It's always fun watching posters stubbornly trying to hang on to a failed argument. BrooksBall, it's not hard to say "I was wrong, and I made an absurdly premature prediction. I made a mistake by stating unequivocally that the Rockets had no chance of making the playoffs at all." Thread ends, you eat a little crow, and you earn yourself some respect for owning up. You're not the first person to have said something wrong. People like DaDakota, OMR etc may not always be on target with their opinions, but I respect them for their ability to own up and eat crow when it is due. The longer you stonewall, the more your credibility is damaged. When you find yourself in a hole, first thing to do is stop digging.
Oh, so now it's a "prediction". It's gone from "they WON'T make the playoffs", to "I really want them to make it but they may not". Please just go away.
Why would I retract something I still believe? The only thing I will acknowledge is that any literal interpretation of "no way" or "no chance" was poor interpretation by the reader.
See the previous post. Did you think that when I said "they won't make the playoffs" that it was a commandment from God? What else could it have been in the original post other than a guess or prediction? It hasn't changed. The only thing that changed was your interpretation of my opinion. I still feel the same way as I did, originally. If you want me to back down (i.e. YOU don't want to acknowledge to yourself that the Rockets are facing a good prospect of not making the playoffs), it's not going to happen. I still WANT the Rockets to make the playoffs. I WANT them to win the championship. I WANT them to win 4 championships in a row and become a dynasty. On the other hand, I think the reality is that the Rockets don't have a very good chance of even making the playoffs this season. That is the same thing I felt when I created the thread. In my mind, "Playoffs? No way!" = "I strongly believe the Rockets will not make the playoffs this season". I still feel that way. Why do you care so much about me and my opinions? You should be focusing on the subject matter as opposed to the writer. If you disagree with me, state your opinion that the Rockets will make the playoffs or offer your opinions about why you think the Rockets will make the playoffs. By concerning yourself with me taking back my opinion, or admitting I was wrong, it sounds like misguided frustration on your part stemming from the fact that the Rockets are not only far from contenders, but unlikely to make the playoffs.
Based on the way the "other" teams are playing now, there is just no knowing how any of the "2nd tier" teams will finish out. Will a bad streak disrupt the chemistry in GS?? Will Utah be able to hang on and keep it going?? Will the Rockets influx of youth come back to bite them?? Will Denver stay hot without Nene?? Will Portland come down to earth?? Each team you could make a yes argument for, you could also make a no argument for. IMO its equally as absurd to say the Rockets have no chance at the play-offs as to say they will get the #1 seed in the west. That's what everyone is having a problem with. Edit: That, and the whole opinion as fact way of stating your beliefs.
Ok, then let's all explicitly add the phrase "In my opnion," before every other comment as a forum rule so that readers don't ever mistake a poster for God with a ClutchFans' account. Let's start with you... Instead of "Based on the way the "other" teams are playing now, there is just no knowing how any of the "2nd tier" teams will finish out." you should have written, "In my opinion, based on the way the "other" teams are playing now, there is just no knowing how any of the "2nd tier" teams will finish out." Instead of "Each team you could make a yes argument for, you could also make a no argument for"... you should have written, "In my opinion, each team you could make a yes argument for, you could also make a no argument for." This way people with relatively weak interpretation skills won't get confused next time. I'll let you propose this idea to the Admins.
Oh the irony. BB trying to preach to someone else on how to express themselves correctly, after saying "I am going on record as saying that the Rockets have zero chance of making the playoffs", then later trying to tell us that what he really meant to say was that he doesn't "think" the Rockets have a "very good chance". You're really starting to embarrass yourself, BB. Just stop already. Really. Just admit you were wrong and get over yourself.
You are sort of correct. In my heart, I hope they make the playoffs. Hope aside, I think there are too many good teams ahead of them and they will end up falling short.
Anything is possible with Yao and Tmac man. Plus they are only one game behind some just 1-2 games behind a couple of teams. Also don't forget the Rockets played the toughest schedule in the NBA (I believe, might be wrong).
blah I dont know how the edit key would be a form of punishment since you want people to be able to correct their grammar/spelling.
