Is this rockets team better than last year's?

[jzmagik]

Replaced Rafer with Lowry (huge upgrade imo)
Replace Tmac with Yao
Added Artest, lost bobby jackson
Added Brent Barry
Added Von Wafer

I feel we're a lot deeper than last year's team.

[Teckon]

Replaced Rafer with Lowry (plus improved Brooks from last season)
Replace Tmac with Yao
Added Artest, lost bobby jackson (major upgrade here)
Added Brent Barry
Added Von Wafer lost Head (definitely an upgrade for bench depth)

And you miss out a MAJOR upgrade on the Improved SCOLA from last season

Scola has really improved significantly this season.

[Baller 24]

Maybe, the defensive rotations are better, and the interior defense overall is better since Yao is around this time.

[rocketworld]

we are better than last year...but what about two years ago when we had both yao and tmac in the playoffs?

[jzmagik]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention not having Head play is addition by subtraction. I think our defense is a lot better, but what about offensively?

[jzmagik]

Replaced Rafer with Lowry (plus improved Brooks from last season)
Replace Tmac with Yao
Added Artest, lost bobby jackson (major upgrade here)
Added Brent Barry
Added Von Wafer lost Head (definitely an upgrade for bench depth)

And you miss out a MAJOR upgrade on the Improved SCOLA from last season

Scola has really improved significantly this season.

I'm reluctant to mention how our players improved. IMO, brooks really hasn't improved all that much, he's doing pretty much the same thing he did last year, just playing more minutes. Scola I think has definately made some strides adapting to the NBA, his jumper is also better than last year's.

[PocketRockets]

Landry got hurt at the end of last year right? Battier played better last year.

Hard to say which team is better, but this team has better defense overall and plays more like a team. Last year, we went where tmac took us.

I'd only be fair to debate if tmac had artest last year. =/ Ron FTW!!!!

[moofs]

Replaced Rafer with Lowry (plus improved Brooks from last season)
Replace Tmac with Yao
Added Artest, lost bobby jackson (major upgrade here)
Added Brent Barry
Added Von Wafer lost Head (definitely an upgrade for bench depth)

And you miss out a MAJOR upgrade on the Improved SCOLA from last season

Scola has really improved significantly this season.

Scola's improved his variation, defense, and rebounding slightly, but mostly he's the same player as last year with more minutes. He's still my favorite player on the team, but to say he's greatly improved isn't really accurate.

[MaxRider]

I don't know.
2009 Scola > 2008 Scola
2009 Battier < 2008 Battier
2009 Brooks < 2008 Alston (Alston is playing some insane basketball last year)
2009 Yao <> 2008 T-Mac
2009 Artest <> 2008 Mutombo

<> = debatable
i just felt we shot too many 3s this year after the trade deadline

[sook]

Last year's team was the better defensive team. With alston + TMAC + Landry (Remember how he got injured) They were better by a hair. If the rockets can get past 55 wins this year it won't have to be debated

[BaYBaller]

I think we're better prepared for the playoffs, which is all that matters.

[jove9]

2009 Yao > 2008 (hurt) Yao
2009 (hurt) T-Mac < 2008 T-Mac
2009 Scola > 2008 Scola
2009 Brooks > 2008 Brooks
2009 Landry = 2008 Landry
2009 Hayes = 2008 Hayes
2009 Mutombo < 2008 Mutombo

Changes since the last game of the season last year:
Rafer (replaced by Brooks)
? < Artest
Head < Wafer
B. Jackson < Lowry
Novak < Barry
Harris <> J. White
L. Woods < B. Cook
? < Dorsey

Overall, we've become a much deeper team, but you already knew that.

What determines success and failure in the playoffs is team chemistry, health, luck, and the refs. Hopefully we can have all four elements on our side this year.

[2fast4u]

2009 Yao > 2008 (hurt) Yao
2009 (hurt) T-Mac < 2008 T-Mac
2009 Scola > 2008 Scola
2009 Brooks > 2008 Brooks
2009 Landry = 2008 Landry
2009 Hayes = 2008 Hayes
2009 Mutombo < 2008 Mutombo

Changes since the last game of the season last year:
Rafer (replaced by Brooks)
? < Artest
Head < Wafer
B. Jackson < Lowry
Novak < Barry
Harris <> J. White
L. Woods < B. Cook
? < Dorsey

Overall, we've become a much deeper team, but you already knew that.

