HOU #3 Off #21 Def, Champs #3-tied Off #19 Def, Net Rox #7 Champs #6

After the Clippers loss and SA losing to the Bulls fairly handily, I think our aim should be 2nd/3rd seeds barring injuries

 

Wow thanks for the explanation+ bonus trivia question.
Great stuff and explains a lot of the standings

 

The Champs of last year might not be this year.

 

W


Wonder what okc's numbers look like

 

As comparison, by adjusted net rating on BREF, the Rockets are #5 (3rd in offense and 22nd in defense).

Top 9 is west heavy:

1 Golden State Warriors
2 Toronto Raptors
3 Los Angeles Clippers
4 Cleveland Cavaliers
5 Houston Rockets
6 San Antonio Spurs
7 Utah Jazz
8 Detroit Pistons
9 Oklahoma City Thunder

 

Pretty much this. It's a deceptive comparison. It's good to make the board feel better about the Rockets, but we need to take it with a grain of salt.

 

You have rox net rating 5.8 and I believe it should be 5.2, conversely you have Cleve 5.2 and I believe it should be 5.8 @heypartner

But really this is all great signs of a much better ball club. The Philly and Lakers games are outliers tho and thus the better defensive rating than actual but we have been improving steadily.

My prediction was always a top 3 offense if not the best by seasons end and my hope was an average defense, 15th or so. If we could keep climbing and reach 15 it would mean we are likely playing at a great level and would place us just outside the big 3 of cle, gsw, sas and mean we have a punchers chance.

 

Interesting that on our 7 loses, 4 of them are on this list.

 

Oh no I understand outliers in both directions and that's fine I was just stating the recent blowout to LA is why our defense jumped significantly combined with our steady inprovement

 

and you think we are at our best? the Rockets are still figuring out how to play with each other, and Dmo is not even in the rotation yet. This is a new team with new coaching staff, we are not even close to our full potential.

 

We are certainly not immune to confirmation bias but it is just good to see that based on this type of statistical ranking, we are playing as well as those teams that are favored to win this year. Especially when most experts wrote us off on their preseason predictions. Basically, we are better than what most people thought off and to me, that is cause to celebrate that we are on the right track.

 

I agree 2nd isn't unrealistic, plus harden will have a good shot at MVP

 

Unless they go with the best player on the best team narrative again or decide to give to Westbrook because he managed some amazing numbers and a 5th seed.

 

The pessimist in me says:
1. Still small sample size. Wonder how accurate these numbers have been historically at 1/4 into the season vs. full season.
2. This says as much about Cleveland's defense (and pace) thus far as the Rockets
3. Cleveland can certainly get better defensively. Can the Rockets get better defensively and/or sustain the ORtg offensively? Still unknown.

The optimist in me says:
1. Rockets should be able to sustain that net rating because they should be great offensively regardless, and seem like a #20ish team defensively. They have glaring defensive issues, but better chemistry this year plus I think their offense pace/success help cover some of that up.
2. Mimicking the team that took down the "all-time" team makes sense. And the more we play against the Warriors, the more I watch other teams play against the Warriors, the more I become convinced that you have to beat the Warriors at their own game PLUS have better/equal bench and bigs. Meaning, go fast, score a lot and efficiently, beat up their bench if you can, and hope your bigs are better than theirs, especially defensively. That seems to be how the Thunder were successful last year, how the Cavs did it. Of course, this year is different and the Warriors are still the odds on favorite...
3. Even if the Rockets slip a bit, we can feel very good 1/4 through the season that the Rockets are way better than we thought they'd be, that this OFFENSE first philosophy can have long term championship potential.... though still lots of heavy roster lifting to be done to get there.

 

That would be amazing.