Serious Discussion: Rockets better now or last year?

Better now.

 

well... we have the same record as this time last year, and last season I felt that the team could buckle down and get some stops in the 4th.. but I have more confidence in this squad offensively going out there putting the game away early and hitting the big shots

so I like this team better


... plus they are just more fun to watch

 

Championship possibilities. Pheonix and Miami are the only teams that clearly have more talent.

 

Id rather watch a high flying, 3 point shooting, scoring machine team like we have now rather than a defensive minded grind it out team we had last year. Truth they both have the same results BUT entertainment is a BIG factor! Plus i think this team has alot more upside for the future than last years team

 

Easy one. Now.

Both defenses good, but this year's offense is smater, shoots better, more flow, more assists, less reliance on iso's ... I could go on and on.

 

Got to say better now

I think this team is still improving . . . I don't think we've seen this team at it's very best just yet.

Let's see how this team is doing during the last month of the season.

Future looks bright, I've gotta wear shades.

 

...less turnovers...

 

This team has a lot more upside with T-Mac and Yao. But if you're just asking us to compare this year's squad at this point in the season vs. last year's team without factoring in potential beyond the 2004-2005 season, I'd still take this year's Rockets. As the Spurs game in December showed, this team is never out of a game with a player like T-Mac. That'll mean a lot come playoff time.

 

and that's huge . . . can't under estimate the value of smarter basketball

 

This year due to more talent.

 

My concern is the age of all those role players in Rockets. All of them are over 30s. Who knows how they will be after one year. Look how bad timberwolves are right now. They won most games in NBA just one year ago.
But this year, Cassell and Sprewell are just not the same.

 

Record wise, of course not.

However, if you take our record since Sura has been back in the starting lineup, and since the trades, we are playing .645 ball.

Team is much better offensively, and a lil worse defensively.

This team finds ways to win more than they find ways to lose (like in seasons past).

 

It's close.

This year's team is more fun to watch and has played better than last season, however I'm not sure if it's because of the change of players or if it's because of the change of attitude from Van Gundy.

It's clear that Van Gundy is much more open minded now compared to last year. He's giving the guards and Mcgrady more freedom and not restricting them to throw it into Yao every single time down the court. That's a major reason why the team has looked better. Earlier in the season the offense was run the same way it was last year and the results were ugly.

I'm curious how last year's team would have looked if the offense was run the same way it is now. If Francis doesn't have the worse season of his career and the defense remains as good as it was last season, who knows how good they would have played last season.

 

Now

I know that this team is rarely out of a game and while they tend to let people sneak back into games I trust them to finish the job in crunch time.

I think that Rockets will have a huge 2nd half of the season. I still say 5th spot in the playoffs

 

This year's team is far superior to last years, similar records notwithstanding. The current team is smarter as illustrated by the excellent ball movement. Basketball 101, every time you pass the ball, the defense has to reset. The team last year did not understand this. Players would stand around and watch a dribbling show. Last year was a brick fest. Seeing the threes swish through this year is sweet. Bottomline, this team, at present, is VERY entertaining to watch. I am having "real" fun for the first time in over five years.

The downsides are Ming's performance until recently, Wesley's poor shooting, Strickland (who looked fair last night, it's a miracle!), and Sura's injuries. TMac has been fabulous, Howard is coming along, Sura has exceeded my expectations, and Barry & Padgett have been huge. The "motion" last night was unreal, the best I have seen in years.

 

I just like the fact that we play smarter and more efficiently. The offense is just so much more smoother. I hated when our old guards just killed the shot clock by overdribbling or didn't make the obvious pass.I do miss some of the athleticism though but I'll take smart play over acrobatic plays any day. If we could just get some young big guy, I think we'd have a nice combination of youth w/veterans. Maybe Swift.

 

I think we should wait and compare last year to next year.

 

The team I'm seeing right now really impresses me. It surprises me, frankly. Different guys stepping up every night on the peripheral while getting consistent play from our stars. As someone else said, the ball movement is just amazing. I haven't seen the Rockets play like that in years. They're getting good shots...and not dribbling the clock away.

Start from the point where we had a healthy Sura with Barry and Wesley...and I'll take that team over an 82 game season over last year's squad every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

 

Can you imagine what our record would be if we had the team we have now to start the season