"We are a better team than last year," says the Tillman

I wouldn't say we are better, we are slightly worst in defense. Losing Ariza and Lou hurts our defense but we got better in offense by signing Melo.

However, keep in mind that we are not done yet. We still got Ryno that we can trade.

 

I 100% believe the Rockets will be a better team in 2018-19...

Issue is: did we close the gap with GS?

With a healthy Cousins, they will also be better next year.

 

You said, Westbrook. Thus why I was confused. Guess that was a typo.

 

It doesn’t really matter. OTher teams change too.

Better, worse... only thing that matters is winning a ring. That’s how you show your better.

But... if im going to comment on his comment... I don’t care for it. It strikes me as in the mold of comments Les used to make (remember when he was gung ho about that Late 2000s team??) and in the mold of MDAs still a successful season comment from last year.

 

My bad. I fixed it. That's what I get for trying to type that one using my phone with it's stupid keyboard.

 

..................................................wut

 

I'm happy considering who and what we had chances to sign given losing Luc and Trevor.

I like it even better since the main stream talking heads are doing the exact same thing they did last year which is "we're not as good""wont work with Melo" "Trevor and Luc were glue guys" blah blah blah

We can still win 55-60 games so we'll be in the mix again

 

I feel about Cousins the same way people feel about Melo and the Rockets. It's a big wildcard that could even have a negative effect. Using Cousins forces them to change their play style, at least in small ways. Think about it this way:
Field goals attempted per game (last year) and eFG% (last year)
Durant 18, .586
Curry 17 .618
Thompson 16 .585
Green 8 .516
Cook 8 .575

Cousins - 18 .530

If he's taking shots from anyone in their top rotation except Draymond, they are worse shots. Especially if he's taking shots from the big 3. He also slows the pace, could have a weird locker room presence - in general, he could have the 2016 Dwight Howard effect.

I don't think things will be that bad, but there's reason to believe that he doesn't improve them as much as anyone is thinking. If I'm a betting man I go for a neutral effect or very slight negative effect.

Zaza played his role well (as did Bogut) - a huge goon that could chop-block, karate chop, and set moving picks. If Cousins does that and racks up fouls - he's a hothead, and can he even set screens as well as the role-playing bigs to get Curry and Klay as open as they're used to? Or does he mess up their perimeter motion and spacing if he's not as willing to muck-it-up on screens?

Lots of questions.

 

What was Tillz supposed to say? The truth?

 

Rockets only got good defensively this year.. How long Ariza been with the Rockets? PJ Tucker and Luc help us become better.. and the improvement of Capela..

 

basketball expert Tilman Tortilla


at least he seems to be willing to pay the dough tho

 

Luc was broke and in no way is Ariza worth 15M., he absolutely killed us in game 7
Ennis + Melo > Luc + Ariza

 

Our historically top regular season offense couldn't even break 100 against the Warriors for majority of the series. Remember we did end up LOSING that series. And the bricklayers that left this summer had a lot to do with those abysmal numbers.

 

0-27 and losing by 9 will take years to erase from my memory.

But the defense is the only reason we were within 9. I think dropping Ariza and getting Melo helps with the cold spell problem. But I still want as many switching wings as possible.

 

I agree brother. Well stated.

The Worriers are still the Worriers in my humble opinion. This is not "rose colored goggles" or "homerism" as I'm sure many will accuse me of. Yes I'm a Rockets fan and wish them success.

However, no one (media or not) can honestly look in the mirror and genuinely say the Rockets would not have beaten GSW had CP3 not gotten injured. That was a massive blow. Without CP3, the Rockets relegated to the inception of the 2016 Rockets (pretty good but not good enough to beat GSW). Rockets were up 3-2 with homecourt. With CP3 healthy, that stifling defense, hustle and amazing playmaking would definitely will the Rockets to ONE more W after game 5.

It is a SUPREME disappointment that the Rockets lost to GSW.....but this disappointment is not because the Rockets underperformed. It's because EVERYONE saw with their eyes how good the Rockets lived up to their "hype" in the postseason and were about to take down a "Historic Great Vaunted WORRIERS team" in 7...possibly even 6. I was so proud of the Rockets and still am to this day. But CP3 going down gift wrapped the series to the Worriers. WORRIERS GOT LUCKY (again). I'll say that every time.

I can go on and on about the seriously horrible/conspiracy worthy/rigged officiating especially in the 2nd half of game 7 AT HOME where neither Harden and the Rockets could buy a FOUL in the lane no matter how often they took it to the basket. That's just terrible.

Bottom line, even with the rigged officiating, CP3 being healthy would have overcome that.

My hope is MDA has enough discernment (esp in the post season) not to play CP3 heavy minutes too often. I hope we have enough talent where MDA can hopefully learn from last season and trust utilizing more bodies for the betterment of the overall team success.

 

OBLIGATORY

 

Durant still scored but let's not takeaway Ariza's contribution. Nobody on this earth, including the so called "King", could shutdown KD. Ariza was atleast able to make him take tough shots & deny him the ball. If you can slow him down enough to get key stops then it's a win.

 

We need one more move, to get a good 3 and D wing....just one away from being better than last year.

 

Luc and Trevor getting old.

It's not out of the question that Ennis and MCW don't become better defenders this year