I would still be very happy to just see the Rockets in the playoffs. However, if we want to advance to the second round, the key is to get to a top 5 seed. I don't think we can beat Spurs/Thunder/Clippers this year. However, we have a good shot against everyone else in the west. When talking about playoffs, the fast teams usually suffer because they lack two things: 1. rebounding 2. interior defense. That's why Asik is so important to this team. The early Mavs/Suns/Kings never had a defensive force like him inside.
This. We actually do have decent defensive minded players and a defensive minded coach. We just happened to be young and fast. I definitely think a running team can win in the playoffs. My biggest concern is actually our lack of athleticism. Other than GSmith and TJones, the rest of the league seems loaded with players playing above the rim. I saw the OKC/TOR game yesterday and in comparison, they looked so much more athletic.
Part of why I like the idea of Josh Smith, or a similarly athletic PF, for Morey to hunt down. Or for TJones to develop quicker because he's not cracking the rotational minutes yet. ngl, part of this is because I want to see the Lin alley-oops, 'cause I miss 'em.
Actually this team seems good at rebounding across the board, minus PF. http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2501 Part of why I love this team is that they use good rebounding to start the fast break, and the 1, 2, 3 positions all have enough ball handling skills to start the break; and hell, Asik can throw a half decent full-court pass. I remember him throwing two that connected.
Wages of Wins currently projects Houston to get 4th seat in the west... http://wagesofwins.com/2013/01/06/nba-power-rankings-for-the-2012-13-season-volume-3-love-hurts/ :grin: And Lakers to need an intervention by God (or Stern) to bump Timberwolves out of 8th seat.
Nice find! Wow, the statheads like us, they really like us! Hard to believe that even with a tough remaining schedule, we're projected for 53 wins. Like Hollinger, he also rates the last 10 games very highly. Without injury, I'd say 48 wins is about right.
I put down some $ at the beginning of the season that we'd win more than 31 games. I placed the bet right after the Harden deal was announced. I should have put down more $! Doh! But them's the breaks.
That's why I'm so high on the Anderson/Beverly signings, and for keeping Cole. January is going to be tough with so many games and I'm glad to see Morey shoring up the rotation in preparation for that. Asik's already hit about his limit so you can't expect much out of him on the second of back-to-backs anymore, unless someone else takes most of his minutes for the first game. And I really really REALLY don't want the backcourt to get banged up more than they already are.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="289742084942987264"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/truehoop">truehoop</a> I'm going Rockets, Warriors, Jazz, only b/c of injuries to Minny. Utah salary dump trade obviously would change that.</p>— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/289742486618918912" data-datetime="2013-01-11T14:36:06+00:00">January 11, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="289742084942987264"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/truehoop">truehoop</a> Warriors, *Rockets, Blazers. Wolves too many injuries, Lakers too much ground to make up, Jazz probably make moves to change team</p>— Jim Park (@SheridanBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/SheridanBlog/status/289762026228686848" data-datetime="2013-01-11T15:53:45+00:00">January 11, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="289742084942987264"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/truehoop">truehoop</a> Warriors, Wolves, Rockets</p>— Beckley Mason (@BeckleyMason) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeckleyMason/status/289742269219737601" data-datetime="2013-01-11T14:35:14+00:00">January 11, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I just hope if we go for that playoff spot or decide to 'tank' so to speak, it will show in our trade deadline moves.
Don't lose hope now just cause of these 2 losses guys???? When we can score to 100+ like we normally do, we are hard to beat, we've seen the results before and it's going to be alright man!!!
The schedule for us after January will be very different and manageable. In a best case scenario, 53 wins are possible.
Where can I find the original source of this chart? Do the horizontal bar represent the timeline also for each team?
Not very good, but we knew that coming into the season....except for those guys that always listen to what ESPN says for some reason even though they are wrong every single season.
