A healthy and dedicated Harden almost guarantees this team a 40-win season. And with the current roster, maybe an extra five or six victories. Beyond that is a stretch IMO.
I imagine we will see a 45+ win team this year - maybe even 50+ wins if the D'Antoni marriage clicks. Harden can carry a team to 40 by himself. With a few other scorers and proven vets around him and a proper offense, I don't think 48ish games is all that unrealistic. The other thing is there are two perennial playoff teams that I think have gotten significantly weaker - OKC and Dallas and I feel like San Antonio has slipped a little due to the age of all their role players. Meanwhile the only two teams that seem like they will be better than last year is Utah & Twolves - but neither have made "the leap" yet. Obviously we are not a contender with Golden State+Durant but neither is anyone else in the league. HOWEVER, that team is now a little less deep than it was last year and we already know they have had an unbelievable string of good injury luck. What happens when one of those guys goes down? Curry's handles and range open up lots of passing and driving lanes - if he gets hurt, they aren't the same team. Durant goes out and the team is basically a weaker version of last years team. Draymond gets hurt and they all of a sudden are exposed inside and lose some of that switching edge that caused them to be such a great defensive team - in other words, NOT the same team. I think they can get by without Klay as long as they have Durant but I worry again that that they are exposed a bit if Zaza or one of their super subs(Iggy or Livingston) gets hurt. And let's remember two more things about GS in the regular season - statistically they are far less likely to win 70+ again meaning there are another 5-7 wins that someone else is going to get AND it takes time for the "teams" to gel and GS is adding two new starters. The learning curve might not be too high given the quality of their replacements, but it still will cost them at least a handful of games where everyone isn't on the same page. GS is still going to be a nightmare in the playoffs assuming their health luck holds, but I mean to say there is a chance that one slip/knee injury could drastically alter the seeding, the playoff picture and in a moment a nice team(like Houston) could become a legit contender if the landscape changes.
The Warriors just won 73 games and are looking to make it 74 or 75 this year. 25 games behind the best team in the league should be a real joy to watch.
Ha ha ha....na man I think that squad could score with anybody....agreed they are not stopping anybody and will lose, but they would score more times than Ron Jeremy in College.
I noticed that in all of the suppositions, predictions, wish lists, hopefulness, prayers, etc. for the upcoming season there is no mention of the word DEFENSE...which tells me all I need to know about what to expect from the 2016-2017 group of guys who will be wearing Rockets jerseys.
If I were the Warriors, I would not care about regular season wins so much. They were not as dominant in the playoffs as they were in regular season. Establish dominance in the playoffs is key.
Has there been a season of Rockets basketball that you've been optimistic about since Hakeem retired? I'm genuinely curious.
