As currently constructed: are Rockets championship contenders?

I think so. If they can continue to improve and peak around playoff time, they could be real contenders.

They have a lot of talent on the team.

 

Need to find a way to score easy buckets. Harden Isos and 3 pointers aren't efficient or easy buckets. Which is why I go bonkers when they go away from Dmo especially when we need to score

I honestly feel its the only thing that is holding us back from being title contenders.

 

Of course they are, it's not really a question. There's really only 5 contenders this year: OKC, Spurs, GS, Clips and of course the Rox are the last one. I think all 5 are of similar strength so we'll have to see who can dig deeper and come out on top once these teams go at it in the playoffs.

What I will say is out of all the contenders, the Rox are the deepest team IMHO and the only one that can still be competitive if one of their stars go down, whereas other teams would bottom out if they lost one of their guys.

 

they have a certain % chance of winning. so i guess yah they are contenders.

but if you were to upgrade one more starter it would increase the chance to even more.

that is up to morey in what he would see the most logical thing.

you have a choice of upgrading
the pg
the pf
the sf
prolific scorer off the bench
backup center

and then how much that hypothetical trade would hinder your flexibility in the future. i have no clue what he will do. i would assume there will be a trade though because that pick from NO does not do much good if you use it and just leave the guy in the d league next year. maybe he will though who really knows.

 

This team is hands down loaded to make it there, there no doubt about it.

Great bench
Two Stars
Veterans


Only problem is, we need everyone to come back. *Cough* TJ *Cough*, and move DMO to the five and have TJ and Smith at the four. Dwight MUST get back into form. Dwight is major how good we do in the playoffs, rebounding and easy buckets. Dwight can't keep throwing up air ball layups when he is 2 feet away from the goal. Smith must keep scoring in the paint, and keep putting up points from the bench. Harden is the MVP.

 

too many good teams out West. but i'm usually wrong

 

No. They need one more playmaker. If Harden doesn't have it going, they look awful on offense. I'm also not sold on Bev and Ariza as reliable outside shooters.

 

Just something to add, they need a playmaker outside of Harden.

 

If Harden learns to score when the refs arent blowing the whistle then we can win it all.

 

Chemistry is the key. That has been improving but it needs to get a lot better on the defensive end. We can have off nights on the offensive end as long as the defense stays consistently good, we should stay close and give ourselves a fighting change to win at the end of ball games - regular and playoffs.

 

Maaaaaaaaaan, dont know how to answer that yet. It really depends on how this teams gels together in April. I'd say now (pains me to say this) but GSW ball movement is just too good and a bench deep enough everyone can contribute. Rockets most def have the talent on paper but gotta stick togetther, and be healthy of course.

 

After adding brewer n smoove, yes but we need another pg to facilitate the offense. Kind of like the trade we did mid 2009 to get Lowry. Lol.

 

Contenders? Definitely
Favorites? Not yet. We're just missing that one piece. Be it a higher caliber point guard or something else.

 

This team could really use an MVP shooting guard and one of the top centers in the league, along with a scrappy defensive PG and some young enigmatic talent at PF and on the bench. Maybe one veteran 3 point shooter and an open court runner for bench depth.

Oh wait - this isn't 2009, it's 2014? Things are good.

The team can always be upgraded and does have glaring weaknesses, but there is no shame in saying we are contenders at this point, even objectively.

 

I think they just need to protect the ball a bit better.

A LOT of it seems to be chemistry issues.

But if they can drop there 17 TO a game in to say 13 or 14 a game, I think it will make a world of difference.

Game after game I see these awful outlet passes that are so boneheaded. Ugh.

 

Maybe it is just me, but I would like to see them at least win a round in the playoffs before calling them contenders. They have just been a constant disappointment for the last 15 years despite showing flashes of a contending team.

 

Ironically your logic seems to suggest that there are no contenders in the west.

However, the fact is that there are many contenders in the west, and the Rockets are one of them.

 

No still need a true backup C and a play making PG but I hope I am wrong.

 

It's not that I don't think we're contenders... it's just funny you guys are high on the Rockets and so low on the Clippers as if the regular season matters. Meanwhile a team like the Clippers has a huge lead margin of victory.

At this rate it's going to be an all-out paper, rock, scissor scenario to see who can sneak out of the west. Hell, had we gotten by the Blazers last year we might have moved passed the Spurs based on the paper, rock, scissor scenario.

It's like when we had to avoid Seattle all over again.

Basically we're contenders, but being a contender no longer carries the weight it once did so standing pat is taking a risk in itself.