Let's catch New Orleans

What a brutal schedule!

 

Cp3 still alive?

 

How so? Lakers are probably gonna give them a freebie.. The rest of their schedule looks very winnable... I see no real obstacles for them.

 

That schedule is ewww.

 

I think we'd have to pass them since they own the tie breaker against us.

 

I looked at all the schedules last night (us, NO, and Mem), and I think to pass NO we need them to lose to Memphis on both occasions and obviously beat them in our own match up. I think the rest would take care of itself.

Unfortunately, I don't see Memphis tripping up enough to be caught.

 

Sarcasm? Lakers are something like 13 and 1 since the break?

 

Only obstacle I see is US because we want that game against them bad, Lakers and Mavs... That's 3 losses. Those other teams are just not there making most of the games winnable for the Hornets. Lakers will probably slip up without Bynum and give them a freebie...

 

they play phoenix, memphis and utah twice each, utah kinda sucks nowadays, they are even worse now with D. Harris out with injury. but its gonna be a tough fight with memphis and phoenix who are all vying for a spot. the game against us will be very important of course. the way we are going now, we have the momentum to go for the kill. but i do hope the games we lost against Wizards, Clippers, Wolves, Pacers ie. the easy teams will come back to haunt us. wish we figured it out much earlier.

 

This probably sounds cliche, but so be it. The Rockets shot themselves in the foot. They, AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON, are head and shoulders better than the likes of New Orleans and Memphis. Rockets lost too many cupcakes early on in the year and this is the bed that they have unfortunately made for themselves.

They shouldn't be "chasing" these 2 teams for a playoff berth. As far as the BETTER team, the Rockets hand down are better than both....PERIOD.

 

If we beat them, we'd be tied for the season series. Would they still have the tie-breaker?

 

He's just stupid. I'm reading these threads on my phone so I enlarge the texts and the poster names get knocked out of the margin. When I scrolled over to see who posted that, I wasn't surprised to see his name.

 

After head-to-head, it goes to division record.

NO is 8-4.

We are 4-9.

 

yes, we'd be 2-2 head to head, and they still would have the better division record.

even if its a three-way tie with memphis and nola, nola would still win the tiebreaker no matter how this season ends.

 

We are having a good run now but do you think we really are better than them? These teams have a guys they can dump it into inside with some post moves, we at best have Scola then a bunch of guys that can go for a put backs and rebound for second opportunities for our "perimeter" to try to score again. Come playoff time, if we make it, we will not be a factor unless we get our guys committed for those second chance opportunity rebounds and put backs. That last game, we didn't really do a good enough job even for their lack of post play. Imagine going a team like Memphis with guy like Marc and Zbo, Hornets of Omeka / West (who actually do have a post game inside) and Lakers would be awful as well.... I see our best chance is getting the 8th seed and going up against San Antonio... Blair is all they have as Duncan won't be able to do much at this stage...

 

Valid points and yes our inside game is conducted by committee no doubt. From what I've observed as of late, the Rockets defensive rotations look a lot more crisp and have become quite effective in beating teams methodically.

Even though we don't have a conventional go-to guy in the low post, I think the Rockets as currently constructed are very unique in letting the hustle and energy override the more talent-centric opposition. This might not translate to winning a series, but I'm convinced that the Rockets at this point in the season are a good team and certainly good enough to not only Hold a candle to any team, but give them a tough match up.

We all know the playoffs are about matchups, and with Yao out, so goes our mismatch edge. We have a mismatch against Thunder (Durant) and Mavs (Dirk). Lakers are really tall, but we've proven that we can fight with them. I'm sorry but I honestly can't put the Grizzlies and Hornets ahead of the Rockets as truly better at this point of the season.

Rockets look very solid and there is no reason for me to believe this is just a hot-streak fluke. They have an identity now with 2 tough captains (Lowry and Hayes) leading the ship. Leadership starts at the top and it's showing in their play consistently as of late. I just wish we had this current team at the beginning of the season so that we wouldn't be stuck in this predicament of hoping for 2 teams we are head and shoulders BETTER than to lose games for a mathematical playoff berth.

 

Heck the Hornets are currently 2 1/2 games up on the Rockets with 11 games to go (Rockets have 10 games). Rockets are 3 games back in the Loss column - a more indicative number. It will be a tough road to climb to make the playoffs. But two games with the Grizzles will be a true test for both of those teams.

But as long as the rockets keep concentrated on the upcoming game and not the playoffs, they should continue to play well.

 

I gotta hand it to Memphis, I thought they would be folding at this point. Especially since they lost Gay down the stretch but they are pulling out some quality wins. The Battier effect?

 

That's right, if we're involved in a tie, it better be with Memphis; if that three-way tie happens, we're in and they're out.

Memphis is playing so good that I'm wondering if the odds to surpass NOLA are better.