(NBA.com) Playoff favorites in the West.

I stopped reading when he said Artest was in his prime.

 

We were a lottery team.
Slippage in defense late last season.
Only added a 34 year old Miller and a rookie.
Yao's health is unknown and will miss a big chunk of the season.

Tied at 8 is pretty generous.

 

It's better when we are underdog..

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I can't wait for the season to start. No way that the Rockets end up with the 8th spot. If all goes well with Yao's health this team will be top 3, without Yao it is a 6th-7th seed.

 

True.
Point taken.
Your point? Team's deep.
Says who? A report that was debunked by the Rockets?

The western conference is ass.

 

How are the Thunder suddenly this Top-Tier team? I understand that they had a very nice playoff run last season, but the team is still young and they're still missing some pieces.

Also, Denver the 7th seed? Is K-Mart that big of a factor?

 

Why are you on this forum? Obviously you are not a fan of the Rockets.

 

I try to compare us to our 2008-2009 season where we were 53-29.

Subtract Ron Artest.
Subtract Carl Landry.
Add Kevin Martin.
Add Trevor Ariza.
Add Brad Miller.
Add Chase Budinger.
Add Jordan Hill.
Add Patrick Patterson.

And that's not even considering the maturity of Aaron Brooks who only started for less than half the season that year. Overall, we're better than the team that went 53-29 and took the Lakers to 7 in the second round. Yao's foot has been reconstructed and could offer more reliability than that season (namely in the post-season), as well.

We are definitely good enough to get home court advantage in the playoffs, perhaps even for the first two rounds.

The Suns? Third? Really? Yes, I agree, this writer is an idiot.

 

Hahah "8th seed" ...SMH

If this is what the rest of the west thinks about the rockets, they're in for a rude awakening!

--RB

 

I don't get why people get so caught up in someone's prediction. It doesn't control what Houston will do this upcoming season.

 

Off season.

 

Order NBA League pass this season. That team when they get going on all cylinders are unstoppable. Really, you can't beat them.

no but Billups and Carmelo are.

 

Teams respect the Rockets if they don't then they will respect the Rockets after losing to them.

It doesn't matter if the media respects the Rockets because this isn't College football where rankings matter.

 

I believe having a training camp with Martin, Ariza, Hill, Budinger, and Miller will be huge for us.

I know it all depends on Yao, but I am just saying we have good talent on this team and most of it only played together for half a season. You bring in Martin and Miller, two guys that KNOW the offense, and that will be a great asset to all the other guys. Hill and Patterson should be great additions to the front court. That gives us much needed athleticism and energy at the PF spot. Guys will be able to go into the season with much better defined roles. Last year we spent half a season trying to let Ariza and Brooks learn new responsibilities. We had a 6'6 C with no offensive skills.

 

We are a 4th or 5th seed as of today. I think with another acquistion by Morey, we may move up higher.

I don't give a hot damn about those ratings. Since when has ANY sports analyst given us any love? Only the media in Houston know what's going on our roster.

I wouldn't be surprised if Tim Legler thought we still had T-mac starting.