I found Denver to be the pain in the @ss after studied the tie-break theories you guys discussed. with rox and denver's numbers so close, and their piece-of-cake remaining schedule, it is nearly impossible for rox to get #3. I mean, if rox managed to get over spurs, then we won the division, AND we already hold h2h tie-breaker against denver, then we probably end up #2. if we didn't catch up spurs, then denver hold the "division leader" tie-breaker against us. then we probably end up #4. why is #3 so good? because jazz would very very likely end up #7. and #4 means 2nd rd. vs. lakers. bah...the division leader overriding tie-breaker is so meaningless and annoying!
As it stands now, and based on the trends of the last several weeks, no matter where the Rockets end up in the standings they will be matched up with the Jazz.
Avoid Utah!!! I hate them but the Spurs or someone else can do the chopping for us...... and we don't even have to pay them... I'd be willing to tank every game left in the regular season if it meant not facing Utah... what are the chances of Utah getting 5th seed anyways??? They have a really bad road schedule coming up (hehe good for us) and if they can get knocked down to 6th or below that'd be great... I'd love to see Houston vs Portland with HA 1st round!!!
I was watching PTI at the gym this afternoon and they mentioned that in the NBDL this season, they are going to let the division winners pick their first round opponent. Apparently, Stern and the competition committee are going to discuss whether or not to implement this for the NBA Playoffs next year. Under this scenario, the Lakers, Spurs, and Nuggets (in that order) would pick their first round opponent from Houston, Utah, Portland, New Orleans, and Dallas. Assuming none of them pick Houston, the Rockets would be stuck with whoever was left. So theoretically, the Rockets could finish 4th and Utah could finish 8th, but if LA chose Dallas and the Spurs chose Portland and the Nuggets chose New Orleans then the Rockets would be forced to play Utah in the first round. Or the Lakers could choose to face the Rockets in the first even though they finished 4th.
That is the stupidest idea ever. The fact they reward teams for winning a meaningless division is horrible to begin with. But to reward a winner that much? Hell no. What else? Out of the 6 divisions, there are 3 divisions where there is a clear cut leader who doesn't even have to worry about winning. That is the Pacific (West), Central (East), and Atlantic (East). There is only one team in the playoffs for the Pacific division!
Stern is a jerk,who only interest is in marketing. He wants the elite and glamorous teams to have an easy way to the NBA Finals.
I really find this Avoid the Jazz talk annoyingly gay and chickensh1t. If we get them, we get them. I admit the Jazz seem to have our number the last 2 years, but going around and being vocal about ways to avoid them is making us look like a bunch of yellow bellied pansies. The last thing I want is a Jazz fan talking trash to me because they think we are afraid of them. It's one thing to get beat by them in a hard fought 7 game series and you can hold your head high for giving it your best shot, it's another to talk like a sniveling coward and be open about avoiding teams. Man up peeps.
wow spurs losing to the thunder at home -- that would be unexpected news. i still wouldn't like our chances of grabbing the 2 seed thought. spurs' remaining schedule still looks easier than ours. they only have one tough away game left vs. the cavs and i wouldn't be surprised if the cavs put it into cruise control soon. they are 3 games ahead of the lakers with 8 games to go.
