Myth: The Rockets ceiling this year is the 2nd Round

I agree with the needing another year mantra is off.

 

don't think anyone would be all that shocked if they made the conference finals.

 

What a wonderful way to add up post count!

 

Over,Under,Sideways,Down!

I remember a 6th seed that did pretty well.

Isn't it Great to be having this conversation already ?

Go Super Rockets !

 

The second round ceiling is certainly a myth. I could even see this team going to the finals, but it's not realistic to expect a title. Teams don't go from first round fodder to champion.

I think the second round is the minimum for success, but not the ceiling. I predict conference finals.

 

I used to think that the NBA preferred for its champions to go through this pathway of perseverance where they lose near the Finals one year before winning it the next.

But the Celtics from a few years ago bucked that trend. Now I agree with you. Veterans CAN and should expect to be championship contenders in year one, provided the talent is there. And I have no doubt that the talent level is up there on our team. From our playoff-caliber rotation last year we return eight of the top nine guys (or ten of eleven if you want to add Greg Smith and Aaron Brooks) while swapping out Casspi for Delfino, something I would consider a wash. This ENTIRE rotation, with the exception of Francisco Garcia, is 27 years old (Asik) or younger (Harden 24, Lin 25, Parsons turns 25 in 3 days). We have significant upside just from the players that returned from last year.



Oh. And out of thin air we added the best center in the NBA. Time to shift your hopes higher people.

 

Yes - too young, you got it.

 

Somebody is kuku for Cocoa Puffs.

 

Same to you

Op, I agree with what u r ranting about!

 

Agree with Sam. They are underrating the Rockets. I don't expect them to win the finals. Getting to the seventh game of round two is my expectations. Whether they go to the WC Finals is questionable. It may depend on who they play in round one or certainly two.

I think the Rockets can give anyone in the Western Conference a tough series. The top 6 players gained experience with the Thunder series and the two stars have gone to the Finals. This is not the Thunder or the Grizzlies of a couple of years ago.

Hey remember when the young Rockets with a young Hakeem and Ralph went to the finals.

 

The important detail isn't that we're ranked 5th best is the west.

Its that the top five teams could all realistically make it to the conference finals, and by all estimations we're in that clump.


After that, c'mon, its anyone's guess.

 

Yeah we lost leads because when asik was out w had no interior defense. Dwight absolutely fixes that as well as adds an offensive presence down low.

 

I think it's all about the role players and how they fit into the system. Howard will be an all star. Harden will be an all start. Point guard and small forward will be a strength.

If Garcia, Caspi, Beverley and Asik can play at a high level, this team can compete with Miami.

 

I predict we will split our wins with miami this season... first game they win, 2nd game we win...

 

Barring injuries, I see the Spurs and Thunder in the Western Finals. With the twin towers, I think we should be able to beat the Clippers and the Grizzles. Next year is a different story, we should be in the Western Finals. The West is so stacked, it's crazy.

 

LOL Here's our dirty little secret from last year that I see some would rather stuff it in the attic or just sweep under the rug.

Our records against the four finalists:

Team W/L Margin/game
Pacer, 0-2, -9.5
Heat, 0-2, -4.5
Spurs, 1-3, -8.8
Griz, 1-3, +1.0
----------------
Total, 2-10, -5.9

Records vs other top 3 WC teams

Team W/L Margin/game
Den 0-4, -10.5
OKC 1-3, -16.3
LAC 1-2, -0.3
-----------------
Total, 2-9, -9.8

4-19 against top 5 WC teams and two finalists from EC. Facing with real competitions, we had losing record against every one of those teams and the margins against some teams were abysmal. The only team that hadn't improved or remained status quo is Denver. That's SIX teams who owned us last season in which we have to overcome.

You can make a good case for Dwight if we'd lost many close games against them and he will able to make a difference this year. But unfortunately that's not the case for 4 of the teams. Until we can play UP to our true competitions, our offense remains to be "gimmick".

I want to see Rockets win a championship, hell, multiple championships more than anyone else. I wish I eat crow that this Rockets' no-mid-range-offense will set the trend for the future of NBA offense, but history is heavily stacked against them; I don't believe I am wrong on this but no team in the history of NBA had won a championship without a consistent mid-range game in their offensive arsenals.

Edit:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HxRXZxkDqdQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
3:40
Bird, "A lot of players go out and shoot 500 3-pointers and they can't believe when I practice, I never shot 3-pointers. I always thought the mid-range game was the most important part of the game."

 

I honestly believe we can win the championship.

 

We're contenders with a lot of question marks, but nonetheless contenders.
Kuku raises some good points about our performance against the best teams last year. But look how we played against the Pacers. Sure, those were just preseason games, but the Pacers wanted to win. And we were playing without Asik.

In addition to adding Dwight, we'll have a full season of an even better Bev. And a lot of our young guys are still improving, including Harden and Lin.