Rockets move up 2 spots, just behind the Big Three: Cleveland, Boston & LA !! http://www.nba.com/2009/news/powerrankings/04/13/week24/index.html Pace: 89.1 (18), Off: 110.1 (15), Def: 105.7 (4) The Rockets have won four straight, but more important were the tests on Yao Ming's foot. He missed Friday's win at Golden State with soreness, but it's nothing worse than that and he's expected to play Monday against the Hornets
You Know... The Rockets have not received much love from the national media in the past. And we've always been critical of them around here for that. But, could it be that the Rockets past regular season accomplishments have been fools gold and they saw them as that. The team's recent post season success would suggest exactly that. However, now recognition is almost pouring in... And now this just might be the real thing. At least it feels that way, imo. Could it be the real thing???? GO ROCKETS!!!!
There's a pretty big difference in the team last year (fool's gold) and this year. Last year, we had that awesome streak which vaulted us to the top, but other than that, we were an average team. In addition, the streak was a weak stretch of games where we hardly played any teams of worth. On top of all of that, we lost Yao Ming and just had Tracy McGrady and some under-developed role players. This year, those role players are more developed (Scola, Landry, Brooks), we have Yao Ming to replace Tracy McGrady as facilitator, and now we have toughness (Ron Artest). To top it all off, we have a fire-starter and scorer in Von Wafer. Our record against fellow playoff teams (sans the Lakers) is the best in the West. We are legitimate this year, not just a streaky fluke.
I agree this year's team is better but don't downplay the streak. That Rockets team beat some good teams during the streak but even if they didn't 22 games in a row is nothing short of amazing. I think the real issue last year was a combination of this team peaking too early and suffering from a post-streak hangover, McGrady being broken down in the playoffs (and setting a personal record for sucking in 4th quarters) and the fact that it was the Jazz that the Rockets faced in the first round.
Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like The Streak was insignificant. I was on the edge of my seat every single game... #22 was the best. I was just trying to say it was a bit of a red herring for that particular team. An anomaly.
When you read the top 10, you realize that every team in the west fighting for playing playoff positioning have games against each other. They managed a crazy end of season schedule. Crazy race....
