I the rockets will be an average team with at least 40 wins and 45 as their best bet.. maybe slipping in to the playoffs as the 8th seed. if they weren't gonna make the playoffs the rockets could quit*( not likely ) and try to get a really good pick for the lottery... To me i just see the rockets hustling down the court for wins... just like how we beat L.A in the playoffs ... The rockets players can step up .. all they need is a leader who can create and help out the role players... even though we don't have artest we'll eventually have tmac back... at least we have good signs for tmac that he is already practicing with the team and trying to get back... the only reason i have a good expectation for tmac is because its his contract year and he needs to make an impact or else the rockets won't sign him or no one would.
i see a .500 team if they hustle everynight like the playoff vs. the Lakers. 1 or 2 extended injuries(not counting T-Mac or Yao, and yeah this could be a 50 lose tems.
What especially worries me is the rebounding or shot-blocking. Personally I don't believe that Andersen will be much of a threat on the boards or of blocking someone, and Chuck Hayes at center is simply not going to block shots. Whatever the case, we'll see what happens.
While I don't disagree with Hank that it's a 50 loss team (in fact, I think a lottery pick would go a long way in helping out the future of our franchise..), I can see how people were annoyed at his OP since he failed to justify his opinion or provide any explanation at all.
Between 50-55 losses sounds about right. Even when Yao went down 2 years ago and the Rox had the great run, they had Dike to play center and a healthy TMac. Now minus T-mac and Deke from that team it's hard to see them winning many games. The defensive glass is going to be brutal this year and points are going to be hard to come by. The young guys will likely get lots of PT and that won't be good for the W column in the short term either. The Yao situation is really awkward. He's a proven star but also proven not to be able to take the physical abuse to his body. Maybe he can last a whole year but maybe not. Similar situation with T-Mac.
We are not the worst team in the west. Rox are at least better than: MEM, MIN, SAC GS (29-53) 10th in the west If you use last year's stats, among the 4 teams, highest ranking is GS with only 29 wins and 53 losses. I think we are going to play a lot like GS, with less offensive talent but more defensive talent. 30-35 wins is a pretty good prediction. 50 losses is actually quite possible.
Those teams have added more talent (at least on paper) while the Rockets have lost talent (Yao, Deke, Wafer, and who really knows what we can get out of McGrady this year). I could see GSW and Memphis having a vast improvement in their record from last year.
Not only that, Chuck Hayes will probably rack up a lot of fouls b/c the new refs are horrible. They don't know his game, and everytime Chuck swipes at the ball, they will call a foul even if it was all ball.
They will be the worst 3 teams in the West book it. I think Morey's ulterior motive is to draft somebody special. Even out of the playoff picture regardless tanking it seems very likely this season and they done this before in the 83 season.
QFT. Without McGrady, this team will be hard pressed to win 30 games. We just do not know when TMac will come back or whether he will still have game.
Averaging 20 10 on a consistent basis is not valuable? Tracy: Here's who Tracy McGrady was when he came to the Rockets: 2002-03 Orlando 32.1 PPG on 45.7% shooting, 6.5 RPG, 5.5 APG, and 1.7 SPG 2003-04 Orlando 28 PPG on 41.7% shooting, 6.0 RPG, 5.5 APG, and 1.4 SPG Here's what he's given the Rockets the last two years: 2007-08 Houston 21.6 PPG on 41.9% shooting, 5.1 RPG, 5.9 APG, and 1.0 SPG 2008-09 Houston 15.6 PPG on 38.8% shooting, 4.4 RPG, 5.0 APG, and 1.2 SPG Salary Numbers: 2002-03 Orlando Magic NBA $12,072,500 2003-04 Orlando Magic NBA $13,279,500 2004-05 Houston Rockets NBA $14,487,000 2005-06 Houston Rockets NBA $15,694,250 2006-07 Houston Rockets NBA $16,901,500 2007-08 Houston Rockets NBA $19,014,187 2008-09 Houston Rockets NBA $21,126,874 2009-10 Houston Rockets NBA $23,239,561 Yao: Here are Yao Ming's stats the last 4 years: 2005-06 Houston 22.3 PPG on 15 shots at 51.9% shooting, 10.2 RPG, 1.6 BPG 2006-07 Houston 25.0 PPG on 16 shots at 51.6% shooting, 9.4 RPG, 2.0 BPG 2007-08 Houston 22.0 PPG on 15 shots at 50.7% shooting, 10.8 RPG, 2.0 BPG 2008-09 Houston 19.7 PPG on 12 shots at 54.7 shooting, 9.4 RPG, 1.7 BPG Salary Numbers: 2004-05 Houston Rockets NBA $4,436,880 2005-06 Houston Rockets NBA $5,594,906 2006-07 Houston Rockets NBA $12,455,000 2007-08 Houston Rockets NBA $13,762,775 2008-09 Houston Rockets NBA $15,070,550 2009-10 Houston Rockets NBA $16,378,325 What do those numbers tell us about Yao? ANY player that gives you 20 and 10 and doesn't shoot 25 times in a game (Yao's high is 17.1) is a really good player. That's plain, it's simple, you really can't argue it and still have credibility. Yao's 20 points on only 12 shots a game is phenomenal. It's extremely efficient and means he does more with less. Can anyone really look at those numbers and not see why Tracy would get the brunt of the criticism?
TMac will drag everyone down below average. Forget about him. He only plays for himself, not for the team.
guess we look like chumps whenever yao was out of hte lineup since he's been a rocket and especially last year in the playoffs. straight up garbage i guess. he's never been a top 10 MVP candidate in his ENTIRE career (if i'm correct). yao is very key to this team. but he isn't one of those players where you take him off the team and we look COMPLETELY lost and become a doormat for the league. PS - where's tracy in this dicussion?
When Mcgrady comes back he may push us closer to a mediocre team status...depending when he comes back, I'd say we win about 40 games +/- about 3. I would say more if we had an aging Mutumbo at center, but right now our frontcourt is one of the worst in the league and our backcourt is mediocre, borderline bad. This season is going to be ugly, not as ugly as the year before we got Yao, but ugly none the less...oh wait, we're suppose to think we're going to have a great season regardless of what type of players we have because if we don't then we aren't 'true fans'...GO ROX! Woohoo! 09-10' NBA CHAMPS!!! Woohoo!...
