Honestly, only the top 4 teams in the East can compete. All of the playoff teams in the west have a shot (except for the Blazers) depending on the match ups. I believe if the Rockets make a nice run going into the playoffs they will be one of the top 5 or 6 teams to beat. LA Boston Cleveland Orlando Atlanta Houston Denver In a seven game series these teams can beat anyone including the Spurs, Jazz, Suns, Blazers, and Thunder. How do the Rockets match up with the Lakers? Bynum is better than Hill, but he will be coming off of an injury so Hill should be much quicker off the break. Scola is about the same as Gasol. This match up can go either way. Ariza and Artest are the same. Artest is getting old. Martin will make Kobe work on the defensive end. Battier will make him work on the offensive end. Brooks will run circles around Fisher. It comes down to the power of the Rocket bench. Battier, Budinger, Hayes, Lowry, and Andersen's six fouls are more valuable than anything Odom, Brown, and Farmar can bring to the Lakers. Even if this team makes the playoffs and gets swept (unlikely) that playoff experience will help a lot more next season than any draft pick in the teens. This young Rockets team needs NBA playoff experience together.
Well, do you question probability theory and statistics? If you do, you should take your argument to math professors on why you feel probability distribution is a load of hogwash.
The Rocketes. Proof that probability is nothing more then mere numbers. How many times does this team need to prove they can overcome the odds? The more they win, the more chance they have to contend. The only team that worries me is the Lakers and we might as well get them out of the way early.
Come to think of it, you're right. The Rockets have indeed been beating the odds. Normally, when you think of 4 v 5 matchups in the NBA, the odds of each team winning is about 50%. Rockets are 25% in this decade in 4 v 5 playoff matchups. And they were 0 for 3 before last season. So the Rockets have sucked much more than what's typically expected of a perennial 50 win team. As we have consistently pulled defeats from the jaws of victories. Thank you for reminding me yet again of our choke jobs in recent years. I was trying to forget them too.
There's no way the Spurs will lose to teams even better than them that many times... Pop, Tim, all of them... they know what they need to do to get into the playoffs and even keep their 7th seed right now... Plus... if they start losing like that, you cant expect them to keep losing, the Spurs have a veteran group. They know what adjustments they would need to make to beat teams that are even better than them, not to mention the fact that the Spurs are streaking right now.
Not gonna happen (playoffs) Wait till next year. Yao/Hayes/DA Bosh/Monroe Shane/Budinger Martin/Brooks Brooks/Lowry
Nothing wrong with missing the playoffs this year especially the way things are with the current situation. Always next year......
I think if Portland loses tonight - we're definitely still in the hunt. If we keep winning this week and Portland loses to Dallas - how can you not try to make the playoffs? We could find ourselves Friday morning only 2 games back in the loss column. Definitely too early to give up.
