Reasons I think Rockets are championship contender

The problem is that Yao has been known to wear down towards the end of the season as well. He did it his first 2 seasons. Plus we have a lot of old players on this team.

Wesley could break down towards the end of the season just like Jim Jackson did last season. And Mcgrady has played more minutes this year than any other season in his career. Who knows if Bob Sura will get back to his old self. Can Mike James keep shooting the way he has?

Hate to be a party pooper, but this team still has many question marks. Just as many as Phoenix and Dallas and Seattle.

 

$75 is a tad too steep, how about $73.25

 

wow ... i haven't enjoyed a thread this much for awhile ... and YES ... after watching the "Rock"-Kings game ... i got the feeling that the Rox has finally reached the contender status ... this is quite a accomplishment for CD in such a short time ... and this season is just crazy ... just a few months back ppl r shouting "Fire Gundy" ... LOL!!!

 

If the Rockets were able to hold on to early leads and not allow the other team to close the gap, Tmac would be able to get more rest.

The good thing is that the Rockets are getting much better at holding leads so I'm sure T-mac will be seeing around 3-4 minutes shaved off his playtime every game, maybe even more...

 

A week from tomorrow is the Heat and the following Sunday is the Spurs. We will see.

 

It's true that the wins against Dallas, Phoenix, and Sacramento came when they didn't have one/two key players. Indeed, we are pretty lucky in that respect.

However, what's encouraging to me however is the fact that we didn't just beat those teams. We more or less crushed those teams in convincing fashion, with Phoenix and Sacramento on their home floors.

Beat Dallas by 21 in Houston
Beat Phoenix by 20 in Phoenix
Beat Sacramento by 15 in Sacramento.

True, they weren't at full strength...but even if they had been, I'm sure the Rockets would've remained competitive against them. The fact that elite teams like those NEED to be at full strength to beat/compete with us is a good thing in my book.

EDIT: Of course, I'm in no way saying this Rockets team is perfect, or close to it. There are still pieces that need to be added before we can proclaim "dominance." I've just been very satisfied with the Rockets' play of late.

 

The Rockets are deep, deep, deep. Few teams in the league can bring in the type of shooters off of the bench that the Rockets can. Berry, James, Padget can all stick a dagger in your heart with the long ball on a consistent basis.

Yao tired towards the end of last season but was still effective. He seems to have a lot less problems with stamina this season.

Rockets play Play-Off style defense which neither Phx or Sea do.

I'm am not saying the Rockets are front runners or even a shoe in but they are certainly contenders....right now.

 

This could be said with any other team, given the league has been weak with so many expansion teams in the last decade or so. You can be a good team with just one or two stars, and a bunch of good role players. If any of those star players goes down, your team is out.

Just look at Spurs without Duncan, Heats without Shaq, or Mavs without Dirk.

 

Beat


Dallas (without Nowitzski and Finely)
Pheonix (without Marion who is the third best rebounder in the league)
Sacro (wihtout Miller though would have won that game anyway)
Spurs (without Duncan and Manu)


you guys a little too excited. though atleast we did'nt lose to these teams

 

I didn't notice that Duncan and Manu were absent on 12/9 and 1/15...

 

we never played the spurs without manu and duncan.

and yes we beat the teams without those players mention, but the fact of the matter is we not only beat the teams we dominated in convincing fashion. having miller,marion,dirk back on their respective teams of course would have made the score closer but the way the rockets were playing i dont think it would have an impact on the final outcome of the game, a rocket W

 

I agree with this post. Being a championship team means you can beat the best teams on their home floor at their best.

Phoenix with Marion is not a championship team.
Dallas without Dirk is an also ran
Seattle is a good team, not a contender
Sacramento is a fading star - not a contender.

Houston hasn't beaten SA in SA, or Miami on the road in a long long time. And then their Detroit, who isn't having a stellar year, but i seem to vaguely recall some thing about underestimating champions - especially ones that ended a dynasty.

I do think this team could become a contender...we just don't know if they are going to a hot spell, or if they are fundamentally changed. Games against Miami and San Antonio will tell us.

 

7. Rockets are healthy and gelling at just the right time.

I had a bad feeling when I first read this...

 

I hate how people try to nit-pick with our wins. Coming into this trip, everyone was saying how this would be a defining mome tin the season, and the Rockets surpassed all expectations. I was personally hoping for .500 ball. All you can do is play the teams on the schedule. And right now, the Rockets are taking care of business. They beat 4 out of the top 5 teams in the West in a row. That's unbelievable. More importantly, they're growing up right before our eyes. You can see the chemistry developing between the stars and the role players, the starters and the bench, the coach and the players. I predicted that we would get off to a slow start this season, and we ended up playing worse that I even expected at the beginning. But now, with all the new additions, and the evolution of Yao + leadership of T-Mac, we are playing at a level that I would have never imagined this year to be possible. My advice is to enjoy the ride, especially while we're exceeding expectations. It's only a matter of time before this board swings back to the other extreme and starts b****ing again after a loss here or there. I'm falling in love with this team again. T-mac, Yao, Sura, Barry, James, Dikembe, the hustle, fast breaks, hitting open shots, passing, defense...I love it all!

 

NewYorker

Its still true that the Rockets aren't a championship contender yet and still has some pieces to iron out before we get there, but you have to be impressed with our play the last five or six games. So what that Phoenix was without Marion or Dallas didn't have Dirk or Finley the last time we've played them?? We beat Dallas in Dallas with both of them there anyway in January. The game in Phoenix proved that as long as we can match the offensive output by the suns, our defense will do the rest and if the suns give up 110+ games, their offense will have to be flawless or else they might be facing an early exit themselves due to the poor defense. How do you have a 14 point lead midway through the third quarter and lose by 20?? Seattle will be a challenge most definitely. They have a nice combo of players and the coach has them clicking well for now, but they're inexperienced(not that it always matters) as our squad. They could be just another 90's decade sonics that wins 55-60 games in the regular season just to fold like a cheap suit in the playoffs.

I think we've beat Miami in Miami a couple of years back, but you're right about SA. The Rockets haven't won in the Alamodome since 1997. The first win against them was pure luck, but our defense I'd say is about even with them. It's just that their execution is much better than ours down the stretch when both teams on defense are tiring down some. They get to the foul line, make their shots, go to the right players, and its too much of an uphill battle for us. We got 4 more games against the Suns/Sonics and a chance to beat the Spurs in the Alamo. Lets see how we fare against them.

 

I don't b**** after one loss, and i don't jump on the bandwagon after a few wins.

One road trip doesn't make a season. There's a reason why no one is ranking Houston the number 1 or 2 team in the league - yet.