Am I the first guy to believe the Rockets may even take #1 seed? I feel the Warriors are less formidable than last year.
I think what happened last year is that the Warriors won A LOT of games that they should have lost... like they had a good amount of come back wins and stuff. Similar to what we did to the Wolves, and also they were chasing history near the end of the season instead of what most teams that already clinched the spot do which is rest/coast. Right now the Warriors statistically are playing better than they were last year, but the only thing that has changed is that they have dropped a couple of games. I feel like the Warriors are just as good if not better than they were last season. But no, I also do think there's a small chance Houston can catch up if we play like we have been playing since Dec. 1. Still, it's only half way into the season so a lot can happen. Very happy and excited for this team.
I'll admit, I was not at all thrilled with the D'Antoni hire, but was cautiously optimistic. I was really hoping for a JVG reunion. Gotta admit, I was wrong. Don't think there's a better coaching staff than the one Rockets have now with D'Antoni and Bzdelik.
Nah, the Warriors will probably win 65+ games barring injuries. I can't see the Rockets matching that. The Spurs may be catchable though. And I absolutely think we can finish with a better record than any of the teams in the East.
The exciting thing is that the team feels like it's headed in a totally different direction than those 93-94 and 96-97 teams did, at the midway point of the season. In 94 at the midway point the team was really scuffling after the hot start, and the Horry-for-Elliot talks were being rumored. The thought was that the team needed a secondary scorer to take some of the burden off Hakeem. It was really Elliot failing his physical and Horry coming back home that galvanized the playoff run that led to the first championship.
People thinking the warriors aren't as good are crazy lol. Like you said, statistically they are better than last year. Also, they are still on pace to win 70 games it isn't like they've come back to the pack
Warriors don't have Bogut and Ezeli clogging the middle this year. They don't have that instant spark (albeit older now) in Barbosa. Harrison Barnes was also a key piece in their "death lineup". All of these are role players yes, but very potent one within the Warriors' system. They had a couple of seasons of continuity which adds tremendous value to chemistry, thus enabling success. Warriors are still very tough to beat with Durant now, but they are not the same team. The interior rim protector and rebounder is missing....and that is a huge hole amongst others.
Their death lineup replaced Harrison Barnes with Kevin Durant lol. (important to note that Barnes bricking is what hurt them last year in the playoffs) They did absolutely lose three depth pieces in Ezeli, Bogut, Speights and Barbosa (Barbosa underrated STILL by most) but they replaced them with decent production from Zaza and David West and the difference between Durant and Barnes is staggering. Their rebounding has only fallen by a fraction in terms of available rebounds. They are once again on pace to outpeform their expected win/loss totals. Can they be beaten? Of course! It just happened last year, but the Warriors and Cavs are still in a league of their own. The good news I think if you are a Rocket fan is that our team doesn't try to beat teams by being more "talented" we just try to outshoot them. Even the Warriors/Cavs. Our model is essentially that we are going to shoot way more 3s than you and if we hit a good clip we are going to beat you because #math.
It's all about that Chemistry and next man up attitude. Having a coach who knows how to coach NBA level basketball actually helps to the surprise of the many Kevin McFail and BJ fans here
No doubt KD made that team more talented. But was he the perfect piece? Curry and Klay were playing crazy well last year, especially Curry. Nobody is even putting him in MVP top 8 so far this year. They were 36-2 this time last year. That's how invincible they looked like at the beginning of the season. They have lost 3 times as many this year already.
The only reason they aren't putting him in the conversation for MVP is because people feel dirty about pointing to anyone on an all-star team like that as the MVP. Durant is having an INSANELY efficient season.
What's most encouraging to me is the fact that this is a new team, new coach, and system. Yet we're still this good. Which means we can only get better. I'm of the minority that actually liked the D'Antoni hire. After last season, I just wanted to enjoy watching the Rockets play again. I knew by hiring D'Antoni, at minimum, we'd at least get that. I predicted we'd win at least 50 games. As bad as we played last year I didn't see us winning 9 more games being all that hard. Now we're on pace for 60+. Well beyond my expectations.
If you consider our performance from1 Dec, onwards, we are on pace for 69 to 70 wins. I've worked out that if were to go on 10-win streaks for the rest of the season (ie. lose every 11th game) we would end up with exactly 70 wins. That-being-said, after a tough opening month schedule, our schedule has gotten easier since (in terms of quality of teams). Our back to backs though have been difficult. Our schedule will start to get tougher. We haven't played the Cavs yet, and we've only faced the Warriors, Griz and Jazz once. Those are the only teams that really worry me. After beating the Raps and Celtics, I'm not scared of any eastern teams other than the Cavs. Seriously though, Griz and Jazz scare me. They are just a bad match up for us.
