i agree. but we HAVE TO WIN to show we deserve it. in tmac's first season, it was the hype that got us a lot of national TV games. we have not proven we are winners. hopefully next yr, we'll have the max when we win and tmac shows he still got it as a showman.
we were boring. JVG made us boring. the spurs are boring. hopefully, as we go through the season, we not only win, but adelman will make us interesting to watch and they'll add us on as we go since ESPN/ABC can change their schedule as the season progresses.
It will definitely be nice to have a deep bench during that stretch. Guys like James, Bonzi, Head, Hayes and possibly even Brookes and Butler will get a chance to show their value. Gotta have a deep bench to keep our starters fresh during those back to back games.
I wouldn't be so sure about the lakers having kobe next year, especially if he decides to throw another hissy fit.. Did I count correctly that the rox have 15 back to back games? I think they had 13 last year, I thought that was tought.. dam.
Hmmm, difficult start to the season, Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio twice, and Utah. December is stuffed full of EC opponents, should be easy pickings. Just another dallas match in dec. Same trend, a Utah and SA game just for Jan, the rest are dead easy. Feb. seems to be the easiest, only NOH and cleveland and miami. March will be above average difficulty, all the old rivals again, Dallas, SA, Phoenix and even Denver joins in, + Celtics. Phoenix and Utah to finish off April, the rest are easy. Judging by this, we'll have a rough start, a smooth one or two months, and then a rough patch before a smooth road to the playoffs.
I hate the NBA so much. They're having the Houston game start REALLY LATE. They have the SAS/POR game BEFORE the LAL/HOU game on opening night so the EC peeps can get a glimpse of Greg Oden getting destroyed by Tim Duncan. I guess I'll have to TiVo the GSW/UTA game.
The Rockets had a similarly brutal schedule last season. What was shocking was how well they did last January when Yao went down and they had to face a lot of tough teams. If they can stay healthy during the first couple months and survive the '07 portion of the schedule, they'll be rewarded with a ton of home games in the new year and be able to move up quickly in the standings.
Jeff, I'm pretty sure back-to-back games are rarely both home games. I'm sure we can find exceptions to the rule, but not on the Rockets schedule. The NBA doesn't like to do it that way (ie, forcing season ticketholders to come to games two days in a row). That's why all of our back-to-back games have travel between them. One game is home, and one is away. What is brutal is when the second one is the away game.
There's this thing called time zones. I don't think it would make sense to have an LA game start at 5:00 pm
Hmm, at least we got opening night on national TV, and will be tearing it up during Thanksgiving for everyone.
Has anyone noticed that the NBA always makes the Rockets play the Suns on the second half of a back-to-back? Last year I believe we played Phoenix 3 times on the second game of a back-to-back and this year we've got two games against them on Sat. Nov. 17 (we play San Antonio the night before!) and then on March 22 (with Golden State the night before). Playing any team on the second half of a back-to-back sucks, but playing the run and gun Suns has gotta be the toughest...and they always put us in that situation! It's like the NBA wants us to lose to Phoenix. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I've always found that odd...
When I get some more time (or if someone else once to undertake it), I'd like to check and see what the status of the other teams' schedules we face in back-to-backs is. I wonder how many teams we face in the second half of those are on back-to-backs themselves. It should be noted that I have NO belief in conspiracy theories when it comes to scheduling. I think the league takes into account a few factors including facility availability (probably the biggest), rivalries, in-conference games, home vs. away schedules and, most important, television. It has GOT to be a complicated process that they no doubt have created some sort of computer program to handle by now. There are a ton of variables to consider since the schedule is completed in July, only 3 months before the preseason. Most buildings have concerts and events scheduled 6 months to a year in advance.
Do you know how to read? The home team is Houston. DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE A PORTLAND GAME STARTING AT 5:00 PM SMART GUY?
So which one is it? http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule/results_2007.html or http://www.nba.com/schedules/?team=rockets Notice the games at home for November are reversed in both of those, yet both are from nba.com. Weird...
It has to be the first one. The second one (that one I'm angry about) just doesn't make sense because the Portland game would start at 5:00 PM. http://www.nba.com/schedules/
