The 2019-20 Rockets are going to win 60+ games... and it's going to suck

The only thing that will keep it intriguing and optimistic for even the most die-hard of Rockets fans on this board would be a major change. Letting go off Bzdelik is not that, lol.

• That means adding a top 20 like talent.
• That means changing the system meaningfully.
• That means some kind of meaningful change to GSW - not losing KD, but losing KD and something like Draymond out for the year with an achilles (no I'm not hoping for injury, just pointing that out).
• That means a head coaching change.
• That means a GM change.
• That means a complete uniform re-branding. COMPLETE. And well done.

Remember when 40-44 win teams was "nba purgatory". The dynamics are the same as a better team, but still not good enough. The only slight difference is there's usually the smallest glimmers of hope that this year they'll pull it through, whereas that 40-44 win team you know just can't be good enough. But that glimmer of hope gets smaller and smaller every year, so you're basically in a form of "nba purgatory" again....

To me, I can't stand the do the same approach but fail every year direction the team has. And that bugs me about this very successful form of "nba purgatory" and bugged me about the 40-44 win "nba purgatory" and bugged me about the even crappier "nba purgatory" teams the Rockets had for a small stretch there.

Eventually.... Get better. Or get worse... to get better.

 

60+ wins? Sign me up.



Except I actually do feel like they will make a move this year. Whats the reason to extend Gordon?

 

So we are basically the Steve Nash Suns of this decade?...

Or the Jason Kidd Nets?...

Or the Tim Donaughy Kings?

 

Tell us how you really feel. Come on now, don't hold back.

LOL, we are one star piece away from beating the Warriors in the playoffs but to get that piece, we have to renounce other key super role positions. You're right about one thing - it's really hard to get to the championship, much less win it when you are competing against such a stacked team. Who BTW, is in their 5th straight finals.

 

Regular season is just warm up for playoffs. We SHOULD experiment things during the season, and not worry about getting 60+ wins even if we could.

 

Easily the best post in the GARM.

 

And the Warriors going to 5 straight NBA Finals. First since basketball was fake in the 60's or w/e it was. This is just bad timing. There are ZERO answers.

 

This. We have seen over and over and over and over and over the vast majority of titles are won by star stacked teams with very, very few exceptions.

Yet it seems that most of the “outrage group” expect with high probability for us to do the opposite. Take down the star stacked team, without a star stacked team.

 

Not crazy, it's clear that without KD they run their offense as they used to do back in 2015, multiple screens, off ball movement, cutting....
They're really scary .
With KD they're "reduced" to tough shots while playing iso.
With that said, they're always a great dominant team, and the Rockets are really their toughest opponent

 

The Warriors are now 31-1 w/o Durant in the line-up including 6-0 in these current playoffs without him. Warriors do not need Durant, Durant is a luxury

 

CHOKING TIME WILL BE THERE...
We have the 2 choking experts in Harden and Paul.

 

There would be no amount of vaseline for the scorched earth I would leave if I didn't post behind some resemblance of a filter.

 

It would only suck if you based your contentment on what other people say.

A 60 win team has flaws and can win the title. I'd take that any season. Two dozen teams have been dreaming of a 60 win season for a couple of decades.

 

Based on 2016 they mostly just needed him not to be with OKC or another potential challenger.

 

Not really. I would admit it to be extremely cynical and somewhat dour but I've been watching this cycle repeat itself for over 20 years now and I'm not buying anymore of the Rockets' PR. I'll believe that this organization is capable of winning a title when I see it happen - it's just that simple. I am not onboard with what D'Antoni and Morey are doing because I don't believe that it will yield Houston a title and the evidence bears that out. What I am dismayed about most of all is that I see them locked into a pattern trying to make a failed approach work despite evidence to the contrary. Oh well, it could be worse - we could be stuck with having to deal with Mark "Mr. Shark Tank" Cuban as the owner.

 

Having a team with the potential to win 60 games each season and consistently pushing GSW (stacked team) farther than any other team has been able to is the very definition of being "capable of winning a title". You are being obtuse and blind if you can't see that. It's just that simple. Considering that we have had more success than any other team in the GSW dynasty, just what exactly do you see as a pattern of trying to make a failed approach work? It's fine that you don't like our current playing style and approach, but to say that "the evidence bears that out" is completely asinine.

 

Tell that to the Cavs. They actually beat that 73 win team without KD and then got obliterated once they signed KD. Ask them which team was harder to defend.

 

I'm not sure. Yes, KD put up huge numbers in the playoffs against us, seeming to carry the Warriors.

BUT....they actually seem to play better without him. Better ball distribution.

Remember, they won 72 games the year BEFORE they acquired him...and everybody else on the team likely got better since then (well, maybe not Iguadala)

 

The Rockets would have been about 60% Vegas favorites to win the series if it started over again without KD. Before the series we were about 30% to win.

 

They beat that team by getting Green suspended in Game 5. Green and Curry are the glue for the team, especially Green. As for how they beat them later on in the series, it was via ISO ball just like how we are trying to beat them and finding more success than every other team, just like how OKC was able to push them. ISO ball is GSW's biggest defensive weakness, but at the end of the day it is still insanely hard to beat a team with 4 All-Stars in a series.

 

It's not whether or not they (GS) "need" him rather it's what his presence on their teams means in the big scheme of things. While he's with GS he has a chance to make NBA history of the type that very few players have the opportunity to do so. It's not outside the possibility that he/they can win 2 or maybe even 3 more championships which would put them up there with the legendary Celtics. As Anthony Davis succintly put it: "I'd take legacy over money. I want to have a legacy." This is the choice facing KD. He can leave GS and go elsewhere for a ton of money but by doing so he stands to tarnish his legacy if he's unable to win another title.

Legacy is what's driving CP3 who will go into the HOF and one of the greatest points guards ever. But the clock is ticking loudly and as of now, his legacy will be mentioned in the same breath as that of Lanier, Stockton, Malone and Barkley. As for KD, all of this "talk" of him leaving sounds like wishful thinking to me. I'll believe it when I see it happen.