Houston will win 50 games in 06 without or with T-mac. Yao was the best center in the regular season. I dont think t-mac will get healthy. Hell be a grant hill. Battier will take that secondary scoring role. Battier is one of the most underrated player in the nba.He can do alot memphis chose his intangiables over his scoring, trust me he can put the ball in the hoop. And with a rookie like steve novak that complements yao better than anything will shine.Alston will lead the break. The only thing I fear for this team is Van gundy. I think hes a great coach .But he dosent fit the team. This team is not a nasty in your face team. They need to find a different coach to prosper.T-mac or no t-mac Van gundy or no vangundy they will still win 50 games.
We have a lot of concerns going into next season. Last season we had like 10 different starting line ups. All I know is that if T-Mac and Yao are healthy we should be able to make the playoffs. munchies
I can see this team getting at least 35 wins as an improvement, but that's with everyone being healthy.
Battier is a second scorer? He does everything really well, but he isn't a second scoring option. I think you guys will be lucky to reach 41-44 wins. No way you win 50 games. Not in a conference stacked with powerhouses such as PHX, Dallas, San Antonio. You figure you meet the Lakers 4 times, at best you split the series 2-2 with them. Then you throw in the Eastern Conference teams you'll face twice, the Wizards (split), the Heat, the Pistons, the Nets, the Cavs, and the Bulls (possible split). There is no way you win 50 games without a healthy Tmac. Yao Ming was a good center, but he too has to stay healthy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheBlackMamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Battier is a second scorer? He does everything really well, but he isn't a second scoring option. I think you guys will be lucky to reach 41-44 wins. No way you win 50 games. Not in a conference stacked with powerhouses such as PHX, Dallas, San Antonio. You figure you meet the Lakers 4 times, at best you split the series 2-2 with them. Then you throw in the Eastern Conference teams you'll face twice, the Wizards (split), the Heat, the Pistons, the Nets, the Cavs, and the Bulls (possible split). There is no way you win 50 games without a healthy Tmac. Yao Ming was a good center, but he too has to stay healthy.</div> :applaud:
This team is better than the team we had a couple of years ago where we made the playoffs in tmac's first season. Like everyone is saying, If tmac and Yao play the same amount of games. We are practically gauranteed that 5th seed.
If TMac is healthy and Yao plays like he did after the All-Star Game then I can see them getting close to 50 wins, but without TMac I don't see how you will win 50 games because it will be hard to replace his production.
I'm not THAT optimistic. After all, all we've done is: * acquire a solid SF in Battier who is versatile and can defend. However, he came at the price of two players, so it sacrificed depth. *Acquire Kirk Snyder. Not bad, low-risk, but not really a difference maker. * Sign John Lucas III---a 5'10" PG who will likely be the 3rd string PG all year. If he sees significant minutes, this team is toast. * Sign VSpan--an unproven Euro guard who cant shoot but, reportedly, can slash and drive well. And we're counting on him to be one of our more solid contributors. * Sign Novak--great shooter but is questionable defensively. Not sure if he'll see any significant PT under Van Gundy. Yea, not a very promising offseason. At this point, I'd be happy with anywhere from 43-47 wins.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">* Sign VSpan--an unproven Euro guard who cant shoot but, reportedly, can slash and drive well. And we're counting on him to be one of our more solid contributors. </div> I thought he can shoot the three ball really well?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Silva:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not THAT optimistic. After all, all we've done is: * acquire a solid SF in Battier who is versatile and can defend. However, he came at the price of two players, so it sacrificed depth. *Acquire Kirk Snyder. Not bad, low-risk, but not really a difference maker. * Sign John Lucas III---a 5'10" PG who will likely be the 3rd string PG all year. If he sees significant minutes, this team is toast. * Sign VSpan--an unproven Euro guard who cant shoot but, reportedly, can slash and drive well. And we're counting on him to be one of our more solid contributors. * Sign Novak--great shooter but is questionable defensively. Not sure if he'll see any significant PT under Van Gundy. Yea, not a very promising offseason. At this point, I'd be happy with anywhere from 43-47 wins.</div> I agree. We weren't aggressive in FA and outside of Battie we have alot of question marks. I get the feelin we settled for mediocore this offseason
