http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/sports/basketball/21rockets.html [rquoter] While the nation is fixated on underdogs and upsets in the N.C.A.A. tournament, the N.B.A.’s own fairy-tale team is fast approaching midnight. For four months, the Houston Rockets defied odds and expectations and kept pace with the titans of the West, despite a lineup devoid of stars, size or renown. In a league ruled by supreme talent, the Rockets thrived on supreme chemistry — a team that was truly better than the sum of its parts. The inspirational joy ride is nearly over. With 15 games to play in the regular season, the Rockets (35-32) are five and a half games behind Portland (42-28) for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Their postseason hopes are fading fast. And yet by any measure, Houston’s season stands as a testament to overachievement. The Rockets lost their two All-Stars, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, to injury before the season began and let their third-best player, Ron Artest, leave as a free agent last summer. They went from contender to afterthought almost overnight. “I think Vegas had us winning 35 this year,” General Manager Daryl Morey said. “We quietly felt like we could beat that, and we could be in the playoff mix.” Morey figured the Rockets could win about 45 games, a goal they may still meet. But the Trail Blazers (who could challenge Houston for the pluckiness award) are on pace to win 48-49 games. “Right now, 45 isn’t going to do it,” Morey acknowledged. No lottery-bound team is poised for a more rapid turnaround, however. It all depends on the health of Yao’s left foot. Yao, the 7-foot-6 center, had surgery last July and is expected back next season. He will rejoin a lineup that has grown deeper and more mature in his absence. ... [/rquoter]
We have been a little better than I thought we would be. We added a great player and a good young prospect. We will have decent lotto pick. We need to add one more top tier player to contend with the Lakers.
Chicago could match our turnaround, depending on how they do in the free agent market. They have the cap space to seriously bolster an already promising young roster, one which should actually be tempting to free agents (unlike New York, New Jersey, or any other other teams with max cap space). Combined with likely a higher lottery pick than our own, they could be, like us, vaulted into title contention next season.
Just remember, we had to get a lottery pick (Robert Horry, pick 11) before this team started to come together. In his second year...well, you know what happened
No you are wrong,we will be the next clippers and will be in the lottery for the next 5 years you'll see.
I don't think we are as much a collection of small parts with good chemistry as we were at the beginning of the season. We did start off the season relying on our great chemistry, but with the trade that sent Landry, we have had to rely more on our individual talents. You have seen our best players step up from that moment. Scola, Brooks, and Martin are all playing much better. Even Ariza is playing more within himself now that he isn't a scorer. Before, if a player wasn't playing very well, we had a backup that was equally talented that could come in and be productive. Now we rely more on our starting lineup. So next year we will have a team made up of one superstar in Yao, followed by a starting lineup of borderline stars: Yao Scola Ariza Martin Brooks And our reserves were specifically picked out to have complementary strengths to that of our starting lineup. For instance, Brooks is an outside threat that uses his jumper while Lowery is a slasher who looks to pass before he shoots. Given the fact that Scola and Lowery will be retained, I believe we will focus on the lottery rather than FA to pick up our last piece. Considering what we have done with 2nd rounders, it should be interesting to see what we can do with a lottery pick. We will either get lucky and have the player of our dreams fall in our spot, or we will trick a team into giving us exactly what we want.
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Howard Beck was at the MIT conference. I think he's a big fan of Daryl Morey Besides, pointing to the Rockets relative success, especially now that they have Jordan Hill, is a great way to take a shot at the Knicks.
