Lakers - Rockets WCF's?
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xcomputerman
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The one playoff team in the West that Houston has a definite matchup advantage against is San Antonio. It's unfortunate that they haven't had a chance to meet, and, the way this season is going, likely won't get one this year. Yao Ming has the rare ability to neutralize Tim Duncan, and on the other hand, they always find it really difficult to slow down McGrady and Wells. It's unlikely, but a 4/5 matchup of Houston and San Antonio would be a best-case scenario for the Rockets this year.
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Hard2dhole
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I can see Lakers making it there but the WC playoffs are too tight to guarantee anyone a first round pass honestly. Having multiple star players does not make a team always the best team. (Examples are the Pippin years in Portland or when Barkley went to Houston.) Isn't that what made the Pistons so dangerous on their recent title runs?
If anyone is fool enough to say there is a lock to win against team ____ , I want them to go ask Dirk Niwitzski why he was on vacation so early last year.
Rockets homers tell Tmac to make it out of the first round before you talk smack. It just doesn't have much to back it up until then.
If anyone is fool enough to say there is a lock to win against team ____ , I want them to go ask Dirk Niwitzski why he was on vacation so early last year.
Rockets homers tell Tmac to make it out of the first round before you talk smack. It just doesn't have much to back it up until then.
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hayden
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RoxFan08 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
In typical fashion, a Jazz fan decided that any topic concerning the Rockets must also concern his team, even when not previously mentioned. Also in typical fashion, he proceeded to bash both teams actually mentioned in the thread, and to boast about his team's meager recent success. Wonder why no one likes the Jazz?
I thought no one likes the Jazz because of the state's absolute cultural irrelevance...
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Baller 24
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I can see the Rockets advancing as long as they keep up there consistent work. IMO I think Utah and Houston are the at the same level, and the reason the Jazz won that series was because of better bench production...I mean come on our main two bench players were Juwan Howard and Luther Head, and we didn't have a backup PG, lol. This year everything is different, players have been stepping up, after Tmac came back we have won 11 of the last 13 ball games, IMO thats pretty impressive. The Rockets are also one of the best 2nd half ball teams in the west, as they have won 50 games when both superstars are healthy in 04-05, and 06-07. There record with both superstars is 163-61, pretty damn impressive if you ask me, the key is basically to stay healthy.
dockingsched wrote: the biggest loss of the off-season for the lakers was earl clark
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DWillBooz467
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hayden wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I thought no one likes the Jazz because of the state's absolute cultural irrelevance...
It's just pathetic how stuff like this always seems to work it's way in to a subject about basketball whenever the Jazz are involved. What relevance does this have? Last time I checked this a basketball board, not a Cultural Board.
It's also pathetic to start bashing a Jazz fan for something that was obviously started by a Rockets fan. Read before you reply people!-
Lakers_4_Life
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nsballer07 wrote:I can see the Rockets advancing as long as they keep up there consistent work. IMO I think Utah and Houston are the at the same level, and the reason the Jazz won that series was because of better bench production...I mean come on our main two bench players were Juwan Howard and Luther Head, and we didn't have a backup PG, lol. This year everything is different, players have been stepping up, after Tmac came back we have won 11 of the last 13 ball games, IMO thats pretty impressive. The Rockets are also one of the best 2nd half ball teams in the west, as they have won 50 games when both superstars are healthy in 04-05, and 06-07. There record with both superstars is 163-61, pretty damn impressive if you ask me, the key is basically to stay healthy.
163-61 would project to 60-22 over 82 games and that's obviously a much bigger sample size than 82 games. So basically they have been a 60 win team ever since Yao and T-Mac as long as both played.
I think the Rockets can still get 50-55 wins this year.
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Baller 24
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Lakers_4_Life wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
163-61 would project to 60-22 over 82 games and that's obviously a much bigger sample size than 82 games. So basically they have been a 60 win team ever since Yao and T-Mac as long as both played.
I think the Rockets can still get 50-55 wins this year.
That is actually the record of both when they play together, since 2004, when Tmac and Yao are both healthy the Rockets record is 162-61....but injuries have always hurt this team, in one way or another.
dockingsched wrote: the biggest loss of the off-season for the lakers was earl clark
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Bradford
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No, that's called a delusion.....Jules Winnfield wrote:1. San Antonio
2. Suns
3. Lakers
4. Dallas
5. New Orleans
Thus, you'll likely be a first round exit because you'll be playing one of those top 5. That's reality.
Those 5 teams have nothing on the Jazz, with the Spurs as the only exception, however, if they don't start playing better, then they too have nothing on the Jazz. I suggest you tune in to tonight's Jazz vs Hornets game and get a real taste of reality.....-
King Roosk
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- Lakers_4_Life, as much as I disagree with your love for Vassilis Spanoulis, I must tip my hat because you've done your Rockets research. I must say you seriously know your stuff, so (while I'm sure you don't care at all) I honestly must say I respect your basketball knowledge a great deal.
