I actually agree with the ranking of the rockets.....I'd still put Detroit ahead of Miami, but the rockets at #4 sounds right to me. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">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</div>. I do agree that Richardson and Johnson are some what overrated, but you have to remember that these guys were great 3 point shooters and they ran the floor well (basically these 2 had a lot to do with the teams success last season).....I honestly don't see how Phoenix is better.....Kurt Thomas is okay, but I seriously doubt he'll get them over the hump....Shawn Marion showed last season in the WCF that he can dissapear so having another offensive weapon wouldn't be a bad idea....Phoenix also lost there backup Center.........I just don't see them doing anything serious this year. 10 Leandro Barbosa G 6-3 188 11/28/1982 Brazil 2 19 Raja Bell G 6-5 210 09/19/1976 Florida International 5 11 Pat Burke C-F 6-11 250 12/14/1973 Auburn 1 12 Boris Diaw G 6-8 215 04/16/1982 France 2 55 Brian Grant F-C 6-9 254 03/05/1972 Xavier (Ohio) 11 50 Eddie House G 6-1 175 05/14/1978 Arizona State 5 21 Jim Jackson F-G 6-6 220 10/14/1970 Ohio State 13 22 James Jones F 6-8 215 10/04/1980 Miami (Fla.) 2 31 Shawn Marion F 6-7 228 05/07/1978 UNLV 6 13 Steve Nash G 6-3 195 02/07/1974 Santa Clara 9 32 Amare Stoudemire C 6-10 245 11/16/1982 Cypress Creek (Orlando, FL) '02 3 40 Kurt Thomas F 6-9 235 10/04/1972 Texas Christian 10 1 Dijon Thompson G-F 6-7 195 02/23/1983 UCLA R 99 Lucas Tischer F 6-9 230 03/03/1983 R ^^^Look at their roster and you can see that they have not addressed their issues this offseason.....They still have no true big man and they aren't any deeper than they were last year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</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> Thats BS. We played them the first game of the season WHEN WE SUCKED and couldn't even pass the .5 W-L. We lacked team chemistry and they had just won the championship. The second time we played them, we were 6-10 W-L. We still sucked and lacked team Chemistry. I remember T-Mac still hadn't even stepped up. Jim Jackson scored more than him and more than Yao that game. If we played Detroint later on the season (like before the all star break when we we had like 9 wins in a row) we would have KILLED THEM. We redeemed ourselves after being 17-17, finished the season 51-31, and took the 4tb seed. Detroit only finished the season 54-28 AND THEY ARE IN THE EAST. Houston was better then them last year, and will beat them BADLY this year. This year: Yao kills ben Rasheed is a little better than Swift (but not better than Swift and Howard) T-Mac kills Prince Anderson and Hamilton are the same Sura/James can neutralize billups.
The Suns now have Brian Grant, Jim Jackson, James Jones, Diaw, House and Barbosa as the main guys off the bench. I think that beats the JJ, Barbosa and Hunter trio off the bench. Last year, the team was eight-deep, now it can go 10-deep if they want to. One thing I would be worried about if I was a Suns fan would be the lack of size in the frontourt. The only rotation player over 6-9 is Stoudemire.
I'm not that big on Brian Grant at this stage in his career......but igotsaskateboard is making some bold statements.....Detroit is extremely tough.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not that big on Brian Grant at this stage in his career......but igotsaskateboard is making some bold statements.....Detroit is extremely tough.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not that big on Brian Grant at this stage in his career......but igotsaskateboard is making some bold statements.....Detroit is extremely tough.</div> Ok. Im sorry for sounding cocky and conceided. I just don't see detroit ever beating us this season or having a higher W-L record than us (even in the east). Teams that are better than us: SA-i think we can hang with them in a game because Yao is there weakness) Pacers-They are better than us, unless Artest lost his game. Reggie is overrated, he only did extremely well in the playoffs last year, but didnt contribute that much last season so his loss isn't that big a deal). Miami-They have shaq, posey who can slow down T-mac, wade and will who will dance around our guards. They have all of our weaknesses. Well maybe they have every teams weakness. We will ahve to wait and see for Phoenix. I think Yao Swift and Mac will dominate Amare, Hunter, and Marion. They may have more wins than us, but we can beat them. I know anything could happen. Hell maybe Golden State will be 2nd. Last season, Phoenix and Seattle shocked us. But I dont think that the NBA can change SO much every season. I dont know what the hell happened last season though.
