Looks pretty favorable for the Rocks ... 4-2 already in February 30 games left, I am optomistically looking @ a record of 22-8 Dallas, Minnesota, Memphis maybe, LA, SA, Sac, maybe another stumble or two So lets say we lose 3 more to make it 19-11 That would leave our record @ 49-33 ... I wonder if that would be good enough
i love my rockets but we have a killer schedule coming up. have not seen enough from these guys to make me think the uneven play is gone, either. 2 games over .500 ball the rest of the way. we finish 47-35 w/the 7th or 8th seed.
With the Midwest going like it is, 18-12 will have to be the numbers. It'll take 48 wins to get in the tournament.
Too optomistic. ROX could lose to any Western teams, if you recall ROX' past 4 streak losses. Winning Lakers does not mean that ROX could win any other Western teams in the same way.
I am hoping 16-14. finishing with 46 wins. I think that gets us in the playoffs. Anything less than that and it gets tricky. I would love to get 48 wins. That might get us a 6 or 7 seed.
OK then ... Lets take a look here: Rest of Feb 17 Tue Washington W __21 Sat @ Dallas L __22 Sun Atlanta W __24 Tue @San Antonio L 25 Wed Cleveland W __27 Fri Portland W __29 Sun Seattle W March __3 Wed L.A. Lakers W __5 Fri @Minnesota L 7 Sun Dallas W __9 Tue L.A. Clippers W __11 Thu New Orleans L __13 Sat Memphis W __15 Mon Phoenix W __19 Fri @Golden State W __21 Sun @Sacramento W __22 Mon @Portland W __24 Wed Toronto W __26 Fri @Memphis L __28 Sun @Milwaukee W __29 Mon Minnesota L April __1 Thu @L.A. Lakers L __2 Fri @Denver W __4 Sun Sacramento W __6 Tue @Golden State W __7 Wed @L.A. Clippers W __9 Fri Denver W __10 Sat @Utah W __12 Mon @Seattle W __14 Wed Dallas W That's 7 losses when I went through it this time. They are more familiar with each other now. They have had more time with the system of Herr Gundy. If Steve had any doubts about being trade or whatnot, JVG has addressed those. But please ... Show me what other 8 teams they would lose to to go 15-15 ... That is just ridiculous
I'll go with 17-13. That might be enough to secure the 6th seed as Memphis and Denver also have brutal schedules down the stretch.
Start by changing those Ws to Ls at Sacramento(!), Portland, Denver, and if they're still in the playoff race in April, probably Utah and Seattle. The Rockets have already lost games in all 5 cities. Don't assume so many home wins, either. The Grizzlies, Kings, Mavericks and Nuggets will all be tough. I think we're looking at 46-47 wins at best, just enough to reach the playoffs.
It's easy that we lose games to Dallas and Sacramento. And it's always easy to lose to a lesser team. Memphis is gonna give us trouble, so is Seattle. And although I wish that we can sweep Lakers for the season, it's also possible that we lose the next two against them especially if Shaq sucks it up and let PJ DT Yao.
Rox don't get easy wins over Seattle this year. Not that they aren't probably not a better team, but they match up terribly with them. Damn it's 1993 again!
The schedule doesn't matter too much. The record will be determined by the team's psychology. If they play against good teams, they'll play hard. If they play bad teams, they'll underestimate them. The record will probably end up being pretty close to the same. Our record so far is on track for 47-48 wins and that's what I expect we'll get.
That schedule after March 15th is brutal. They'll have to catch a flight after every single game starting March 19th. 11 of 16 on the road with no consecutive home games, including four games in five days in April... Also, the Rockets are flying out of Houston on Astros opening day. I'm sure everybody will cut Steve some slack if he skips that flight to support the Astros, though.
we should shoot for 50 wins... 30 home wins + 20 road wins = jvg's formula for a successful season....
