16th is a respectable spot, really. Seems like someone was paying attention to the Rockets-Lakers series, eh?
this current roster will not play better without yao. they need that low post guy to draw double teams. ariza, battier cannot create from the perimeter, they are strictly spot up shooters and slashers. but yeah this team is still pretty good without yao and tracy. well just have to see how they run their offense. go rockets and warriors!
On the comment posted earlier regarding the Rockets upsetting the Lakers in the first round: It is very possible. We may not be a better team throughout the season, but I believe we will be a better team against the Lakers than we were in last years playoffs. Why? - Ariza will play better than Artest did in that Lakers series - Our guys will settle in playing without Ming (they didn't have the time to settle in the 09 Playoffs). - Players will undoubtably improve in comparison to how they played last year (ie. Brooks and Scola). - T-Mac will be back (and hopefully not injured again) - If T-Mac is not back, then he's traded for players that wil beef up the roster. So I like our chances if we get the 8th seed. We could easily hit 9th or 10th however. And if that is the case, then I don't know where we sit. We would have missed the playoffs, and have low chances of coming up successful in the lottery.
Mehhh, who cares about ranking.. seriously i could care less what reports/writers think of us. All that matters is the Rockets going out and winning.
but too bad the team thats better on paper wins most of the time on the court. (at least in a 7 game series) any games we win against playoff teams next season will be hella fun tho! kinda like the thunder beating the spurs twice last season...and kinda like the grizzlies beating us twice last season too...except from their perspective this time and nt ours.
Quite surprising! 16th place is not bad to start the season without Yao and Tmac with less Artest. Not bad!!
Rockets fans seem to have a lower expection than most. Personally "I still believe!" Shooting for a draft pick instead of the playoffs is for losers.
Never heard any team in NBA was shooting for a draft pick from the beginning of the season. Fans will not go to the games, and owner is going to lose lots of money if you do so.
With Scola and Ariza as our main offensive options (I'm not counting on TMac until I see him play) we are not going to compete with the best of the West but we won't be bottom dwellers either. 16 sounds right for a mediocre team like us.
This gets old and tiring. If a team is able to tank then their heart should be questioned. I personally don't want losers on this team who are capable of tanking. Real competitors have too much heart and pride to just lay down for another team. And I definitely think our team has exactly that which is why we took LA to 7. You've obviously never played competitive sports if tanking even crosses your mind. It is so hard mentally for competitors to lose, much less have the mindset to accept losing before the game is even decided. Imo, once you've reached that point, you lose a lot of passion for the game. Back on topic......16 is a lot better than I expected.
If you thought you had trouble finding Rox games on Justintv last year its going to be a lot worse now.
