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Looking ahead with our current roster

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by BaselineFade, Nov 7, 2018.

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  1. BaselineFade

    BaselineFade Member
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    I’ve grown to hate waiting day after day for the Butler trade to go down. For the the sake of my sanity, I’ve decided to lock in on the players we currently have on the roster.
    At this point none of us truly knows who we may trade for or if a major trade will even happen at all.

    The offense is the least of my concerns. Obviously Harden being out hurt, but so have the early poor shooting of EG, CP, and Green. If you are telling me that they will shoot this poorly all season, then I would worry. Everything was out of sorts to start the season, but I am confident that they will adjust and the shooting will get better. Also Ennis seems to be shooting the ball well in a limited size, and Clark’s shooting should continue to improve if he keeps a spot in the rotation. I think Melo will continue to settle into his role. I like that they are posting him more, I think that helps him get into a better overall rhythm. When healthy, this should be one of the most explosive offenses in the nba IMO.

    The defense has looked much better recently. Ennis has been solid. He continues to play with energy, he’s active, he closes out, and he is physical. I still think he can improve, and the return of Jeff B will only help to facilitate that. PJ has been great, Clint seems to have awakened, and both James and Chris have seemed to pick up the intensity in recent games. The “enough is enough “ speech seemed to ignite them. Gary Clark can defend, but the fact that he can also rebound may keep him in the rotation which may also help to improve our defensive play. He is rotating better and is aggressive in his close outs.

    With the return of Jeff B, I expect(hope)the defense can return to top ten form in short order.

    Our bench rotation is becoming more defined moving forward. MCW should not touch the court unless we are hit with an insane rash of injuries. He doesn’t fit anything we do. The silver lining with the injuries and suspensions is that he got got a chance to prove that he just isn’t worthy of minutes on a team that aspires to become champions.

    Right now EG, and Melo are solidified as mainstays in our bench rotation. Then it gets interesting. I believe the next 2 best options are Clark and GG. Hart or one day Nene as the the 10th player.

    Think about our second unit being led by CP. EG at the 2, GG at the 3, Melo at the 4, and Clark as your small ball 5. Yes Ego and GG are streaky, and they will have nights when it’s just brick city. But that’s ok. Just by playing the odds, if just one or both is on, along with Melo and Clark, we can truly play 5 out with CP being the orchestrater. IF we can can rebound, and Clark can hold his own versus back up 5’s I believe this could become a nightmare for opposing benches to have to face. With that bench lineup, we can put away teams by halftime, or by the start of 4th quarters allowing our vets to rest.

    So moving forward i’m off the panic train for now. I don’t know if our current roster can beat GS but at least I have hope again thanks to Jeff B.

    I will no longer be held mentally hostage by Thibs and Taylor. If it’s true that they won’t trade Butler to Houston, so we can’t have a “super team” them F**k them.
    At this point I’m ready to go to war with who we have.
     
    #1 BaselineFade, Nov 7, 2018
    kjayp, juanm34, joeson332 and 2 others like this.
  2. bilaal14

    bilaal14 Member

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    There you go. We have enough, just need to put it together.

    Tibs and taylor better take these picks and poo poo platter.
     
    #2 bilaal14, Nov 7, 2018
    hakeem94, HP3, BaselineFade and 1 other person like this.
  3. joeson332

    joeson332 Member

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    Tough 5 game stretch starting tomorrow
    @Thunder
    @SPURS
    Pacers
    @Nuggets
    Warriors.

    Hopefully some of these shots start to fall in because (we play some real contenders in the next 5 games ;D )
    You shoot like you did against Chicago and Indiana than good luck trying to beat these teams.
    Also you can't have a guy like Hartenstein play the minutes he did in the second half. Good skill set but isn't NBA ready. Hopefully EG is ready to go these next 5 games.
     
    #3 joeson332, Nov 7, 2018
    HP3, BaselineFade and saleem like this.
  4. BigBum

    BigBum Member

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    If next 5 games 1-4, the result could be 5-8 seed at the end of season.
    If next 5 games 4-1, the result could be 3-4 seed.
     
    #4 BigBum, Nov 7, 2018
  5. BigBum

    BigBum Member

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    Wolves asking price is not high. If Ariza or Moute was included, they would take it. They are not taking any bad contracts.
    No team's offer was good enough to convince the Timberwolves to make a deal.
     
