He said this during the Heat-Nets preseason game. "On paper the Rockets are the best in the West [if they can stay healthy] and then its the Lakers in second" Obviously its not an exact quote but a summary of what he did say.
Maybe he's taking the LA's Odom turmoil into play because we are certainly NOT the most talented in the West...even still we will have the best defense in the West.
I heard it too. But, we have a very tough schedule in Nov. And, there are too many injuries right now.
It depends on what your definition of "talent" is. I think it takes talent to be a good defensive player. For example, Hayes is a very talented defensive player. The defensive talent level on the Lakers is much inferior to Rockets.
Legler's on our nutz now?! Oh god hell must have frozen over. I never thought that hair frosting, make-up wearing douche would ever give the Rockets props.
Legler has been on our bandwaggon before. 2005 against the Dallas Mavs. Legler was the only anaylst who picked up to beat the Mavs. We have the best Center in the league, 2 players who are all around in the top 3 at our posistion. Great Depth and two up and coming power forwards. We are definantly deserving of this kind of respect.
At first I agreed with many the LA is more talented on paper but the more I think about it the more I think the Rockets have more talent. If you take each team's top 4 players: Yao > Bynum Scola < Gasol Artest > Odom Tmac < Kobe Gasol is better than Scola but not by as much as a lot of people think (especially in the playoffs). Kobe is clearly better than Tmac. Those are the only two advantages. Yao is significantly better than Bynum and Artest is much, much better than Odom. I think that our top 4 is better than their top 4 without a doubt. Now consider that the Lakers do not have anyone near as explosive as Landry off their bench or anyone who is as valuable as Shane. I think PG is a wash between Alston/whoever and Fisher/Farmar. So our top 4 is better than theirs and our supporting players are better.
I think you're being a bit of a homer. The gap between Gasol and Scola is still pretty significant. Gasol is a career 19/9 player. And Artest is not much, much better than Odom. If anything they're a wash. Artest is more consistent but I would take Odom's best over Artest's best any day. There aren't many players in the league that can do what Odom can when he brings his A-game. Once again Fisher/Farmar combination would destroy Alston/Brooks. I think Farmar is due for a breakout year and Fisher is one of the most consistent/ tough/ clutch pg's out there. We are a Derek Fisher away from being a sure thing. The only way we can beat the Lakers is if Yao truly dominates and shows that he's the best big man in the game today with consistent help from Mac, Artest and role players.
Yeah, but you get Artest at 90%-100% every game, whereas Odom usually puts in about 50%-%75 effort. Odom may have more natural talent, but when it comes to on-the-court production, he pales in comparison to Artest. Plus, Odom has such a fragile psyche that it doesn't take much to make him disappear for long stretches at a time. Artest may have anger-management issues, but when he's on the court, he's there to play.
i agree that gasol is still a better player than scola...gasol has been an all-star in the nba and has put together several season of productivity... scola still has only played one season in the league but their offensive skills are very similar scola is a lot more physical, has better post moves while gasol is a better shooter and taller. maybe scola will become as good as gasol but i doubt he'll put up the same numbers esp with yao, tmac, artest on the team. odom and artest though I would actually take artest any day of the week. odom while on his game is one of biggest mismatches in the league but how often is that? artest is consistent night in and night out...AND artest will be a force on the defensive end as well..odom is a good rebounder but isnt the same league when it comes to defense like artest
i think its a wash the amount yao is better than bynum is the same amount kobe is better than tracy and same goes with odom/gasol and scola/artest our bench on paper i believe is better (if we can get deke back and francis contributes) but their bench has proven to be very productive so i would give their bench an edge right now too.
kobe is much better than t-mac fisher and farmar are much better than rafer and brooks odom and artest is 50/50. theres no clear cut better player. it just depends on who's having the better game. gasol is much better than scola and bynum and yao are 50/50. yao can easily be taken out of a game with the right defense and bynum can explode any given night.
I think we are the best team in the west if we stay healthy, as a matter of fack I would say the best team in the NBA.
The best thing about the matchup with the Lakers is that they will play Yao straight up, either with Bynum or Gasol. We all have seen what Yao can do when he isn't fronted and played by smaller quicker players. If it were to go as I expect, the Lakers would be forced to send an extra man at Yao vs front him, in order to slow him down.
He's been supporting the Rockets for a while. Last season, he would be the only analyst that gave us credit.
anyone that says the rockets are better then the lakers are morons. THe lakers already proved themselves, the rockets havnt proved anything. not saying the rockets cant be better then the lakers, but they have to prove it
