Lol. I think of the three in the tile - Morey, MDA and Harden - Morey is probably the least at fault. And to me, that's because I group Morey together with the Til. And if I'm reading the tea leaves, what I'm seeing is: * A guy that probably wanted to "legit" run it back last year, meaning bring back Ariza, go over the LT, go "all-in", but wasn't allowed to by his owner * A guy that isn't sold on the head coach necessarily * A guy that wasn't sold on turning CP3 into Russ, and not at the price required (remember, DM isn't a guy to half-heartedly throw in assets) * A guy that probably (not as clear on this one, but a guess) wasn't that interested in extending Gordon. Again, is this DM's M.O.? Not only to extend, but to do it so late in the offseason that EG is now a non-asset from trade perspective. He literally can't be traded until the season is over because of the timing of the extension Basically, a lot of things happened that aren't historic, classic DM type moves. Now you add other stuff. He briefly thought about a Philly GM job two offseasons ago. The HK tweet - which admittedly is likely a mistake as much as anything, but 100% a mistake - remember, DM is 100% competent, intelligent and media savvy.... he didn't just hit send on the tweet, he did it WHILE they were in Asia. In short, I don't think DM likes Tilman much. Tilman isn't all-in on championship or bust, he's all on his pocketbook (and I'm not blaming him, just pointing out it is what it is). Don't get me wrong, DM isn't faultless. The roster composition, given the owner limitations, is still on him. But do I think he was shackled? Yes. A lot,
This is ridiculous. As fans who watch the Rockets, how could you not expect a lot of growing pains? Even more, this is mostly the same offense that awarded MDA coach of the year. It's the same system that has led the Rockets to one of the best winning percentages in the league over (i don't know how many) seasons. And yes, I know that doesn't count our playoff terrors. Harden is not at 100%, but it's not something he's going to speak to because he doesn't make excuses. Russ is not at 100% from his off-season procedure(s). That makes for a lot of growing pains on the court. MDA is doing a good job of not freaking out, letting guys play through the kinks and tinkering with rotations. The Rockets are going to be fine, and best of all, there's potential in our 2 stars to become great. With CP3, you could see the ceiling at a certain point. With Russ, once he's completely healed and our offense is clicking, the ceiling goes away. I loved having Chris during the 1.5 good years he had here, but in the playoffs where it counts, Russ becomes a different animal. He becomes relentless. That's why I'm not worried. We don't have to worry about a guy not going all out in a playoff series. Even if he isn't shooting the ball well, you know Russ is going to get to the rim a few times. CP3 no longer had the athleticism to pull off a shot with guys covering him. Russ is comfortable skying in there and getting off a decent shot. Or, as we've seen, guys like PJ Tucker get higher quality shots because of the attention Russ draws in the lane. CP3 no longer demanded a double team, and if his shot wasn't falling, you could back off a bit. If you give Russ space, he's going to the rim. This doesn't matter until the playoffs anymore. Seeding is a concern, but in the West, you're going to have to go through everyone. Be patient and know that a slim 4 doesn't last forever.
This team is just flat out bad right now and will probably end up mediocre at best when harden starts shooting better. Thats not good enough. We should have been contenders once again but tilmen and morey cheaped out on all our assets and cheaped out on hiring a new coach. Harden and mike refuse to adjust yet again and continue to play this same ugly, predictable offense and 0 defense midget ball that gets worse every year
it's the same system, with a significant player whose strengths are a questionable fit to what the rest of the team is used to from their backcourt. Yeah he has no issue with a 1 on 5 fastbreak but in the end how much of it actually matter. The problem is the rockets still play dumb and run to the 3 point line on these advantage breaks. wb's ceiling goes away? well with how wb has played the last couple of years in the playoffs, there's certainly a pretty low ceiling. he's been horrendous in the playoffs and worse than cp3 in the playoffs. There's a certain realization that people need to come to terms with. yes its early and all that but if you're truly watching these games in its entirety there are significant issues that rockets fans are worried about. and they are definitely warranted. This defense from where it is atm, isn't getting fixed in a matter of weeks. That's not something that gets flipped over night. The rockets went 21-5 and were a top 5 defensive after the as break last year. That still only improved their defense to the middle of the pack by the seasons end. it's alarming to see this after, how many players went into the season highlighting to the media that the defensive side of the ball was something this team is focused on. Yeah its making headlines alright, for the wrong reasons This team was not supposed to start out like this. It's one thing to lose just based off mistakes here and there. It's a whole another issue when you're just flat out bad right now. People are pointing to last year as an excuse. Which isn't the same at all. They brought the same team back minus the obvious piece. The bench core has been here already. The look of no identity is a pretty significant flag at this point even if were just 6 games in. There's growing pains sure but are the rockets the only team that apparently has to go through it. The Lakers/Clips changed their team just as much if not more than the rockets. Where was the growing pains in 17. They were locked in from the beginning and it translated throughout the entire year. you don't define a team at the beginning of a season, but you can sure get a general idea of what is being built and the potential of where the team may be going. Those teams had players that hold guys accountable so things can be corrected. The continued "this will be fine" attitude doesn't fix nor address anything. There's an elephant in the room here.
You're right, I forgot we were too cheap to sign Ariza. Could have traded him for asset like Wiz. Then the g league thing with House. We could have faced Warriors in Wcf and not 2nd round. Cheapass tilman.
But Harden can score 60 points per game and it won't matter until they improve on their horrific defense.
I don't see growing pains, I see a lack of effort. I see Harden regressing because he doesn't have the ball in his hands every trip, and is pretty awful at playing off the ball - most of the time. I see Westbrook leave his man so he can go rebound and start a break - because he wants his stats too I see a lack of effort by both of our best players on defense - and I see Harden blaming others (Particularly Capela) for his mistakes. And I see a roster that is SHORT, and we are getting KILLED by teams that have height and can shoot. How can you build a 3pt shooting team without any elite 3pt shooters? This team is a mess, IMHO, worst Rockets team in years. DD
Yep. I forgot about the House thing last year. When you see that the Suns got Kelly Oubre for Ariza.. man, what a miss.
While I don't at all disagree with the idea that its time to end the Mike , Dan and Tony experiment - That alone wont solve the problem. The biggest problem this organization has is an owner who throws away assets in the name of luxury tax avoidance. Tilman has to either realize that to win you gotta spend or not - it its the latter , this team reached its plateau in 2018. Tilman's got to be willing to go deep into the tax …. or sell the team to someone with deeper pockets that's the bottom line. I'd go thru the list of wasted assets over the last three years but don't have the time …. its pretty shocking.
