I still habitually call them the Charlotte Hornets. Still can't get used to the "New Orleans" Hornets.
For now, we are a 2 or 3 seed for sure, but if all healthy we have a great chance of being number one in the West and hopefully the NBA.
I really don't think LA is better because during the Playoffs, they were playing without Yao. It make s a world of difference with Yao inside and i don't think LA can do anything inside with Yao standing there. Kobe is not going to be able to attack inside, Gasol is going to get his shot block and Bayum is going to be schooled all game along by Yao's length.
With this move we are better than every team on paper, but until we put it together on the court I would put us 2nd behind the LAL in the West and 3rd behind Boston & LAL in the entire league. We have the better trio than both teams, but we have to see who reserve players are better. Boston and LAL are deep and have bench guys who have proved they can contribute. Boston losing Posey may hurt them alot.
Yao isn't a defensive force like dwight, kobe is going to attack the rim regardless of yao being there or not and yao cant mark gasol and bynum at the same time.
Until I see them on the court together I'm not going to make too many bold assumptions. Can they be better than both those teams? Yes they can, but will they be is another thing. I agree with Yao's statements about chemistry first. Landry isn't signed yet and neither is Mutumbo. So I'd like to make sure of that first. I also question how much Barry has left in his tank to give. If he isn't our idea for back up pg then I don't know who is.
I think his rankings are very solid and can't find much fault with them. The Rockets have potential issues with the health of it's two stars, team chemistry (Artest) and weakness at PG. But the other top teams have concerns: Lakers: How well will Bynum come back after his injury? I don't think you can assume he just steps in and resumes his trajectory from day 1. For all we know, he may not feel 100% comfortable all of next season. Plus he's still a "diaper dandy" who is one of the youngest players in the NBA. I believe some of the doubts about moving Lamar Odom back to SF are valid. I'm not convinced he will be as effective there now on a full-time basis. I think a front line of Bynum, Pau and LO could be a bit big & slow. You also never know how the mentally fragile Odom might be next season. Hornets: Mike James is the backup to Chris Paul. After Paul, the top returning assist man is David West at only 2.3 per game. I'm not saying Paul won't be Superman again next season, but he better be or the Hornets aren't contenders. Posey was a solid addition to shore up their weak SG situation. The Hornets don't have much of a bench besides Posey. That will pose a problem. They won't make the Finals with Ryan Bowen and Mike James in the rotation. Jazz: There is something to say for continuity, but they are basically standing pat with what wasn't good enough before. Maybe Ronnie Brewer or C.J. Miles will go to another level. Spurs: They are a year older without any fresh blood. Call me premature, but they will not go back to the Finals unless they make some moves. I disagree with the "can't count out the Spurs" logic just because they are the Spurs. There are too many other good teams in the West. The only way the Spurs make it is for disaster to hit 3-4 other teams. Mavs: Rick Carlisle is a better coach than many give him credit for. But the Mavs talent level has dropped and they are not a contender. The players may have trouble adapting to the new "hands on" philosophy on offense. I said last summer the Mavs missed their window when they blow the 2-0 lead in the Finals and then lost to the Warriors after the great regular season.
Injuries are the only possiblilty that we don't win it all this year. On paper this is is the best Rockets team ever! On paper, the '86 team was the best ever for the Rox, closely followed by the Hakeem, Drex, Barkley team - neither won the Ring. This team is more talented (sorry Tinman) The best chemisty was obvioulsy '94 & '95 which neither were the favorites, but both still managed to win it all. I can't wait to see how it unfolds. Talent wise: we should win it all. Second place or making it to the second round should be considered a failure IMO.
i used to really care where they put us, but now i really don't anymore. we just have to prove it on the court. winning will speak for itself. can the season get here already? i'm amped up already to see artest get his first technical
LOL @ listing their lineup as if that is sufficient evidence for them getting the most wins. That is a very weak lineup for an elite western team.
This is where I stand too. I'm hesitant to rank the Rockets so high because there is so much uncertainty, but at the same time, I'm so thoroughly unimpressed by the rest of the Western conference elite. At worst, the Rockets' weaknesses aren't any worse than anyone else. You haven't been able to say that for a very long time.
The Rockets were almost a #1 seed last season minus Yao for a good portion of the season, while adjusting to a new coach who hadn't implemented all of his plays yet. With Yao and a #1 seed I have no doubt they would have whooped the Nuggets as well. I don't understand why people still forget that. With Artest though I think it pretty much seals the deal that they should be a #1 seed and should make a deep run in the playoffs if not win it all outright.
some peeps on this board think hornets are better? we blew them out by 20 freakin' pts when our entire team was relatively healthy on their homecourt? tmac and yao punked them with ease. we beat them again on our homecourt during our win streak. the last game of the season series they won simply b/c a lot of guys were tired after the win streak, hence the big 4th quarter meltdown. without artest, i take our team in a 7 game series. with artest, we should beat them in 5 or 6.
