San Antonio may be slightly weaker, overall, but having Duncan for the entire year should even that out. Prediction: 58 wins Dallas should be deeper, more experienced. Dirk will be stronger. Buckner is healthy. Tim Hardaway? Prediction: 55 wins Houston will be a quick, young team. Francis is great. Hakeem will be missed. Rice will make a Pippen-like contribution. Prediction: 42 wins Your thoughts? WildArkieBoy
You are not asking for a fight, aren't you? I think the Rockets would do at lest 8 games better than your prediction and thus make the playoffs (barely, 7th or 8th seed). Rice may be on the decline but he will NOT make some Pippen-like contributions like bashing teammates (hopefully). As a diehard fan, however, I have to say that the Rockets may still be the weakest among all three Texas teams ... but I tell you ... all 3 Texas teams will make the playoffs! I do agree Francis is Great though!
1. Spurs 2. Rockets 3. Mavs I've said it before, and I'll say it again... you guys really overstate the Mavs potential. Out of their 4 key players, 2 are in their prime (Finley and Howard), 1 is injury prone and in his prime, and 1 player with potential to improve. In other words, Finley and Howard are as good as they will get, Nash is likely to suffer an injury, and while Dirk has potential, do you really expect him to improve that much on 23 points and 10 rebounds a game? You can also talk about role players, but I fail to see how they got better. They lost Calvin Booth, Howard Eisley, and Gary Trent, and brought in Tim Hardaway, Danny Manning, and Adrian Griffin. At best even, although to me it looks more like a dropoff in that department. I like the Mavs, and they have potential, but they are not a top team in the West this year. They have got to add a physical piece inside on offense and defense and become more than just pure shooters and slashers. We got that this summer in Eddie Griffin. How much of it will he contribute in his first year? Who knows? But a rookie who brings a physical presence inside is still better than no one. Do not be surprised if the Rockets have a better record than the Mavs next year. With Mark Cuban, Dirk, and Finley, they do have the potential to be a championship team in the next few years, but not all the pieces are there yet.
I disagree with your estimation of Dirk, Cat. He has improved steadily and impressively each season. He has a shot at being an all-star. I really think he is the most talented player on the team and will overshadow Finely this year. He was impressive in the playoffs and was sick throughout. He was on an IV all day before their last game and also played after having his tooth knocked out in the middle of a game at the begining of the series. Juwan is a role player and will settle into his role very well as he has a chance to play the entire season with the squad. Now that Nash has a solid back-up he will have a lot more in the tank come the 4th period. Just my two cents. I think they will be on par with the Spurs this year. Not to mention they have something of a vendetta to pay the Spurs this season. That series got pretty heated.
I hate to admit it, but until the Rocks make the playoffs, 1. Spurs 2. Mavs 3. Rockets (Hopefully, this will change this year) Yeah, yeah, the Rocks played both of them tough last year, they added 3 talented Fs, a year older and better, etc. But the (objective) fact is, until the season starts and the Rocks show their stuff, you can't rank them above or between the playoff teams. Remember what Jordan once said, before the Bulls won their 4th title and the Rocks were the defending champs, "Until someone beats them, the Rockets are still the Champs, they are still the best team." Until the Rocks beat the others in the division standings (they all play the same teams), the others are still "better."
1)Rockets - I don't need to make sense, I'm a rabid homer 2)Mavs 3)Spurs - No Heart of Champion, have Heart of Roadkill 4)Comets And I could pick five random guys from the street corner, and still beat the Bulls. I'd even spot them points too.
Gettingbranded, your team's biggest goal is finisheing anything other than DEAD LAST in the league. You will be battling Memphis for league's all time worst team, and you'll lose the battle. So why do u insist on downplaying the Rockets when the Bulls are so awful? Future, they may have, but they are currently awful, and a lock for a top 4 lottery pick next year. While the Rockets are probably gonna make the plaoffs in the WEST this year.
hello every one clutch ,the boss aka-ZRB hehehe to all im back been working 24-7 for real.Man i miss cc.net well I want to say the rocks are #1 but till they prove their playoff bound the rocks are just an o.k.team.BUT dam do I dream of next year opening the PAPER and reading that the rocks are the team to beat. I Believe! do you?
Originally posted by gettinbranded Boy thats fandom there. Spurs Mavs Comets Rockets ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is interesting! Have the Comets-Rockets ever played an exhibition game? WildArkieBoy
1. spurs 2. mavs 3. comets 4. rockets 5. clippers 6. My middle school "b" team (undefeated the whole time I was there) 7. bulls for the next 10 years
1. Spurs 2. Rockets 3. Mavs I somewhat agree with The Cat on this one. The only thing that the Mavs have that the Rockets do not is Shawn Bradley, and, well, that isnt saying much. I like the Rockets talent and potential over the Mavs, although both teams have great chemistry. In my opinion the only position that Dallas has over the Rockets is PF, cause Nowitski is the real deal. But I expect them to have a worse record this year that last while the ROckets improve (somewhat analogous to the Rams in football if you will, although the Mavs didnt win it all). As far as the Comets go...I respect the WNBA and all, but C'mon. Willowridge would have easily beat the Comets. My $0.02
