The Rockets won't make the playoffs this year. There are 8 great reasons and 2 other teams who themselves look like playoff contenders. As is Phoenix and the Sonics join the Rockets on the outside looking in. I don't know about you all but the Suns looked like championship contenders early in the season. And Payton is still better than Francis at this point. Payton is the best player in the league on the worst team. ------------------ The guns are cocked and the soldiers are in place, it's time to march and let the battles decide the war.
Good to see you have that psychic vision going Vince. To say that right now is extremely premature and IMO dumb. I think we'll be in-- of course I won't say they definitely will, but you get the point. In this first half of the season we have dealt with injury after injury to key players, one of the toughest schedules in the NBA, controversy (Hakeem), and much more. And we made it through at .500!!! That is great to me. Now with a healthy team growing together with an easier schedule, can you honestly tell me they don't have a realistic chance to make up the 3 or 4 games they need to make the playoffs? If you want to be honest, I think by the end of the year they might not be too far from Utah at the top of the division-- with a healthy team and easy schedule we might have a shot at making up 6 games on Utah. No joke. The Rockets have a realistic shot at the playoffs this year. VERY realistic. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Teams win and lose games, not individuals. Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
Well I do like your optimism!! And it is realistic. Nothing is imposible. That why teams play the games! But, I do think that it will be a long road ahead for the Rockets. ------------------ The guns are cocked and the soldiers are in place, it's time to march and let the battles decide the war.
The Rockets can still make the post season, especially with contributions from Dream, and Cato when he gets healthy, to shore up the front court. Or maybe a quality trade. If Seattle, and Phoenix will be on the outside looking in with Houston, that means that you are saying that: San Antonio Sacramento LA Lakers Portland Utah Dallas Minnesota Denver Nick is hurt for the Nuggets so it is possible to catch up to them. Utah is inconsistent and vulnerable. Dallas gets shaky every once in a while, and Minnesota aren't world beaters. From Utah to Denver, I see 4 available playoff spots for the Rocks as long as they get quality production from the frontcourt. Besides if it is possible for Phoenix to fall from "title contenders" to missing the playoffs, why isn't it possible for the Rockets to go from .500, to 7 to 10 games over .500 and the playoffs? Only one half of the season is threw, and there are 38 games left and only 4 games separating the Rocks from the postseason. ------------------ No sleep and no trade info make RocksMillenium something, something! [This message has been edited by RocksMillenium (edited January 28, 2001).]
vince: Do you really need to start 4 threads in a span of ten minutes? We just got done lecturing a newbie about this, and then you come along and flood the board. Can't you combine these thoughts into one thread? ------------------ Behad Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS Asking the question: What is more dangerous, an AK-47 or a scooter?
I'm extremely happy with the rocks record.Another thing, is that they havent even been on a hot streak all year so they are due. I mean they've won 2 in a row 3 in a row, but they havent put together a REAL winning streak. They WILL beat the Heat and the Clipps to push the winning strak to 4, and who knows how long it will go on from there. ------------------
let me go out on a limb. let me nip this in the bud. (there's two cliches in a row ) gary payton is not all that people in this bbs make him out to be. as for his bball ability, i'll be the first to admit that he is a very versatile player. but after watching him for the last two years, i am no longer prepared to don him as the "greatest point guard in the nba" or the "best player on a bad team". first things first (that's 3 cliches ). do you really want your point guard posting up 40-50% of the time? we're talking about dribbling the ball up court, waving players off, then posting up at 6'4". think about it. what about your big men? don't give me any crap about vin baker being a slug or patrick ewing being a slug. i won't argue too heavily , but they do need their touches in the paint. when gp is posting, those guys have their collective thumbs up their asses (there's 4 cliches) on the weakside. meanwhile, gp's court vision is limited to one side of the court. secondly, gary's outside shooting is suspect. very suspect. he doesn't follow through on his shots, and still has that tim hardaway-esque affinity for pulling up for the "quick three" on the way down court. for my point guard, i don't go for that. third, gary's attitude is not what i'd call conducive to a winning environment. he berates his teammates both on and off the court. for an example, look at vernon maxwell. now, vernon is coco-nuts. don't get me wrong. but vernon wasn't going to back down from the constant berations (is that a word?) from gary. so he hurled a dumbbell (appropriately and ironically) towards gary. his teammates this year and last year have complained about the same attitude from gary. there's a grand canyon between motivating and denegrating your teammates. fourth, gary's defense is becoming stockton-esque. not that he doesn't play it, just that his one-on-one defense is not what it used to be. sure he can shut down jason kidd when he's extremely motivated (then again, jason can't shoot), but watch how steve blows by him. watch how many of the faster nba guards blow by him (j-will, kobe, etc.). it's not for lack of effort. it's for the inevitability of age. right now, i'd take the steve francis of 2001 over the gary payton of 2001. i'm not talking about for the next 10 years. that's a given. i'm talking about just for this season. i'd take steve. now, if you want to talk about who is the best point guard in the nba - RIGHT NOW - i'd go with a tie between steve and jason. gary in a distant third, not too far ahead of terrell brandon, in fact. the only reason i wouldn't take steve over jason is because jason has better floor leadership instincts. steve makes up for it in ability and hustle, but that floor leadership instinct means more on fast breaks, secondary breaks, etc. one on one, it's no comparison: steve francis hands down. but as for the "TEAM GAME" its still jason. but not by much, and not for long. gp?...get off the nba hype machine. ------------------