I know its early but... Rockets place in the Western Confrence Playoffs

You criticize a post because someone thinks the Rockets will get better while likely losing their 4th best player at best, but you think Golden State will pass the Rockets after DEFINITELY losing at least their second best player. Right

 

Exactly. The people criticizing fans for being positive, find it impossible for the Rockets to leap over a dysfunctional Portland team that lost their leader and has a coach who doesn't want to be there, a completely depleted Jazz team that will be lottery bound, and a Suns team that only finished about a game ahead of the Rockets, but find it PERFECTLY logical for the Rockets to finish behind a Golden State team that lost their 2nd best player and starting PG, and a Clippers team that lost their starting center, starting PG, starting 2-guard, and are on the verge of losing their starting SF. Yeah, it's impossible for the Rockets to make the playoffs, but possible for them to lose ground to teams that were worse then them last year, and got worse themselves since then!

 

1. I don't know if the Rockets are gonna lose Posey, but history seems to favor that the team that offers the most money. In this case, the Grizz.

2. Suns' lack of a bench would kill them, you say? What about the Rockets' lack of a bench? The Suns' two rookies, Barbosa and Carbarcapa, are making a killing at the summer leagues and are ready to make the lineup next season coming off their bench. Good draft again for Phoenix after last year's coup at no.9. They've got Joe Johnson, who did great while Penny was out last year, Casey Jacobsen, two tough vets with the revived Scott Williams and Bo Outlaw coming off the bench, too.

Our "official" rookie, Malick Badiane (who looks impressive) won't be here next season (or maybe even the one after). Nachbar is a huge bust who, despite having the go-signal to shoot at the summer leagues against scrubs, still can't make a shot to save his life (except for ONE 35pt game). Cato is probably even statswise (maybe just a few more rebounds) with whichever Jake comes off the Suns' bench. As of today "officially" we've got Juaquin, TMo, and the bench player everyone loves to hate, Moochie coming off the bench, too. MoT can hold his own against Bo and Scott maybe, but that's about it. No domination.

If we go take the starting 5 route. Yao is probably the only one we have with a distinct advantage over the Jake that starts. Penny and Cat are about even at SG (Penny up with leadership, decision-making, and passing; Cat up with offense). Marbury last year finally showed maturity taking a bad team to the no.8 seed and almost toppling the eventual World Champs with close games. Franchise may have had a tad better statline than Marbury, but unless he shows some leadership skills, the latter will still be highly-regarded over the former. Amare vs. Eddie, no contest. Amare is tougher, meaner, and gets the all-important rebounds. Eddie jacks up threes and blocks the occasional shot... and is SOFT. Rice vs. Shawn Marion, I'm not even gonna explain why the Matrix has 20x the advantage here. Marion is in the top 10 among SFs in the league, Rice is not.

Like I said, I hate Phoenix as much as everybody here. But come on, homer! A little objectivity here! And what gave you the notion that I acted like the Suns were the no.1 seed last season? I merely said that no. 10 is unfair to them when they actually upgraded and we, if we lose Posey, actually downgraded (in terms of players, not coaching).

3. With the Golden State issue, I find it funny that my one-sentence-comment got you (and everyone else here) riled up the most. PGabriel says that they lost their starting PG, maybe their best or 2nd best player. I say they replaced him with an ok one in Claxton (maybe not as tremendous as Arenas, but good enough -- he and Kidd were about even during the Finals when they matched up). He says that we will potentially lose only our 4th best player if Posey leaves, but who's behind him in the rotation if we don't get a FA? Rice and Nachbar, who will be eaten alive by more than half the SFs in the NBA.

I may have made a mistake making that comment in my previous post, but Dunleavy's summer league play had me impressed. And they drafted good rookies as well.

And lastly, don't count out Seattle either. They had good chemistry after the Allen-Payton trade and getting a winning record with Allen and Barry leading the charge, they drafted ok rookies, and had nice FA pickups.

