This is why they never went to the NBA Championship That shot by Horry . . . won the series for the Spurs Suns lost several VERY IMPORTANT players for the next two games THAT SAID Harden and crew got plenty enough talent the league is different Rocket River
This is the main point. The NBA in 2017 is far more conducive to a D'Antoni style team winning the championship.
1. The Suns did contend. 2. The Suns might have won that year if the hip-check fall-out didn't happen. 3. The hip-check fall-out is on the Suns. It was DEFINITELY a hard foul. DEFINITELY a flagrant foul. But DEFINITELY NOT anywhere close to the worst or most flagrant foul I've ever seen. And that was a post Artest/Detroit era where the rules were very clear. The point here... HOPE the Rockets players don't do anything stupid that takes them out of their game because of suspensions or whatever. Heck, just look at Draymond Green and the Warriors last year. 4. The Suns did have more overall talent. 5. The Rockets have James Harden, who is clearly superior to Nash overall. 6. Even with the rest of the team being inferior, other factors keep this Rockets team on pace, ESPECIALLY OFFENSIVELY. (i) the team built around Harden being so perfect, (ii) the system taking what the Suns started and the Warriors perfected, to the extreme, the way the game is played overall in today's NBA, and the Rockets players, OFFENSIVELY, being pretty close talent wise to the Suns factoring in those systems. Were Amare and Marion and Joe Johnson, etc. clearly better overall? Sure. But Amare didn't space the floor like Anderson can. Heck, even a 48% three point shooting Joe Johnson didn't spread the floor like a 38% three point shooting Eric Gordon does... because Gordon takes NINE!!! threes a game, to Johnson's 4.5 at that time. 7. All of which makes the Rockets team comparable, if not better, offensively. Advanced stats seem to support this as well. 8. But as so-so as the Suns were defensively and rebounding, I think they're still better than the Rockets in that department. 9. Those Spurs were better than these Spurs.... 10. But these Warriors, IF HEALTHY, are better than those Spurs. which all leads to... 11. Only time will tell. As DM has said... this Rockets squad is all about variance. They need to win their first round series, then just get hot for a month and half. Get hot doesn't have to mean everyone is awesome every game... but every game there is enough of that. And with that, with the system they run, with Harden, with the complimentary players, with Nene and Cappella playing BIG, with the status of KD uncertain, with a Kawhi/LMA squad you just can't quite feel 100% comfortable betting on yet in the playoffs ... would anyone be shocked if the Rockets actually pull out a championship this year?? I wouldn't. The odds still re not in their favor, and are less in their favor than the Suns odds were, but it can happen. They certainly CAN contend. Will they?
This Rockets team is currently one of the best offensive teams of all time, better than the squad MDA coached at Phoenix. What's scary is that this is only his first year with this team. Regardless of what happens this year I think we will have plenty of good years to look forward to. It wouldn't be a shock to me if this team beat Golden State or San Antonio in a playoff series this year, where as in the last couple of seasons it would have been. We've beaten Golden State at Oakland when they had a healthy Durant. Even if he comes back this year, he won't be 100% so I think we have a good chance there. We've also had big leads against the Spurs in 3/4 of the games we've played them in so far, we just couldn't quite close the door on them. We can beat Cleveland too. I think the door is open for the Rockets this year and we just have to hope they can take advantage of it. I honestly haven't been this excited about a Rockets playoff run since the 90's.
# of all stars: Phoenix Suns - Nash, Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Marion Houston Rockets - Harden The Suns were more talented. But that doesn't mean 2017 Rockets aren't contenders. Only time will tell.
Phoenix had better talent. Houston has the best overall individual player. Rockets may have a better team tho. In this era of ball this style is perfect and we have a group of players designed for the system. Let's hope we get further than them.
Aside from Raja Bell being a very good 3pt shooter... Anderson being compared to Amare is ridiculous as they are VERY different types of players and don't even play the same position. Anderson is a floor spacer, Stoudemire was only good inside the paint. Anderson is clearly a better fit for the Rockets with his ability to shoot 3s. Diaw was NOT a good 3pt shooter in his time on the Suns and to compare Capela or Nene to Diaw is not very easy. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/diawbo01.html Lastly, Shawn Marion was NOT a good 3pt shooter either and did not shoot many 3s. Ariza plays his role in our offense, and we don't need him to be like Shawn Marion. Shawn Marion would be a very bad fit in this offense and I would much rather Ariza.
I don't see Robert Horry playing against us in any possible scenario in our playoff run. On that note, can we sign him? The man has never failed to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs ever in his career.
'16-'17 Harden is better than MVP Nash. And I don't really think it is debatable when you consider context.
I would say they had more talent. Harden seems to be way more individually talented than Nash but Nash is really the better captain for that Suns team. Our thing going forward is that we have tons of shooters, more than them, and we are collectively going to bank on Harden and our hot hand. Our game is suited for this era, I think we can go to the WCF, even sniff at the Finals but no doubt the Suns IMHO had more individual talent next to Nash, the Captain. I think what they had and we can try to emulate is consistency throughout 3 or more seasons. They just could not get past the Greater Big 3 Spurs plus Pops plus Horry n bench and some close referee calls. Golden State is also a team that reminds me of the past Suns team. Steve Nash teaming up with them, and Steve Kerr being a Popovich student suggest they will copy Suns style and Popovich's execution down the stretch.
I just realized that James Harden and Steve Nash both wear #13 and Barbosa who was a leading candidate for 6th man of the year wore #10 like Eric Gordon
They're different teams. Harden/Beverley > Nash/Bell Anderson/Capela < Marion/Stoudemire They have style similarities and similar loads of depth but I don't think directly comparing them tells you much, especially given how much the game has changed in under 15 years. The Rockets will have to beat teams running offenses also underpinned in SSOL ; the Suns had to beat teams who were frequently still trying to copy the Shaq and Kobe model of offense.
I don't know if that is true. Harden is the superior athlete. But Nash had a far better IQ and made better decisions with the ball. Harden's stupid turnovers are mostly unforced & out of laziness. Steve Nash was FAR more trustworthy with the ball, especially in the playoffs
POST SEASON: Harden 4.8 Asst 2.9 To 19.6 pts Career Nash 8.8 Asst 3.2 To 17.3 pts Career The last Two seasons Harden 7.5 Asst 5 To 27 pts Rocket River
First the notion that those Suns teams didn't content is absurd. While they never reached a Finals, they were more than in the hunt during their window. With that being said, the biggest difference between those Suns teams and this Rockets team is the era in which they play. Those Suns teams were in the tail end of the previous era where the game was called differently. Calls that the Suns would not have gotten are calls that the Rockets and all the other teams of today are getting. It is tougher to play great defense today as a result so the teams that are set up to be more offensively inclined like the Rockets are ahead of most other teams. The real scary thought would be that Suns team in today's game. For me their is no debate as to which team was more talented as that Suns team boasted 3 legit stars during that time in Nash/Amar'e/Matrix to go along with great shooting in Richardson and Johnson and Diaw was always a solid player. They stack up talent wise with all the top teams of today and can go for long stretches of the game without a weak link on the court.
