According to the "predict the western seeds" Thread, I mean.
Most people are putting the rockets very low in the seedings, and some have them not making it in favor of Portland, phoenix or Denver.
Those that did so, answer me this;
Where is Portland's post defense? Zach still cant' guard diddly. They will languish in mediocrity.
Where are Phoenix's bigmen? They have 1.5 centers on their roster by my count. They will be a less talented Dallas, how does that translate to a serious playoff bid?
Who is the scoring guard for Denver now? They lost their biggest back court scoring threat FOR THE YEAR, and some have Denver as high as 2! I would be very impressed if they make the playoffs at all. Their supposedly great front court has not dazzled me so far, and I don't expect that to change.
I think the Grizz and the Rockets will both finish above these guys as the 7th and 8th seeds, or so.
With the addition of TMac there was an addition of more chemistry problems. Under JVG, TMac won't even be as free to score as much .. which is what he does. The Rockets are 0-2 and I predict they'll be 0-3 by the end of the night.
I predicted them as the sixth seed ahead of Dallas and Utah. I don't have Denver making the playoffs, although, they did impress me last night. I may have made a major error there. They may not have the chemistry problems I expected .. only time will tell.
The Blazers have Theo Ratliff who just so happened to lead the NBA in blocked shots last season. That is where our post defense is.
The west is still as stacked as ever, several of the teams appear to have made improvements, the Rockets were not a dominating team last year, and there is no way they are going to be a better team this year. Almost anybody in the conference (except the Clippers, Warriors, Sonics, and Hornets) could make it into the playoffs before the Rockets.
Well I personally placed Rockets at the 2 seed, and Denver in the 7, but that was based on as little rationale as possible. It was a guessing contest which has comparable odds to "who will score the last point in today's game vs sLAcKERS?" It's all in good fun, there is really no way of knowing who will end up in what seed... , Spurs could end up facing the warriors in the wcf... lol...doubtful, but hey
A quick thought...what is the difference between mcgrady and fransis besides the position they play? ....I see them and can't help but think of Dominique and his other nickname. Do they make their teams better in proportion to how good they are?
^^^ehhh rockets at 3 seed i mean.
I think the bottom part of the West is extremely difficult to call. I can make arguments for teams like Portland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Memphis, Utah, and Houston to all make the playoffs -- but unless one of Sacramento, San Antonio, or Minnesota falls on really hard times, not all of those squads are going to make it.
I left out Portland, Denver and Memphis in my picks, mostly because I see bigger holes in those teams and less likelihood that the holes can be overcome. I think that changes, though, if Portland can trade for a healthy Kidd. I though Memphis made the playoffs last year by sneaking up on teams early and then outhustling them late in the season. I guess I think Memphis got some garbage wins that exaggerated their record. To me, Denver is the same kind of thing -- I think the addition of Martin is an overrated move, and with the brittleness of guys like Camby, they could fall apart very easily.
I have Houston low, because I think they have monumental matchup problems with lots of teams. The addition of McGrady is one thing, but he's basically going to have to pick up about 1 1/2 times what the combination of Francis and Mobley gave them. I think Houston is going to rue the day they traded Cato, since they lack another post presence -- and particularly a defensive post presence -- beyond Yao. Juwan Howard and Maurice Taylor are not bad players, but they've been torched by guys like Duncan, Webber, and Garnett. If Houston hopes to stop those kinds of players, they almost have to use Yao, which will eat into his ability to play long minutes. Houston can't guard anyone at the point and now lacks any credible three point shooting, so I think the Rockets are actually going backwards for now.
I think teams should play atleast 10 games before you know really how good they might be
Darius Miles and Ratliff are a sick defensive combo. I pity the fool who underates them.
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