Fair enough. But none of those teams (Detroit, SA, or Miami) have the kind of depth and calibar of players as Dallas and Phoenix. I mean, look at Phoenix - Raja Bell, Barbosa, James, Marion, Amare, Nash, Diaw - that' just sick. They are fast, they can shoot, and they are ultra athletic. That team is stacked! Look at Dallas, they have two all stars as well, and then throw in their starting line-up and it's just as daunting. They didn't win it all last year, but they did go to game 7 in the finals. That makes them more qualified then an aging San Antonio team. No, we don't know what's going on. But there is a sense of change. We've seen dominating teams falter before (Seattle namely). But Dallas isn't inexperienced and overly young. And Phoenix isn't like any team I've ever witnessed in the NBA. They are so unique. If anything, they are the closest thing to Showtime that I've seen. Think about it - they are a throwback to the fast break Lakers - except faster! Not even those Lakers moved the ball like this team. Look, hopefully I'm wrong. But we have a team built for a different era of basketball. The rule changes were designed to change the game - and it seems like they are having their intended affect. Pre-rule changes, I'd say yeah, we're a contender. But not now. The balance has tipped toward offensive execution.
You guys really cant look on the bright side, if we aren't contenders then what are we, when healthy we are the 3rd best team in the NBA, if thats not a contender what is, we can match up to any team in the NBA, any team! With Bonzi we can destroy the Spurs, when we have Yao we can destroy the Mavericks. Why? Well he always has 30 point games against the Mavs, remember at home when he had 38 and 11 on them in the 2nd game of the season? And when Bonzi loses his weight and plays more and more, he can still be that Bonzi "Spur killer" Wells, he had 15 points on them and in 19 minutes, had 12 points, 2 blocks and 4 rebounds on 5-9 shooting, his effort on defence is great, and if you actually watch him, you can tell he is the only real driver on the team, the Rockets consistently rely on their jumpshot, we exactly know why players like Bonzi, Snyder and Yao need to be on this team, they score from the paint, everybody else is just a jump shooter, when Rafer shoots his r****ded fade away in the paint he misses em everytime, becuase he i s a mid range shooting PG, if you look at Bonzi all his shots come on layups, which always go in when u throw em off right and hit the glass.
Ok dallas and phoenix are good. But what would you have said if SA beat Dallas last year(it went 7, could have gone either way)? That would have been the offensive team losing. At any level of basketball it's about making teams adjust to you. I'll take this seasons T-Mac and Yao over any combo phoenix or dallas or san antonio throws out there. Then you factor battier and bonzi are two really good role players and yes, the rockets are a contender. Furthermore you give james jones, barbosa, raja bell and boris diaw way too much credit. They are solid role players, nothing less nothing more. Phoenix will go as nash, marion and amare go. Lastly no offense to terry/howard, but they are not guys that draw double teams night in night out. Nice players, but not on the same level as a healthy yao or t-mac.
We need a better point guard period. denver-iverson golden state -baron davis wolves- mike james san antonio-parker dallas-jason terry phoniex-nash new orleans -chris paul sac-bibby clippers-cassel houston -rafer the brick alston My point is we have the worse point guard in the west next to the lakers.
That's just amazing how many very good PGs are in the West. We were all jumping up and down at the prospects of landing Mike James in the offseason, but he's clearly the third worst starting PG in the West (after Alston and Smush). All the rest are All-star caliber.
rafer will make or break this team and come play off time he gonna have to match up with the best...these dude are gonna have there way agianst him.It takes more then 2 or 3 players these days...we are not a title contender yet.
uh, fine, opposing pgs will usually win that matchup. But who do you think wins Yao vs any center out west? Or t-mac vs other swingmen? And this time you have battier and bonzi wells helping out. People have already forgotten how good wells can be. He was a really hard matchup in portland and gave the spurs fits last year. You saw glimpses of his ability saturday vs denver. All the Rockets need at pg is exactly what Derek Fisher gave the shaq/kobe lakers. Not an allstar, but a solid pro who knows his role. And if the rockets aren't a title contender than what, that means there are only 2 teams(phx/dallas) capable of a championship this season. Give me a break, some of you are far too pessimistic. Because if you list SA/Det/Miami as contenders, the Rockets have to be on the list as well.
I don't see miami or detroit as contenders right now. Nor SA. Very good teams, as are the Rockets, but not contenders. Dallas and Phoenix are just trouncing the league right now - they are the only two teams to consider. Their are no weaknesses on these teams guy - none. There is no shaky point guard, no below average position on their team. They don't need to think about trades. Think about it.
I believe we are a great contender when Yao and Tmac are both 100% but unfortunately we havn't seen that since Tmac came to houston and now Tmac with his constant back problem unfortunately we will never see them both working side by side fully charged
I don't agree with you. Dallas has the center position. Phoenix has Diaw. And Dallas and phoenix have been trouncing the league in the regular season for the past 3 years, but they still can be beat in the playoffs. I disagree completely with the notion there are 2 contenders in the whole league. And this is coming from someone who considers phoenix with a healthy amare the best team right now in the west.
