You're right about OKC, but I'm not hung up on that comparison. OKC is a rarity like the 04 Pistons that won't be replicated very often. My comment about the playoffs being good for development was more for the very young guys, White Jones Morris Patsquatch Motiejunas Parsons etc. An expectation of winning goes a long way for mental preparation and growth - as opposed to, say, developing on the Sacramento Kings. As for your last point, I don't really have expectations for our young guys. I don't expect that any of them will become a superstar. However I think it's pie-in-the-sky how Clutchfans expects to get a superstar by design (draft, or trade). I think our best course of action is to see what becomes of this current squad, because I would take Harden, Lin, and Asik over Gasol, Bynum, or Howard ANY DAY, and I don't think there were ever other realistic options. Because of these feelings, I'm not opposed to making or missing the playoffs. I'm all about developing what we have, because like we agreed, it's all very raw. Plus, we have the financial flexibility to make further moves.
We're definitely a playoff team because we're still improving. The fact that we've played well enough to be 3-3 with the youngest team in the league bodes well for us the rest of the season.
The Rockets are talented enough to make the playoffs. They are a brand new team that was only recently assembled. We have played very competitively against playoff caliber teams. Some of these games will be victories later in the season. There is plenty of reason to be positive.
I think the Jazz will get in, which only really leaves one spot. We're a bubble team, our game isn't quite there yet, but if we start hitting our groove, we'll be tough first-round exit team.
I did not want to create a new thread to ask this. For those of you who have followed this team for a longer time and have a better idea of how Morey's mind works, when do you think he will pull the trigger for the next trade ? Do you think it will be in the off season or do you think he has something almost ready right now ? What player do you think it will be. It's obvious only Morey knows what he is thinking. But to just guess, what do you guys think is going to happen ?
You got Harden that was the glue for OKC - now stepping onto the main stage. You have Jeremy Lin that dropped a class 1 nuke on the Lakers last year. Thats all I need to know, I expect Omer to avg 20pts a game and 15rebounds by 1/3rd into the season. Harden should average 25-35pts a game Jeremy Lin - this depends on his headspace & coaching ~ right now coaching is doing nothing to make Jeremy believe he even has a starters spot anymore. Parsons - I'm expecting more effort but ... im starting to look at pix from last year and gametape from last year and this year - and where was he in the gym??
Here's how I see it... The Dallas Mavericks- very old...have aging star...Dirk is on his way out imo...nice quality role players The Utah Jazz- very big...likely to be a part of trade near the deadline because of logjam of 4s/5s...have established star and scoring/rebounding threat(big Al) The Portland Trailblazers- have established star(LaMarcus)...young, athletic rookie (Lillard)...high potential wing (Batum)...scrappy, defensive guards...lack center The Phoenix Suns- solid core of Dragic, Beasley, Scola, Gortat...no established star...lacking on defense The New Orleans Hornets- very young, high potential...injury-prone star (Gordon)...lacking at pg...Anthony Davis=face of franchise The Minnesota Timberwolves- injury riddled stars...solid on offense The Golden State Warriors- no established star...core of Curry, Lee, Bogut, Thompson The Houston Rockets- established star (Harden)...defensive 3 and 5...star(?) point guard...young bench...fall in love with 3 at time Conclusion... To me, it seems like Utah/Portland/Houston are fighting to get in. I doubt New Orleans, Dallas, or Pheonix have the firepower to sneak in. As our core develops I think we will get into the playoffs. We played Portland tough after barely practicing and we haven't reached our full potential yet.
either make the playoff, or just suck, please, do not be 50% again............... cause i am feeling another 14th pick this year...
With the right coaching staff, easily a playoff team... (Sidenote: please see Miami vs Memphis right now)
Look at the teams we lost to Grizzlies are 4-1 and are dismantling the Heat Nuggets are a playoff team maybe top 4 getting hot Blazers have a decent team we lost to in oT
Morey's mind is all about value. When is a guy gonna be at his lowest trade value / when are our pieces going to be at peak value? When will our potential trading partner have less leverage or more pressure in negotiations? So it will usually be near a deadline of some kind.
Right now, the Rockets will go as far as their talent takes them. They'll be able to rely on the brilliance of Harden and Lin occasionally to simply overwhelm the bad teams, or their young legs and unselfishness to beat older teams taking the night off. A team with comparable talent, such as most of the "bubble teams", will win by virtue of better chemistry and/or coaching. Contending teams will squash this squad if they care to and their coaching squad takes the 15 minutes necessary to dissect and disseminate the Rockets playbook (all 3 plays of it). I think the Rockets are on the outside looking in in terms of playoffs. I think the over/under for Jeremy Lin games played has to be around 60 or so considering how labored his movement looks right now, and any game that Toney Douglas has to play major minutes as a PG in is virtually guaranteed to be a loss. I think Utah is too deep and has too good of a home-court advantage to miss the playoffs, Minnesota has Aldelman and a rejuvenated AK47 and is holding the fort without their two best players. I think the Rockets end up with 39 wins, #12 in the lottery, with the opportunity to add 2 or 3 major pieces next year in FA and the draft; basically the season we would have had in 2002 if Steve Francis doesn't get the migranes.
Well Memphis was beating the heat because they were hitting so many 3's like a lot. From what I saw on twitter aside from Bosh & Bron nobody else had a pretty good game, Wade had a terrible game & they missed a bunch of FT's as well. Tomorrow is going to be a battle.
Love your sig and username, but did you watch the last game? Lin had 8 assists, 0 turnovers, and played a good floor game. Also is starting to hit is 3's and is making all of his FT's, and 2nd in the league in steals.
