Outside of Yao and T-mac, we can't keep up with Dallas, SA, and Phoenix. Those teams are a league ahead of us because their starting five (and a few role players) are SOLID. You can't double Dirk You can't double Nash. You can't double anyone - because the rest of the team will crush you. On the Rockets.... You can double off of Alston - the worst shooting guard in the league. You can count on Head not to penetrate effectively. You can count on Mutombo to not hurt ya too often. And Hayes for that matter. Too many scrubs = no ring for us. Battier: The only class A roleplayer we have. Alston: Class C roleplayer Head: B Hayes: scrub Jowan: B Synder: MIA VSPAN: scrub Novak: scrub Wells: B+ (might be an A if he loses some weight) Mutombo: B+ (would be an A if he had some O left) Lucas: scrub Sorry guys, when you look at our role-players, doesn't matter how good T-mac and Yao are....they might be able to beat 90% of the league, but not the 10% you need to get out of the WC. But hopefully we'll make it interesting and push Dallas/SA/Phoenix to 6 or 7 games in the second round. Can't ask for much more from this team with scrub role-players. Oh...and if you think I'm being harsh - just look at the role-players our 94 team had (Thorpe, Cassell, Smith, Maxwell, Horry, Elie). Mighty fine group - definitely no scrubs there. When you look at our role-players compared to that - you can see why we'll be an also-ran this year.
We have Yao AND T-mac, if you know how to count, that equals 2 superstars. Mavs have one and a half superstars (Dirk and Howard), while the Suns have ..well, 3 I guess. But we're not that far off, two superstars is more than enough to compensate for a bit of scrubness.
damn...thats harsh.we beat dallas by 31 points with yao and mac earlier this year. the other guys chipped in too...
And when they had to play a complete team (i.e. Detroit), they got knocked out in 6 games. Right now in this league, you can't have weaknesses. Superstars are necessary, but when you have teams that from top to bottom are stacked AND they have superstars, you can't beat them with Hayes and Alston as starters. It's just not going to happen. One weakness and I'd say maybe. But two? And Head wouldn't crack the rotation on Phoenix or Dallas.... Sorry, hate to break it to yall, but it's not going to happen. Hopefully we'll get some upgrades at the PF and PG spots over the summer and have a team that can compete for a crown next year. But we are better then last year or 2 years ago. We're making progress....but no ring yet.
That team had no one else besides Kobe and Shaq though. We have atleast Shane, Luther, Wells, and Deke all of whom are pretty good role players. You also have to remember that we have two legit MVP candidates, assuming that Yao is able to return to his old dominant self.
People everywhere thought that Detroit team was Ben Wallace and scrubs. Only the playoffs expose the scrubs from the warriors. Ask Ellie, Sam, or Horry.
Houston wasn't supposed to win in 94 or 95 either. But you are probably going to mention that Jordan retired those 2 years, huhh? Miami wasn't supposed to win 4 str8 games against the might mavs last year to win their title. You just never know.