Since when can Spanoulis not shoot? I did not recieve the memo. Rock4Life, it's Battier. . Shane Battier. Not Tony Battie. I think this team will suprise a lot of people. We're gaining depth now. . a small void at the PF position and maybe a third center and we're set, IMO. Though the guard slot does look a bit shaky, I think we're capable of good things. 53 wins. Book it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mag:</div><div class="quote_post">Since when can Spanoulis not shoot? I did not recieve the memo. Rock4Life, it's Battier. . Shane Battier. Not Tony Battie. I think this team will suprise a lot of people. We're gaining depth now. . a small void at the PF position and maybe a third center and we're set, IMO. Though the guard slot does look a bit shaky, I think we're capable of good things. 53 wins. Book it.</div> Lol, ok I will. I don't know if that will happen, but I enjoy watching the Rockets so good luck.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mag:</div><div class="quote_post">Since when can Spanoulis not shoot? I did not recieve the memo. Rock4Life, it's Battier. . Shane Battier. Not Tony Battie. I think this team will suprise a lot of people. We're gaining depth now. . a small void at the PF position and maybe a third center and we're set, IMO. Though the guard slot does look a bit shaky, I think we're capable of good things. 53 wins. Book it.</div> Thanks for the spell check, but ur insane if you think the Rockets are anything but thin. Snyder might be athletic, but still hasn't even proven himself to the leage. Battier is indeed a good pick up. But when I look at the Mavs, Spurs, and even the Suns, they all have legitimate scoring threats comin off the bench. You know those teams never settle. For example, the Mavs are close to signing Devon George and attempting to aquire Kenyon Martin. This is a team that went to the finals and still have been CLEARLY more aggressive than we have in this offseason. You would think that they're the team coming off the terrible season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for the spell check, but ur insane if you think the Rockets are anything but thin. Snyder might be athletic, but still hasn't even proven himself to the leage. Battier is indeed a good pick up. But when I look at the Mavs, Spurs, and even the Suns, they all have legitimate scoring threats comin off the bench. You know those teams never settle. For example, the Mavs are close to signing Devon George and attempting to aquire Kenyon Martin. This is a team that went to the finals and still have been CLEARLY more aggressive than we have in this offseason. You would think that they're the team coming off the terrible season.</div> You knock on Kirk Snyder for being unproven, yet are so angry that we lost out on Rudy Gay? Why the double-sided treatment here?
I'd be looking for 42-45 for you guys, and that's only if TMac stays healthy. It was proven last year that you guys couldn't win without him. It'll be the same this year. You need TMac to win. If he's not there, say goodbye playoffs and hello lottery again.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Thanks for the spell check, but ur insane if you think the Rockets are anything but thin. Snyder might be athletic, but still hasn't even proven himself to the leage. Battier is indeed a good pick up. But when I look at the Mavs, Spurs, and even the Suns, they all have legitimate scoring threats comin off the bench. You know those teams never settle. For example, the Mavs are close to signing Devon George and attempting to aquire Kenyon Martin. This is a team that went to the finals and still have been CLEARLY more aggressive than we have in this offseason. You would think that they're the team coming off the terrible season.</div> Devean George isn't even that great. He can hit three's, is an above average defender, but thats pretty much it. And he's not really a legitimate scoring threat. Kenyon Martin in my opinion is a team cancer and is one of the most overrated players in the league. His bum knee sidelined him for a lot of last season and its limited him to taking inconsistent midrange jumpers. A player we really can do without. You don't just make a move just to make a move. A GM needs to be patient and find one that'll help the team out.
Well if Tmac is healthy, then of course Houston wins 50, that's not really something we all didn't know. The West was stronger in 04-05, and they won 51 games. If everyone is healthy, they're a better team right now than they were in 04-05, so as long as Tmac doesn't die, they could even win about 55 or more games. Without Tmac, you must be dreaming. Without Tmac the team would probably be at best an ~.500 team. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd be looking for 42-45 for you guys, and that's only if TMac stays healthy. It was proven last year that you guys couldn't win without him. It'll be the same this year. You need TMac to win. If he's not there, say goodbye playoffs and hello lottery again.</div> How could you only see 42-45 wins with Tmac healthy? Last season when Tmac played they were 27-20 (.574%), pace for 47 wins. Tmac played injured in a good amount of those games too, and Yao was even the one doing most of the work in some, he was just taking the pressure off. If they have a healthy Tmac, Yao continuing what he did last season, the addition of Battier, and guys like Rafer not missing about 20 games, I don't see how they'd be worse than how they were last season with Tmac.
