Mark likes to do fluffly long pieces on player's personal life. He's not the LATimes primary NBA writer, and he occasionally likes to diss the Clippers for the hell of it (more than others..,). I think he has his head stuck up in the Yao frenzy and momentarily forgot that injuries killed a Rockets team that had an All-Star and a 20 point scorer. I still can't believe he placed us with the bottom feeders... Oh well, actions and results speak louder than half-assed predictions. http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...727.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers In predicted order of finish By Mark Heisler, Times Staff Writer 1.) LAKERS 2.) SACRAMENTO KINGS 3.) SAN ANTONIO SPURS 4.) DALLAS MAVERICKS 5.) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 6.) UTAH JAZZ 7.) MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 8.) SEATTLE SUPERSONICS 9.) CLIPPERS 10.) PHOENIX SUNS 11.) HOUSTON ROCKETS- 2001-02 record: 28-54, 11th. Offense: 92.3 (22). Defense: 97.2 (20). Gone: Kevin Willis. Arriving: No. 1 picks Yao Ming and Bostjan Nachbar. Outlook: Owner Les Alexander, hyperventilating since they went into the lottery with the fifth-worst record and came out with the 7-foot-5 Yao, says this could be "one of the great teams in history." Maybe he means one of the best teams he has owned but this won't even be that. Yao didn't arrive until last week and within a few minutes in his first exhibition, committed a lane violation on a free throw, had a rebound taken out of his hands by Emanuel Ginobili and a shot blocked by David Robinson. On the other hand, Yao is surely better than the other tall geeks he has been compared to (Manute Bol?) Nevertheless, it'll take him two or three seasons -- not months -- to adjust to the faster, rougher NBA. Prediction: Despite the hype when he faces Shaq or Tim Duncan, this isn't even Chapter One of the Yao Saga, just the Introduction. 12.) MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 13.) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 14.) DENVER NUGGETS
Reading all of these predictions makes me want to scream and cry and break glass. I cant wait for the Rockets to prove all of these bastards wrong. The mission starts tomorrow. Game on.
This is one of the most uneducated, unresearched predictions ever They only mention Yao! He is just a piece of the puzzle. Also what kind of idiot would think that a team that he himself picked to finished 11 even compares to Rockets teams that won championships under Les??
boy this guy sure went out on a limb, picking the exact same teams that made the playoffs last season.
....ME NEITHER..Either that sportswrighter has been driving too much on the LA freeways with his windows down..or..he has his head planted firmly up his...Tailpipe.....
I'm so sick of these morons making money with this bull**** they call good writing. Someone needs to pluck the eyes out of this twit with a pair of tweezers.
I'm optimistic about this season, but not nearly as much as some. But picking the Rockets to finish 11 is just insane. What's interesting to me about these media predictions is most of them I think are really ignorant. So many I've seen really reflect disrespect for Steve and Cat's overall game, see MoT as too small, Rice as decrepit, E. Griff. as a project, KT as an over-achiever and Yao - well, we've already seen a lot of writers start hedging their bets while still laughing with glee at his current deficiencies. All of those arguements have appeared here over the last several months, but not at the same time by one guy (trolls excluded). It's strange to see the montage of doubt collected by the pundits. I may have one or two doubts, but not six or seven. And these guys are apparently expecting everything to go wrong. The odds of that happening aren't good. One thing though, all the ones I've read are cool about Moochie. Every other Rocket they care to mention just has a question mark stamped on their foreheads. In my experience many answers to questions have been quite surprising. The NY Times capsule I read I very much enjoyed, though. Our visit to the MSG is going to be hilarious.
You can't put much stock in an opinion of a local writer. Their main job is to concentrate on the sports in their own city, not every single NBA. It's much more annoying when national publications/websites write something stupid, because they're paid to be knowledgeable of ALL teams.
Note, please, that the jerkoff for the San Antonio paper also picked us at #11. Do writers for W.C. teams with dominant big men have just a touch of disdain for Yao or what? What a dumb article. It didn't temper the abuse of Yao with, "After 15 hours flying on Sunday with little rest, straight into training camp, still playing by international rules..." Yes, Yao'll need some time. But I liked what SI wrote, something like, Yao will spend the next couple of years learning from the best. Then he'll be taking them to school.
I think it's more like fear. His size alone will make him disruptive but when you add in his skills and athleticism...let's just say these writers are really, really hoping he takes longer to develop than sooner
Eddie Griffin may be the "X" factor these out of town writers aren't taking into consideration....though I heard Michael Murphy say this morning on 610 AM that he didn't think the Rocks would make the playoffs.
Ya know... Who cares what the hell the writers say! Cuz ya know what, once the Rockets takes the floor then that is when everything is gonna be proven and done! They can RANK the Rockets LAST for all I care, cuz once our Rockets come in a-THUMPING and SLAMMING in their faces! They will R-E-S-P-E-C-T us!
In a way, it's GREAT that this L.A. Flaker sports writer is taking the ROXS lightly!! It will be fun 2 see the ROXS sneak their way 2 the top!!