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA This is by far the worst theory I have ever heard. Hey you realize without Tmac, Yao was owning while getting TRIPLE TEAMED, Tmac has been owning while getting DOUBLE TEAMED. Wait a minute triple teamed + doubled teamed thats oh yea 5 people. You are saying with 3 players being left alone OR Yao having only 2 people on him or Tmac having only 1 on him that anyone can stop us. If healthy the Rockets are not just dangerous as hell, teams have to be scared... Tmac is in his prime, Yao is close to his prime, reminds me ALOT of the Lakers when Shaq was in his prime and Kobe was close to his prime. Sure Lakers lost to Pistons that one year in 5 games, but it wasn't because they were a better "team" it was because the Laker's internal problems beat themselves. Rockets have BETTER role players than those Laker teams ever had. Fisher, Fox, Horry (ok he is very good at being clutch), Samaki Walker, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? You can't tell me without being absolutely out of your mind that Rafer, Battier, JHo, Deke, Snyder, Head, and ESP. BONZI WELLS (who is absolutely going to wreck house in playoffs), are worse than the Laker's noob cast. This Rockets team is NOT deep, but they have 8-9 strong, and they could beat any team in the NBA, and there is no doubt in my mind about that, if they just play hard and stick to their Defense, their offense is not gonna get stopped, sure it isnt Phoenix Suns' offense because it lacks the flash and the high amounts, but it can shoot 50%+ and slow down the game (which is complete JVG style) and it will be tough to stop a team shooting 50% from the field any given night. Watch out Dallas, Spurs, Suns because the Rockets are right on your heals when Yao gets back and I think they know that. Dallas's depth is WAY OVEREMPHASIZED by ESPN, they have ummm yea an ok amount. ESPN thinks Greg Buckner, Austin Croshere and Diop counts as depth???? Sure Dallas plays 10 players but they are 8 strong as well: Dirk, Terry, Howard, Dampier..., Stackhouse are still their main targets. Suns are 8 deep and are well known to often only go 7 deep, and Spurs are a little old and can be slowed down if you slow down Timmy D. One last thing, you said that we can't double Dirk... um are you out of your mind? Why do we need to, he is a 7 foot jumpshooter, in case you don't know you aren't going to block that, all we can do is just get hand in his face, which is all anyone can do. Who cares let him get his, they won't be able to stop Yao on the other side either. Nash sure we can't double team, but if we can force Suns into 1/2 court offense, which is gonna depend solely on JVG's game plan, the Suns will NOT beat the Rockets, just that simple. If its fast pace the Rockets will NOT beat the Suns.. has nothing to do with double teaming anyone.
newyorker...make your comments AFTER yao gets back. maybe our crappy team will look a hell of a lot better with another dominant player in the line up. btw.... phoenix=paper tiger dallas=real deal I hope to god we beat dallas but I don't know how we can unless we get the killer yao back. MVP Yao + MVP T-Mac > Dallas
Your post totally sucks. Have some faith in the team. It doesn't matter how much the players on this team might "suck". All you have to do is look at the games where everything is clicking for the Rockets. The 2nd game of the year in the 31 point win over Dallas. The 19 point win over San Antonio. The huge blowouts of lesser teams. The exceptional basketball played against Miami recently that had even Bill Walton drooling. CD has done a great job building this team. Teams simply just can't afford to have some stars and a bunch of great role players. This team is 10 deep. You can't ask for much more than what the Rockets got, or you're just being greedy. The main point is, when the Rockets are playing at their best, they pretty much are the best. It's easy to rag on them after a loss to the Celtics. However, get Yao dominating down low, T-Mac J'ing and setting up teamates, the role players hitting their 3s, and the team playing defense, they are as tough as ANYONE to beat. It has all come together before, it will again.
There's a lot I don't agree with here, but others have already addressed a lot of it. But this is definitely wrong. Head would be averaging 17 points a game in Phoenix. That shot at that tempo with that many fast breaks...Head would fit in Phoenix like a glove. He would work in Dallas too. Backup 2, same thing he is here.
i dont agree with hayes as a scrub. of course he's only mostly effective with yao on the floor, but that shouldn't be an issue when yao gets back. i hope you don't jump on the band wagon when yao gets back and we as a team start to dominate, more so, than we have since he went down.. YOU ARE NOT A TRUE ROCKETS FAN IF YOU DONT BELIEVE. be more optimistic geez..
The first rockets team to win a championship was bacisally Hakeem, Otis and some role players. Yeah smith was nice, and Mad Max had alot of game, but nobody consistently showed up for them. I'm not saying the Rockets will win, but the one thing we seem to have this year is chemistry. A team with chemistry and talent is a threat at any time. I'm not saying we're the favorite. By the way, Cassell was big in the playoffs, thorpe was the closest thing we had to an allstar. Horry was big, Elie played excellent defense and had an attitude about him. They hit big shots. We've got a couple of other guys that can do that on this team (shayne, Tmac, Yao, maybe even bonzi). But to write them off and say no shot? Mike
the 04 Lakers had freaking Malone at PF. their only true weakness was SF with Fox/George, and they still lost in five. but you underestimate the value of a true superstar. the Bulls never had a decent center for any of their championships, and had only average point guards. during the last 3-peat, they only had one class A role player in Rodman, and he was offensively challenged.
