http://www.nba.com/features/power_rankings_sept05.html Woa, that's quite an optimisitic ranking but I think Rockets will definitly be within the top 4 in the west this season, but top 4 overall? Woa, I hope so...
Hmm. It's pretty hard to rank these teams for 2-7, and I definitely think that there are people who will put the Pacers and Suns above the Rockets. Either way, this power ranking definitely won't hurt our optimism and spirits.
SA and MIA are interchangeable, and Rockets can whoop Detroit any day of the week. Rockets are finally getting some well deserved respeK son. but I think we will haveto wait and see if we are better than SA/MIA/Pacers. Everyone else IS lower.
What I don't understand is why Pacers would be put so high up there. I know for damn sure they aren't as good as the Rockets right now. I mean sure Artest didn't play last season, and his good, but not THAT good. Plus Pacers lost Reggie Miller from retirement. I'd say they'd probably be alittle better than last season but not by much. And even with all the trades, I don't think the Suns would be below the Nuggets.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting devin:</div><div class="quote_post">What I don't understand is why Pacers would be put so high up there. I know for damn sure they aren't as good as the Rockets right now. I mean sure Artest didn't play last season, and his good, but not THAT good. Plus Pacers lost Reggie Miller from retirement. I'd say they'd probably be alittle better than last season but not by much. And even with all the trades, I don't think the Suns would be below the Nuggets.</div> 1) indiana is has more consistent talent on there squad and a more solid starting core with j o neal, artest, jackson, sarunas, foster the thing that id put rockets over indiana is the fact that we have yao ming and he will rape and abuse foster but hopefully foster and davis last season were consistent in putting him in foul trouble with 5 and 4 both times they played. Im confident he will not foul as much as he did last year. 2) denver and the suns are interchangeable but i would pick denver over the suns due to the fact that the suns lost offense and gained defense and depth. Im pretty sure denver's off season is not over but they also have marcus camby, kenyon martin, and carmelo but the suns have amare marion nash. Suns obviously have the better talent but my choice would be the suns too what do u guys think?
4th in the west is great, too bad it means we are still lower than SA. Between Denver and Pheonix, i would go with Pheonix. Though they did take steps back this offseason, people are overdoing how bad it was. The suns had the best record in the league last season, and they still have their core, and did somewhat recover from the losses.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bplld:</div><div class="quote_post">4th in the west is great, too bad it means we are still lower than SA. Between Denver and Pheonix, i would go with Pheonix. Though they did take steps back this offseason, people are overdoing how bad it was. The suns had the best record in the league last season, and they still have their core, and did somewhat recover from the losses.</div> They actually ranked Rockets as 4th seed overall, which is quite an honor. I hope Rockets meet up to the columnist's expectations...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting devin:</div><div class="quote_post">They actually ranked Rockets as 4th seed overall, which is quite an honor. I hope Rockets meet up to the columnist's expectations...</div> I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but come on...All we have lost is Padgott (I still can't spell his name). We gained Stro. DA and Head. Last season, we KILLED after we were 17-17. All those win streaks...We could have been above San Antonio if we started the season off like that. Not to forget, Yao is SWOLE! EVEN IF STRO, DA, AND HEAD hurt the team, we can bench them and go back to Yao, Howard, T-Mac, Wesley, Sura. Never gonna happen though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">and Rockets can whoop Detroit any day of the week.</div> If that is true why didn't they last season? the Houston always seem to get beat badly by the Pistons. When you are going to make stupid statements at least back them up first.
I think we're easily the third best team, and arguably second because I dont think Miami will be better than us...and I definitely dont think detroit will be better than us...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting igotask8board:</div><div class="quote_post">...We could have been above San Antonio if we started the season off like that. Not to forget, Yao is SWOLE!.</div> Haha..........I found that comment halarious. Yao tryna get his superman on, I feel ya Yaoza.