What determines success and failure in the playoffs is team chemistry, health, luck, and the refs. Hopefully we can have all four elements on our side this year.

i dunno bout those 2, the 2008 version of hayes is more aggressive and is getting a lot of playing time compared to 2009. as for harris vs. white, its kinda unfair for white; harris of last year has played more minutes, games, and has more impact on this team. i've yet to see white do any of those

[ikedog34]

We were missing rafer for 2 and a half of those games, so the point guard situation will be drastically better. But rafer did have the best year of his career and played well when he did play, so who knows. We won't know unless we get the jazz, cuz there were a lot of teams we could've beaten if we had gotten them the past couple of years. The jazz just matchup well with us.

[rockybalboa11]

i think the role players are much better this year

the star power might be down a little bit without a healthy tmac though. ron ron definitely ain't capable of a 22 game win streak. however, the system has benefited from that. every win feels like more of a team effort without the pick and roll being run constantly.

[tisbee]

Going into Playoffs last yr McGrady,Battier and Alston were all dealing w/injuries.
This yr's team has McGrady out and Artest dealing w/his bad foot.

Last yr's team going into Playoffs started Motumbo,Scola,Battier,McGrady and Alston/Jackson.
This yr it's Yao,Scola,Battier,Artest and Brooks.
Edge to this yr at C,PF.
Edge to last yr at SG,and slightest at SF as this yr's Battier isn't shooting like he did last yr.
PG a wash as Alston was playing better than this yr's Brooks,while Brooks is better than Jackson was as a starter.
Pretty much even,except that Motumbo didn't play 30min/game so Yao should dominate Hayes/Scola...should.

This yr's bench has Lowry,Wafer,Barry,Brooks,Hayes,maaybe Landry and Motumbo.
Last yr's bench had Jackson,Brooks,Head,Harris,Landry,Novak and Hayes.
This yr's bench is better at PG and substantially better at SG.
Barry at SF is better than Head at SF.
Last yr's bench had a much stronger frontline. Landry played better last yr,and last yr's reserves of Hayes and Landry played better than this yr's Artest/Landry/Scola/Hayes pairings.
Big edge to this yr's Rocket bench,as they score more consistantly and have a much greater ability to go on a scoring spree.

Last yr's team was mentally tougher and willed themselves to several victories. This yr's team may bounce back from losses very well,but they shouldn't have had the loss in the first place.

Overall I'd like last yr's team over this yr's team in a game,but this yr's team would win a series,as Yao and the benches' firepower should wear last yr's team down.

[Crackfool]

I feel that we are better than last year's team. Look at it this way. Last season, we had no one to replace Yao's post presence. This season, T-Mac went out, but that allowed Ron Artest to pretty much take over his duties. Grant, Artest's shot selection is terrible, but he has been getting better, and he is a legitimate wing threat. Also, while we don't have a 22-game win streak, our victories are stronger overall. Last season, we managed to run into bad teams who have given up on playoffs and good teams that were missing key players (Mavs without Dirk, Lakers without Gasol, Hornets without West).

One thing I have to say is that I'm not convinced losing Luther Head was a good thing. He has essentially been replaced by Barry this season. Barry, who was signed to do ONE thing, but has not been able to. Head could at least hit those open threes that Barry keeps missing.

[tisbee]

Crackfool,
While I agree this yr's team is deeper,and has better talent overall,last yr's team would find a way to win,this yr's team finds a way to lose much too often. How this yr's team does in the Playoffs will ultimately determine how we view them.

As for Head,his SG minutes have been taken by Wafer. Wafer has been a far superior finisher in the lane,and much more willing to drive hard to the basket.
Luther was also playing SF for several minutes at a time,and Barry at the SF w/his passing and leadership on the court has been better.
I believe Luther was underappreciated while he was here,but there were no minutes for him w/Wafer and Lowry on the team,so it was best for him to be traded.

[Iggyemu]

Better than last year...of course. I mean other than McGrady and Battier the rest of starting 5 aren't starting on good teams in this league...that includes Alston who is a glorified scrub who only starts because the team he is on has noboby better..which is simply sad.

We have a better, more developed bench...last year we just had Jackson and Landry. This year we have 2 or 3 other guys that help us win on a nightly basis.

Now are we more prepared to win this year than we were last year....no. While the talent is better...the leadership is not. The heart and mental toughness is not. The defense isn't there either. And of course we have nobody that can get a good shot for themselves or their teammates down the stretch. So while we are more talented I am afraid thats just not gonna translate to a different result in the playoffs as opposed to last year. Last year's team with a healthy Yao would have beaten the Jazz IMO b/c it would again have gone to a game 7 and I don't care what anyone says...we aren't losing twice in a row to the same team in a game 7 on our home floor.

[TMU]

Yeah, we're better than last season. That's a given. However, I do believe that the western conference was a little more competitive last season. Each and every playoffs team in the western conference was literally neck-to-neck with the rest of that group.