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Originally Posted by DMOC
lol Houston ranked higher than the spurs on hollinger's power rankings.
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His reasoning:
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Speaking of which, let's look at the rest of the top teams. After Miami and L.A., we have a predictable list of teams that have started the season strong: Orlando at No. 3, the still-unbeaten Hornets at No. 4, Denver at No. 5, Boston at No. 6, Atlanta at No. 7, Phoenix at No. 8 and Houston at No. 9.
(Wait … did he just say Houston?)
The Rockets are 1-5, which seemingly makes them an odd choice to rank ninth in a 30-team league. But if we look at their schedule and scoring margins, the ranking is completely justified.
Houston's losses were to No. 2-ranked L.A. (by two points on the road), No. 3 New Orleans, No. 4 Denver and No. 13 San Antonio (in double overtime on the road after losing both starting guards in the first half). The only loss to a team outside the top 10 was a four-point defeat in Golden State -- no slouch itself at No. 17 -- on the second night of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, the Rockets' lone win was by 26 points.
Even if you eliminate that game, given that it came against a glorified D-League franchise, and just focus on the 0-5 start, Houston rates well. The Rockets lost all five games by a combined 30 points to teams with a record of 22-6 when they weren't playing the Timberwolves. Basically, every shred of evidence supports the notion that they're a quality team despite their 0-5 start, and as the schedule turns friendlier later this month, their record should even out accordingly.
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And I agree. The Rockets still have 76 games left. The Rockets, as it stands currently, are only two games out of the playoffs....with 76 games left. Other teams will catch cold spells, and injuries will come up for all teams. Hollinger's rankings are based on future successes of the team. With an easier schedule coming up, the Rockets should start improving record wise.
Look at this example:
Team A plays the Lakers, Celtics, Heat, and Nets. Team A loses to the first three teams by 3 points each, but blows out the Nets by 40. Then, you have Team B, who plays the Nets, Wizards, Clippers, and Lakers. Team B beats the first three teams by 10 points each, but gets blown out by the Lakers by 40. Who is the better team?