    #5 BigBum, Nov 7, 2018
  6. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    this current roster is definitely not beating GS...Butler or bust
     
    #6 Reeko, Nov 7, 2018
    BaselineFade likes this.
  7. cmlmel77

    cmlmel77 Up all Night Watching Houston Sports

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    If the Rockets are able to got 4-1 against that group of upper-tier teams, with 3 out of 5 games on the road, they will end up as the 2 seed easily (barring injury). Even 3-2 would be a terrific sign of the potential this squad has.
     
    #7 cmlmel77, Nov 7, 2018
  8. BigBum

    BigBum Member

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    3-2 is easy!
    Thunder Westbrook and Roberson are injured.
    Spurs Walker and Rudy Gay are injured
     
    #8 BigBum, Nov 7, 2018
  9. cerophilik

    cerophilik Member

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    Maybe next Tuesday or the next after that or the one after that one. Let’s wait and see
     
    #9 cerophilik, Nov 7, 2018
  10. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    As long as De Rozan is not injured.
     
    #10 daywalker02, Nov 7, 2018
  11. Spacemoth

    Spacemoth Contributing Member

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    If we don't blow our next 7 years' worth of picks for Butler, then we will still have enough in the way of assets to acquire a Bazemore without losing any of our top 7-8 guys. I've been against this incarnation of the Butler trade from the outset. You do NOT give away assets that far into the future when your superstars are on the wrong side of 30 (or in Harden's case, will turn 30 next offseason). It could easily become another Brooklyn Nets disaster.
     
    #11 Spacemoth, Nov 7, 2018
  12. BigBum

    BigBum Member

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    I predict 3-2.

    it won't be easy to improve the rosters if you don't offer 4 Firsts.
     
    #12 BigBum, Nov 7, 2018
  13. Dankstronaut

    Dankstronaut Way, way out here.
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    I really like the combo of ennis and Clark as 3s and Tucker, Melo at 4. Looking forward to the end of the year/playoff time I think Clark is really going to have solidified himself as a rotation player. My hope is Hartenstein continues his improvement enough that they kinda stash nene, don’t stunt his development for an old, broke down veteran. Beyond this year they’re really going to need to invest in youth to keep the cap in check. Clark and Hartenstein have a real opportunity here, provided they don’t get shuffled for a star player.
     
    #13 Dankstronaut, Nov 7, 2018
    BaselineFade likes this.
  14. Handles

    Handles Member

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    The nets were a little different. They had zero core before they added those players. We at least have a core we’d be adding butler to. And their “stars” were even older than our stars.

    Plus, we wouldn’t blow our next 7 years of picks. Thanks in part to the nets, we’d still have our picks every other year.

    I think it’s worth it to push for butler because I don’t think this team has any chance to contend without him. With him, there’s at least a small chance. If we can’t get butler we might as well revert back to the asset-churning mode we were in prior to the harden trade. I don’t think Tilman wants this at all. He’s going for gold, as an owner should when there’s even a slight chance to win.
     
    #14 Handles, Nov 7, 2018
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  15. Kruze10

    Kruze10 Member

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    Health is a huge component. We obviously need Harden, CP3, and Capela healthy, but if Gordon can come back, healthy, as well as Ennis, we should be alright for a majority of those games.
     
    #15 Kruze10, Nov 7, 2018
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  16. kjayp

    kjayp Contributing Member

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    They only want playe(s) that can help them now + future draft picks + they want to unload a crappy contract + they dont want to take any crappy contracts... thats a steep price for a team with no leverage...

    Way too high for a team thats gonna be left with NOTHING at the end of the season when Tomball Jimmy just walks away from their crappy organization.... I bet those 4 1sts will be looking pretty damn good at that point...

    The funniest part is gonna be when JB pulls a Kawhi and gets 'injured',,, and cant play the last third of the season - and they miss the playoffs - or sneak in and get booted early...

    oh well... fk em...
     
    #16 kjayp, Nov 8, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2018
  17. Game7

    Game7 Member

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    No. 3-3 is an option. If we go 3-2, what seed will be? And which 3 teams do we need to beat to get a higher seed. (I get it...division rivals mean more.) Tell me oh wise one.
     
    #17 Game7, Nov 8, 2018
  18. BaselineFade

    BaselineFade Member
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    Yeah, we may need Jimmy, but if we can’t get him are we done (as a title contender)?
     
    #18 BaselineFade, Nov 8, 2018
  19. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    With CP3 being absolute garbage...this team is going nowhere
     
    #19 J Sizzle, Nov 8, 2018
  20. Zboy

    Zboy Contributing Member

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    Beating? It will get swept.

    Last year we were blowing teams out.

    This year, other teams are blowing us out.
     
    #20 Zboy, Nov 8, 2018
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