In my book, only Utah and Memphis are out. It all depends if the Clippers match the offer sheets of Maggette and Odom. With Dunleavy Sr.'s coaching, you never know with these Clips. Just like you never know with JVG coaching our talented but directionless Rockets.

For the record, here's my take on the bottom half of the playoff standings:
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Seattle

Plus the bootees:
9. Houston
10. Golden State
11. Denver
12. LA Clippers
13. Utah
14. Memphis

 

Rockets will be the 8th seed in the playoffs if they can resign POSEY otherwise.. we probably won't make it with what we have.... even if Yao develops into a 20-10-3 producer.... We would get killed at almost every other position with our lack of Defense.. No matter how good a coach JVG is... U can't teach effort... u can't teach heart.. that was James Posey

 

u cant seriously think the Rockets wont atleast be the 8th seed

 

They will...but more b/c some teams (portland, utah) got worse, and less b/c we got better....

 

I haven't posted in a while, but this is ridiculous. Most either say that we'll be the 13th seed while phoenix and seattle(???) tear it up or that we'll end up 4th seed. You don't have to take a negative outlook just to avoid being a homer.

We were only beat by phoenix by one game. Yao's stamina will be up. The team has grown. JVG will do a better job and hopefully won't get sick at the end of the year. We will end up higher than Phoenix.

Here's my take on a realistic standing.

1. Sacremento
2. San Antonio
3. L.A. ( I'm willing to bet that they wont end up with the best record.)
4. Minnesota (Nice new team. I'm happy for Garnett.)
5. Dallas
6. Houston (The dynasty begins.)
7. Phoenix
8. Portland (Pippen's departure will have an effect on the team.)

 

I see the Rockets, Suns, and Sonics fighting it out for the 7 and 8 spots. Maybe it will come down to who stays the healthiest.

 

You can't seriously think anyone will take seriously a poster that begins a sentence with "lowercase u?"

BTW, the answer to your statement is "Yes." I seriously believe a worse coach, a new system the team has no time to learn, a defensive emphasis with players who cannot D up, and nothing being done about the abysmal shooting of last season will very likely result in another lottery season.

 

The Rox have tons heart and effort. They need leadership and structure. JVG, Yao and Steve will combine to provide that (JVG and Yao will pull Steve along and he will grow this season).

The Rox always play hard. That's not the issue. They just too often make mistakes at bad times. JVG will help.

Posey will not single handidly take the Rox out of playoff contention. Even such a suggestion seems silly. He's good but not that good.

This theory suggests that not a single other player will step up their game next season.

* Yao will probably have a big year with JVG setting up plays.
* MoT was tough as nails towards the end and could really do well this season.
* Cat has improved his game each season despite changing roles on the team each season. No reason he won't do it again.
* Cato may have finally found his niche in the NBA and feels comfortable in his role. He could have a nice season.
* Griff might have a breakout season...(fingers crossed)...but he sure has the room for improvement, right?

Posey is nice to have but the whole season rests on his shoulders? No other players have any responsibility on the success of the team? I ain't buying it. Life will exist after Posey.

btw, Posey isn't gone yet. I bet CD matches.

 

Rudy T's coaching did not keep the Rockets from making the playoffs - poor and stupid play by the team was responsible. Simply having a new coach come in with a crack down on discipline won't automatically translate into more wins much less a playoff berth.

Look at Memphis last year. They get rid of Sidney Lowe and bring in Hubie Brown who cracks down and enforces discipline. Their record did not improve all that much. Are you willing to suggest that the Grizzlies will be a playoff team this year because of Hubie?

I don't think so but this is the widespread belief I see on this BBS regarding the Rockets and JVG. I simply believe that it's a bit on the unrealistic side to expect JVG's presence alone to vault the Rockets into the playoffs especially given the events of the past week or so.

 

As currently configured this team will not be in the playoffs 03-04. JVG will make improvements with current personnel, BUT, the other teams in our conference have, thus far, made more significant personnel changes. As things stand now, to quote Hillboy, it is going to be a "looooooooong" year.