The Pistons are nothing without Brown; he turned them to what they are now and Flip Saunders can not match that. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If that is true why didn't they last season? the Houston always seem to get beat badly by the Pistons. When you are going to make stupid statements at least back them up first.</div> Your back up is coming. Indiana is the favorite of the East in my opinion. Miami might start off strong but they will soon figure out why all the other teams don't want Walker with them. The Pacer where very good considering what they went through last year and with their team mostly back I don't see how they would not perform well. Also record wise I could see the Rockets surpasing the Spurs. The Spurs are notorious for their bad starts (except last season) and if the Rockets can stay consitent like they were towards the end of the season last year the Rockets could have homecourt advantage during the playoffs.
well you never know Who in this forum actually would have guess seattle winning the division and going past the first round and taking SA to 6 games in 2nd round i wouldnt any team like that can take homecourt advantage away from the rockets but right now rockets have it with the 4rth seed
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">well you never know Who in this forum actually would have guess seattle winning the division and going past the first round and taking SA to 6 games in 2nd round i wouldnt any team like that can take homecourt advantage away from the rockets but right now rockets have it with the 4rth seed</div> Look at the Facts 17-17 towards the begining of the season then we were unstopable so say this season we start out at 27-7 giving them 10 more games won and perform the way we did the rest of the season would give us 61 wins which is just behind the Suns who got 62. I think it would be best if the Rockets got 2nd in the West rather than first. Most likely if we win our division and the Spurs are second to us then they would be fourth. 1. Phoenix 2. Houston 3. Denver 4. San Antonio 5. Dallas rest are not to important Now let say everyone who is supposed to win does leaving the Suns to play the Spurs. We would get Denver (which im not saying is easy) but is most likely better than the Spurs. If the Spurs win and we also win the Rockets would maintain the homecourt advantage. This is all good in theory, but it all comes down to us beating the Spurs. Should be fun.
Man you guys forget that we lost to the Mavs in the playoffs. How pitiful!!! Especially after beating them twice on their homecourt. Who cares what our reg season record is? Its how we perform in the playoffs that matter. Anyone remember the 1999 Knicks with JVG? Homecourt advantage is great and all, but we had a HUGE homecourt advantage after the first to games against the Mavs, and they are no where near the quality of the Spurs. I wouldn't put us as 2nd best western team YET! Although we are close. The Suns have improved their defense and depth. They are still second best. Everyone talks about their loss of offense.. WAT THE HELL? They kept Nash, Marion, Amare. That's all the offense you need!!! Q-Rich and Joe Johnson are both overrated, although Joe is still a good player. Spurs and Suns are the teams we have to look out for. Denver, Kings, and Mavs are also very strong but we are stronger. They could cause an upset if we were to play them in the playoffs though. We can't be too cocky, if we want to go ALL THE WAY we have to be ready.
Call me crazy but I really think Houston is going to top the Spurs this season. Last year the Spurs had a lopsided record on the road vs. home. They were only 1 game over .500 on the road which shows they are beatable. The main thing is the Rockets need to step it up at home and also not lose to crappy teams this year. If it wasn't for the horrible start while JVG was trying to figure out the system.. we could have had an even better record. The Rockets managed to get 51 wins with all the changes to the starting lineup throughout the first part of the season. They did pretty damn good the second half of the season even without Juwan for the last part. I feel the chemistry they gained last year and the having a year playing together under their belt will put them over the top this season. The Rockets were one of the top defensive teams last year and this year they are even going to be better with the addition of Swift and DA. Hopefully no one get's injured because this could be the best Houston teams since the Dream days. (I don't count the chemistry mess of the barkley / pippen years) I am not going to be picking the Spurs for first place this season.. even though everyone else is; and that's even with Finley and NVE going to the Spurs. Just my opinion.
Jeez..I didn't expect them to be ranked this high! I really hope that prediction does come true though. I'd say we'll have a pretty tough time during the 1st month of the season but once the chemistry starts kicking in, we'll be on our way
To provide more support to my claim that this is an accurate assessment of Houston, I dont think Detroit will be the same team under Flip Sanders...Sanders has not been known for defense and he is an offensive guru...this team has been molded into that of Larry Brown- a team that can defend and rebound and score inside...Sanders' systems generally use shooters and pick and rolls...there are no long-distance shooters on the Pistons, with the exception of Billups...they have only no pure back-to-the-basket post man...all their bigs want to shoot-McDyess, R-Wallace, etc...they also have no bench depth, and Flip generally likes to use his bench to provide rest and a change of pace...therefore, seeing more of the likes of carlos delfino, carlos arroyo, and maybe darko doesnt put a scare in anybody... as far as dallas, yes they beat us last year because they exposed our weaknesses...which we addressed every need in the offseason...we needed speed, height, and defense in the backcourt? so we pick up DA and draft Head...we need length, youth, and mobility in the frontcourt? welcome Swift!...plus we signed our key free agents-Barry, Deke, and Mutombo, and added a young forward who can grow with us in lonny baxter...meanwhile, dallas stood pat, and even lost finley... so i believe that #4 is accurate...I dont think we're on par with the spurs just yet...their experience and depth is still top-notch...but we are an elite team...
