nba.com Teams likely to fall #1 HOUSTON

Or the NBA, or anyone who knows anything about basketball. Always gotta have faith and heart, and this team definitely has them.

 

One of the remaining believers. Keep the faith.

 

i think we make the playoffs, even with an injured yao and mac, we're still top 8. we execute and play smart, hard every game. i can't say that for many other teams.

 

Thanks, I will no doubt always keep the faith. Just gotta get that little glimpse of hope to spread around and who knows what will happen.

 

Well I don't know why some think that if Yao returns, we somehow be a contender again. I highly doubt he be effective when he comes back especially if there are no other star on this team besides him. So even if Yao comes back early and Tmac is not playing, we be as horrible without him.

 

Obviously some people forgot to metion the name Ron Artest. He was actually part of the reason why we were so tough in the last season.I am not sure whether we could keep fighting like last season, without Ron.If we only have 30 wins in the coming season, I am ok. you know, sometimes, lottery pick is a not too bad option.

 

Down 2-1 to the Lakers we went 2-2 with the eventual champions without Yao and Tracy. Look at the changes out Artest(Not even half the defender he was, ball stopper and bad shot taker) and in Ariza(Better defender than Artest at the moment, more likely to play a team game), Anderson(A guy over 6'9 that actually is of some use, sorry Brian Cook). These idiot 'experts' who also predicted we would lose to Portland and get swept by the Lakers forget that Adelman can get these Rockets to play a better TEAM game than anyone else, if the chemisty can keep up and they run what the coach wants it will be hard for the young teams to beat us.

Do we have a chance at the title without Yao and TMac? No, can we make playoffs? Yes, because we are still better than any of the teams who didn't make it in the West last year.

 

i hope he is right ,but there is no chance we get the #1 pick

 

When it comes down to it I don't see us beating New Orleans and Pheonix for the last spot. Is it completely out of the realm of possibility? Absolutely not. But, Pheonix is getting back a healthy Amare and is going back to the run and gun style. While they're not world beaters they can easily win 50 games barring any major injuries. New Orleans also seems poised to return to the playoffs and win at least 50. So you have:

San Antonio
LA
Dallas
Portland
Denver
Pheonix
New Orleans
Utah

However if any of these teams has an injury or gets off to a rough start we could easily sneak in and grab one of the last spots. Because we are still better than Sac, GS, OK, Clips, Mem, Minny.