This is still a question mark. If he is added.. and back to his dominant self, for how long? This decade hasn't been too nice to us so i'm not getting my hopes up.
Last year, we were a 42-win team and the Lakers won the West with 57. Given health, we now: Have an entire season with Kevin Martin as a featured scorer instead of Ariza Have Brooks settled into his role as a featured scorer Have an entire season of Hill as a potential game changer off the bench Have the potential boost off the bench in Patterson Will start a legitimate center each night instead of Smurf patrol The shadow of McGrady permanently lifted from the locker room All that said, we've got major wildcards when it comes to the health of Yao and Martin. Until Yao demonstrates that he's himself again, I wouldn't count on more than a 8-5 reduced role from him. My guess is that we should be a 52-win team, +/- 3. If we catch a huge break and flip pieces for Carmelo, we have a true shot at the Finals. Evan
While I agree with most of your premise, we cannot ignore the fact that Landry was a huge part of our success last year.
Were a "moderate" team if: 1) The Rockets cant make the transition from a running team to a semi-half court team when Yao is in there. 2) Yao gets hurt and misses most of the season 3) if all of Hill, Patt, Lee, Bud have marginal seasons Were a great team and title contender if: 1) Everyone stays healthy and Yao plugs into the rotation seamlessly. 2) If at least 2 of these players have a breakout season: Hill, Patt, Lee, Bud 3) Everyone else at least equals their performance of last year and accepts whatever role given them. 4) The Lakers have a major injury to one of: Bryant, Pau, Bynum.
Is the OP implying the Rockets have not improved? Last time I checked, this team had a winning record last season. Now add Yao Ming, the best center in the NBA and Kevin Martin, an elite NBA scorer, and an upgrade at the wing position with Courtney Lee. Sounds like the Rockets got a helluva lot better. Not to mention a more experience Bud and Hill.
Rockets are a top 4 seed in the NBA, but will not beat the LA Lakers in the playoffs, just not good enough. I'd be happy with a 2nd round appearance, thrilled with a WCF appearance, and disappointed in anything less. The thing is that the West is so bunched up that the Rockets can beat anyone (except LA) in a 7 game series but also lose to anyone in a 7 game series and it wouldn't be an upset. The Rockets have the greatest chance of missing the Playoffs altogether with Yao getting hurt again.
Why tank? The Knicks are worse than us this year. We might get a top 3 pick from the Knicks in the next draft.
This seems like a pretty reasonable assessment to me. I think when healthy we match up with the Lakers as well as most teams in the west. I would have to see how the season plays out before I made any predictions though. Kobe might be fully healthy this year (or might get injured again, didn't stop him too much last year though). The Lakers also got Blake, which could be key in making up for Fisher's weaknesses (side note- I just read a scouting report about him that listed his defense as just decent though). The Lakers are beatable though, and if Perkins hadn't gone down, I think Boston might have beat them like they did a few years before. I think we match up well and finally have the offensive fire power (and should have a pretty solid defense this year with Yao) to beat them. We'll see, I'm excited about watching it play out.
the rockets got better than last year. without their best player, rockets still got a winning season, and almost got in playoffs, now if you have your best player, you can go higher. I think we will be in 3rd-5th seed in the playoffs.
They're stuck in the middle and thats the worse place to be. There are clearly 3 teams in the the east who are better and probably at least 3 in the west maybe even in their own division. They will play hard and maybe win 50 games and lose in the 1st rd and posters will talk about next year again. Hot the reset button and lets go.
You're wrong. With Yao back and with the additions of Miller and Patterson, the Rockets are a significantly better team than they were at the end of last season, even with the loss of Ariza and Yao playing at a diminished level after the injury.
Im a die hard Rockets fan. Know this first. But I am not blindly optimistic either. For those that say we are sooooo much better than last year, consider this: 1) Got Martin, but lost Landry. Thats nearly a wash. 2) Got Miller, lost Anderson. An upgrade for sure. 3) Got Lee, lost Ariza. A wash in talent, but a slight upgrade in terms of team need. 4) Got Yao. Nothing, I mean nothing has been proved in terms of what he can do, or for how long. Incomplete. While we are slightly better overall, so are most of the teams ahead of us. It all hinges on Yao.
Good post, though I disagree about Martin, as we got a near all star level starter for an efficient backup, that is a big team upgrade, IMO. But you are spot on about Yao, it certainly does hinge on him. A lot of us are choosing to believe what the org and doctors are saying that he will be good to go......if they are right, that is a MASSIVE upgrade. If they are wrong, we are a marginal playoff team, and need to make some major moves. Gonna be fun to see what happens. DD
100% agree. this year is one that will decide rox either continues its journey with yao or makes a sharp turn.
