So I'm going out on a limb and saying that we're making the playoffs. The question is, what is the ideal seed for an actually playoff run (beyond the first round)? If we get the 5th or even 4th seed with HC, we risk facing the Lakers in the second round. If we can somehow get the 3rd, I'd be ecstatic. But outside of that I'm hoping for the 6th seed facing denver hopefully. The more we avoid Utah, Lakers, and the Spurs the better.
Obviously 1st and 2nd is fantasmo, but on reality basis 3 would be a beautiful seed. We would play: Portland, Jazz, Mavs, Suns or NOs (personally I think Denver will be 4th or 5th LOWEST, once Nene comes back they have enough to hold on I believe) - NOs we match up with well (now that we have speedy guards and they don't have Chandler so who can stop Yao?) - Portland we match up with well. Bad night for Yao, reserves carried us to win. I believe stronger Yao and we can win nicely. + Portland is young and inexperienced that can only help. - Jazz are tough. Boozer gives this team all sorts of fits as does Deron. Lets hope its not them. - Mavs/Suns - Yea I'm going to say this *knocks on wood* if we get them we will DEFINITELY get out of the 1st round for the first time in however long. Heres to hoping for 3/6 matchup (rox as 3) vs. Mavs or Suns or other 2 are ok, just not Jazz .
Oh I'd like to add benefit of 3 or 2 seed is no Lakers in 2nd round. We have 2 rounds to hope for a huge upset, or at least get to WCF before we face them. Not saying Spurs are easy, but I think we matchup better.
I agree with almost everything you said I still would like to avoid the Jazz in the 1st round. That whole starting line-up just makes me nervous. D-Will...their bigs...Millsap...I hate that team. In the 2nd round though, it would be a fantasy to face them. Here's to hoping we land Blazers, Hornets, or Mavs. I would put Suns 4th. Imagine if we took a couple of those ugly losses out against Memphis/76ers/Bucks etc...we'd be 2nd seed easily. Again, I'm nervous about the 1st round but after that, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I really, really hope we can advance. Imo, had we beaten Utah in 07, we would have been able to beat the Warriors to go to WCF. That year was a toss up
Ideal? First. Realistically? Whichever gives us the best matchup. I'd like to get the 3rd to avoid the Lakers until the WCf, but the west is so close together that it could actually be more beneficial to us to be the 4th, rather than the 3rd, depending on who we play. I'd much rather play Portland or Dallas than Utah.
Last year, we were the laughing stock. Remember teams purposely losing or trying to lose to land the rockets? Spurs/Jazz...damn them to hell
They would eat us alive. Roy is clutch as hell and they are fearless in the 4th. Did you see how they came back on us last night? I think the Blazers wil be a better team in the playoffs than in the regular season...
LMAO. You guys are seriously getting way ahead or urself by wanting to land a preferred seeding. We are not even playoff bound yet. We don't even know if we can get past first round and you're talking about second round seeding?!
If you are going to hope, don't hope for the sixth seed, hope for the second where we would likely play Dallas or Phoenix. Despite our struggles this season we are still competitive with any team in the West, sans the Lakers.
Seeds 2-6 would do for me. Though, if we want to win it all, we're going to have to go against the good teams at some point. And looking at the next 5 games for seeds 2-5, I think us and Den have the easiest schedule ahead. 2. SA: vs Por, vs Cle, @ Por, @ LAC, @ Dal. If SA wins those against Portland, thats in a way, big for us. Or if they lose those, and we keep winning, it puts us closer to the 2 seed. Currently 3 games back. (And Duncan getting his knee looked at today,didnt play yesterday) 3. Denver: vs Atl, vs LAL, @ Ind, @ Det, vs Por 4. Houston: vs Cle, @ Chi, @ Min, vs Tor, @ Utah(4 out of the 5 very winnable) 5. Portland: @ SA, @ Min, vs SA, vs Ind, @ Denver(Either theyre gonna be moving up, or dropping.)
Well you did say ideal.. lets see. 2nd seed. 1st round Dallas, 2nd round Jazz who beats NO, 3rd round Denver who beat LA, Finals beat Miami. LOL
Rockets don't need to avoid anyone. They just need to keep up their intensity and build on this streak and chemistry while clinching homecourt. They will gladly face whoever falls in their path. This team is good enough to beat any team in the Western Conference in a 7 game series. The thing that concerns me is how effectively Yao was neutralized in the 4th last night. It looked like Aldridge was holding him most of the time (can anyone confirm this?). Even if he were being held while fronted, it's fair game if the refs don't call it (most likely). Therefore, I hope Yao can learn from this and find an alternative way to adapt when teams try to neutralize him late in games.
Good teams can come back on anyone on any given night. Roy and Aldridge are special players (man I'd love for any of them on the Rockets), but even then, it's unlikely every game the Rockets play against them will play out the way it did last night. In a 7 game series, the Rockets will adjust as would the Blazers throughout the series. Last night, the main factor in the Blazers' comeback from what I observed was the fronting defense on Yao by Aldridge. Yao just couldn't for the life of him break free and establish position. This is very concerning. But Yao is a smart player and hopefully he will adapt when he faces this in the playoffs.
I'm willing to bet the Rockets will make the playoffs. 50 wins will guarantee playoffs, I don't care what anyone else. And we have about, what, 25 games left? All we need is 14 wins. 14-11 seems possible if you ask me. I'm just going from the top of my head.
There's something that bothers me: a monkey on your back. For the Rockets, it's the all too familiar first round that they struggle with. I think this team is good enough to challenge in the 2nd round, but not deep enough for the whole west. It's all match-ups, really. Like I said, if Rockets beat Jazz in 07, they could have beaten the Warriors and go WCF. Instead of 1st round exit, WCF. That would have given them a lot of much needed confidence.
