and then play the Spurs and lose. then it's all up to the Rockets to beat the Spurs and hopefully the Cavs. best realistic eastern matchup.
I said I rather face the jazz in the second round (not first round) does that make you think I made a guarantee to you that this team would confidently advance?
Nobody's pointed this out, but the Jazz give alot of trouble to other teams as well. We aren't the only Western playoff team who has tough time beating them, even LA struggles with them sometimes, especially if they get hot and are playing in Salt Lake City.
I just updated the thread and would keep on updating until the end of the season. The standing of tonight 03/25, is the best scenario for Rockets. If the Rockets is a true contender for the title, I would not even bother to have such a thread. The fact is the Rockets is not. I just hope with a favorable seed, they can play deep into the off season. They certainly would gain more experience and identify the key area to improve, if they get chance to play more off season games. On the other hand, I really do not see how this Rockets would beat Jazz in the off season, and how a three in a row loss to the same opponent would help the Rockets to get better.
its sad when i gotta feel as if u gotta run from another man (team) just to win a championship...its too many p*****s on this forum...grow up and man up...to be the man, u gotta beat the man woooooooooooooooo
point taken. but were you saying we'd fold if we draw utah in the 1st? houston starting five - dorsey cook white wafer brooks just to gain some valuable experience for the young guns, you know.
If the Rockets can't beat the Utah Jazz, with or without McGrady, then they don't deserve to be NBA champions. If the road to the championship means having to play Utah, then so be it. The Rockets just have to play better.
really? take a look at what the spurs did in 07. spurs have troubles everytime they face the mavs but they didn't meet with mavs in the postseason of 07, and they won the championship eventually. What if their opponents in 07's WCF hadn't been the Jazz but mavs? Mavs chocked in the first round and got out of the playoffs regretfully, then the Jazz's oppotunists took that chance and made the WCF. Jazz is just a pretending contender which always sucks in front of the real contenders like spurs, only the mentally crisp teams like rockets are feared and fooled by the Jazz's horrible tricks.
It's a very valid discussion or debate. Get the best record we can get - vs - drop to 3rd seed to avoid the jazz. This is assuming Jazz are 7th seed. Of course, if they are 6th seed, then it would be great for the Rockets to steam roll through and clinch the 2nd seed. Conventional thinking would say just to play the best we can and see what happens. Playing well at the end of reg season only means we have great chemistry and momentum moving into the playoffs. That-being-said, I really hate the thought of meeting the Jazz AGAIN. I swear, it's like they are playing bad on purpose just so they can meet us in the first round those dirty b*stards!
interesting approach. i'd rather have the rockets play the jazz more. we won't beat the lakers nor will we beat the spurs. we're lacking a superstar. pile up a lot of practice against the jazz. beat them if you can. be ready for that time when either tmac comes back or we sign a 20 mil contract for a huge player.
exactly, we don't have a superstar at all. We have a former superstar under contract but he is already done for his career, at least his time in houston is already finished.
I am talking about Yao, Artest, Battier, Scola, Brooks, Landry...A deep run will give them confidence, experience; while another 1-round exit will be devastating. Who in his right mind would care whether the guys you mention will play or not? How many of them will be in next year's roster?
Completely agree. But are we talking about championship? championship? I would like to smoke what you are smoking. I would not mind the rockets playing Jazz in the second or third round, but not first.
we play dallas for the last game a day after utah finishes their regular season, eh? is it possible that by then if we lose, dallas or phoenix will be in as #8; and if we win, the jazz will be in as #8? in that case...
I wouldn't want us to play the Jazz but if things happen it happens. I don't want the Rockets organization to be ducking teams by losing on purpose just to face someone else...
Admittedly the Spurs last ring took them through the easiest road possible to win. They got SO lucky to face Denver, Cleveland, etc... that it infuriated me. There was also the infamous Suns series. Dayum i hate them for that ring. In conclusion, I agree with Durvasa's statement completely... nobody ever said the Spurs deserved that ring.
Glad to see there are still some Clutch Citizens around here. I can't believe all this talk about avoiding teams "at all cost" because they play us tough...hoping that maybe we can luck up and back our way into the finals. What real competitor feels that way? and can you ever really respect that kind of attitude? Furthermore, what does it really say about your team? Championships are EARNED gentlemen.
