Wednesday, January 28, 2009

An early look at the playoffs!

The Western Conference will still have the better games. Any one of the teams in the West could go to the finals. Sure the Lakers are the favorites, but other teams are very scary. Spurs, Suns, Hornets, Jazz, Rockets, Nuggets...I'd say that all of these teams have a good chance to come out of the West. How they match up against the elite of the East, nobody really knows yet.

The Eastern Conference is easy to figure out. There are a lot of teams in the East that are better than average, but not many have a shot at the Finals. We all know the two teams that will battle it out to get to the Finals. The Cavs and Celtics are way ahead of every other team in that conference. It's going to be interesting to see if Lebron finally breaks through in the playoffs.

A lot of scenarios, but we will mostly likely see a rematch of last season. Lakers vs Celtics. David Stern's wet dream

T-Mac is the problem Houston has!

It's been a long time since the Rockets did anything in the playoffs. The '96-'97 season was the last time they won a playoff series. When a team loses Hall of Fame players and has to rebuild, it's understandable to not win a playoff series for a little while, but it's been way to long.

The Rockets have added alot of talent over the years. Off the top of my head I think of Yao Ming, Steve Francis, Shane Battier, and most of the roster they have now. It took a little longer than they would've liked to get a championship roster, but they finally have one.

The only piece to the puzzle that doesn't fit is Tracy McGrady. When he is healthy, he is one of the most talented players that I have ever seen. He almost has it all, but what he lacks is what the Rockets need most.

Some players have a killer instinct. Kobe, Jordan, Pierce, Duncan, Wade....but T-Mac doesn't have it. T-Mac was suppose to be the guy that took over in the 4th quarter. Before this season Yao was more than willing to let McGrady be the closer because he has that much talent. Yao has always been the guy to get them to the 4th quarter so that someone else can close it out. Now there isn't anyone to close it, so Yao must do it himself.

It took Yao a long time to realize his potential, but it's happening. He demands the ball on the low block and just goes to work while Tracy watches. This team might not win a playoff series the next two seasons, or they might win it all. For the latter to happen, T-Mac has to pitch in the 4th. If he doesn't, he will be out the door in 2010. Yao is 7"6 and is willing to take the last shot. That's all Rockets fans have been looking for.