The Rockets are playing extremely well this season and their chemistry is great. disregarding losses due to lapses, the only teams that present real problems are the ones that give them mismatches defensively. I believe the rox with jvg's planning (yes i'm giving him credit - bite me) can take san antonio. But the speed of the suns and mavs presents quite a challenge. the mavs also have good size. Those are the only 2 teams i fear for the rockets. And there are not enough teams that have the suns and mavs figured out to use as an example to beat them. what must the rox do in order to have a chance at beating them? i hope jvg has some more tricks (i.e. strategies) for beating them.
Suns won't be a problem. Even without T-Mac and Yao, we can already give them fit. With Dallas, the only hope to match them is if we have our two superstars healthy
I give coach Van Gundy a lot of credit for this season, despite all the pessimism directed towards him (which speaks to the greater state of our forum, ie 70% of posters are incredibly reactionary and pessimistic and can't see the big picture). We have an amazing roster this season, and a great defense, and with our two superstars healthy we can beat ANY team in the league. Although the mavs and suns scare me, I think we could overcome them healthy and with a little luck. Our team is loaded with two superstars, several great rpers, good veterans, young guys with an upside, great 3 point shooters, great defenders, and a legitimite 3rd scoring threat in Juwan/Bonzi. We are the third best team in the league (a position we have rightfully earned because great teams win with injuries and we certainly have) and it looks like for the next few seasons our team is gonna be a force in the West. Its great to be a Rockets fan again.
San Antonio- It seems like we have their number but don't count them out. They are a smart veteran team, they will turn it up a notch when the playoffs come. Also expect them to add another impact player before the deadline. Suns- That style has yet to win anything. They could easily blow us out by 25 but in a series scenario teams seem to figure them out and they fade quick. I am sure we can gameplan something effective. Also they could be 1 and done if they face the Nuggets or Lakers. Mavs- Hate to give them credit but they have so much firepower and Avery has the balls to switch up the rotation on the fly. Only positive is the way we played them 2 years ago. Now Yao is better and we dont have Weatherspoon/Padgett/Bowen playing the PF by commitee. Speaking of Bowen, Rockets might want to sign him for a playoff push in anticipation of Dirk. Although McGrady can handle the job. Lakers- Kobe could single handedly beat us in a series... Nuggets- Could upset any given team in a series... So basically we can lose or beat anyone. Its gonna be rough.
San Antonio, I agree (Mavs and Rockets both beat them) PHX, They are in the finals if healthy last season but I could see either the Spurs or Rockets beating them Mavs, I think the Rockets match up very well vs dallas and would beat them. Mavs are better than Spurs and I think it would be a toss up with Phx but I will take the Suns LAL and Denver=no chance To answer the question yes I like our chances
San Antonio- Be healthy. With Yao and Tracy, they have no answer. Bruce Bowen's lost a step and has no way to guard these swingmen who can run the offense (Tracy, LeBron, Kobe) and they're not gonna let Duncan waste 6 fouls guarding Yao, meaning in a series with bvery little scoring, our two superstars will give the advantage. Phoenix- Be healthy. Be really, really healthy. JVG would have to be creative in a series with them. He'd need to crowd the middle and have plenty of post threats in all of the time (Front lines like Yao, Juwan and Bonzi) because we can't outrun them. No one can for more than a couple nights, so the Rockets have to force the Suns off of their game, if just a little bit. They're the toughest matchup for the Rockets, but they can be beaten. Dallas- Be healthy. That's all. They have no answer for Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming, just as we have no answer for Dirk. But Josh Howard can be neutralized by Shane. This series will come down to who can get the stops, and I think the Rockets can. Clearly they're a great team, but they're very beatable. I'll have a better gauge on this after our two upcoming agmes with them. Los Angeles- Be healthy. Kobe can do everything, but he's gonna have a hard time doing anything but scoring. Odom's the variable here, because he can cause a lot of problems for the Rockets, but not enough that I'd rather have any of the first three teams in a playoff series before I saw them. Denver- Be healthy. They're very inconsistent, but they have so much talent, it's scary. Still, I don't see em getting out of the first round unless they get Utah or San Antonio. Utah- Be healthy. When we're healthy, they don't have enough to win 4 games against the Rockets. It's a nice team, probably good enough to make it to hte Eastern Conference Finals, but Boozer, Kirilenko and Williams won't get it done come playoff time.
Only if he goes around Ginobili-slapping everyone in the face. Unfortunatley for Kobe we play defense. Why did you ruin your post with a stupid comment like that...
Rox can beat any teams except for the Suns. JVG has to design schemes to hide Yao's slow speed. Bonzi might be the X-factor as he can post up. If Bonzi is at 100% and does not turn the ball over, Rox can beat the Suns.
I feel confident that we can beat the suns, I just think that in the regular season, we match up with them once a month, we are just overwhelm with their style of plays. But in a 7 games series It would be different we have time to analyse and adjust.
I agree with the topic starter. I think our chances are good against LA, Minny, Denver, Utah, and even SA in the first round of the playoffs. I'm terrified to death of meeting Dallas or Phoenix in the first round, and out of the two, I think I'd prefer to meet up with the Mavs. Hopefully someone else can upset them before we have to deal with them. Even still, once this team is back to full health, I think we can possibly make a very deep playoff run.
Rockets will finish the regular season strong and have a very good record. But I don't see this team making it past the 1st round, with a slim chance they make it to the 2nd round before they go out. It's not a matter of talent. This team has the talent to go all the way. But JVG will be outcoached in the playoffs once again. He just cannot make adjustments.
There they go again. These are the same people who said we would win less than 25% of our games after Yao went down. "JVG cannot make adjustments"? Crawl back into your respective holes, clueless Jeff-haters.
I think we have bad matchups with Dallas and Phoenix...either one of them probably beats us in a series. But, at least get there and play them. DD
Someone's clueless here but it isn't me. And I never said "we would win less than 25% of out games after Yao went down." So please don't put words in my mouth. JVG is great as long as his game plan is working. But if the opposing coach makes adjustments that are effective, JVG simply cannot counter. Why do you think the Rockets lost against the Mavs two years ago in a series they had a virtual stranglehold on? Avery Johnson made the necessary adjustments. JVG had no answer. JVG was owned and outcoached by a rookie head coach. He's been outcoached numerous times and it will happen again. In the playoffs where there is little room for error.
I'm also worried about making it past the 1st round especially if we face the Mavs, Suns, or SA. We just don't have the depth to face a real contender IMO. Lakers, Nuggets, and Jazz don't look too difficult in my eyes, because of many of the reasons mentioned earlier. My main concern isn't JVG or his coaching, it's our bench. I knew at the beginning of the season that our bench wasn't very good, and last night they proved it against philly. Against a really tough opponent like Suns, Mavs, and maybe SA, I think that will be what ultimately dooms us. We will need Yao and McGrady to step up almost every game in the playoffs for us to have a chance against some of the top tier teams.
we only need to have a 8-9 man roster to compete with the best of the west with the playoffs coming, we will be set
