Your more optimistic than me. Other than playing Dallas, I really can't see us advancing to the second round.
I'm worried about the Rockets' chances to win their first round series. Dallas or San Antonio would be best, but the seeding likely won't end up that way.
Rockets are pretty bad vs. WC play-off competition and indeed a lot of wins have come when they've had injuries, but so do we. Morey failed miserably this trade deadline by not going after another playmaker. If we lose it's on him, McHale and Leslie for being cheap. Should've given up that pick when it was still valuable for a playmaker PG / SG off the bench. Hell, the Clippers were ready to offer Crawford for a 1st round pick!!
Memphis lost to Boston and Portland lost to Minnesota. It happens. We beat elite teams last year during the season but did that prove anything in the playoffs? Nope. The key is to be rested and in rhythm for the playoffs. We don't even have our full team out there yet.
lol now everyone complains about D Mo reboundung skills when I see all along that that was that man biggest knock to soft of a rebounder. The number one excuse i heard was hes great at boxing out. We really need height in the worse way its bad when you only have one 7 footer on your roster and that 7 footer can only geab a handful of rebounds per game
coin flip basketball. we'll be fine as long as we don't face the blazers, bad match up or the warriors, bad match up. or a healthy thunder, bad match up or a streaky spurs, bad matchup.
After cooling off, my frustrations have very little to do with losing to Portland at their home. In the grand scheme of things, nearly all of us KNEW what was needed by the trading deadline: a playmaker who would make life easier on Harden and to a lesser extent, backup big. Before anybody comments that it takes two to tango, know that other teams had some of the assets that would have helped us and indeed were acquired by other teams. We come down on Bev and D-Mo, but it is really not their fault that they have weaknesses. They are what they are. Instead, our front office has much to answer if we failed badly in the playoffs again.
*Note to Consider: All teams have struggles against other good teams nowadays. Rockets arent the only ones* The OP posted his sentiment in a bad way. But I did have similar thoughts and conclusions after the Blazer's game....unfortunately (I am not a Negative Nancy/Chicken Little reactionary poster, I'm a Rockets apologist before being a critic.) I got a familiar feel of 2005-2009 Rockets from things.... - Star talents that are traditionally a good recipe toward title contention (Star Wing + Star Big) - Solid #4-5 seed team, can beat the good teams regular season - Occasional good show against GREAT teams but have their troubles - Rockets can win tie-breakers against teams with similar records, will probably be favored in postseason, but don't have the stuff against them in playoffs or important games. All of a sudden Rockets have match-up problems. - Have star player injured, with hope that their return will put the team "over-the-top!" Not sure what to blame there. The constant through all these years is mostly Daryl Morey and of course No-Lux-Tax Les. I like some things that have happened this year, but will downgrade from hopeful to cautiously optimistic to "believe it when I see it" mode.
I love the Rockets but hate ****ing Houston fans. If I didn't love the city and dedicate myself to making it better I wouldn't care. But I believe that Houston is a great city and has a great team in the Rockets just the worse fans. I ride with them regardless of the outcome. I believe. F### anything else.
I would be stoked if we make it to the second round. Very excited. Howard is the key. If he comes back 80%, we got a shot. If not, our prospects are not bright. Who can we beat in a seven game series? Maybe Dallas. Memphis, I don't know. Portland, apparently not. Clippers, doubtful, Warriors, not likely. Spurs, there might be a chance. OKC, no way. They will knock out Golden State.
Getting massively out-rebounded last night destroys a teams "rhythm" in a game. I think that's what kinda happened last night. Rockets were ballin but then they couldn't get a key stop while the trailbalzers were grabbing 3-4 rebounds in one possession and then SCORE on top of it. We've been loosing games to elite teams by 5 points give or take going back to Atlanta to memphis and last night against the Blazers. Howard solves that problem if he's truly healthy. D12 is the X Factor because even on bad nights he cleans the glass with rebounds.
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! [rQUOTEr]Fact or Fiction: The Rockets will win a playoff series. Adande: Fiction. It's largely dependent on the matchups, but there are more scenarios that lead to Houston losing in the first round than winning in the first round. It also depends on Dwight Howard's status. How healthy will he be, how in sync the rest of the team will be after an extended absence in which James Harden's stature has only grown. Markazi: Fiction. This could change depending on who they play, but if it's the Clippers, Houston lost 11 of 12 to them before coming back to beat a Clippers team without Blake Griffin. If it's San Antonio, it will be hard to bet against the defending champion Spurs in the first round against a Rockets team that hasn't made it past the first round in six years. Pelton: Fact. Houston's poor differential (plus-3.6 ppg, sixth among West teams) makes this a legitimate question to ask. And the Rockets could face a difficult first-round matchup with the L.A. Clippers or San Antonio Spurs. Still, we've yet to see Houston with a full complement of frontcourt players. That and likely home-court advantage make it hard to pick against the Rockets. Watkins: Fact. They better. This Rockets team is much better thanks to the growth in Harden's game and more importantly, the bench. Jason Terry, Josh Smith and Corey Brewer give coach Kevin McHale added depth and experience, which could be the difference in winning a series. Young: It's hard to say without knowing their matchup, so if we're playing the if-the-season-ended-today game, and it were the Mavericks, I'd pick the Rockets to win that series. If it were the Clippers, or Spurs, then I'm not so sure anymore. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-150311/figuring-wild-wild-west[/rQUOTEr]
We'll be the laughing stock of the NBA when we get inevitably bounced out in the first round. Unless we play Dallas, we are completely gone.
