There are 14 games in January. It doesn't look pretty. How many of these do you think the Rockets will win? 3 vs Sonics 5 vs Jazz 7 at T-wolves 8 at Bulls 10 vs Lakers 12 at Nuggets 13 at Kings 16 at Mavs 17 vs Suns 20 vs Nuggets 24 at Spurs 26 vs Blazers 29 vs 76ers 31 vs Sonics
3 vs Sonics 7 at T-wolves 10 vs Lakers 26 vs Blazers 29 vs 76ers 31 vs Sonics these are the 6 should-wins. Provided the stars align themselves and fall into place. Possibly could grab a 7th out of one of these 13 at Kings 20 vs Nuggets I'll stick with 6...its a shocker of a month...
Man, that's a rough schedule in terms of quality of teams, especially the ones on the road. It looks like a daunting task, but we'll take it one game at a time. I am looking forward to the team showing a fighting spirit and some championship moxy even though we don't have the full deck of talent. I am more concerned with attitude than how many wins we'll get. We have to show that we're not waiting for Yao so when Yao comes back we can get on a roll.
If T-Mac keeps playing at the level he was playing last night, I think we can squeeze out 8 wins (with a couple of surprise wins over top teams). Otherwise it's 5-7. Whatever happens, I really need them to beat the Fakers.
dont forget that melo and the rest of the team will all be back for our first game against them this month.
i forgot to post my prediction: 3 vs Sonics W 5 vs Jazz L 7 at T-wolves L 8 at Bulls L 10 vs Lakers W 12 at Nuggets L 13 at Kings W 16 at Mavs L 17 vs Suns L 20 vs Nuggets L 24 at Spurs L 26 vs Blazers W 29 vs 76ers W 31 vs Sonics W that should make us 24-20 overall. just keeping our head above water before yao gets back. i can't wait for february! even without yao i think we can win 10 games. with yao we might have won the whole damn month!
Not true. Melo won't be back for the 1/12 or 1/20 game. He WAS going to be back for the 1/20 game, but then a game got postponned. It is rescheduled for AFTER our 1/20 Nuggets game (I think for 2/5). So Melo won't be back until the game AFTER our 1/20 matchup.
ooops! thanks for the correction. in that case i'll change my prediction from 6-8 to 7-7. i still think they get the best of us once... you know, the usual breakdown.
Well, here's Denver's schedule, just for comparison. We might wanna remember that other teams have games to play in Jan. too. Sixers @ Lakers Utah Bucks Spurs ROCKETS @ Portland Bluntblazers Cavs @ ROCKETS (2nd night of back to back) Grizzled @ Sonics @ Utah Nets Charlotte @ Portland I'll give Denver 8 wins, while the Rox get 6. And here is the Lakers schedule in Jan. @ Sacto Denver Dallas @ Grisly @ ROCKETS (2nd night of back to back on road) Orlando Miami @ Spurs @ Dallas @ NOK GSW Charlotte Spurs @ Knicks @ Celtics OK, I'm going to give the Lakers 9 wins, unless their road game really sux. But they do have 15 games in the month! Oh well, the point is: Rox will come out of January still in the 6 or 7 slot!
Yeah but from the 10th to the 20th we have some really tough teams we will be playing. All of them could compete for a title.
I predict 7-7. Anything better than that, I'll gladly take. February is where the Rockets(Yao or no Yao) can do some damage.
well I am optimistic about the rox after how insanely dominant on d we have been since yao has been out. if we play this hard on D then we will have a chance to win 10 and be able to play with any team with a healthy TMac...but we need to be real. we only have 4 easy wins (blazers, sixers, and sonics x 2) out of 14. we could play well and still lose the other 10. that's how tough our schedule is. we have 7 sure losses/very tough games. jazz are a tough match up and a loss. then we have the 3 back to backs (at the bulls, at sacto, and v. phx) which are all probable losses. then we have at SA, at Dallas, and at Denver. I can't see us winning those games either. so we are left with v. lakers, v. denver, and at minny. I see these games as toss ups, but we should beat denver in houston. so I think 7 wins would be excellent. 4 wins would be a disaster but it sucks because it could easily happen.
i say we go 7-7. i would love to do better than that but to be honest, we have a pretty rough schedule this month and that's how i see us doing.