When we first became aware that Tmac was going to be out for the season. I figured our ceiling was maybe a 2nd round out if we were lucky to win the first round. But does anyone think with this recent stretch of games that we have an outside shot at going further? Wins against Dallas, Cleveland, Phoenix (not a good team but not a bad team either), Portland, Denver. Losses to Utah in Utah. If we can beat LA tommorow... and the other big teams we play in March... thats a sign that we are for real IMO. I won't favor us against the Lakers. But I think we could potentially beat any other team in the WC if we are playing like this.
we've had good stretches in previous years where we've beaten the better teams of this league. we just gotta keep improving and not look forward too much. take it one game at a time and keep improving small things and we'll be fine. we gotta keep learning how to win on the road. we have a lot of young players right now and hopefully they'll step up in the playoffs. the bench will be very key in the playoffs. i'm optimistic. but again, one game at a time.
A darkhorse to me would be Portland since they CAN beat the Lakers. I think people respect us and think we can win a playoff series this year with the team we have on the court.
I dunno man, the schedule ahead is going to be tough. I bet we will have a better picture of this team within the next few games. Two losses could still drop us like Denver in the standings.
Chad Ford from ESPN believes us to be the dark horse: adam(Houston): Can Ron Artest please get some love .... Chad Ford: (1:15 PM ET ) He's been really good lately. Frankly, the team is better off without Tracy McGrady in the line-up. The combo of Artest and Battier gives them an added toughness dimension. To me Houston is the darkhorse in this whole thing. I wish they had more going for them at the point, but the rest of their starting five looks good.
the best part is we havn't really played to our potential. kyle lowry is still getting used to the team and aaron brooks can afford to play more efficiently. von wafer could also play a little better.
A dark horse is a team that isn't favored heavily to win a title, but they have decent odds. The four favorites are LA, Boston, Cleveland and San Antonio. The dark horse in my analogy would then be Houston/Denver/Utah/Portland (whoever fills out the 3rd/4th spots probably) and Orlando. The reason I bring this up is because... honestly, who thought we would get any further than the 2nd round when we found out Tmac was out for the season? I think some people figured we would play better without him, but not jump from 8th to 3rd better. The one thing I worry about is that Artest is playing unreal during this stretch. If he cools down a bit, I'm afraid of what might happen.
I disagree that he is playing "unreal". maybe his 3 point shooting has been a little off the charts, but his play overall is what I expect of him. if he was averaging 30 a game and just burning everyone, I would be more inclined to agree. I think he can maintain this and maybe even play better.
In March he's shooting 50% from the field and 55% from 3. The points aren't there because he doesn't have to score for us to win, but shooting 55% from 3, taking as many 3s as he does a game, is just crazy. In mid Feb before this streak his % were at 37% and 38%. Now its 41% and 43% in almost a months play. Fortunately when the playoffs roll around, you have a lot of other players that can step up.
Its semantics then. I call shooting 50 or more in the FG and 3P%s unreal. Its really rare for a scorer to average numbers like that. Usually its a role player that does it because they only shoot when wide open.
Tirico and Van Pelt were talking all about the Rockets and Jazz as the biggest threats to the Lakers right now...
the samething could have been said about the rockets last year when yao went out, the rockets are a deep team, if tracy was here their depth would be second to none, they can challenge anyone in a 7 game series, they need to improve their road record though
I wouldn't count out the Spurs. They are struggling with injuries and still holding solid ground as the #2 seed, and we all know how good they become in the post season. Utah is for real, as much as I hate to admit it. I fear them the most because of the Boozer/Okur matchups giving us issues. Plus, I think Williams could potentially destroy Brooks in a 7 game series. Against Nash or Paul or Kidd or Parker... not so much. But Williams is a big dude.
The difference was, when Yao went out we didn't beat any good team at full strength until we beat the Suns at home. The Mavs didn't have Dirk, the Hornets were sans West, the Lakers without Gasol. I think we still had decent odds to make it out of the 1st round, but no shot at a title. This time, if we continue to play like this, I give us an outside shot at going all the way. Its less than 5% definitely but its still decent.
Honestly, our best chance at being a real darkhorse and winning the West depend on how the seeding turns out. Best case scenario is that we finish as the 2/3 seed, assume the Lakers finish in first, and the jazz and blazers wrap up the 4/5. If the Trailblazers beat the Jazz, they would then go play the Lakers (assuming that they beat the Mavs or whatever 8th place team stumbles in front of them) and hopefully the Blazers can take the Lakers to atleast 6 games or even win the series. That would give us home court advantage over the Blazers, and, once again due to assuming, that would mean that we would have to be the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs which is entirely possible. SO: to sum it up with my ideal play off picture: 1. Lakers 2. Spurs 3. Rocks 4. Blazers 5. Jazz ^with the 2/3 and 4/5 interchangable (but greatly in Portland's favor to edge out the Jazz for homecourt advantage. I know we can beat the Blazers in a four game set, and, if all works our way, we could possibly take the West. Whoop.
what hurt the rockets last year in the playoffs was the injury to rafer, if rafer is there the whole series it is a different outcome, but yes i agree this team is better than last years
I think the Rockets should be considered an elite team now. I can see us getting past the 1st round now. We have a lot of 1st round experience now. Also, I guess consistency isn't one of our weaknesses after reading this article. http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=576
