Thunder is the rocket's kryptonite. No chance of beating them this year.

Because it's not honesty and it's not the truth. Where and when in the playoffs have we lost to the thunder with Dwight at center in a seven game series rested up before each game?

 

Rockets beat the Sonics in 97 playoffs and still didn't get to the finals so whaaat??? Either your the champions at the end of the year or your not... you play whoever you gotta play. 94 and 95 they didn't play them but saying they were never able to beat them is simply not true.

 

People get mad about this cus they feel that we can beat OKC. Sure they are a tough opponent and might be the toughest opponent, but that doesn't mean we can't beat them. Sure I wouldn't want to play against them in the playoffs but even if we do play against them we shouldn't be saying we can't beat them and lose all hope of winning. And people saying that we have no chance against them does not confirm how the whole fan-base feel about the team.

 

That is sort of my point which you obviously missed. The Rockets changed their lineup because of a match-up problem first and foremost, and in the end, it might of actually hurt their best player's effectiveness.

Yes, Hakeem was slowing down anyways, and yes there were other reasons to make the Horry/Cassell trade, but it just a point to show you that maybe you should just worry about making your team and your best player the best they can be in the end, and not get fixated on roster changes to suit one match-up.

I say this because alot of posters today are saying that there is something wrong with the Rockets young bigs because McHale went small yesterday in one game against the Thunder. Its short sited to think that just because of the Thunder's mis-match that the Rockets have a huge problem moving forward that they need to shuffle the decks for. The fact is, they've had a good year up to this point, and the book is yet to be written on how they perform in the playoffs, and how they grow beyond this year.

Relying on two 2nd year players in a title run isn't ideal, but the Rockets title run is not just this year... they have a few years to not have to make short sited moves. Sometimes the best move is the one that is never made to begin with. Thats all I'm saying.

 

That's bull****, the Rockets played bad and they were still in the game.

 

The Thunder is kryptonite for which individual rocket?

 

We can't beat the Thunder or the Clippers. No way can we avoid both teams in the playoffs.

 

It isn't the truth. I don't know that anyone is mad.

I said it's more fun IMHO to believe rather than not to believe. That doesn't make someone a better fan. It's just that as a fan I choose to believe. And even if I didn't and turned out to be right in not believing, I get no prize. I get nothing except having deprived myself of the fun of believing in the team I cheer for.

If it's fun for someone to not believe in the team they cheer for, then go for it. They are free to do so. I've seen the Rockets play well enough to beat the Thunder. I've seen the Rockets have losing records to teams they've matched up with in the playoffs and win the series once the playoffs started. I've seen this team have the heart, and ability to play at a high level.

To call not believing in this team honest is a misrepresentation. It is an opinion, but not a fact. Believing this team can beat the Thunder is also an opinion and not a definite fact. Fans can have different opinions. That's fine. One is not better than the other. But for me one is not only the way I think, It's more fun.

 

Insert D-Mo Quote here:

"If your afraid of wolves............"

 

I have this "I ain't afraid of any of these MFs" mentality, so...

 

I rather have LBJ join us (than KD) this offseason so we can abuse him n Thunder for many years to come. I cant stand the Okc anymore, lije literally cant stand em

 

Remember when the 2011 Heat lost their first four games to the Bulls and people trumpeted this same "matchup" BS?

Remember what happened next?

Oh, that's right. Miami won the next four games and kicked the Bulls out of the playoffs.

It's a process.

 

I'm responding to the agreement of thinking the rockets have no chance to beat the thunder. That's just a ridiculous statement to me. Adjustments and growth could and may be made in a few months putting the rockets in a easier position to defeat those guys. We are on the rise and they are who they are. That's the difference and that is the hope. Now if the rockets don't ay any better than what they've been playing that's a different story. We have been progressing even though it's 3 losses but during the season your wins against certain teams depend on the situation within the season which is different from the situations within a playoff series. In my opinion the current rockets team has been built for playoff series not moreso for great season showings. All this we talk about is yet to be proven come May and June.

 

I'll buy the idea of Underdog. They're just a poor match up for the Rockets due to length and speed. Not to mention that they're very experienced and Durant is just unreal this season.

However, no chance? Yah, that doesn't exist in basketball.

And even if OKC knocks us out this year, what's the big deal? OKC has been developing as a team for YEARS. This team is in it's 2nd year, 1st with Dwight.

Think about that... outside of Parsons, NOBODY was on the team prior to last year.

I mean seriously, this was a 45 win team last year. The Rockets *ALREADY* have 44 wins with 20 games to go and has a shot to tie or break the Rockets franchise record of 58 games.

They're a legitimate contender. They've beaten the Spurs 3x, locked the tie breakers against Portland and GSW, and are solidly in the running for HCA.

Yes, OKC will probably beat us in the play offs this year. However, the Rockets have a LONG future ahead and who's to say OKC doesn't get knocked out? I seem to recall that last year's WC Champion was NOT from OKC...

We're an underdog against OKC. I think most of us know that. We're also probably underdogs to the Clippers. However, underdog or not at least we're going to be into the dance, and it probably won't be a one and done.

And who knows, with a little luck, we might just end up further than that.

 

The Bulls are ultra regular season overachievers that always hustle and play at their best so their level of play in the playoffs is around the same. Not to mention they are offensively inept as a team. They couldn't score enough to give the Heat trouble when they were really locked in.

Completely different scenarios. The Rockets have a puncher's chance of beating the Thunder and the Clips but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

Harden needs to add something else to his game. He's being stuck as a one dimensional scorer. They shut the lane with an elite blocker like ibaka or d.jordan and it's a wrap. He needs to add a midrange game. Post or use the pick and pop because all he's left with is jacking up threes

 

From a Rockets perspective this is how I see it. The Thunder and Clippers are the teams ahead of us and we can handle anyone else. It will be damn near impossible to avoid both teams in the playoffs. The only way I can see it being done is if we get a 4/5 matchup with Portland that leads to a 1/4or5 matchup against San Antonio. From there we would have to hope that Golden State can knock off both teams or at least one while Phoenix/Dallas/Memphis takes care of the other.

 

We don't actually have to have them both knocked out, as long as there's a few long, painful, grinding series before they run into us.

If they're fresh, it's going to be tough. If they're run down after fighting through GSW/Memphis and each other, I like our chances.

 

We'll never have a better shot against OKC than last night. The Rockets have been rolling and OKC's D has been terrible since the All-Star break, plus they're missing Sefolosha who is capable of shutting down Harden most nights. If we couldn't win last night, I seriously doubt we have much of chance in a 7 game series.

If we can't find a way to win against short-handed OKC and LAC, we are not contenders in the West. There's no way around it. Maybe next season.

 

If we can find a way to win against the World Champion Miami Heat, and also against the Pacers with the best record in the league, and we have a winning record against San Antonio we are definite contenders in the West. There's no way around it. Maybe next season we won't be contenders, but for now we definitely are.

Or maybe just maybe instead of looking at only selected games and using those to make wild presumptions we acknowledge that every team has a chance to win or lose on any given night. And to find out for real we'll have to wait until the playoffs start.