- To the Jazz fan bickering and taking shots at Houston, stop the nonsense and contribute some sort of basketball discussion. Same goes to the Rockets fans who are equally guilty.
- With that out of the way, I'll try my best to contribute to the topic because there is a lot of potential discussion that I see. Here goes...
Anybody who thinks the Lakers are not capable of making to the WCF should probably save their words. I'm not guaranteeing anything because we've all seen how unpredictable of a season it's been so far, but you have to mark LA down as one of the teams that could actually win it all this year. Before the acquisition of Gasol, the Lakers were one of the top 4 teams in the WC. Obviously, Andrew Bynum's emergence has been key to the Lakers recent success (I must admit I've been critical of Bynum, but prior to going down with the injury he had shut me up). Kobe's been playing great like always. To most people, Lamar Odom has had a down year, but still the Lakers have been one of the best teams in the league. Why? Because they're GOOD. Jordan Farmar has really upped his play and contributed, Trevor Ariza's been nice off the bench, Turiaf has played well, Radmanovic has played well, and even one of their seldom used weapons off the bench this year in Luke Walton is a very solid player to have at the end of your rotation. However, not factoring in the Gasol acquisition, the reason that the Lakers have been performing at such a high level has been overlooked by many people I've talked to. It's simple folks: Derek Fisher. His 3 pt shooting, familiarity with Phil Jackson, and his overall leadership has been (in my opinion) the reason for LA's overachieving this season. Now, enter Pau Gasol. Even with Bynum out, Gasol makes the Lakers an EXTREMELY dangerous team. Gasol has range, he can block shots, he's an intelligent player, and he's a good passer. Since Shaq left, Kobe has not had a post presence capable of putting up 20 ppg...now he does. Gasol will undoubtedly fit very well into Jackson's triangle offense, and if Bynum can come back healthy then the Lakers will be one hell of a monster. Also, don't forget the way Kobe has played these past 2 games since hearing about the Pau trade (29/43 shooting and 76 points). Do you know what that tells me? It says that Kobe is extremely happy, and as a result he's motivated to play his best basketball EVER. We all know KB has a very strong work ethic, but you have to imagine that his motivation level is through the roof because he finally has a chance to win a title without Shaq. If Bynum comes back healthy then I have the Lakers notched as my favorite to win it all, and even if Bynum doesn't fully recover then I think they're still very capable of representing the WC in the finals. Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fish + (arguably) the best bench in the league + Phil Jackson. That's my opinion on the Lakers, and for what it's worth I've hated them ever since Magic left.
Now for my Rockets...what to say? We had a very tough schedule to start the season, and while I shouldn't use that as an excuse, we definitely didn't handle the schedule as well as I thought we could've. We beat some very quality teams, and lost to some very poor teams, and we struggled to find consistency. We began the season playing primarily JVG ball, but since January it really seems like our team has bought into Adelman's system and our ball movement is something I haven't seen from the Rockets in a while. Yao Ming has been playing his best ball since January (player of the month), and Mac has come back from an injury to really give us a much needed boost. Also, our current rotation is much different then what it looked like to start the season. Mike James and Steve Francis are no longer a part of the rotation, as they have been supplanted by Luther Head and Aaron Brooks. Chuck Hayes has been moved to the bench in favor of Luis Scola, and Carl Landry has been seeing increased minutes which has really been a major part of recent success. I think our record could be a lot better than what it is right now, but we've blown like 5 leads late in the game which has really hurt us. Our inability to close games has been our achilles heel. We blew a 24 point lead against the Mavs, a 16 point lead against the friggin 76ers, and we've lost numerous other close games to teams like the Hornets and the Celtics. I have been particularly impressed with the way we've been able to play when either Yao or Mac has missed a game. We almost beat the Celtics (at Boston) without Tmac, we almost beat Utah without Yao, etc. Unfortunately at the end of the season, almost beating quality teams won't do us any good. I think we're a trade away from being a legitimate contender in the WC. Whether it's Odom, Mike Miller, Jason Kidd...whoever. We need a consistent 3rd option if we want to have serious thoughts of advancing to the 2nd round. We have a pretty easy schedule for February, but things really heat up in March so if we can survive March then I think we can snatch a seed anywhere from 6-8. While I appreciate the generosity of the OP, I don't think we're near seasoned enough yet to reach the WCF.
Just my 2 cents.
- To the Jazz fan bickering and taking shots at Houston, stop the nonsense and contribute some sort of basketball discussion. Same goes to the Rockets fans who are equally guilty.
- With that out of the way, I'll try my best to contribute to the topic because there is a lot of potential discussion that I see. Here goes...
