if the rockets can't even beat the mavs, they can't beat anyone.... it would be terribly embarrassing if we were to be bounced in the first round once again by a team as weak as the mavs. this would be the first time i would feel like we are actually SUPPOSED to win, no questions asked.
Okay, didnt see 2 threads about the exact same thing, so let me bring my post over to this one.... Please, pleae, please give us DALLAS in thew first round. Jason Kidd-Already recieving Social Security Checks Antwain Wright-WHOOP! Hes a fellow Aggie but other than that, complete garbage Josh Howard-Shane confuses him with large words while he is on him, then Ron Ron smacks the joint out of his mouth Dirk-7 foot jump shooters make me laugh, Scola=OWNAGE Dampier-Well, need I say more, might as well bring back Shawn Bradley JJ Barrea might cry if Lowry gets too rough with him Jason Terry- Yeah we have a spark plug off the bench too, his name is Wafer and he can teabag you in mid-air. Brandon Bass- Congrats on replacing Diop, your a real winner. Do they even have anyone else on their team or do they just run 8 deep? I guess you could consider Green a player but thats only because they gave him a cool jersey with his name on it! Rockets in 5. Lots and Lots of rest for the Nuggets in round 2.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6369528.html Rockets focus on winning out, not playoff opponents By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle April 11, 2009, 7:46PM Finally, with just two regular-season games remaining, there was a sliver of clarity. The Rockets are certain to finish the season somewhere between the second and fifth seeds. If they win their final two games, they will be the Southwest Division champs. They knew they would begin the playoffs with a first-round matchup against... Anybody but the Lakers. "We’re just going to play to win," Von Wafer said. "That’s all we can do. We’re not scared of anybody. We’re going to have to face them one way or another to go to where we want to go. Why not face them earlier? We’re not scared of anybody. Play them whenever." There was some clarity, but not enough to rule out every Western Conference playoff team but the Lakers as a potential first-round opponent, though it is extremely unlikely they would open against the Nuggets. The Rockets, however, returned home knowing they could begin the playoffs against any one of five teams – New Orleans, Portland, Dallas, San Antonio or Utah. "It’s driving me crazy," forward Luis Scola said. "It changes every day. It sometimes changes every hour, actually. It will probably change four or five more times because everybody is playing everybody. Everybody is changing spots. What is guaranteed is the Lakers are going to be first. Everybody else, anything can happen." Some don’t even try to figure out the possibilities. "I don’t look at anything," Aaron Brooks said. "It changes every day. I know the Lakers are one and we’re three." Others consider possibilities, then find the uncertainty too great. "The scenarios are so crazy," Shane Battier said. "There’s not enough hours in the day to break them all down. You can’t worry about it. We’re going to play a good team." By Wednesday in Dallas, however, there might be an opportunity to manipulate the seedings to try to choose or avoid a particular opponent. If a loss to the Mavericks might prevent a three versus six match up with the Jazz - the team that eliminated the Rockets from the past two post-seasons - Adelman might have the chance to do everything short of starting Brooks at center and Chuck Hayes at point guard if he felt strongly enough about picking his opponent. He doesn’t. Though he would not indicate any preference for teams to face in the first round and not see until later, if at all, he said he wants to get the Rockets ready to defeat whomever they play rather than tanking their way to a particular matchup. "I don’t think you can do that," Adelman said. "I haven’t done that. If you’re good enough to be in the playoffs, you’re good enough to beat whoever you play. If you’re good enough to be in there, play who you get. "You think about (potential strategies), but it’s kind of futile. Just about when you think something is going to happen, the opposite happens. When you think someone is going to win, they lose. Whoever you get, you get. It can be a tough matchup. Sometimes you think you got a break, and that’s not true, either. "When we’re playing teams, I think about it. We’re going to play New Orleans. We’re going to play Dallas. We have to see how we’re going to play them." Certainly, the Rockets have preferences, but no team would admit to wanting to play or wanting to avoid a potential first-round opponent. At this stage of the season, the Rockets would not share whether they prefer the color pattern in a particular visiting locker room. "I try not to tell," Scola said. "I have my own opinion. I keep it to myself. I think everybody is pretty much the same. Some teams can be a little bit better matchup, but they’re all pretty competitive teams. They’re all going to be pretty much the same. "What is the difference between any of those teams? All those teams are in the margin of three victories. Maybe you can say this match up is a little bit better for us, or this matchup is a little bit better, but not by a lot." Besides, until they have a clue about who they play, there seemed little point in deciding how they feel about it. jonathan.feigen@chron.com
That's crazy, if we "feared" even the Mavs, why do we bother playing at all? Have confidence in our team, mate.
that will be an interesting situation and adelman will have some tough decisions to make that day if that happens, imo, regardless what he's saying right now. maybe yao does get 2 games of rest after all...
dude, the mavs could easily take us to 7 games, as well as any other team playing in the playoffs. the talent level isn't that far off from 2-8. if i had my choice, i'd rather play dallas and new orleans, followed by portland or san antonio. i'd like to avoid lakers, jazz, and nuggets because they all have depth and can put up points.
I want Dallas... because then I can go to the games in Dallas and glory in their defeat as I wear my Rockets gear in the AAC.
I really like our odds against Dallas. When we played Dallas in the playoffs a few years ago we lost because of speed. Once Keith Van Horn got injured Dallas had to go small and after a few bad calls from the refs you know the rest. Now that we have Ron Artest, Battier, and Hayes we can hold Dirk and Josh Howard. The only thing we have to worry about is Jason Terry. We'll see if Lowry can handle Terry and if Brooks can out-score him. Rockets in 5!
why freak out about mavs, we match up pretty well against them. It will be a very entertaining series if we do play them. theyve been known to choke big time in the playoffs, so our chances against them are relatively high. o well at least we know it is unlikely that we would face Jizzholes or lakers in the first round, so any team is alrite for me
i'd rather face NO. the only thing that scares me about Dallas is Jason Terry. he always lights us up.
Yes, I thought about it yesterday night. Then I feel it is not a quite high chance. Without Yao in the lineup, we probably lose to Mavs at our last game. Then we will slide down to #4 and play with Portland or SA.
If I can choose, I would rather the playoff start today. Then we face NO in the first round, Denver in the sencond round. It is very possible that LA will be eliminated by Portland (Portland tortured LA so much this season and SA has no Ginobili and only half Duncan).Then we have a very good chance to make the final. That is the perfect situation for Rockets. I deadly dream this will happen.
funny everyone keeps saying the mavs are hot when they won 3 straight at home. last i checked the rockets have the longest winning streak in the west right now at 4 games and played tougher competition in their two home games (blazers,magic over suns,hornets,jazz) and had a tough back 2 back on the road. the mavs do not really scare me, jason terry will be the one guy we need to stop for sure, stop terry and the mavs are done. today's game the mavs play in NO will go a long way to see if they have really "turned it on" btw he has been playing but i do believe josh howard has some sort of injury