I hope everyone is done feeling butthurt over the Warriors loss. One loss doesn't end a season in January. Sure, we need to make some changes, but so do 28-29 other teams. Red Nation is still going to make the playoffs, and we have half a season more to gel before then. With that in mind, who do you want to face in the playoffs? My preferences, in order: 1a. POR 1b. PHX (don't see any feasible way we play them but ranked them anyways) 2. DAL 3. SA 4. MEM 5. GS (They have our number this season but I'm still confident in our squad despite the media's overhawking of Harden's pre-game speech. We won the prior 6 match-ups.) 6. OKC 7. LAC (They seem to always have our number when we play. CP3 is still playing chess in this league.)
I'll take "teams with a below average defense" for 200, Alex. Would be nice to knock out the Mavs and I think it would be the easiest matchup.
I hope GS. I hope the Rockets get decimated in the Playoffs and it forces the FO to make serious changes (Head coach.) Talk to Howard to just defend and rebound, no more post ups. DMo is your post player now. However if we want to advance then it's Dal and Por. LMa will be rusty froom injury.
Call me crazy but I'd take OKC. COACHING absolutely matters come playoff time and Scott Brooks is the only coach amongst other West playoff teams that comes to being as inept as McHale is. It will be ISO ball from both teams with zero structure. Whichever team gets hot will take the series or conversely if you go cold which Westbrick is capable of, Rockets have the advantage. McHale will get absolutely creamed and have his dock cleaned by all the other coaches in the West unless Harden goes ham ham. He couldn't handle rook Stotts, he will be destroyed by Kerr or Pop or Rivers etc.
We haven't beaten the Clippers in like 10 years. Give me the Blazers. Harden needs to shake off the demons like Bruce Wayne got over his fear of bats.
None. We aren't getting out of the first round until Harden gets help and our entire team/ organization gets their head out of their ass. We are still miles away from being contenders and I almost feel like if Les and Morey are not going to do anything about it then why waste anyone's expectations and money. 9th seed folks! That's the kind of team Morey is good at building. "Houston Rockets! 9th seed heroes since the days of Hakeem were over." For those who still want to believe in Addition by Subtraction, you are only fooling yourselves after watching the Golden State Games.
Unless one of these teams has some injury issues going into the playoffs at this point I wouldn't call the Rockets the favorite against any of them. We have to play better or this will be another year of first round exit.
I don't care at this point, without some major changes they'll lose to every one of them. Harden can't do it all on his own.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I really don't think we can beat any of these teams. I just think we are at such a disadvantage with McHale, that it doesn't matter if we're more talented than our opponent. That's how bad McHale is.
