Right, the goal is to win the ring. But the secondary goal here is to watch MORE rockets games in the playoffs.
The suns because they runs at you which is very hard for yao to settle down on defense and then go back to settle down on offense
I used to believe exactly like you until the Nuggets did us a favor in 1994 and took out the Sonics. To this day, I think they probably would have knocked us out again. We will never know and please don't anyone flame me. In 1995, I'm convinced we would not have beaten the Spurs or Suns in the 1st round because the team was still finding itself at the end of the regular season. In fact, we stumbled into the playoffs with zero momentum. Matchup-wise, the Jazz were ideal for us. After dispatching the Jazz, the Rockets were tuned up and ready for the big boys. By the time we faced the Magic, they had no chance. Just my opinion. I think matchups had something to do with both of our championships.
Suns without question are our worst matchup. In a 7 game series we will be hard-pressed to keep up with them consistently, and we really haven't found a way yet to slow down the game against them.
I have to agree with you there, and matchups DO matter, just ask that Rockets team a couple of years ago if they would have liked to play the Kings (or was it the Sonics?) in the first round instead of the Mavs. Matchups are EVERYTHING in the playoffs, and yes I would rather the Rockets get to the second round rather than experience yet another first round exit; they need that confidence to build on, it gives our players hope for future progress, and gives the front office a reason to look for that 'additional piece to the puzzle' that might put us over the top. I think the franchise needs to show the fans that there is improvement, that the MacMing Dynasty is not pure hype, but could indeed become something special. I don't think the fans will truly buy into what this team is trying to do until we experience some type of postseason success. So no, I don't think making it to the conference finals and losing is equivalent to losing in the first round. Winning a championship is the ultimate goal, but you have to show that some progress is being made first or you won't be taken seriously.
The first round matchup could be more important than usual this year because Yao will have only played 10-15 games since returning from his injury. It's very likely the Rockets won't be at peak efficiency yet.
