Western Conference Rankings

we barely lost to the Utah j*zz, they added nothing except a draft pick, we added like 8 better players and a coach. I'd think we would be ahead of them by now in peoples minds...

 

The mavs will be worse, they didn't get the calls in the playoffs like they did the regular season. Dirk shoots jumpers in the playoffs and doesn't post up nor go to the basket. Their guards are overrated baron davis detsroyed them by himself. They have no post up game which is vital for playoff basketball and they didn't make any changes to get better.



The spurs aren't going to get a fix all the way to the finals again + they are not marketable and people aint buying that act anymore.


The suns maybe dangerous but they still have no post up game for playoff basketball and their chemistry maybe a issue.


The jazz aren't beating the rockets this season.

 

I doesn't make sense to me either. These people are blind. None of the four teams ranked above us has added any major parts, except for Suns who added Hill, while we have added 3 major players. The writer of the article doesn't even mention how adding 3 major parts is better than none...

 

"Yawn" no bold predictions whatsoever just trying to play it safe.

 

Jazz get better simply because consistency is a good trait in itself. Their core is still getting better, their potential isn't realized yet (they are improving). They are Wester Conference finalists. Look at how much better they've been getting over the years.

Rockets add an aging Francis whom a couple of teams didn't want. Scola who is a proven European power forward, but will be very green in the NBA. Brooks who needs to overcome height and the fact he is going to be a rookie. Wells and James had disappointing season last year.

I love the moves the Rockets made. But they all involve things falling together the right way. Francis has to get reenergized. Scola must not be pushed around. Brooks must utilize his speed to take advantage of defenders. James must accept that healthy competition is good and not go into his lonesome cocoon. And Wells, must stop pounting because he missed out on a 5 year 35 million dollar contract in favor for a 2 year 5 million dollar deal.


Right now, the Jazz have a lot of stuff going for them. The Rockets were winners this offseason. They should be concered with winning during the season. Holes which were prevelent with the Rockets have been plugged up.


With that, a 5th ranking is very well, considering it is based soley on Yao, McGrady, and Battier. A conservative ranking in my opinion. Which has a high statistical possibility of getting better as the season rolls on and the new pieces integrate positively.

 

I really thinking rankings are stupid and rarely are they correct..if they want to hate on the rockets then let them do it...i know when the rockets have a 59-60 win season this year all those haters will be silenced (actaully i doubt it) but i want the Rockets to prove to everyone so bad how they are not a fluke and they will get it done this year...Dallas will fall off trust me on that..and jazz cant hang with us either...S.A is getting older i think we can hold them and phx..well they always choke come playoffs tiime

 

warriors just signed croshere and perovic

 

these rankings are obviously meaningless but we had a better record than utah last season and improved significantly more than they did in the offseason. we also (knock on wood) should get yao ming for a significant more amount of time in the coming year.

 

last year (without all of our upgrades) are in the west finals vs San Antonio if either Yao was 100% pre injury Yao or if either Head or Howard gave us anything off the bench.

 

Actually, the article makes perfect sense. The writer (Marty Burns), like all other sports writers, is afraid to rank the Spurs, Mavs, Suns or Jazz below the Rockets. It's a safe assessment on his part and he won't catch flak from the fans for those other teams.

So, it makes perfect sense for him to write this. It's completely wrong and stupid, but it's quite clear why he's done so.

 

I have no real problem with the rankings. The teams should at least be in camp before we can see if they are going to gel and how good they will be. Utah is better than us until we prove other wise.

 

THen why have offseason rankings if no team can surpass any team until "proving" it? Just use the same rankings from the end of the past season, whatever they are. Pointless.

 

But you can also make the case that the Spurs, Mavs and Suns were heads and shoulders better than us last year. I don't have it in front of me... but didn't they kill us last year? They have better talent than us. And while we have better talent that the Jazz... they are a better team.

I am happy with five as a preseason ranking.

 

I think Burns is too high on the Nuggets. I don't like the Chucky Atkins addition, and I guess I've never liked anything at all about the Denver system (sans Camby). I can't see them as a better squad than the Lakers, although Denver could have an inflated record because they are a poor matchup for teams without strong, powerful forwards. I don't see them doing much damage though.

I also think he's sleeping on the Kings and Grizzlies. I see both as potential darkhorses, because of the addition of offensive minded forwards (Mikki Moore and Darko respectively).

I don't have much beef with the Rockets ranking. Could be nice to be above Utah, since we played them so close and have made more improvements than they have made this offseason. Hopefully after this season, writers won't be afraid to ride the Rockets bandwagon. Clearly, Burns doesn't want to look stupid by defacing any of the big 3 (SA, Dallas, Phoenix), we'll have to prove that we have a new style of play and a deeper talent pool to draw from. Hopefully, we will prove we can hang with, and outplay the big boys.

 

who cares about standings based on one guy's perspective? need to stop treating these columnist's opinions as gospel. Rockets will be strong this year. No need to rank them. Let them show it on the court.

 

An "aging" Steve Francis? The guy is only 30 years old. Who cares about the Jazz, I'll take my chances with the Rockets.

 

I'm okay with these standings because, as wonderful as these moves have been, he's right to be cautious about giving us a spot over the Jazz until we can exhibit that skill. That first month will be rough too, but we'll be a 55+ win team and the Jazz will cower at our feet.

 

I wouldn't say that Phoenix has better talent then us, especially since they lost Kurt Thomas and we added Scola, Francis, James and Wells. We have a better frontline then Phoenix and are deeper. And the Rockets backcourt more then matches up with theirs.

 

all of u are so hard-headed. theres no way we are better than the jazz until we prove it. we added a league renown cancer in steve francis and we expect to win the title now? give me a break.