Not sure I agree about Utah or Phx, Sloan seems to always get more from his players than one would think and Phx puts lots of regular season wins because of how they are built. The Rockets are built for the post-season, specifically by getting into the penalty and make free-throws. This way of scoring is magnified in the playoffs and it's really no secret that Morey like players that can get to the line. Like other posters, I think so much depends on health and chemistry. IF the ROX are healthy (Yao especially) and chemistry is like it was 2 yrs ago. I think the Rox could get to the WCF if the seedings work out, losing to the Lakers. But who know what could happen in a game 7?????
regular season is totally different from post season. And keep in mind, i'm not saying we have no shot against Dallas and Portland. I just feel they have the advantage. The point of my post is that a ton of teams are stacked 2 deep and many of them have a "best 5" that is as good as or IMO better than our "best 5".
I disagree, I think we are the better team, but I can see why you think that way....I just think all of them are a year older...and a step slower and just not mentally tough. Portland fronting Yao successfully, yeah, how did that work out for them in the playoffs with homecourt against a weaker Rockets team again? And the fronting of Yao will not work with this team, we have FAR FAR FAR too many weapons.....you front Yao which commits a man to his front and rear leaves someone WIDE open....and the Rockets for the FIRST time have 5 competent offensive players on the floor with Yao....someone is going to get a wide open shot. Fronting Yao, just got killed by the Rockets front office in a major way. DD
Sure we beat them in 7 games. A dogfight that featured them neutralizing Yao by fronting. We beat them because we had 2 excellent wing defenders to throw at Roy to slow him down.
Yes they are overrated when it pertains to the Rockets, whom the Thunder have only beat once in their history.
Six games, and we still have 2 excellent wing defenders in Shane and Lee to slow him down. And we are now better at many other positions. DD
They must be some awesome post defenders to be able to both deny Yao with fronting and be in the paint to prevent Brooks/Martin/Lee/Lowry getting to the rim...
Actually, teams front Yao with just one guy. In the front. Yao isn't mobile or explosive enough to get lob passes, so no need for backside help. That's why fronting worked on him. But I agree that Martin has the opportunity to put up a big season and post season, if Yao is healthy and commands that kind of attention.
Fronting Yao used to be a good way to slow down the Rockets.....now it is only a good way to slow down Yao, because the team can take SERIOUS advantage of that strategy by moving Yao and opening up the paint. This team is so danged versatile, probably the most versatile Rockets team I have ever seen and I have been following the team since the 1972-73 season. We are the Sacremento Kings part Deaux, and I used to secretly admire the way they played....I can not WAIT to see these guys go at it. DD
(posts picture of chagrin if he knew how to post pictures). Lordy, I guess it's been too long since that series. I hope Shane still has it. It's been 2 years. I am optimistic about Lee too but reserve judgement. (loved the Ariza for Lee trade by the way, just on personnel basis alone).
Very good post, Rileydog. I agree with pretty much everything you said. The only thing I want to add is the assessment of Utah Jazz. I agree that slight advantage Houston part. However I don't think it's because the departure of Boozer, they got Big Al who is just as good as Boozer if not better. Okur and Big Al are still going to be a big matchup problem for Yao. What's going to kill the Jazz is the addition of Kevin Martin. Utah has a history of getting burned by elite wings during the past several years. They have never been capable of defending a good wing player who has good range and is constantly looking to attack the basket. Martin's numbers against Jazz last 3 years. the last column is his score Code: 1 27-065 2010-04-07 HOU UTA W 1 39 9 20 .450 1 6 .167 9 9 1.000 0 0 0 3 1 1 3 2 28 2 27-026 2010-02-27 HOU @ UTA L 1 34 9 13 .692 2 4 .500 12 13 .923 0 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 32 3 26-362 2010-01-29 SAC @ UTA L 1 38 10 18 .556 4 7 .571 9 9 1.000 0 7 7 3 2 0 3 4 33 4 26-027 2009-02-28 SAC @ UTA L 1 37 6 16 .375 1 2 .500 6 7 .857 1 2 3 2 1 0 4 2 19 5 26-005 2009-02-06 SAC UTA L 1 40 10 20 .500 4 9 .444 13 18 .722 0 5 5 2 0 0 5 4 37 6 25-305 2008-12-02 SAC UTA L 0 33 6 16 .375 3 6 .500 7 10 .700 1 1 2 2 2 0 2 1 22 7 25-007 2008-02-08 SAC UTA W 1 28 9 15 .600 4 6 .667 5 7 .714 1 4 5 1 2 0 4 2 27 8 24-358 2008-01-25 SAC @ UTA L 1 38 7 17 .412 3 7 .429 15 15 1.000 1 6 7 4 0 0 1 1 32 9 24-306 2007-12-04 SAC UTA W 1 31 8 14 .571 0 0 9 13 .692 0 3 3 1 1 0 1 3 25 10 24-284 2007-11-12 SAC @ UTA L 1 38 7 12 .583 4 6 .667 3 4 .750 0 2 2 0 1 1 4 3 21
And Fisher is horrible against the much speeder Brooks. Though I expect Kobe vs Martin won't be too pretty either. Shane may have to switch over on the D.
It's simple really. If Yao is healthy, we're as good as any team in the west except maybe the Lakers. The west is so close together, that I don't think any team has a decided advantage over another in terms of talent. Whoever wants it worse wins it. Also, in the playoffs, I believe that the biggest factor is game planning and coaching (example: Nuggets). If that really is the case, I feel pretty confident in our little team.
Maybe so, but Fisher still has the knack for hitting big shots. I actually think Blake will thrive with the Lakers too. Good pickup for them. Still, Brooks is far to quick and should eat both of them up.
Wrong... Scola always gets his ass handed to him when he plays LaMarcus Aldridge. Why do you think they have to bring in Hayes against him? Aldridge would put up godly numbers against Scola all the time.
This thread got started off on the wrong foot. The OP was so egregiously wrong it felt like reading a fantasy basketball ranking system based entirely off of the past season's stats. It's alright to guess who's gonna be good and not next year, but why even bother if you're just going to assume that how teams ended the year is how good they will be starting the next. Might as well just call the thread "2009-2010 NBA Western Conference RECAP". At least take some chances. I know it's just one opinion versus the other but geez, I feel like if I get into this argument it'll just be like trying to rationalize with someone who is adamant that it will never rain again just because it hadn't rained the past two weeks. "Dallas will be the 2 seed again because they were the 2 seed last year." "Oklahoma City is up and coming! But they're not quite there yet, maybe one more year..." Thanks for that. I learned a whole lot today.
