec. 26 - @New Orleans 9) Jan. 3 - @Atlanta 10) Jan. 6 - @Philadelphia 11) Jan. 13 - LA Lakers 11 losses total, eight on the road and three at home Wins 1) Oct. 30 - @Dallas 2) Nov. 12 - @Phoenix 3) Nov. 22 - @Orlando 4) Nov. 24 - @Miami 5) Nov. 29 - San Antonio 6) Nov. 15 - New Orleans 7) Dec. 9 - Atlanta 8) Dec. 16 - Denver 9) Dec. 27 - Utah 10) Jan. 7 -@Boston 11) Jan. 17 - Miami 11 wins total, five on the road and six at home
Overall happy, considering the issues the team has had to deal with. Disappointed that the biggest issue, T-mac's attitude, is preventable. Still a big cloud over how the rest of the season will play out once they try to work him back into the rotation. Once again it looks like playoff seeding will come down to a couple of wins between 2nd & 8th, so those bad losses may come back to haunt us. Though playoff seeding is important, I'm not too worried about it. What really counts is some playoff success, I think we've all seen enough regular season success in the last few years that no matter how many regualr season wins we have this year, it won't make up for another disappointing playoff run.
considering all the drama yup... we are in a good place, but i still want more from the rockets. i want a top seed and i want to play the jazz in the 1st round!!!
No, not happy. If you look at the top 9 western teams, every team is actually capable of going to the WCF, so for the regular season as long we get home court I'm happy. Right now as it stands we aren't getting home court so the ans is no. Our window of a championship run is closing really quickly, if we don't have any success in the post season this year, then I'll be near panic.
Have they met my "beginning of the season" expectations? Nope (and thats a sad thing) But I feel by the playoffs they will have. (and thats HOPE for a happy thing) -
Happy with Wafer and Landry's development. AB has shown glimpses as well. Bodes well for the Rockets future that may not include Artest and Tmac. Happy with Yao. Yao has stepped up recently and makes me think that he has the ability to carry a team. He's played well against fronting defenses and double teams that has been effective against him in the past. His passing has been better, nice bounce pass to Battier for a layup, nice passes to Scolandry for easy baskets. Somewhat happy with the record, 5th seed right now but we gave away a few games. The one that irks me is the Portland game where Tmac didn't even try to cover Roy on that desparation last second shot. Not happy with TMac, his effort or lack of it irks me, guy making that kind of money needs to give 120% every play. Ole defense on Jamario Moon and not covering Roy is not acceptable. Somewhat happy with Artest. His offense is not as good as I expected but he's a warrior though playing with injuries and he is our most physical defender. I think we are in better shape to get out of the first round this year. Its on TMac this year to get us out of the first round, he'll be the difference. He needs to back up his statement "I'll turn this season around" with desire and intensity.
Philadelphia was under .500 when we play them. SA was under .500 and really sorry team, once they got everybody together we blow them out. Dallas was under .500 (3-7) This is not overall record is their record when you play them. We lost to the Clippers if they somehow go crazy and finish .500 it doesn't mean we lost to a .500 team.
It's only the beginning of something special. We finally have depth. We won't have only 4 guys total scoring in a game. Hopefully our defense will come around when we get everybody healthy. I feel we now have the offensive fire power to hang with the big boys.
New Jersey was .500 when we play them. I know is not to the best win but the victory against Memphis but it count as a win against .500 team. because it was their first game of the season, in fact every team that won on their first game have a win vs .500 team http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Mrg_Div.html
On pace as of this moment for a 50-32 season, but given that our second half schedule is MUCH friendlier, I would expect us to get to at least 53 wins and possible home court in the first round. I think the fact that we've now played 41 games without EVER having our full team speaks volume of this team's resolve, and I can't wait until we are fully healthy. So yes, I am happy.
I'm very happy with where this team is at but I'm less optimistic about the playoffs than I was at the beginning of the season. So far, this team has gone through so many injuries and very tough first half schedule and is still on pace to win 58 games. You cannot be upset with that even with some of the bad losses. Bad losses happen to every team including those who actually have all their players and set lineups. My expectations for the playoffs are not that good, however. I've defended Rafer over the years but I can't excuse his production anymore. Yesterday was probably his best game of the season and it would have been considered an average or below average night for probably 10 PG in the league. His shooting is atrocious and I don't know if it's just me but he looks a step slower than last season. His health isn't what it used to be either. This team just can't beat the elite teams in the league if Rafer is getting big minutes. Unless Brooks suddenly becomes capable of playing every night like he did in the 4 games he started this team needs to make a move and fast. As far as Tracy and Ron go this team needs both guys back and both better be a 90% or better by April. Not only that but they need to learn how to run the offense. I think that is more crucial in the case of McGrady as I see a certain advantage some times in letting Ron just play bowling ball with his body and the defense as the bowling pins. Sometimes it's nice to have a guy who will force his way into the lane and put it on the refs to make a call. Not that I want him doing that often because I would prefer that he play within the offense but it is nice to let the pitbull off its chain from time to time. I'm not optimistic at all regarding McGrady. I actually think this team has a better chance at pulling a trade for a better PG than it does for Tracy to come back healthy AND run the offense. I still see a first round exit as a 50/50 chance. I don't see this team getting out of the second round barring another move by Morey or McGrady getting a heart transplant and a new brain.
I didn't know what to expect @ the begining of the season, given the injury history. I think we should probably be around 29-12 due to some shotty officiating, (portland, cleveland, lakers) and a couple boneheaded games (memphis, clippers). But am I happy? well, I'm not pissed.....Go Rockets.
The team played OK so far but we have too many injuries to be happy. We should be concerned. I am pleased to see Von Wafer performance so far and Ron Artest performance is also fine (though he should improve his FG%). Can't fairly comment on TMac as he is not fully free from injury since the season starts and so is Battier. But Rafer, Scola and Brent are performing below expectation (what happened to Scola, his performance should be better than last season). Brooks seemed to getting better early in season but he is losing his confidence again. Hayes has still not improve his offense sufficiently . Yao perfomance is up and down .. I hope he can be more consistent in the future. Landry is still good. The loss to Memphis is difficult to be accepted.
-I'm happy Rick has keep this ship together and in the right direction. -I'm happy Yao has emerged as the best center in the league and hasn't reached his peak yet. -I'm happy that Morey has put together a deep and capable bench. -I'm happy Ron is here to give this team some toughness. -I'm happy Tracy is finally out of the lineup and not bringing this team down any longer. -I will not be happy if Tracy is still around by the end of summer. -I am not happy that Steve Francis, was slapped in the face again and not given a opportunity over Luther Head.
