are you serious? the way our schedule and their schedule looks and the way we and they play i'd say there's a greater chance we end up 10 losses behind them than we catch them. there's no way we're gonna get homecourt advantage. when yao comes back you can't expect this team to really run on all cylinders right away. it needs some adjustment time. but then again, i don't care about homecourt advantage anymore. if (and it's a big if) this team is as good as the majority here thinks it is, then it doesn't matter. it's more important to get the pieces together and get on a roll right before the playoffs start. so i can live with the 5th seed if the rockets have a good adjustment time, get yao back in the mix, find ways the bench players can produce more, pick up the defense again and really become a contending team. if you wanna get those rings you gotta be able to beat them all anytime and at any place. so: go rockets!
Agreed - I just want to see him get some playing time so he can develop. would 8 to 12 min per game be too much to ask???
I'm thrilled Yao is coming back- I just hope it is not too soon.--Home court is a very big deal. Ask any member of the '92-'93 Rockets playing Seattle in 7 games....
This team is not good enough to win a championship without home court. You know it, I know it and everybody knows it. Some just won't admit it. Their road record is OK (I think it is above .500), but not great. And you can check their road records against the top 4 teams in the west. 2-4 that is. The only two wins are against Spurs, I think. And Spurs is a totally different team right now. Of course, someone will certainly bring the Yao excuse. But just remember, Rox is winning with a better percentage without Yao. Secondly, during the 3 years Yao and T-Mac are together, how many times they are both on top of their games? Very few. To me, that is the key. They have to play at a very high level at the same time. Only that happens, they will have a chance to beat those top 4 teams. But we haven't seen that happen very often yet.
This has been my primary concern all year, I just don't believe this team is mentally tough enough to win a playoff series without home court advantage. It is pretty clear that we are going to be the 5th seed, so time to focus, get Yao back and get some serious chemistry going., and hope for the best. DD
I agree we are playing for this season - right now. I do not understand playing Head at the Point at all. No D-just a pure shooter- too short to play in the NBA without more footspeed and better ball-handling - decicions- playmaking. Please help me understand Spanoulis getting almost no playing time while Head gets any at all at the point. I know Rafer needs rest- I do not hate Rafer the way some here do. I Head any better than Rod Strickland, an old Mark Jackson, or Charlie Ward at the point?????
After losing to NOK, ATL, and Boston-we will not likely catch Utah. Unfortunate we made this hard on ourselves....
To be fair to V-Span- yes he sucked last night...but...one of his turnovers was a tipped ball (should not have been a turnover). One was a bad pass...actually....HORRID is a better word for that ball he airmailed into the 5th row.. And one was a trap by the Spurs - good defense.....V-Span should have seen it coming but didn't. Also, the pass he airmailed was the right read, just a horrid pass. V-Span played badly, but no worse than the rest of the team. As for home court - I will root to be wrong, but I feel we are first round fodder again. DD
Jazz will lose to NOK, tonight. They struggle against NOK. Miami, Cleveland and Orlando, next week. They struggle against Florida teams and Lebron. That's 4 losses right there. The week after that, it will be a loss to the Clippers, and one of the games against Memphis or GSW. That's 6 losses. The Rockets will have a better record than them by the end of the month.
Have you seen the Jazz lately? Aside from a loss at home to the Fakers, they've been on fire. They won in Phoenix recently(when they had Nash). And they did most of this without Boozer. We're not catching them unless Yao's return propels the Rockets to one helluva a long winning streak.
the reality of the situation is we are now basically whole as a team, Yao is going to play from here on out, and emotionally and psychologically that will make a huge difference to the team as much as on the court initially as he is still working his way in. The lakers fell off lately too and the spurs took off, which pretty much leaves us in a 4 5 matchup with the Jazz. And that is a playoff series i like, a young unexperienced team. And in the second round, of the top 3 teams phoenix, dallas, and san antonio, i think we match up best, and play our best against Dallas.
Unless Yao and the Rockets get the "respect" from the referees, homecourt doesn't mean much to the Rockets. Just look at how the referees blew whistles when we were defending Duncan on our own court. If Yao got the same treatment, he probably will be the No. 1 scorer in the league by just hitting FT.
Well we got the same two superstars as two years ago, and they went in to Dallas and took the 1st game...probably could have gotten the second and definitely should have won the third; and Dallas is one of the toughest places to play. Bottom line, this team, if they play with the instensity, focus and determination they had through much of the time Yao was out and before, they are capable of beating anybody, anywhere.
We won both the 1st and 2nd games in Dallas. However, the Rockets are not the same one two years ago. So are the Mavericks. Let's see how the Rockets do when they get Yao back since Yao and TMac have not played well together for a long time.
Ah yes, I remember now...but my point is clear. This team can win on the road and at home..if they stay focused. And yes this isn't the same team from two years ago...it's a better team.
Yes we CAN win...but the odds will be stacked heavily against us...as I have said previously, I believe only one team in NBA history won the championship without having homecourt advantage in any round. Doesn't look good. DD