Anybody who thinks the Lakers are not capable of making to the WCF should probably save their words. I'm not guaranteeing anything because we've all seen how unpredictable of a season it's been so far, but you have to mark LA down as one of the teams that could actually win it all this year. Before the acquisition of Gasol, the Lakers were one of the top 4 teams in the WC. Obviously, Andrew Bynum's emergence has been key to the Lakers recent success (I must admit I've been critical of Bynum, but prior to going down with the injury he had shut me up). Kobe's been playing great like always. To most people, Lamar Odom has had a down year, but still the Lakers have been one of the best teams in the league. Why? Because they're GOOD. Jordan Farmar has really upped his play and contributed, Trevor Ariza's been nice off the bench, Turiaf has played well, Radmanovic has played well, and even one of their seldom used weapons off the bench this year in Luke Walton is a very solid player to have at the end of your rotation. However, not factoring in the Gasol acquisition, the reason that the Lakers have been performing at such a high level has been overlooked by many people I've talked to. It's simple folks: Derek Fisher. His 3 pt shooting, familiarity with Phil Jackson, and his overall leadership has been (in my opinion) the reason for LA's overachieving this season. Now, enter Pau Gasol. Even with Bynum out, Gasol makes the Lakers an EXTREMELY dangerous team. Gasol has range, he can block shots, he's an intelligent player, and he's a good passer. Since Shaq left, Kobe has not had a post presence capable of putting up 20 ppg...now he does. Gasol will undoubtedly fit very well into Jackson's triangle offense, and if Bynum can come back healthy then the Lakers will be one hell of a monster. Also, don't forget the way Kobe has played these past 2 games since hearing about the Pau trade (29/43 shooting and 76 points). Do you know what that tells me? It says that Kobe is extremely happy, and as a result he's motivated to play his best basketball EVER. We all know KB has a very strong work ethic, but you have to imagine that his motivation level is through the roof because he finally has a chance to win a title without Shaq. If Bynum comes back healthy then I have the Lakers notched as my favorite to win it all, and even if Bynum doesn't fully recover then I think they're still very capable of representing the WC in the finals. Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fish + (arguably) the best bench in the league + Phil Jackson. That's my opinion on the Lakers, and for what it's worth I've hated them ever since Magic left.
Now for my Rockets...what to say? We had a very tough schedule to start the season, and while I shouldn't use that as an excuse, we definitely didn't handle the schedule as well as I thought we could've. We beat some very quality teams, and lost to some very poor teams, and we struggled to find consistency. We began the season playing primarily JVG ball, but since January it really seems like our team has bought into Adelman's system and our ball movement is something I haven't seen from the Rockets in a while. Yao Ming has been playing his best ball since January (player of the month), and Mac has come back from an injury to really give us a much needed boost. Also, our current rotation is much different then what it looked like to start the season. Mike James and Steve Francis are no longer a part of the rotation, as they have been supplanted by Luther Head and Aaron Brooks. Chuck Hayes has been moved to the bench in favor of Luis Scola, and Carl Landry has been seeing increased minutes which has really been a major part of recent success. I think our record could be a lot better than what it is right now, but we've blown like 5 leads late in the game which has really hurt us. Our inability to close games has been our achilles heel. We blew a 24 point lead against the Mavs, a 16 point lead against the friggin 76ers, and we've lost numerous other close games to teams like the Hornets and the Celtics. I have been particularly impressed with the way we've been able to play when either Yao or Mac has missed a game. We almost beat the Celtics (at Boston) without Tmac, we almost beat Utah without Yao, etc. Unfortunately at the end of the season, almost beating quality teams won't do us any good. I think we're a trade away from being a legitimate contender in the WC. Whether it's Odom, Mike Miller, Jason Kidd...whoever. We need a consistent 3rd option if we want to have serious thoughts of advancing to the 2nd round. We have a pretty easy schedule for February, but things really heat up in March so if we can survive March then I think we can snatch a seed anywhere from 6-8. While I appreciate the generosity of the OP, I don't think we're near seasoned enough yet to reach the WCF.
Just my 2 cents.
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EiRON
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Lakers_4_Life wrote:With Kobe's finger situation Houston just may in fact now be the team to beat and best team in the western conference.
Houston tonight with it's 9th straight road win the all-time Houston franchise record.
My Lakers may be in trouble if Kobe is really hurt.
Spurs?
Suns?
New Orleans?
Mavericks?
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Texas Longhorns
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Let the Rockets get into the playoffs and actually play well. They haven't played THAT good in this streak. I think we have a ways to go before we even reach that part of the playoffs. Right now, as a Rocket's fan, I'm looking for a victory in the first round to get to the second round. Once that happens, then we will see what happens from there. Lakers, maybe, it's a tight race and it will determine on who they play in the first and second round if they make it to the second round. But, you cannot predict anything right now, especially how the west is being played.
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Secret Lover14
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PopAGat wrote:Lakers have a strong chance in making it.
Houston?
Can't believe you took the Houston Crappy Rockets over New Orleans, San Antopnio,Dallas, Phoenix,Denver, G-State, Portland etc..
You do know that the Rockets are only 4 games back from 1st place.
Portland better than us?! they're falling down the standings
I swear people act like the rockets still have a losing record
