While I can see us finishing with 45+ wins after revweiwing the last 3 months of the season, our chance at making the playoffs is not good. The Mavs are currently sitting in the 7th seed with .620 winning percentage. In 8th seed is Pheonix with a .583 winning percentage. Denver and Seatle both have winning percentages over .500. I can see the team that finishes in the 8th seed will have something very close to .600 winning percentage. Having said that the team that holds the 8th sead will probably finish with at least 48 wins, for a winning percentage of about .580. The Rockets currently at 24 and 25 would have to finish the season with 24 wins and 9 losses. As of now we have 8 games left against Portland, Sac, Min and Utah...all teams that we have a recent history of not beating...period. On the positive side. Other than the games against Portland, Sac, Min and Utah every game on the schedule should find us favored to win...at least in my mind. And we should be due for some wins against Port, Sac, Min or Utah. The Dream is playing better than he has in two years and the team is playing better right now than any other time since Francis has been here. Dallas and Pheonix both have extreamly tough schedules starting in March that will carry through to the end of the season. There are definitely positives heading into the all star break. So the table is set. It is going to be a tough uphill climb, but with a favorable schedule and a Rockets team that finally looks like a contending team with the addition of a low post game. We should be in good shape to make a legitimate run. Everyone should keep their eyes on these two dates March 11 and 29 against the Suns and March 3 and April 3 against the Mavs. Those are probably the two teams we will be challenging for the 8th seed as the season wears down. Just for the record I will stick my neck out and predict the Rockets finish the season 48 and 34 to slide into the 8th play off spot in the West! ------------------ [This message has been edited by crash5179 (edited February 08, 2001).]
If we play like we have been i think we could easily notch 50 wins, but i doubt we will. I see us finishing 45-37 9th seed. Too much talent in the west. If we miss out in the Webber/Finley sweepstakes, i would love to see BOTH head east(preferrably not to the same place). ------------------ President of the Charles Barkley fan club...Oh he retired? When?
I originally said 40-42 when we had this thread before the season, and we were 20-21 at the halfway point. Due to our youth and inconsistency, I'm sticking to 40-42. ------------------ [This message has been edited by wrath_of_khan (edited February 08, 2001).]
Wait they're 25-25 and there are 32 games left... it's 02/08... so one, two, thr... they'll go 25-57. Oops, I mean 57-25. Wait, that's too much sun. I'll get freckles on my arse. I'll say 50-32, since the team is young. ------------------
True, they've played well lately, but I'm sticking with my original predicitons: 1. 40-42, maybe 42-40 or 43-39 2. Out of the playoffs 3. Get good prospect, preferably SF, in lottery, make splash in free agency 4. Legitimate playoff run in '01-'02 ------------------ Who's better: Kelvin Cato or Joe Barry Caroll? Take your time!
Given the Rockets schedule for the month, the 8, 9, 10 and 11 spots could look as follows (barring any injuries or trades to any of the four teams) at the end of the month: 8) Seattle 9) Houston 10) Phoenix 11) Denver Houston literally won't know if they're in the playoffs or not until mid March or later. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Achebe (edited February 08, 2001).]
