Western Conf. Standings (against Western Conf. teams): L.A. Lakers 11-5 Sacramento 11-6 Denver 11-6 Seattle 8-6 Minnesota 9-7 Dallas 11-9 San Antonio 10-9 Utah 8-8 Portland 7-9 Golden State 7-10 Memphis 7-10 Houston 8-12 L.A. Clippers 6-11 Phoenix 6-12 The Rockets have wins against: Denver, Phoenix, Golden State, L.A. Clippers (twice), Utah, Portland, and the L.A. Lakers. The Rockets have losses against: Memphis, Dallas, Portland, Utah, Sacramento, Seattle (twice), San Antonio (twice), Minnesota, Phoenix, and Denver The Rockets are 8-2 against the Eastern Conference
Typical Rockets...win against the weak East and choke against the West teams.... 2-7 against division opponents! TWO AND F*CK*NG SEVEN!! Gawd freaking damn, that is beyond pathetic! The Rockets are simply the second biggest waste of talent in the entire NBA behind the Suns. At least they've had Stoudemire's injury to use as a semi-decent excuse...
Denver is officially this year's dark horse. They play on the court with huge confidence. It is just amazing how good trade and draft can turn a garbage team around. The addition of Melo, Andre Miller and Earl Boykins made a huge huge difference.
In addition to Denver, the other one that got me was Seattle at 8-6 against the west. Without looking at which western conference teams these 14 games were against, it looks like Seattle joins Denver as the biggest threats to the Rockets and other teams battling for those final two or three playoff spots in the west. Either way, these records do not do much for my optimism for the Rockets this season unless something changes fast (whether that be through a trade or through vast improvements on the parts of the Rockets all star players and leaders). The frustrating thing is, the defense is there. This is top notch, playoff caliber defense that the Rockets have played this season and you get the feeling that if they could find a way to average 7 to 12 more points a game, this team would be very hard to beat...........hard on the eyes, but very hard to beat. As it is though, their offense is bottom of the league pathetic and it shows in their record. If hovering around .500 is all right with you as a Rockets fan, this will be good enough for you. For those of us that would like to see this team join the top 10 teams in the NBA again, the Rockets' offensive woes should be unacceptable. Only so much can be blamed on Yao's immaturity as an NBA player. There are veterans on this team that are not getting the job done.
