It’s been an ugly, ugly, week.
The good news is that the power rankers have been slow to completely drop the Rockets after an awful start to 2011. The bad news? The Rockets continue a brutal schedule for the rest of the week, and if they don’t go on a bit of a run here, could be staring at seven or eight games under .500 by the start of next week. Here’s what our rankers have to say:
Pro Basketball Talk: 20 (LW: 15)
They have lost five in a row, and this week the schedule is Boston, Oklahoma City, then New Orleans and Atlanta back-to-back. Rough.
ESPN: 17 (14)
The reward for scraping all the way back to .500 after that 0-5 start? Nine games out of 10 against teams with winning records … with Houston off to an 0-5 start in 2011 and four more toughies on this week’s schedule.
Hollinger Ratings 18 (16)
SB Nation: 16 (14)
The Rockets became even more wounded when Kevin Martin went down with a wrist injury. Houston is always active at the trade deadline, but will the team have anyone healthy enough to trade?
The average of these polls, which last week was 15, is now 17.75. Looks like the Hollinger Ratings picked up on something last week, as they were forecasting doom and gloom during the Rockets winning streak.