Here is what we got: vs Celtics @ Blazers @ Clippers @ Lakers @ Suns @ Spurs vs Hornets Bold: Playoff teams from last year I think we should be able to get 2 wins over the Blazers and Clippers. The only reason why I would see blazers beating us is because of our transition defense. Hopefully we can get around 4 to 5 wins so we can at least start out to be 7-3 or even 8-2.
My prediction vs Celtics lose @ Blazers lose @ Clippers win @ Lakers lose @ Suns win @ Spurs win vs Hornets win
if we come out of that with 4 wins, I will be content. The most important thing is Tmac regaining his form (since I doubt Battier will be back anytime soon) Celtics is very beatable because we have our own big three and we dont have any terrible mismatches. Well, KG, but he is a mismatch for anyone. Blazers is without Oden, so hopefully yao dominates that game Clippers, hopefully we wont play to thier level (Baron is not back is he?) Lakers - we will have to be firing from all cylinders to take them Suns -Ditto Spurs - we have played them pretty well last season when we were healthy, so hopefully we win this match up. Hornets - I think they are probably our toughest opponent in this stretch.
Celtics. Lakers. Hornets. No, those aren't our 3 losses. Those are the 3 toughest games. They are our measuring sticks. They are the 3 teams that could be better than us this season. I don't see why anyone should be worried about the Suns or Spurs. I'm not saying those games are guaranteed wins, but I'm not worried about them as much. Spurs are getting old and kinda slacking. Suns are playing horribly. No predictions because we could easily lose to the Clips or Blazers but beat the Celtics or Hornets, but I will say that 4-3 will be a decent record, considering there's a 5 game road trip there. 5-2 will be great. Anything more and they should just hand us the trophy now.
Celtics- i think might be loss. there angry after getting humiliated against indiana and were still nowhere near ready Blazers- will be win. we own then Clippers- will be a win Lakers- loss. no battier and mcgrady still wont be in full form yet Suns this should a tough one but we squeez out a close W Spurs- this should be a win. there struggling. there an old team on the decline Hornets- i think by this game mcgrady will be in good form and we we should win this blockbuster. I think we are more then capebale of going 5-2 in this stretch.
I can't remember the Celtics getting blown out at all last year. I don't care what the results are of these hard games. As long as we keep them close, I'll be ok. If we get blown out, our chances at the championship just took a hit. And if we can beat Boston or LA? Look out natl hype machine, here we come. I don't know if that's good or bad honestly. Good because the refs will respect us more. Bad because our team traditionally has wilted under pressure, and that's not just T-Mac.
The hardest is New Orleans. Why? Not only is it the second game of a back to back with the first being Spurs, but they're also a tough team. Our schedule is not kind to us, we will have 4 back to back games by the end of this month, 3 in november and 1 if you include our first 2 games.
better get the tough stretches at the beginning of the season than later. of course, i'd love to see a 9-zip sweep by the rockets, but if i have to choose, i'd say to me personally, they have to win against - boston l.a. lakers dallas n.o. i despise all these 4 teams, especially the celts and the hornets. if we're 4-5 but beat all these 4, i'd be happy camper.
call me an optimist, but if we manage to beat la or new orleans i see bright things ahead in the future. being so undermanned we've beaten a capable dallas team that was on fire that night, and if we somehow steal one at la or at new orleans, call me crazy, but i think we'll be the favorite to win the west.
we need to beat our conference rivals NO and Spurs...quite important, I hope battier comes back SOON!!
yikes tough stretch i think we can take the lakers in l.a. that would be sweet celts we have at home..game doesnt seem that important but would be a good win hornets and spurs are very important they are in our division... we will need every win we can get against these guys as it will be a tight race to the finish in this division
I think too much is being read into these games, sure these teams have shown to be contenders, but its the first week of the season and EVERY team, with the exception of maybe the Lakers, are going through some adjustments. This means that they aren't where they'll be in a couple of months just like Houston won't be either, so how can we measure anything at this point other than wins and losses? -The hornets have chandler and Peja both out with ankle injuries, who knows if they'll both be ready by the time Houston faces them. -The celtics were blown out by the Pacers, Garnett had a horrible first game, they aren't in sync just yet, have to cope with the loss of Posey and lack of depth. -Lakers seem to be rolling, but they haven't exactly faced tough competition, so who knows if they're really in top form. -The blazers dont have oden and are trying to find a rotation, they've played badly, but also gave some good teams tough competition. -The spurs are getting older, BUT that's not the reason why they're slipping, at least not yet. Manu is out and that hurts their depth because they didn't have a lot to begin with. Don't be fooled though, PArker and TD have been putting the team on their backs and have been playing like superstars to keep their team in games, so this is different from how they would play offensively when Manu is in the lineup... -suns, have played badly and great also, i think they're being underestimated...people think they are worse than last year because they're older, but Nash doesn't age, Oneal looks healthy enough to consistently put up 12 and 10, they signed Barnes and hill is back to playing like he was before his most recent injury...that Lopez kid ain't not joke either...won't be as easy as it seems... Lets not measure this team based on how they perform during this stretch, just hope they pull out some wins so they don't dig themselves a hole as they try to mesh, leave the measuring for after the all star break
vs Celtics @ Blazers @ Clippers @ Lakers @ Suns @ Spurs vs Hornets Celtics - I'll be at this game yelling my %$ off to win! Hmm other than the lakers/suns/celtics i think we have a legitimate shot of winning the rest. For some reason we never define a tempo. Its like we always succumb to the other teams style of play and let them back in the game when we go up by like 10ish pts. (atleast thats what i saw in the grizzlies/mavs/thunder games) We tend to lose the tenacity that boston has and I think when we get that we'll be deadly! Btw first post but longtime reader!
vs Celtics we might lose,although lost game @Pacers @Blazers we should win,we need it @Clippers can win it,and we also need the victory @Lakers lose is prabably,their have Gasol and Bynum that is a changening job of Yao,hope Landry and Scola give Yao much help @Suns win,for no reasons @Spurs win,for Spurs is getting old vs Hornets this is a hard game,might lose, we should limit CP3 But there are no guaranteed victories,Rockets still should try best,maybe Lakers and Hornets are hardest,hope Battier come back soon,McGrady recover 100%. If win 4 games or more that's good.
Um..does anyone really think that Oden would pose a problem for Yao Ming?? Come on guys..Yao is the #1 Center in the NBA...Oden is a 2nd year rookie. Whoever said that "hopefully the Rockets beat Portland since Oden is out" is very wrong here...even with Oden, the Rockets would beat them. Am I the only one who's tired of Yao being undercut even by their own supposed fans??
