We're almost a mortal lock to face the Spurs in the 2nd round if we make it that far. I just can't honestly say that I expect us to beat San Antonio in a seven game series. I think we're better suited than any other team in the WC, but I just don't know if we have the fire power to hang with them. Don't get me wrong though, I'll be at every game yelling my head off come what may.
We have to have a strong showing in the second round I don't think our old will have much in the tank in the coming seasons.
The Rockets are one of the few teams in the west that can match the Spurs with their defensive intensity. I think adding Stromile and DA will give us a decent shot at beating the Spurs. The Spurs are once again the favorites to win it all, but they are not without their weaknesses. Detroit did a good job making adjustments to stop the Spurs. If any team in the west can beat the Spurs the Rockets are that team.
Barring injury or anything unexpected, I'd like to see us build on our success from last year and improve from there. Meaning we hafta go farther than a Game 7 of the first round.
For me, anything short of the WC finals is a let down. If we lose to the Spurs there and we put up a fight, so be it. But I think we can take the Spurs. We have two guys they can't stop. We have experienced role players. We have some athleticm now to mix up our looks. Barring injuries, bad refs and/or bad luck... I think we can squarly compete with the Spurs.
Anything less than the second round as a disappointment to me. I really don't wanna here Jack about gelling and missing the playoffs I am pretty confident we will make the playoffs. . . . We have to STOMP the 1st round opponent [since we will be the higher seed . . yea i expect that too] Rocket River
But the problem is that we won't meet them in the WCF, unless we're the 6/7 seed. Right now, the top three seeds go to the top team of each of the three divisions. This means that the second place finisher in our division can hope to be the 4th seed at best. Meaning that we will have to play the 1 seed unless we win the southwest because we will be the 4/5. That means that our most likely second round opponent will be the Spurs. Even if we beat out SA in the regular season and win the 1 seed, they'll still likely be 4/5 and we'll have to face them in the 2nd round. So, let's look at the ways we can get out of facing SA. First, a team from another division could beat AS for the 1 seed. I'm sorry, I don't see a re-tooled phoenix, denver, or seattle beating out SA. None of these teams has gotten any better and it's unlikely Duncan will miss as much this upcoming season as he did last season (the only reason the Spurs weren't 1 seed last year). Second, Dallas could beat SA to win the SW title. This would be a nightmare scenario. We would most likely be facing SA in the FIRST ROUND. That would mean we could likely exit in the first round. Anyway you slice it, we're likely to have to play Dallas and SA in the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, if we beat them, I'd say we're a lock for the Finals. Let's hope it happens.
Bullard4Life is exactly right. The new NBA Playoff format absolutely sucks for the Texas teams. San Antonio, Dallas and Houston could easily be the three best teams in the West next year, yet one of them won't even have home-court advantage in the first round. Meanwhile, above-average teams like Seattle or Sacramento will get home court in the first round PLUS an easier opponent in the second round. Not that the Rockets would ever do it, but it seems the easiest way to make it to the Western Conference Finals is to LOSE games and get the 6th seed.
