Nobody said they were great Sweet Lou,but they aren't chopped liver. If the Nuggets were in the East they would be one of the top 3 or 4 teams easy.
the _enver thuggets, with the exception of their horrid defense, is actually a damn good team. they alot of weapons that they just cant really incorporate into their "iso melo/ai" plays.
fortunately for us, the thuggets and george karl doesnt know how to harness all that talent camby kmart melo jr smith ai thats AT LEAST a playoff team right there, add in kleiza, nene, they actually have one of the better lineup in the league.
I totally hear where your coming from Titile99.It IS funny how that heart can overpower logic sometimes,if even for just a bit. And I agree it will be interesting to see what happens when we start playing some of the big boys of the West. But check it out....I think we have some hidden upside.. Let me preface all this by reiterating how brutal it is losing Yao....and yes,the Lakers are stout along with the Spurs. Now..First off the PF position that was a weakness is now a strength.Even so Scola and Landry are just dusting off their games.Luis as we know has mucho game and more moves than Liz Taylor at the altar.Landry is a scorer.He was in college and I expect him to do the same in the pros.Right now he's just been a garbage man with a face up shot.Carl has just gotten his confidence back along with that extra 4 - 5 inches of vertical.He can do a lot more than has been asked of him so far. Without Yao or Bonzi in the post these guys have more room to do their thing.We still don't know how good they will be this year,but we'll find out as much will be asked of them.Also more room for everyone to slash/get to the hoop. The chemistry has been great but I expect it to improve even more with Jackson around.Besides he pushes Rafer to be better....and then there's Aaron.Once again a position of weakness is now a strength. Deke gives us a defensive presence which we didn't have before even if it is for only 20- 25 min/night.We are a better defensive team now with BJ and Deke getting minutes. Better defense leads to easy buckets off the fastbreak...... We can go small or big......good record and probably a damn good halfcourt game for later. Why Tracy didn't start shooting 30 minutes a pop before every game since the back problems,I'll never know but you can see the difference in the wayhe moves and shoots.Also he's obviously making an effort to get his teammates involved first now which is great.Toss in the fact that he's even driving to the hole now once in awhile and things have changed.Personally I think we'll see much more of it as the season winds down here and in the playoffs.Defensively he looks MUCH MUCH better out there too. Shane Battier is stepping up his game.The better the team the more important he is and this Rockets team is good. Adelman not only is a helluva coach,but is as many have already mentioned,the ideal guy for this situation. The whole team is stepping up (Luther's shooting lights out) and there is that wonderful chemistry reminicient of past Rocket greatness. This team is blowing out teams now plus they close out games. I could gush some more but I'll put it on pause for now. Whatever happens compadre,we'll be here analyzing every fiber,every day. Go Rockets!
That's such a huge if that the question renders itself moot...but yes, I would still think it's foolish. I remember back in 95 or 96 or so, when I first started watching, Hakeem was out for a bunch of games (I think) and people like Chucky Brown were holding down the fort quite admirably and Rudy T was winning with a group of overachievers. It is just as silly now to say that we are better without Yao than it would have been then to say we were better without Hakeem. Only difference is that this team is a very, very good team even without Yao. The team back then didn't have the same quality as this team does. Remember, we still have a superstar in T-Mac, a perfect team player in Shane Battier, Scola, who is a very, very good player himself, Alston playing at the top of his game (which makes him an above average point guard as long as he keeps it up) and some high-energy rookies. But all of that doesn't mean we are better without Yao.