I'd take us over the Pacers at this point, because we have Yao and they don't....although Reggie Miller wasn't the Reggie Miller of old he still was able to contribute and help the team......I don't see Indiana being better than Miami or Detroit this year.
True, but Oneal will kill Swift and Howard if he is a PF not to mention Yao cant get any rebounds with JONeal clogging up the boards, Artest can stop T-MAc, and the rest is about equal. When it comes to Indiana v. Houston, we will just have to wait and see.
Artest could contain TMac, but stop him???...nah.........but like you said we'll have to wait and see.
If anyone can stop TMac, Artest would be a safe bet. Jeff Foster also has given Yao a lot of troubles in the past, and Swift is no match defensively for JO. Stephen is a quick and crafty wing, not to mention athletic youngsters Fred Jones, Jonathon Bender and Danny Granger off the bench. The Pacers did lose Miller, but Jackson will be a better starter and Granger can do it all off the bench. They are definitely a top 5 team in the league.
The Rockets are better than the Cavs right now IMO, but it's close. Lebron James can very well average 28/9/6, and Larry Hughes and Ilgauskas can go off for 20 any given night. Damon Jones will give them some much-needed outside shooting. However, the Rockets are a more mature team and have more depth. The Cavs are also probably going to be more inconsistent than the Rockets.
We're definitely more mature than the Cavs and besides, our 2 main stars have already played a year together, so more or less they're pretty geled right now. The Cavs still have to work out their chemistry issues at the start of the season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">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</div> Hmm, not only was that probably the most biased garbage I've ever heard, but you didn't even back it up with anything. Detroit made it game 7 of the finals last year against SA. How did Houston do? O ya they lost to Dallas in the first round. Not only that, but the team they lost to (Dallas) lost to Phoenix in 6, who in turn lost to SA in 6. Detroit added Davis and Evans. Houston added Swift and DA. DA is aging, and there's a reason that Memphis didn't want Swift ( I don't consider Head an addition, because he likely won't even be in the rotation). Those two additions aren't going to propel HOuston to such a dramatic improvement, and teams like the Suns, Pacers, Pistons, Mavs and possibly even the Sonics should be higher. I would rank them more at #8 or 9, and by no means at all are they better than Detroit.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">Those two additions aren't going to propel HOuston to such a dramatic improvement, and teams like the Suns, Pacers, Pistons, Mavs and possibly even the Sonics should be higher. I would rank them more at #8 or 9, and by no means at all are they better than Detroit.</div> even tho i respect your opinion i think your wrong the mavericks better than the rockets? they were better than the rockets last season in the playoffs how are they gonna let the rockets go 2-0 w/o howard. They lost plenty and gained role players. They lost finley and rockets can easily gaurd nowitzki with either tmac or swift. Yao is supposed to have improved greatly. Weve added way more depth. True dallas will be good but to rank the rockets below the sonics is ...retarded sorry but it is heres why: sonics lost daniels, evans, mcmillan(ppl that say coaching doesnt affect a team but it does) the lost james and havent even resigned rad yet. Sonics have their core players but they had great support from their bench. Where is taht this year? Where are the sonics after resigning ray allen? NO where they will be a playoff team but they are in no way better than the rockets. They werent better than the rockets last year. Rockets went 2-1 last year so with your claim of them being better means swift and anderson made the rockets worse?? is that wat ur saying??? please clairfy b/c you wrong
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">Hmm, not only was that probably the most biased garbage I've ever heard, but you didn't even back it up with anything. Detroit made it game 7 of the finals last year against SA. How did Houston do? O ya they lost to Dallas in the first round. Not only that, but the team they lost to (Dallas) lost to Phoenix in 6, who in turn lost to SA in 6. Detroit added Davis and Evans. Houston added Swift and DA. DA is aging, and there's a reason that Memphis didn't want Swift ( I don't consider Head an addition, because he likely won't even be in the rotation). Those two additions aren't going to propel HOuston to such a dramatic improvement, and teams like the Suns, Pacers, Pistons, Mavs and possibly even the Sonics should be higher. I would rank them more at #8 or 9, and by no means at all are they better than Detroit.</div> WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. I can't respond to that. I just don't have the time to make it easy for you to undetstand (similar to dumb it down). I will remember this post. We will wait and see though. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. PFFFFT 8/9 w/ dallas and even SEATTLE? You should try taking your own da// // advice and back up your claims. EDIT: thought i would throw this in just to be random...THE ROCKETS CAN WHOOP THE NETS AND RAPTORS ANY DAY OF THE WEEK....they could probably even beat the 2 teams if they combined there line ups. Ok maybe not the 2, but hey, rockets can still beat them right?
