1. The Rockets had them beat, didn't work out, ended in seven. 2. Houston improved with Swift and Head and Juwon should be healthy. 3. The Mavericks stayed the same and they will probably lose Michael Finley. Those are facts, no? I agree, the Rockets are already better than the Mavs and Suns since they lost JJ and Q, Spurs? I don't know about that... And one play, the pick and roll, especially when it only involves two players will never beat a quality team in the playoffs no matter how pretty it looks.
I think you are half right on this. Head will probably be good long term, but he might be a non factor this year. As for Swift, I don't expect an All Star performance, but don't be surprised if he exceeds the expectations of most on this board. TMac is way hungry, and he knows he can't do it alone. I expect him to be a big influence on SS.
Don't forget that Shaun "I'm-TMac's-b!tch" Bradley has retired and Dallas will be without Finley next season. We must also watch out for some new threats In the forthcoming season, there will be a greater threat from Eastern teams like Indiana, Miami, New Jersey. They are now very good teams (especially Miami). And Detroit was already a very good team. Also, there will be some new competition in the West, like Denver.
I really don't think Juwan would have helped us win that series. Nowitzki torched him in the regular season, as he does all slow PFs. It's the long, quick SFs like McGrady and Marion that gave him fits (lucky for us, Swift is sort of in that mold). I'm just hoping that the Mavs (or any WC team) don't work out some mega deal for Paul Pierce.
Not with the schedule we've been given... (BTW has anyone checked out SAS' schedule? Are any as nasty as ours?)
Check out the Spurs' February. They have 8 consecutive road games from January 30th through Feb. 15th, and there are two back-to-backs in that road trip. Then they get one home game and they're back on the road for two more. 9 of their 12 February games are on the road. That's brutal.
If we re-sign Jon Barry and Cookie Monster and not make another move this entire season, barring injury, it is not to far fetched to say the Rox have chance at getting to 60 wins this season. Last year, T-mac was still trying to find his role with the team at the begining of the season. The team didn't start gel'n till right before the all star break. Everyone on this year's team already knows thier role, knows the offensive and deffensive skeams, knows what JVG expects, and knows this is the last chance for some of the guys. That is a leathal combo in itself right there.
You forget the most important reason we "lost" the serie to Dallas because of the horrendously bad ref against the Rox.
I would wish for this for Christmas this year. How about JVG becomes coach of year. CD becomes exec of year. Vin Baker returns to his old all star form. Sura finds a three pointer and become half of Jason Kidd. Head bocomes our Dwayne Wade. It could happen.
NO. Because Juan Howard is back. That's so negative that it negates Swift + Head and more. In fact JH can negate Swift + Head + JKidd + KG. And since JH is such trash no team will ever want him so the rockets is stuck with him and will never be better than Dallas.
Hate to say it but I must. Once upon a time there were these 2 Jazz Holes named Stockton and Malone that ran the pick n roll to perfection and beat a plethora of "quality" teams in the playoffs. The point is the pick and roll when executed properly is deadly. Unfortunatley, we all know this first hand. Don't get me wrong I am not counting on the pick and roll solely but when Mac and Ming started executing it (pick and roll) properly and Yao took that strong dribble and drop step after the pass from Tmac it looked nearly impossible to stop.
This may be true, but we really don't need him to be. If we get 12/8/2 from him and 8/6 from Juwan, that is a two headed PF at 20/14/2. That is all we NEED out of Swift to be very competitive with anyone in the frontcourt. True enough, but that caveat can go for any main player on any team. Agreed. I think he needs to be aggressive and not back down from anyone, including the refs. [rant]The nice guy routine does not work with NBA referees (apparently) and the squeaky wheels get most of their grease. I don't think it would be a bad thing for him to argue calls more vocally and to get up in their respective grills. It won't take but two or three techical fouls right at the beginning of the season before they get the point that he isn't going to take their crap anymore.[/rant] Mine too, but in truth I am not outrageously concerned. These guys know the system, are good players, and really started to click down the stretch and into the playoffs last year. In the regular season, especially at the beginning of the season, the initial chemistry will be more important than a big name addition. I would say a moderate concern. He might not make it through a whole season without sitting out a game, but he is tough, hard nosed, and will give everything he has to in order for the Rox to succeed. I am as upset as anyone about the way he waved off TMac in the playoffs, but he also didn't have a training camp or a full season to get used to playing with the Rox. He is a very good guard, particularly for a backup. I like the reckless abandon he has, especially when imagining how a training camp with JVG will add some purpose to that abandon. He shot 38% from the three point line as a Rocket last year even after a horrendous start. He was hitting that elbow jumper like mad in the series against Dallas. He may not be able to carry the load for the playoffs, but we are talking about starting the regular season. Nobody expects 24th picks to come in and have an impact. If Head can play spot minutes and cover for injured players, he will have done the most we can expect out of him. See my comments about Wesley above and add to them the fact that Mike James shot 39% from distance as a Rocket last year. That is three very good shooters in the rotation at the guard spot. For the other team? I agree. I agree with you that the backcourt defense is a definite point of concern. However, they were able to do a mighty fine job towards the end of last season. And again, we are not talking about the playoffs here, we are talking about what we start the season with. Honestly, if either or both can have the kind of season that they did last year, we will be in good shape. You may be thinking longer term, but I say we go into this season on the same kind of roll we ended the last one with. Now you are talking about the playoffs. IMO, something will happen with our expiring contracts before the trade deadline. I don't know who because we don't know what teams will tank before the All-Star break, but we will make a move in the backcourt. I think that we are one more good piece away from being able to give the Spurs a good run in the playoffs. They don't have the ability to match up with our center rotation and TMac has shown he has the ability to light up the Spurs. Ginobili is a problem that could be remedied by a Ron Artest if he were suddenly available at the trade deadline. We still have the ability to make moves during the season, when our expiring contracts will get the most bang for the buck. I say we go into the season as is, plus a waiver signing, and see where we are around the All-Star break, barring injury.
And add into that the fact that they can run the pick and roll off of Yao or Swift now. If Yao can't get position on the block, run Tmac off a screen to Yao's side and he can pop the jumper or dump it inside if Yao's man helps. Our PnR will be a monster this year, I guarantee it.
We're not better than Dallas until we beat them in the playoffs or advance past them if they play and lose to someone else.
one thing i have not heard ppl talk about concerning game 7 is that we lost by that large a margin due in large part to the entire fourth quarter being played by all the stiffs like moochie. it would not have been as bad if he had let the good players finish the game.
The Jazz pick and roll was Stockton and Malone, but it had plenty of other options if they took away Malone, the pick and roll T-Mac and Yao ran over and over ended in one of two players hands all the time. Now it might be because the Rockets had no other options besides those two and the Jazz had shooters and cutters that were able finishers, still the Jazz pick and roll gets five players involved, the Rockets only two.
