Until Kevin Martin is gone, we'll hover around .500. A tiny upgrade can make us as good as last year. We still have the Tor. pick to root for.
I dont think it's this year.I've no idea when anyway.it's hard to assess the team rit now so i'm looking 4ward on training camps.Most of the players on the team hasnt even have nba experience ,let alone playoff experience. This is the season where I prefer to have no expectation,more patience(i'm usually impatient) to the rookies and our inexperienced starters.i think there'll be a lot of losing streaks,so it's best to look 2wards a different goal(ie growth) for the fans,but an aim to reach playoffs this year is what the team should look for - a competitive spirit. Just to be clear,I'll love to be proven wrong tho.Feel free to contradict me .if they managed at least near playoffs,the rockets future will be goo.I hope it's as soon as possible tho.
I hope we will get in this season. We have a group of talented young players, but none of them have a lot of experience.
I say next season, I would be very suprised if we make it this season. There's so many question marks and as hopeful I am about our 4 rookies and Lin (newcomers), there's no telling when they will all get it right and become a real group. Remember that despite a lack of talent, last year's team had Lowry, Martin, Lee, Budinger, Dragic, Hill, Patterson & Scola who played together the season('s) prior and veteran / big presence in Dalembert & later Camby. Now we have young rookies, who despite all the right things they have been saying, have to get minutes, prove themselves and undoubtedly will try to get theirs. Success will depend on them buying into a system, sacrificing their own play for the benefit of the team and all players meshing together since we have a lot of newcomers. McHale had a hard job last year, no doubt, but it might even be harder this year. I am not so sure a training camp will do wonders but we'll see.
If question is when "could" Rockets be in the playoffs, then the answer if this year, of course. If the question is when do people think the Rockets will be in the playoffs, my prediction is also this year. I think people are underrating the additions of Lin and Asik. I think you will see a resurgence of Martin as well as great team chemistry. Lin, Martin, and Parsons will be like Lin-Fields-Novak on steroids. Then you have Asik serving the Tyson Chandler Linsanity role, as well as a nice influx of rookie talent and other young players who will have had a year to develop. I think the Rockets are better than last season and that should mean a good shot at a playoff birth.
I think the guys that you kept will all buy into the system. How long did it take Lin to develop chemistry with the "scrubs" he played with during the Knicks streak last year? I think the idea that it takes years to develop chemistry is a myth if you have pieces that fit. Sure, the Heat needed to figure out how to play together because they have redundant players. The Knicks have a bunch of selfish players that don't really fit together. But the Rockets are composed entirely of unselfish, hard-working underachiever types. I don't think chemistry will be a problem. The bigger issue is lack of superstar talent to get to the next level, but the Rockets had that same problem last year. Should be fun to watch, though.
I think we can make the playoffs this season. Our front court is advanced defensively which is very important. On the offensive end, Lin's an above average play-maker, and Martin's still one of the better offensive players in the league. Chandler is stronger and has been working on his shot/ball handling. He's got excellent bball IQ and should be an all-around improvement. We know the limitations of Omer, so we shouldn't expect much from him besides improved FT%. A lot hinges on Ppat. We need a good post presence for ideal spacing and 4th quarter play. Unfortunately, Patrick hasn't been getting it done yet in this area. However, he's been supposedly looking really good against pretty talented competition. We'll just have to wait and see. If Pat shows significant improvement down low, than I think we'll make it to the playoffs. Otherwise we won't, unless a rookie really steps up.
I think a lot more hinges on how well Rockets do before All Star. If they have a great start and stay in contention, Morey will trade a major piece for the final playoff push. Slow start = KMart and/or PPat will be gone by trade deadline.
With Dallas getting older, I could see them eventually dropping in a year or two unless they nab Harden or something. If our rookies live to the hype, we could take Utah's spot. Key word here being 'could'. We'll see.
If you do get the 8th seed in the playoffs THIS YEAR, then you do have 1 or 2 future max quality players on this team. I dont know why people seem to think otherwise. This isn't a team full of Luis Scola's and Shane Battier's anymore. I dont know why thats so hard to understand. If someone on this team explodes onto the NBA scene, just be happy that the Rockets have one of those guys, he might not be the guy YOU want with the hype and fancy youtube videos, but when you get an all-star quality player on your roster at a young age, you should be happy just to have one. That being said, they probably dont have one yet, and as currently constructed, this team is 2 to 3 years in the lottery before they can develop or draft another true foundation piece. I just hope that they find that player sooner than later. Having a bottom feeder team is much more painful then we can imagine.