You forget that Houston, coached by a defensive specialist playoff veteran coach LOST to Nowitzki and some ROLE PLAYERS coached by a guy in his first playoffs as a coach. This offseason they added Stromile and Derek Anderson. wow. Those guys are known for turning teams around. Houston will be lucky to get in the top 4 in the west, let alone the entire league, that's just preposterous. nba.com's power rankings is probably devised by yaolover23 or tmacforprez192. I believe Sac, San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix will all win more games than Houston next year. So I guess I'm saying they're the 5th best team in the west. Not only that but i wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers or Minnesota end up with a better record. You have to look at the team, the system and how long they've been playing together. Who runs the offense? Bob Sura?? He is no Tony Parker Mike Bibby or Steve Nash. You don't win games by adding as many "names" as possible. All the recent NBA champions have won because of the overall system with a couple of very strong players and a number of role players not because they loaded up with talents. That's why Miami and Houston are overrated going into next year. Playing together is huge. See Indiana, Sacramento and San Antonio as to why playing together leads to consistency. The Rockets. . . They MIGHT win a playoff series this year. one more reason why houston is not a good team - their ball movement is horrible. probably the worst team at ball movement from last years playoff teams
oh yeah one more reason why houston is not a good team - their ball movement is horrible. probably the worst team at ball movement from last years playoff teams
geez.. I can't wait till season starts so I can bump this thread later on in the season. Houston didn't even have a power forward other than RYAN FREAKEN BOWEN during the playoffs and still took it to seven games. How can Houston be worse than last year? They plugged up the holes which were apparent during the playoffs. oh.. did you say the Lakers? MAHAHAHAAHAHA I guess Kwame put's them over the top.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">Hmm, not only was that probably the most biased garbage I've ever heard, but you didn't even back it up with anything. Detroit made it game 7 of the finals last year against SA. How did Houston do? O ya they lost to Dallas in the first round. Not only that, but the team they lost to (Dallas) lost to Phoenix in 6, who in turn lost to SA in 6. Detroit added Davis and Evans. Houston added Swift and DA. DA is aging, and there's a reason that Memphis didn't want Swift ( I don't consider Head an addition, because he likely won't even be in the rotation). Those two additions aren't going to propel HOuston to such a dramatic improvement, and teams like the Suns, Pacers, Pistons, Mavs and possibly even the Sonics should be higher. I would rank them more at #8 or 9, and by no means at all are they better than Detroit.</div> I had to respond to this one, and do the Rockets some justice. Yeah you are right about us losing. But this is what you failed to mention. It's true we lost to the Mavs, but this is what most Rocket fans look at: - WE HAD NO PF and still took Dallas 7 games. Ryan Bowen is a garbabe player. He shouldn't have even made the playoff roster. With Howard, everybody knows those open shots would have been points. - Our guards were slow, but EVEN SLOWER because Sura was playing on one damn leg. Basically we addressed all those issues in the offseason. DA is aging, but so is Mutumbo and he's the most important guy coming off our bench (and he's 40 something). Anderson's athletic ability is something that we DESPERATLEY needed. Also with Swift, we can go small and beat Dallas at they're own game this year. One more thing, the Rocket killer doesn't play for them anymore (but he's still in Texas ). Losing Finley will KILL Dallas this year. Seattle lost both they're bigman and Daniels, and Phoenix had a TERRIBLE offseason. Explain to me why there better again?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting magnetik:</div><div class="quote_post">Call me crazy but I really think Houston is going to top the Spurs this season. </div> I think you are crazy. I think that the reigning champions on are a level totally beyond Houston. 4 of their starters have been together for 3 years already. They have depth at every position, with a lot of veteran experience. Otherwise power rankings are pretty foolish. I bet that last year everyone expected Minnesota to be a top 3 team in the West, while Phoenix wasn't going to make playoffs. Houston could be the 2nd best team, or be the 6th best team in the West. Dallas, Phoenix, Sacramento will all give them some good competition.
