Why do some people assume we will be out in first round again?

The PG spot is worrisome, but our point differential is a bit misleading. So many injuries and players added that it's hard to say our differential is an accurate representation of the team we will hopefully running out there for the playoffs.

 

I don't assume we will be out , but obviously the answer is health. With Dwight , jones, and dmo all limited/ injured our frontcourt depth is exceptionally shallow right now . Hopefully they are all close to 100% for the playoffs . James has carried a hefty load this season and there are signs that he is slowing down a bit . Hopefully we can find a couple of games to rest him . Our starting PG is out and the replacement options are OK but don't exactly inspire confidence. We have a very high ceiling but also a very low floor in terms of how our team can play this postseason. When one factors in how close the west is ... It's not difficult to see a scenario where the rockets could be going home after the first round. No one here wants that , but it is possible . Rationally I think some
Indivuals are more pessimistic than others and so therefore people definitely will present the idea that we could lose.

 

My mind can only accept having hope destroyed so many times.

2005 Mavericks (7 games) - 40 point meltdown happened
2007 Jazz (7 games) - Kirilenko flopped
2008 Jazz (6 games) - Luther Head existed
2009 Lakers (7 games) - Yao Ming was injured
2013 Thunder (6 games) - Just outclassed
2014 Trailblazers (6 games) - Harden imploded, no defense

In almost all of these series, hope was strung out until the very last second and then brutally murdered.

That's why I will always rep Rockets red but I'm never going to risk being overconfident about our chances.

 

I agree with you, I think we were just spoiled with Hakeem. You're right that this year's team definitely has a shot to do something, and as long as the team can find a way to keep Harden happy for future seasons Houston will continue to have a bright future, which is definitely better than watching a lottery bound team!

 

Thank you for posting this. Too many shills on this site.

 

These type of comparisons are so lame.

A meth addict will do meth again because meth is physically and psychologically addicting.

Past performance has nothing to do with future results when it comes to sports.

 

Harden didnt show up the first couple games, and all Portland did to stop harden was have Mathews and Batum switch on him. It was nothing spectacular. As far as LMA he was hot, SA played him the same way we did that series he just wasnt on like he was when he played us.

 

I think we turn the corner and advance deep into the post season for one reason.


Because we have James "F*&^ing" Harden

 

McHale.

Harden not showing up last year.

Bev injury.

 

The simple answer is health. Half our productive players are injured or just coming back from injury. There is also the fact that all the Western playoff teams are good and it is literally anyone's game outside of maybe GSW. Personally, I think we will get out of the first round and unless we are injured further, I think we can go all the way like any team in the West.

 

Different year big timer. All because we only advanced once during those years doesn't mean it has any barring on this year's future.

 

I don't really assume ANYTHING with the Rockets or Houston sports teams in general. Our teams are consistently baffling.

The Rockets really are a perplexing team to watch. You never really know who's going to show up on any single night. Harden consistently has, and Brewer does, but you just never quite know that anyone else is a lock for a good performance OR a bad performance. We've amazingly kept winning without our star center, and it's probably actually been a good experience for the team to gel more as they figure out how to make wins keep happening somehow. Who'd have predicted that?

Then again, some games they just go as flat as a matzah cracker in certain quarters because they get complacent or the opponents change their D up and we don't compensate or just for unknown reasons whatsoever. Some games they'll shoot 90+% from the free throw line, and some games closer to 50%. Some games the threes are falling like raindrops in Seattle; some games, you couldn't buy one with Dwight's entire salary. I think the team actually has the POTENTIAL to win it all, but they have a very strange and spotty record of UTILIZING their full potential.

Also, as said by others, this year's West is probably the hardest conference in history. Anything could happen, and a Rockets' first-round out is quite the possibility just because of that. Who knows? I'd venture to say that the champion team will be the team with their heads screwed on the straightest when it comes down to it, not necessarily the team with the most combined raw talent in their players, because the raw talent is just so immense everywhere.

 

The rockets have been out of the 1st round once in the last 17 years. That is a extended period of failure.

 

I haven't made this statement this month, but back pre-Allstar I probably did. So I'll advocate for it a bit just in the name of promoting awareness that not everyone thinks alike.

I was 7 years old when Karl Malone gave Clyde Drexler a friendly hug. Since then the Rockets have won 10 percent of the series they have been in, winning a series in one out of seventeen years.

I have one of those brains where expecting great and getting crap is many times more painful than experiencing success is joyful. If I expected seventeen great seasons and got Houston's last 17 years, I would be way too distraught to keep watching. So I keep a very low level of expectations as a shield, otherwise I couldn't bear to watch sports at all.

Starting with the expectation that my team will always fail doesn't mean I hate them. If I did I wouldn't spend 10 hours a week watching them. It just means I manage my fan experience differently than some others.

For the record, at the moment I think the Rockets have a 60% chance of winning in the first round this year. And even if they were in the Warriors' current shoes I'd refuse to adjust that past 80% for fear of getting burned.

 

McHale and injuries

 

No.... but it answers the question in your TT as to why people assume we will lose.

People's confidence in winning is shaken due to all the previous losing. This doesn't mean the Rockets are destined to lose, it just means some fans' faith is lacking.

 

In order for the Rockets to go anywhere, James Harden has to play like he did before All-Star break and Dwight has to either become a very efficient post player or leave the post alone altogether. The rest of the Rockets have to play good defense and hit open shots. Lastly Kevin Mchale has to do his best not to get in the Rockets way. I just don't see all of that happening. This team ain't built for the playoffs it's too Harden dependent if he has a bad couple of games we're done.

 

^^^I agree with this, the Rockets seem to have a way of choking at the wrong time. Though I hope they make it out of the first round, you really have to play good ball to beat the Spurs in the first round and the Rockets aren't there right now.