it would be excellent if we somehow beat the Jazz in the playoffs, but c'mon, they've had our number the past two years. we havn't significantly improved enough to make us feel confident that we can beat them. some teams are just bad matchups, and the jazz are our worst matchup. i know jazz fans everywhere are praying that they play the rockets because it's an automatic advance to the next round.
I've watch the Jazz beat us 2 years in a row. I want to watch something else now. I want to see a different color uni!
What I'm going to hate if we play the Blazers or the Jazz is the late night starts for the weekday games. They will obviously put us in the 8:30, 9:00, 9:30 time slot which end extremely late!
I agree. I'm also sick of playing (and losing) to the Jazz in the playoffs. Please give us Portland, New Orleans, or Dallas!
I think Dallas can take us. I don't want them personally. They have known Rocket killers on that Dallas team. But, I don't really care who we play. I don't like the idea of trying to pinpoint a particular match-up for the first round. However, I do live in the D/FW area and I don't want to hear it if we lose in the first round to Dallas. I think Dallas is a tough team when they are healthy. Anyone who wants to play them is, in my opinion, either overlooking them or taking them lightly.
Amen, I don't care to go through another series with Dallas because I don't think we match-up well with Dirk, Howard, Bass, Terry, and Barea (believe it or not). I'd love to put it on Dallas, to be sure, but they're another team that neutralizes our best defenders by not having a supreme, primary wing scorer (Terry doesn't count since he's mostly catch and shoot as opposed to a Kobe/LBJ that dominates the ball where we could use the Battier/Artest combo). I think Brooks would do well against Kidd, but not as well against Barea, it's hard to believe, but it's true :-( Dirk would have either a slower Scola or a smaller Battier/Artest on him and I think I'd grow quite weary of seeing him on the foul line throughout the duration of the series. And for whatever reason, Josh Howard usually goes off against Battier. I think it's because he gets a lot of points off of transition and that mid-range game. It could make for a long series. I'm projecting us to win the division, end up the third seed, and face (gulp) SA in the first round (LAL, DEN, HOU, POR, NO, SA, DAL, UTH). I'd almost rather see NO, but either way, it's going to be a baptism by fire for Mr. Brooks!
They have a lot of playoff experience despite getting knocked out in the 1st round 2 years in a row. You're right,they can cause multiple matchup problems.Dirk,Howard,Terry all are Rocket killers. Kidd can also overwhelm Brooks and Lowry in the playoffs.
lol if we can't beat the mavs then this team just flat out sucks and needs to make major moves. doesn't matter cause we won't get them anyway.
Looking at these comments about whom we match up against best and who we want to face in the first round, I can’t help but ask the question: Say we get Portland, and then get past the first round. Yea! The monkey is off our back, but then we get Utah in the second round and get knocked out. Well here comes that monkey again. How do we feel then? I want Utah, it will be a hell of a series, we can beat them and if things fall apart then there is always the chance of Ron going nuts in Utah and knocking the hell out of someone. And come on Dallas, your worried about Dallas?
I thought of that too,even if we get past the 1st round against an "easy" opponent how are we going to do against a tougher team? If we are at our best in the playoffs,there is an outside chance of causing an upset. Time will tell us if the team has learned anything from our past failures.
I too am really surprised how pathetic this bbs has become. Guys want to to give up a division title, a 3 or possible 2 seed just to avoid the Jazz? Disgusting.
Not only that, this team needs to play a team that's tough in the first round. This team is known for not taking softer teams serious. We've seen this time and time again. All we know as of right now, there's a good chance for us to win the division and a chance for us to get the 2nd or third seed. Nothing will be decided till probably the last game of the season. Either way, this team needs to win and win now. It's a slap in the face for fans to want the Rockets to tank games to get a certain match up. Be careful for what you wish for because almost all the teams in the playoffs right now are tough teams. There's no promises that we will get out of the first around against anyone with HCA. Have a little more faith dammit!!!...
I'm with the last 2 posters. The Rockets need to try to win as many as possible and go for that division title. I'd rather have us cruising into the Playoffs with the division crown then tanking to somehow draw the Blazers. If we get the Jazz, so be it. However, I think with the #3 seed, we'll draw either the Hornets or Spurs.
great teams go out and play hard every night. this is what all rockets fans should want to see from their team. i have a feeling we're gonna win the division, be seeded third, and end up playing the jazz. if so, then it's time to put on the brass knuckles and go to war.
Hoping to avoid the Jazz and pulling for the highest seed is not mutually exclusive. No playoff team in the West is going to be a cream puff. It's all going to be tough, and match-ups will play a huge role. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to avoid a bad match-up as long as you're not tanking. The 94 and 95 title runs were fun, crazy, and tough, but also aided by not facing the Sonics (thank you Mutumbo).
I disagree with everyone who wants us to prove ourselves against the best teams. The playoffs is about matchups. You get the right matchups, you win. You get the wrong matchups, you lose. Over the regular season matchup issues are mitigated by the league-wide sample size of 82 games, with the added noise of back to backs, momentum, a greater number of injuries and maladies, fatigue, long road trips, etc. In a playoff series you're playing against the exact same opponents game after game under relatively orderly conditions. The Dallas Mavericks were a 67 win team a few years ago- the best team in the league. But in a playoff series, the only thing that matters is how a team matches up against the other. The seed a team gets is only indicative of HOW GOOD A TEAM IS AGAINST THE ENTIRE LEAGUE OVER A 82 GAME SEASON. That is irrelevant when you play against a team that has figured out how to expose your weaknesses, mitigate your strengths, and has beaten you in the playoffs the last 2 seasons and continues to outplay us this season when the projected playoff rosters were on the floor. Anyone looking to face a worse matchup over a more favorable matchup is fishing fo a moral victories. They don't count in basketball sadly. We want actual results. With better matchups, we have a better chance of winning the championship. Even if we miraculously beat the Jazz, that still doesn't increase our chances of winning in future rounds- because it's STILL about matchups in those future rounds, which resets after each round.
So your point is that winning the championship never means you're the best team that year? By your reasoning the Lakers wouldn't stand a chance against the Bobcats this year. Every team has mismatches against every team. The whole "they don't match up well against them" explains only one thing: losing. And to be a Rockets fan and to state that beating the Jazz in the playoffs would be "miraculous" is offensive far beyond your weak fear/reasoning.
Actually my point is that being the best team that year overall against the entire league and winning each matchup it faces in the playoffs are two different things. They may intersect; sometimes they don't. And yes, if the Bobcats eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs each of the last two seasons then yes, the Bobcats have a great chance at beating the Lakers this season in a 7 game series. It's true that every team has mismatches against every team. But when you take the totality of those mismatches, then you have winners and losers over a 7 game series. We may have 1 or 2 mismatches against the Jazz, while they have 5 or 6 mismatches against us, whereas we may have 3 or 4 mismatches against the Spurs and them 3 or 4 against us, and 5 or 6 against the Hornets and them 1 or 2 against us.
