Unfortunately, we've got nothing on Phoenix or San Antonio. Much less Dallas. Sad but true. We would have to play out of our minds in order to beat any of the afforementioned teams in a best of 7 series.
Let's not take the win over the jazz for more than what it is. The jazz are only like a 50-50 team on the road.
we will be the sixth (fifth or seventh, or even eighth) after 82 games. If our first round playoff opponent is not Suns or Lakers, we can move forward, maybe western final.
Jeez, some of you guys really have lack of confidence in the team. Rockets has to beat the best to win the Championship and at this stage, who know how Rockets are compared to the other team. In fact, I have not seen Rockets played with all its starters healthy yet. Rockets still have a lot of games left to built its CHEMISTRY. Yes, chemistry is most important element to winning the Championship and I do believe Rockets can beat any teams in the playoff. Note that I am using the word 'can' and not 'will' because playoff is unpredictable. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Guess what Rockets did so far in this season against the 'elite teams'. 1) Suns: Although Rockets lost the game, Rockets was having a big lead up to the 3rd quarter but lost it in the 4th when the Suns decided to double and triple-teamed Yao even before he get the ball. The roleplayers then were not performing as well as they are performing now. Yes, Rockets has a chance to win with a big 'IF' McGrady had played. It is not that Rockets can't keep up with the fast pace of the Suns but we need a fully healthy team. Yes, it is an excuse but no denying that the result could had been a WIN. 2) Spurs: Yup, still remember Rockets trashed them in their home court. Some of you guys will argue that Spurs had their off night in that game but IMO, this is a confidence boosting game that led to the roleplayers playing better now. At least Rockets' players know they can beat the Spurs in their backyard and no longer have the losing mentality against the Spurs. 3) Mavericks: Rockets know they can beat the Mavericks, they did that early in the season when the Mavericks is cold, so what? A win is a win. Rockets has come close to beating the Mavericks in 2004-2005 season in the playoff. I do believe Rockets has a group of much improved players and what about the current dominating Yao? --------------------------------------------------------------------------The Rockets this season has kept us thinking whether they can make it big. At least this season, Rockets has hope in achieving something BIG. Do remember, Rockets is off to its best start. All I'm asking is show some confidence to the new team.
Edit: Make a mistake on the Suns part. I got mix up. The correct version is, the Suns that led 22pts in the first half before Rockets rallied to to take a two-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to fade badly in the final nine minutes. Anyway, the Rockets still had a chance to win.
There's no way the Rockets are a top 2 team...prolly top 10...but if they get in the playoffs with healthy T-Mac and Yao...anything can happen
One Word: T-Mac is back!!!!!!!!!!! As our winning streak suggest, we are very dangerous in playoffs with this T-Mac.
Well. Some people seem to forget that we blew out the Mavs by 31, almost blew out the spurs twice (blew them out without tmac once), and lost twice to the lakers twice in very close games without Tmac. The only team that I am concerned about is the Suns. With Amare back I think they are legit title contenders, plus their style really kills us. I'm not worried about the mavs or the spurs, we can definitely win against them. So yes, I'd say top 2 (when healthy).
Lets see if we can stay close to the Sun's the next few times we play. They have outclassed us each time we play them.
Don't forget Deke's 19 rebounds. Yao will contribute more in offense but won't do as well in defensive end.
agreed.........while we are a great team we are not one of the best two in the league. now when yao gets back if t-mac can keep playing like this and stay healthy i might be hummin a different tune.
yeah mac is rolling, and the team is on a 5 game winning streak, but even then, im not ready to christen the rockets top 2 in the division, much less the league. they haven't proven anything yet, we'll see where they are when everyone's healthy. the mavs, suns, spurs, jazz, (the lakers are probably on the same level as the rox)...they've all proven themselves. i'm not going to say anything just because we have the 'potential'. that's not to belittle the rockets' winning streak or the things they've done the past few games, i just think we need to see it a lot more to be considered an upper echeleon team. i believe we'll be doing pretty well when yao comes back though.
What have the Jazz proven? That they have the same record as us with them being healthy and we have had 2 out of the top 4 players out for almost every game? I would LOVE to see the Jazz in the first round. We would sweep them. They are a regular season team who outexecute and outhustle their opponents. In the playoffs everybody is ready, so it would come down to talent. We have 3 proven playoff performers in Tmac, Yao and Bonzi (Portland and Sacramento). The Jazz have 0. I am not familiar with the new playoff system? Is there a possible scenario where we would be 4th seed and the Jazz would be 5th seed? That would be sweet Our worst matchups are 1) Dallas 2) Phoenix I frankly think it would take a miracle to beat Dallas, but we could beat Phoenix because we can get the shots we want against them. We matchup well against San Antonio. Dallas is one of the best offensive teams and even though the statistics don't prove it, they are the best defensive team. JVG is a better defensive coach but Dallas has size and athleticism on defense. Howard would make Tmac work very hard on both ends
I don't see why people are undermining the Spurs so much... so they have lost a step and maybe won't win another championship for a while, but they are still a playoff force to be reckoned with. They've gone deep in the playoffs for several seasons in a row now and where have the Rockets gone? I agree we definitely have the potential, but we haven't gotten there yet. I'm just saying, until we actually go somewhere after April.. there really is no point in these empty claims.
to paraphrase Van Gundy. You are as good your record says you are. We currently the 6th best team in the league.
good point on utah, although, don't they have a better record than us? there's a two reasons they're considered third best in the west thus far in the season: execution and grit. we have 3 players who have not made any significant dents in playoff history. i guess its better than nothing though. didnt okur make the playoffs with the pistons? or was that just me? it isnt much, but im sure that it can still be counted as experience... i wouldnt count out a hustling team when it comes to the playoffs though, it wouldnt be wise to underestimate utah at all. thats not to say that we cant beat them, i just dont think it'll be as easy as you say. i agree with most of your points, though .
Don't get too oveconfident with our lil win streak.. I'll reply to each of your numbers... 1) Yeah we beat Utah without Yao, but we also lost to them when we had both Yao and T-Mac 2) True, the East sucks, but there's still a couple of teams worth mentioning (we've already lost once to Detroit) 3) "The Spurs look old" - didn't a lot of people say this about Duncan and the Spurs last year? Then in the playoffs, they turned up a couple notches, and if a bounce or whistle goes the other way, they beat Dallas, and possibly go to the finals 4) T-Mac does look better and this is promising considering his slow start, but don't jinx him now. Last season he had some monster games before going out with injury again 5) I'm also happy we're holding our own without Yao 6) Yes, we seem to be built for the playoffs, but when's the last time we won a playoff series? 6a) Yeah, Suns scare me too. There the only team I would not want to face as they always run us out of the building. Yao can't run up and down like that and they always frustrate T-Mac with Marion's good defense and Bell's dirty plays and flops don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the Rox now, but to say they are a top 2 team? too many things have to happen and work according to plan to say that
If we do make the playoffs, one team we do not want to face in a 7 game series is the Suns. Yao will be rendered obsolete. We appear to have the Spurs' number, but the regular season is different than the postseason. Memphis swept the Spurs in the regular season last year, but got swept by the Spurs in the playoffs. No one knows about the Fakers. Whenever you have the best player in the NBA with the best coach in the NBA you have a chance. As for the Mavs, we took it to them a couple years ago. They have pretty much the same team. But we don't. The Rockets team in 04 was special. I don't think we have the same team chemistry to do as well as we did in 04 against them. Therefore, the j*zz are probably our best bet to advance past the first round.
