Before we get started, I want to link to our Community Guidelines. If you have not read them, or just want a refresher, please take a look. You know the gist of it: don't be a jerk. Still, the number of bans we have to give out increases each year so it has to be discussed. Please note: we have a couple of regular commenters that have banning privileges and their decisions will be fully supported by the mods.

Now onto the fun stuff!

If you're the typically cynical Houston sports fan, you're already looking at season previews and wondering why everyone hates Houston. After all, the Rockets finished second in the West last season and made it to the conference finals while trotting out 76-year-old (all stats approximate) Jason Terry at point guard to stop Chris Paul and the MVP of the league. Oh, and they were missing their starting power forward too. After the season, the Rockets cut bait with four players that weren't in their rotation in order to add Ty Lawson, shoring up the team's biggest weakness.

Yet, most pundits have Houston finishing towards the bottom of the Big Six of the West. It's a testament to how great the West is that the team that finished with the second-best record the previous season is becoming an afterthought in the race for the conference title.

Still, I would be remiss if I didn't post a season hype video. So here it is. Shoutout to Reddit for bringing it to my attention.

Matchups and bench are tough going into the season because we don't know who's starting and in the rotation for other teams. Please bear with me until there's a bigger sample size.

Tip off is at 7pm CST on Root Sports.

Matchups: