Spurs : Even though the former spur Brent Barry had joined the Rockets ,and the spurs veterans all get one year older , but they will still be a competive contender in the upcoming season , I think. They have got Mason who had not shown his full talent in Washington . More importantly , aging is not a trouble but a fortune for the spurs. To the spurs ,the older means the more experienced . Do not ever underestimate the veterans who had won 4 championships during the past decade .Maybe we'll do a little bit better in the regular season , but the spur veterans may turn things over in the playoffs because they have plenty of experiences that are especially important in playoffs. In the last season's playoffs , the spurs should have not lost to lakers so easily if manu didn't get hurt and played badly due to the injury .So the spurs deserve our attention . Lakers : It's no wonder the lakers will be a big rival to the Rockets . And these two teams will be gonna get the most attention because both of the two teams have their big threes . Lakers have Pau , Lamar and KB while Rockets contain Yao , Tmac and Ron Ron .Maybe KB is the most dominative guy among the six big stars , but the houston big three seems a little bit better over all than the lakers' .Lamar is an allstar level roster but he is still just close to a superstar like Ron Ron .And , in spite of injuries, yao is actually better than Pau .Not to mention the Bynum , because we have Scola .The inside combination of Yao n Scola is at least 30 percent better than that of Bynum n Pau .Besides the pair of big threes , Houston's bench is much much thicker than lakers' . Bynum can be matched up by Scola. Fisher matched up by rafer . Sasha locked up by battier , and famar eaten up by SF3 .As Turiaf has walked to GS , our inside rosters also has advantage over the lakers even though they all lack size .Ignoring Luke walton n Radmanovic who are as alike as twins ,neither can make any threat to us outside or inside . The only thing the lakers can rely on is just KB, which is also the only roster on that team that needs to be kept an eye on . Celtics : The celtics will not fight with us violently until the Finals begin , on condition that we all break into the Finals . The celtics may be still great in the upcoming season , but they can hardly win the championship again because they have lost James Posey that is the key-man in the finals againest lakers .Losing Posey means losing defence so their defence will no longer be as tough as the past season .I'm even afraid they will not be able to go into the finals without their great defence they used to have . Even if they would face us in the NBA finals of 08-09 , there is no need to fear that team because the Rockets are greater than celtics .We have two great defenders while they only have none .Even so , it's still more difficult to beat the celtics than beating the lakers .However , it doesn't matter whether we'll defeat the celtics in the post season , we will have won the conference championship before the finals and we should be satisfied with the conference championship then . And we will have a bigger possibility to win the title one year later when the green big three get older . Mavs : .............Sorry to the mavs fans . Suns : If it was three years ago , the suns would be the biggest contender for the title ,because O'neal was the greatest roster at that time . However , thingings have changed greatly through the three years. Nash is not the MVP any more ,and the only thing shaq still has is just his 300lbs body weight .Grant Hill is now a good role player instead of a superstar that he used to be when he was in Orlando .The suns should have won the title one or two years ago if Joe Johnson was not traded ,but Joe was traded for Diaw who is not fit for any position from 1 to 5 ( maybe you can say he fits all the five ).Suns used to be the most talented team in NBA ,but now ,the only talented guy on that team is just Stoudmair.De's leaving is the beginning of the suns' rebuilding . Hornets : That's the most dangerous rival ,I'm afraid . As in recent years , it seems always very difficult for us to beat the Hornets .We have beaten spurs sometimes , and beaten lakers even after they landed Gasol ,and beaten suns even more ,but we have seldom beaten the hornets .And it may be even more difficult after they landed Posey to strenghen their defence . Never to mention their offence and fast break .Even worse ,unlike lakers, Chris Paul is not the only dangerous offender on Hornets , Peja and West will also let you pay if you ignore them . Restricting Paul's scoring is not enough , it's more important to lock his passing and organizing .And the guy matching up with Paul should be as fast has him ,so it's no wonder that spurs defent the hornets last season because Tony Parker had done a good job on Paul. But who will take this stack when the Rockets face Hornets .Rafer? Aron? Our only hope is Francis who used to be the best point guard around the league .And we all trust Francis .Go Francis . Jazz: We had lost to the same rival in the first rounds of the past two years streak .We lost to team because we were not red then , but we'll never lose to them infuture because we have become red .All the rockets get red . And we have got Artest who is even reder . Instead of Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams is now the most dangerous guy on jazz ,simmilar to the condition where we face Hornets , all the hopes to stop deron totally rely on Steve Francis . I really hope Francis can go back where he was in his prime . But I 'm still optimistic to beat the jazz, after all ,even Kb is not able to save his team all by himself . Not to mention the teams like nuggets ,clippers ,kings ,warriors or the thunders which sounds very WNBA . In a word , our main rivals are located in four cities .New Orlean ,Boston, San Antonio n LA .The upcoming season's championship belongs to no other team than the five .And the rate for us to win the championship is 39 percent . While SA 17% ;LA 23% ; Bos 19% ; NO 2% ; other teams 0% The only two percent for the Hornets to win the title comes from that the rockets meet with hornets in the conference finals and lose(the teams hornets have beaten in the past two rounds don't include one of the five teams mentioned before ,say they are not able to beat either spurs or lakers ) , then the hornets beat the celtics by accident that all the green big three get injuried .
Notice or not ,I have reserved the letter "g" from the word "biggest" . I did it deliberately because I want to deliver you the message that no team is really biggest other than the Houston Rockets .Rockets are the best .No other team is as big as Houston Rockets .Only the Rockets are the Biggest .
So what you're saying is - no team is capable of spelling properly. Only the Rockets are capable of spelling 'biggest' correctly? If no other team is 'as big as Houston' - and none are capable of being 'biggest' - why did you start this thread?
I gonna say either Hornets or Jazz. I had a strong feeling that either Rafer or Artest will have a flight with Hornets.
Hornets seem to me to be the new power in the West (discounting us because we are unproven). I would say the Jazz but with Artest I think we have surpassed them.
The Lakers. They are the only one with our level of talent. The Jazz fans will disappear like evil witches when we stop paying attention to them, like in that NBC show Merlin.
That is easy, our biggest rivals are and will be Jazz and now even more. We added Ron who hates Jass as much as we do. McGrady hates them, so does Yao...
Can someone help me out because i dont see the hornets as such a bug threat like everyone else because they live and die by Paul now what if he go down will they still be such a threat
I would say the Lakers ultimately, but also the Spurs due to them having the next best level of talent behind the Lakers but also being a Texas team also. The Lakers because as someone else said, they have the next best starting lineup. The Spurs' bench isn't as strong, but as long as you have Tim, Tony and Manu healthy, they will be a contender..not to mention they still have the best dirtiest defender in the league in Bowen. Utah will fade away this year as we sweep them in the season series and there will be no more rivalry with them. If we meet them in the playoffs, we will shut down everyone but Deron Williams and it will be a no contest. Rivalries: Lakers and Spurs
Boston has good defenders. KG is one the best defenders in the league, Pierce is very underrated see Kobe finals, Perkins is a good inside banger type defender, Rondo has quick feet plays the passing lanes and is relatively strong.
Maybe because there a young team and can only get better with the line up. Paul, west and Chandler (with last two a better growing player by the year) Paul just resigned but they did love Pargo who also did a good job at back up. But they added Posey known for defense. I think the chemistry paul has with those players are amongst best.
Man ur post was confusing to read. But i think biggest rivals are, in order, Celtics, Spurs and Hornets n Jazz imo.
Our rivals are currently the jazz... Until we play them and crush them. We are just so much superior now.
