To counterbalance homerism everyone should look to vegas odds-makers. Sure they have actuarial guys crunching numbers for maximum profit which may skew the real odds of winning a championship but I would take their ranking over anyone else's. http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/ ODDS TO WIN THE 2013-14 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP Team Odds Miami Heat 5/2 Indiana Pacers 5/1 Oklahoma City Thunder 7/1 Chicago Bulls 12/1 San Antonio Spurs 12/1 Los Angeles Clippers 12/1 Golden State Warriors 12/1 Brooklyn Nets 15/1 Houston Rockets 15/1 Minnesota Timberwolves 25/1
The Rockets are surely contenders. The Sixers are presently No. 3 in the East and not a bad team at all. They were able to get themselves to OT by luck during the very last seconds. The playoffs are after more than 70 games away and the Rockets will solve the problems way ahead of that. There are a number of factors that will affect the outcome of the campaign and not the least, injuries. This is true for all contender teams. Much will also depend on the opponents in the playoffs. Certain teams are easier to win than the others even if their record is better. Hence, there is absolutely no reason to become fatalistic at this stage. Please, don't panic. The team has the tools.
Sure it is: Philly, Charlotte and Phoenix are contenders. Indiana will go 82-0, Brooklyn will win the lottery while James Anderson and Tony Wroten will win Most Improved Player in a two-way tie. Now that I know all this already, I think I'm going to cancel my League Pass...
Vegas odds makers are full of fallacy as well. The only reason other teams have a shot is because of the potential for injury (Lebron Jame could go down for instance). Realistically - here's the true odds. Miami - 4 in 10 Pacers - 2 in 10 SA - 2 in 10 Clippers 1 in 10 OkC 1 in 20 Chicago 1 in 20 No one else stands a chance. Not Houston, not Golden State. Honestly Chicago and OKC really aren't contenders anymore in my opinion. A Contender has a realistic chance of winning a ring. Miami, Pacers, and SA. And if those 3 struggle in some way - the door opens for the clippers.
Realistically, we should've known we are not contenders this year. Look at how young we are (4th youngest in the league, and 2nd tied for least experienced team!), the need to gel and everything else that comes with having a low post presence and new star player. Once Morey is truly done with setting the roster (a wing defender that can shoot, a PF and some more veterans) we can talk about contending maybe.
But whatever system you use to make your assessments would have certainly ruled out the '94-'95 Rockets team, pre-Clyde trade. They didn't stand a chance, yet they won the whole thing. I'm not saying the Rockets look like contenders now, because they absolutely don't -- they look like first-round fodder for a good team. But the season is only 10% done, and a lot can still happen to have them playing like contenders when the REAL season starts in May.
Whew! For a moment there I thought you were posting about the Texans. Give the Rockets some time, maybe until mid-season and then there would be real basis for a much better evaluation of the team.
As much as I would like to be a contender in November, I would much rather be a contender in April May and June.
Very rare to get as lucky on a shot as Anderson did on that 3Per to tie the game at the end of regulation. Doubled covered beyond the arc fading away and he drills it. That guy was insanely hot. We were without our best player too and half the team is banged up and/or has the flu.
I'm not sure if we're contenders or not. There are some things though that should actually encourage you. 1. Dwight looks like Dwight. He's clearly more healthy than last year. His averages at this point (with a team that still hasn't figured out how to fully utilize him) are at his career averages. 2. Jeremy Lin has improved and seems to be inching closer and closer to actual "Linsanity" (I hate that term) numbers. The coaching staff asked him to improve his shot. He did. His defense appears to be slightly above average when he puts up the effort. 3. Terrence Jones: I have firmly been in D-Mo's camp for a while but even I can't ignore that Jones has looked good out there. He's got a long way to go but his defense has been pretty good and rebounding hasn't been too shabby either. Plus he occasionally knocks down a couple of threes. His emergence will be key to this team's success barring some sort of trade. 4. Chandler Parsons is in a bad shooting slump and it's getting to his head, but he's still finding ways to contribute. I think this slump will help him get back to being the swiss army knife we all know and love. When the shot comes back, and we know it will... watch the eff out. Concerns 1. Team defense: There have been short bursts of great individual defensive efforts and even shorter bursts of solid team defense. In order for this team to truly contend it will need to pride itself on it's defense. It will have to be the focus. Points will come. 2. James Harden: This guy needs to be healthy. He hasn't looked right since the beginning of the season. If we need to sit him for a while to get right, then that's what we do. We can't afford not to have him come playoff time. It is pretty crazy to think though, that even with all the little dings and lingering injuries he can play solid on one side of the court and completely slouch on the other. To be the star this team needs he has to be healthy.
We are obviously not contenders at the present time, BUT in took the Heat about a fourth of the season to start jelling. I am expecting progress. If not, then we won't even make the playoffs like the team is presently playing. They are losing to second rate teams and struggling to win over lower end teams. Defense and turnovers are the culprits.
You can't seriously compare this team to the 94 team. That team had WON a championship the year before. That team struggled for sure, but they still had their core group together. I never counted them out and not because I was a homer. This team is younger and hasn't done anything. They are not going to be a contender this year. They don't have championship experience. Miami is playing terrible this year, but I still think they are the favorite. Why? Because they won it the previous two years.
I agree with everything you said above. But some people -- most people, in fact, including very knowledgeable basketball people -- had counted out that Rockets team. Lots of teams have won a championship one year, then failed to repeat the next. I also agree that the current team has done nothing yet. What I'm saying is that you can't completely rule them out -- all you can do is say they've got steep odds against them. The great thing about sports is that odds are nothing more than an educated guess, and anything can happen. Just ask the 2004 Red Sox, the '69 Mets, the '69 Jets, the '80 USA Olympic hockey team, and the list goes on and on. This team isn't currently a contender. That doesn't mean it's impossible for them to compete for the title this season, though.
