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Most if not all analysts, have said that the Rockets have absolutely no chance this year of making the 2nd round of the playoffs hence no title. What percentage do you give the Rockets at the title this year?

I give them a 10% chance. That is pretty high but look what the Giants did. I think we can beat any team in the West when T-Mac and Yao are healthy. What team can own us or beat us right now besides DAL (its been a while since we have played them too)? We can beat Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, SA, DEN, LAL, PHX, Portland, Utah... Why are we so low in chances to win the title? Let's say we make it out of the 2nd round, what team can stop us in the 2nd round? I don't think SA can, Dal if they match up against us in 2nd round MAYBE can, but I really think this is the year if we get a low seed too. But look at the top teams 15 LOSSES, WE ARE 20. DO YOU KNOW HOW EASILY A TEAM CAN GO ON A 2 Game losing streak? Then a 3 game losing streak? We have an easy schedule. WE CAN BE #1 in the West.

Let me also point out that if we finish like Boston started the season, then we can win 55-60 games. Those are really possible by the looks right now. After tonight, T-Mac is expected to be healthy for the rest of the season and Francis is obviously out (we never really needed him since he had only played 10 games) and what else. That's all we need. What am I missing? I don't think we need to trade.

Wow, I have gone into a big discussion. Let me get on topic again by asking, what percentage do you give the Rockets at winning the title THIS YEAR(07-08 for those of you that don't know which season this is)?

To be honest, it is pretty high

I am letting you guys know now so you don't call me a traitor or anything. The Spurs are equally my favorite team just as the Rockets are my favorite team, so I post on the Spurs board regularly. Please do not hate me for that, I am an Austin native, I do not like Dallas, but love SA and HOU.

I rather you like SA than Dallas

I say Hollinger's got it about right: 1.5% or so.

do you really wanna know?

ok, at the beginning of the year i was pumped about our new additions (bonzi, scola, james, francis). then when the season started, they didnt really work out. scola was in foul trouble all the time, francis and james sucked, and bonzi was decent. so i kinda slept on the rockets, ignored them for a while, now ive come back these last 2 weeks, and we are actually a pretty good team after all. Scola and Bonzi are really good, and Brooks and Landry are a real nice surprise. Here is my list of things that need to happen this year and in the playoffs for the rockets to win it all.

-Tracy McGrady needs a bigger heart, and during playoff time he must play like he did against Dallas in the playoffs a few years ago.
-Aaron Brooks need to continue to develop. he really doesnt use his speed really. i dont remember him trying to drive one time tonight.
-Chuck Hayes probably shouldnt play much anymore. Scola and Landry are just better, period. its good to have 5 players on the court who can score, not 4. chuck is to much of a liability.
-Rafer Alston should drive to the basket more on the pick and roll.
-and finally, Mike James should get a little more playing time. i know we are all in love with aaron brooks being the back up, but i mean come on, you know what happens to rookies in the playoffs. look at luther head last year, he smoked 3's all year last year, then became useless. its going to happen to brooks also. it just is, i cant explain, but 99% of first time playoff players choke. and if or when that happens, it would be nice to have mike james in shape. hayes will be there waiting in landry chokes, we should have james ready in case brooks chokes. plus mike james is a big game player. he helped tremendously against dallas a few years back.

Harder to get upsets in the NBA compared to the NFL. It's probably under 5%, but of course we do have a chance. We've always been a good road team and if ever develop the kind of home atmosphere of a GS or SAC we'd be solid even coming in as a lower seed.

I do think we're one solid piece away from being a contender though, right now we're undermanned at PG and have a severe lack of shooting. We really need a dead-eye shooting forward.

McGrady2Head wrote:-and finally, Mike James should get a little more playing time. i know we are all in love with aaron brooks being the back up, but i mean come on, you know what happens to rookies in the playoffs. look at luther head last year, he smoked 3's all year last year, then became useless. its going to happen to brooks also. it just is, i cant explain, but 99% of first time playoff players choke. and if or when that happens, it would be nice to have mike james in shape. hayes will be there waiting in landry chokes, we should have james ready in case brooks chokes. plus mike james is a big game player. he helped tremendously against dallas a few years back.

