The Rockets still have a pulse and could even make the playoffs with the current lineup...including Aaron Brooks. A three game winning streak shows the Rockets are finally catching a few breaks and winning some close games. Looking back over the season, I see twelve losses that could have easily gone the other way...twelve games that were decided by single digit margins. If not for a blown layup here or a missed jumpshot and a couple of free throws there, all of those losses would have been reversed. The Rockets record could just as easily have been 37-16 right now instead of 25-28. Close games are often times decided by luck as much as skill. Sometimes ref bias factors in. Regardless, it is not too late for the Rocket's fortunes to turn around. They just need to be on the other side of catching some breaks. Dig out the schedule and study the remaining games. Allowing for Portland and other teams ahead of Houston in the playoff race to continue winning at roughly the same pace, the Rockets will need to go 21-8 with Portland going 17-13...while everyone else stays about the same. This is not an impossible mountain to climb. The Rockets fell just a few points shy of sweeping the Lakers. They scored more points on Miami than any other team and barely missed beating them. Two losses to the Bulls were decided by a total of five points. Heart break losses late in games have a terribly demoralizing effect on players and fans. In spite of adversity, the Rockets continue to fight. An important question...Will the fickle fan base get on board and support this team's valiant efforts as they strive with all their might to salvage a painful season? Hopefully, Brooks will get the attitude straightened out and start producing the points and play that he has demonstrated in the past when he was healthy and happy. A healthy Brad Miller and Jordan Hill can shore up the paint and give Chuck Hayes some help. Let's hope Adelman will continue to find the right combination of players to gain the amount of wins required to get Cinderella into the Big Dance. It can be done.
B-R.com only gives us a 24% chance of making the playoffs. http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/playoff_prob.cgi It projects we'll go 16-13 the rest of the way. I think we'll have to go at least 19-10 to make it.
What's the point of making the playoffs if it only means getting stomped in the first round? And we've won to many games to have any real hope of landing a top three pick in the lottery. What this boils down to is another wasted season, where the Rockets are in NBA purgatory, too good for the lottery but not good enough to win a Championship.
BOTH! I'm looking for a trade that brings salary to us and takes salary away from some team that is losing money and bleeding red ink and in exchange for giving that team money, I'm thinking Morey is going to get an option to switch first round picks with them, thereby giving us still a shot at lottery balls. For intance, Detroit. If we took Villanueva, RIP, and Ben Wallace off their hands for Yao, Jared, and Hill, just a huge salary dump for Detroit, we might just get an option to switch picks with them. Now, wouldn't that be something??!??!?
^^^^^^ This Right here is the "True" question ^^^^^^^ I don't mind sitting the starters and letting our bench getting the bulk of the minutes. That way the can develop better and can show other teams how much of a trade assets the Rockets really have. The Rockets are not going to get a tier 1 star to sign in Houston either in Free Agency or Trade. The only way they can get that Superstar/Tier 1 or close to it is someone from the draft. I'm not saying we will be in the top 3 but hopefully 4-7 that Morey can pull a Gem out.
1. We have to see how Brandon Roy works out in this team. 2. Trade could happen soon. We all know Morey is going to make a move, we just don't know how big. 3. Schedule favors us. This is the time to make run. 4. Possibly Denver loses couple of big assets and fell down quickly. Here is schedule: To make it shorter, I canceled of similar games between the two teams such as Rockets vs. San Antonio, Portland vs. San Antonio were not included. BTW, This schedule is from start of the March to end of the season: Bolded are games against west top 8 teams and east top 6 (.500 +). Rockets home games: SA,Boston,Utah,Atlanta,Indiana,PHX,SAC,LAC Portland home games:Lakers,Dallas,OKC,Houston,Washington,Memphis,Cleveland,Philadelphia Rockets away games: Portland,LAC,PHX,NJ,PHI,MIN Portland away games: LAL,SAS,ORL,ATL,OKC,UTAH,GS,CHAR Home games are kinda same... it's the away schedule.. We got only 5 less games against good teams on the road than them. I say "most important game of the season" is going to March 1st. Rockets @ Blazers! It will be a must win game. P.S: Even Feb schedule kinda favors us slightly:: Rockets home games: Dallas, MIN, PHI, NJ Portland home games: LAL,ATL,NO Rockets away games: NO, CLE Portland away games: TOR, MIN I Think this is our time to make a run!!! Of our next 16 games, only 5 are against good teams, of which 3 at home. We just need to get on a roll and we will be absolutely fine considering easier schedule than other ones that allows us to go on a run.
I agree that we can still make the playoffs, barring what goes down at the trade deadline, but 37-16? Come on. Luck has little to do with that. Our record is the way it is because we lack defense that can slow down the opponent when it really matters. And because we don't have a go-to scorer, but it's mainly due to the defense.
Hollinger gives the Rockets a 39.2% chance of making the playoffs. http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds He projects we'll go 17-12 the rest of the way. I think we'll have to go at least 18-11 to make it.
That's loser talk. Why not make it? Win a road game and hold serve at home. You beat anyone. No good players in this draft anyway. Wasted season? If you ain't LAL, MIA, BOS or ORL, you aren't winning anyway. Wanna go tell the Thunder that they are trapped in purgatory? They aren't winning **** either with their team, but they aren't going to quit because they are stuck in one gear...you dribble and you shoot, hope for the best.
You make quite a bit of money and have a chance to spread or breed hope in and around the community, which often also results in money (season ticket holders, sponsors, etc.). I would also think that making the playoffs tends to raise your players trade value.
There is no chance in hell that Rockets will make the playoffs. Rockets are simply not a playoff team.
I'm looking at the schedule and it's soooo soft. The Rockets should be able to go 22-7, at worst 19-10. Any worse than that means they lost to scrubs.
After the sports year the city of Houston is having (in ALL sports), I'll take it. A playoff appearance would at least instill some hope for the future, and give us fans something to finally look forward to after getting gut-punched time and time again by our other franchises (both college and pro). And who knows, like somebody said, if you can take a game on the road, all bets are off.
