What would be considered failure for the Rockets in 2013-14?

less than 50 wins would be the dagger for me.

First year together, im hoping for second round. Winning the division would be an awesome accomplishment. The Spurs and Grizzlies are still very very good teams. But that will be very tough.

Home court would also be an excellent accomplishment. But again, very difficult.

Failure would be not making it to the second round. While we may be as low as a 6 seed, we should still be built better for the post season than just about all other teams outside of SA and OKC.

 

Depends on who we play in the playoffs. I would say losing in the second round in a close series to the eventual champ would definitely by acceptable. Losing to a lower seed in the second round would be disappointing.

 

We have yet to see the start of the season. But to be honest my standard for failure is well above most of you all. This team may possibly be on the verge of something special. But in the final analyses it depends on factors that are beyond anyone's control. Can we put this on the back burner for another six months? Speculation at this point means nothing.

 

Not being able to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

 

I think not making the playoffs will be a failure...but to be honest I dont think the addition of Dwight makes us any better or worse than where we were last year in the West.

 

Bringing Royce White back.

 

OK. I have thought about it and here it is:

Rockets - Best Center in the NBA; Best SG in the NBA; 10th best SF in the NBA. Good to very good supporting cast (depending how the PF position shakes out).
Heat - Best SF/PF (by far); 2nd best SG; 6th best PF/Center in the league. Average bench.
OKC - First or second best SF, third best PG; 7th best PF; 13th best center. Good to very good supporting cast.
Pacers - 5th best SG ( George); 9th best SF; 7th best Center; Good bench. Somehow better than the sum of their parts.
SAS - 3rd best PG; 3rd best PF; 7th best SF; League best supporting cast.
Griz - 3rd best center; 6th best PF; Very good supporting cast.
Clips - Best PG; 7th best PF; 11th best center; Good supporting cast.

Maybe the Warriors rank. But I do not think so. And I have no idea where to put the Nets without seeing them play next season. They could be very very good or a LAL like catastrophe.

And I refuse to use the word failure. It is an absolute and does not belong in this discussion. Disappointment is the appropriate choice of words OP. But given my current analysis - and it could change in a heartbeat - I would be very pleased if they made the finals, fairly pleased if they make the WCF, displeased if they made the second round and disappointed if they just made the first round.

OK I am an optimist.

 

1st round exit will be a failure no matter the circumstances.
2nd round exit will be okay. A bit disappointing but okay, unless we met a low seed and got knocked out in a 2 seed vs. 6 seed sort of thing, in which case it would suck.
Conference finals will be where I consider the season totally successful.

 

Yeaaaaaa OKC doesnt have a good to very good supporting cast and dont ever group thunder center (perkins) with the word best ever again. Mkay. Thanks.

 

An absolutely reasonable take meh. I am a little more optimistic than you, but that is OK. Probably to optimistic. Just refer to me as Blue SKY jtr. LOL.

 

I just want us to beat the Nuggets this coming season. They totally slaughtered us last season.

 

Dwight having less than 2 more b*stard children this season.

 

From my analysis and others analysis the Nuggets and Utah are hard nuts to crack. Altitude. A real killer. I actually have the Jazz coming out of next season with a winning record because of their home court advantage. Denver at home is an incredibly difficult W to pull out no matter who you are.

 

Given last season's successes and the incredible offseason, I think it's reasonable to EXPECT a 1st round series win. I think that that would be a success, and a competitive second round series (like 2009 competitive) would be a fantastic season.

 

Lin average less than 20 double double :grin:

 

Being in game six of the finals and up with less than 2 minutes up leading the series 3-2 only for the Miami Heat to win the game off of a Ray Allen 3 and then them go on to win game 7.

 

1st round exit.

 

I think I rank the Rockets similar to you. But I would take into account just sheer uncertainty of the playoffs. And the fact that because this is the first season integrating Howard, it's possible our regular season record suffers a bit, perhaps a 3 or 4 seed, meaning no home court in the 2nd round. Regardless of how much I like my team, if we don't have homecourt against a tough team, losing won't be a failure in my book.

 

Second round is a realistic expectation, I think. Anything more will just be gravy. This season will be about setting the team, settling on a system, and learning how all the pieces interact. This is a season for everyone to find their role.

I expect us to really contend following this season. Spurs, OKC, LAC, Memphis, GS... The WC is so stacked those 1-5 spots are really a tossup. I could see us get to WCF but I won't be disappointed if we don't.

 

I don't think the team is championship caliber yet but is playoff caliber. I expect we should make the 2nd round at least and would be disappointed if we can't do better than that.