Brooks can be our Daniel Gibson.

dream34 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Brooks can be our Daniel Gibson.

That'd be a dream, but as of now I don't see it.

He can be very turnover prone, a defensive liability and is a horrible three point shooter, shooting 27% on the season and that's not including today's pathetic 1-8 from three. I really am not sold on this guy for this season and don't think we can win in the playoffs (which isn't a guarantee) with him being the back-up.

You say that like Gibson isn't a defensive liability.

But Brooks is not a pure shooter, you can tell from his mechanics. He's more of a scorer. Time will tell if he can become a legitimate back-up PG, but I think if he learns to run the offense (which Rafer does well, you can see him do a lot of play calls on the floor) and cut down on some TO's he can be, especially on this team. Don't count on it this year though, it'll take at least until next year for him to learn how to take the reins of a team and all the plays.

He gives us a very different look at the position who can push the ball and get on the break. He's also good at breaking down defenses because of his speed. I think he would be great in PnR situations as he is more of a threat to score than Rafer. Right now he's been most effective as a scoring SG with Rafer on the floor with him.

BaYBaller wrote:You say that like Gibson isn't a defensive liability.

But Brooks is not a pure shooter, you can tell from his mechanics. He's more of a scorer. Time will tell if he can become a legitimate back-up PG, but I think if he learns to run the offense (which Rafer does well, you can see him do a lot of play calls on the floor) and cut down on some TO's he can be, especially on this team. Don't count on it this year though, it'll take at least until next year for him to learn how to take the reins of a team and all the plays.

He gives us a very different look at the position who can push the ball and get on the break. He's also good at breaking down defenses because of his speed. I think he would be great in PnR situations as he is more of a threat to score than Rafer. Right now he's been most effective as a scoring SG with Rafer on the floor with him.

Yeah I love the dude for the future, but right now he's too erratic this season which is expected considering he's a rookie.

0%. But we can win a playoff series if we get the right matchup.

I'd be pretty happy with the second round this year.

Like you said, we could easily be the #1 seed at the end of this year, but so could the over 10 teams trying to make the playoffs. Yes, they can easily go on a 3+ game losing streak, but so can we. And we are more likely to, I'd say. We are by no means favored to win, but I don't think any team in the West would look forward to facing us in the playoffs.

Brooks horrible 3 point shooting is only due to adjusting to the college game. He will be a 40% shooter in the next couple years. Of course, that doesn't help us now. I'd rather have Mike James get the playing time down the stretch, but it's not up to me.

What are you studying at ECJ???

dream34 wrote:Brooks horrible 3 point shooting is only due to adjusting to the college game. He will be a 40% shooter in the next couple years. Of course, that doesn't help us now. I'd rather have Mike James get the playing time down the stretch, but it's not up to me.

I doubt he'll shot 40%+ next season. Honestly I'd be happy with 36-7%+ because like I said his mechanics aren't really fundamentally solid.

I will be happy if they make it into the second round or even WCF, i give a 2 or 3% of options to win this year.
win the championship in 2009-2011, yao and tmac will not be that old (olajuwon was older when he win his first championship with the rockets), plus the other teams are going to be come down, spurs, mavericks, suns(when nash and shaq are over, they are over). atm i think these 3 are still the favourites.

if we would play in the east that would be a different story, rockets are better than any team in the east

We need powerforwards 6'10" plus that can dunk, block, rebound, and most importantly pass. And we also need a solid pg. Somebody like a Jason Kidd, Andre Miller, or Mike Bibby would fit the bill. To be honest, I think Scola,Landry,Battier, Hayes at their best can make up for a lack of that type of forward. Scola can flat out shoot it and he will. I think T-Mac needs a heart and Yao gotta lose the smirk. Yao's game has changed but won't seem so because of today's win. Midrange jumper was smooth but the dunking attacking the rim Yao was missin' a few free throws and couldn't quite get the jumper to fall.

I won't call Brooks a horrible shooter yet. Dream makes a good point, no great college shooters make an easy transition to the NBA. It will take Brooks a year or two to expand his range.

However, he's definitely more of a scorer and a slasher; although almost half of his FGAs come beyond the 3 point line.