I am still on record. I still don't think the Rockets will make the playoffs. Focus on wording all you want. If the Rockets keep playing well for long enough, I will be happy to eat my words and say that I was wrong about my prediction. As of now, I still feel the same. Aren't I entitled to my own opinion as well as to change it whenever I choose?" If it makes you happy, then I'll say it again. I am going on record saying that the Rockets have no chance of making the playoffs. You can choose to take that literally or grasp my opinion which is that I strongly doubt the Rockets will make the playoffs. BTW, let me know if you break your leg tomorrow.
As of right now, we own the second hardest SOS (hardest now belongs to the T-Wolves, and by the end of the season probably will belong to Memphis). We had the hardest SOS for most of the year: that doubleheader against Seattle did us in though.
barrig a comlete meltdown, yes.... the trailblazers and co are simply a nice story while the Real teams are struggling.... but not anymore
I fail to see how my comments were slanted one way or another. Its one of those things, you just dont say never or always in print because it will come back to haunt you. What I said and meant(and it looks pretty clear) is that you can't tell. It would be ludicrous to assume that of 4 or 5 teams all bunched up together that you know which ones will do what. You said of those teams bunched up, I know one team will not make the postseason, and thats the Rockets. Really, how do you KNOW this. Please enlighten us but dont use feelings. Because if you use feelings, then you really DON'T know. So far I have seen you use examples of stuff that I havent seen on the court. No chance to make the play-offs is the wrong way to put it. Its OK to think that the Rockets wont make the play-offs. But they have just as much of a chance as Portland, Denver, Utah, Golden State, and maybe even the Lakers. Put all those teams on a 6 sided dice and roll 4 times, reroll if you get the same team. They all have the same chance to make it, but 2 won't. Regarding opinion as fact type folks: There are folks who tend to do this on just about every forum out there. They are usually against the topic of the forum(Rockets, Upcoming Movie X, Blue-Ray/HDDVD, knitting, whatever). When they go against the grain and give the doom and gloom, they do it so matter of factly and with an arrogance that its an affront to anyone who feels otherwise. It comes off as hating just to be hating.
It's impossible to create a SOS for games not yet played, since it's based on each team's rating and that will change over time. But, if you just ignored that and used the current ratings you could theoretically make one. I haven't been able to find a good one just doing a cursory search; there's one that averages winning pcts of teams that you will play later, but that data doesn't look very accurate to me, since winning pcts are much less accurate than Hollinger or Sagarin ratings which are based more on point differential than wins and losses. Here's that data though. http://www.boxscorebasketball.com/strength.htm The results are posted as avg. winning pct of teams you've already played - those you are going to play, so the more positive the easier your remaining strength of schedule, relatively speaking: WESTERN CONFERENCE FUTURE ARH MINUS PAST ARH = F-P [The more positive, the better] # TEAM F-P StdDev - ---- ----- ------ 1 MEM + .067 + 1.34 2 MIN + .044 + 0.87 3 SAC + .040 + 0.79 4 UTA + .040 + 0.78 5 POR + .037 + 0.72 6 LAL + .033 + 0.65 7 HOU + .017 + 0.32 8 LAC + .006 + 0.10 9 SEA + .005 + 0.09 10 GSW + .003 + 0.05 11 DAL - .011 - 0.23 12 PHX - .033 - 0.68 13 DEN - .039 - 0.80 14 NOK - .088 - 1.79 15 SAS - .108 - 2.19 Funny to see that the last six teams on that list are all currently playoff-bound. Seems to me that a few of them are in for a wake-up call.
brooksball, i really hope your close to 16 years of age and just started watching basketball.. if not then go post somewhere because your threads suck
Im thinking this Brooksball guys is a closet Blazer or Jazz fan, and he doesnt want to accept the fact that the Rockets are back on track and are on their way to knocking his favorite team out of the last play-off birth.
