Maybe. If its 1-4 they keep their own pick. If it's 5-30 it goes to OKC. Also own the Brooklyn pick no matter where it lands - Could be a lottery pick.
The Rockets have outscored their opponents on 2-point shots, but have the league’s third-worst point differential (-11.0 per game) on 3s and its worst differential on free throws (-8.0 per game). Their starting lineup has registered a positive plus-minus in all three of their games and outscored their opponents by 11.5 points per 100 possessions in its 56 total minutes. But they’ve been outscored by 29.8 per 100 in 93 minutes with at least one reserve on the floor. The Rockets are playing slower under Ime Udoka. They’ve seen the league’s second-biggest drop in pace, from 99.7 possessions per 48 minutes (14th) last season to 97.0 (29th) this season.
Still a little salty that if Jabari hits at least one free throw or that buzzer beater we are 1-2 instead of 0-3. The Warriors blew the doors off of the Pelicans without Klay in the lineup so losing to them is nothing to be raw about. I'm hoping that the staff has learned how to coach the players. Specifically Jalen and Jabari. One of them needs to average 20+ on high efficiency for this to be a play-in team. So far neither are particularly close. Sengun/Tari/Tate/Dillon/FVV are all fine. These are 3 winnable games coming up. 2/3 wins is the minimum with Sac missing Fox.
Team has shown more structure and resiliency compared to previous years. Unfortunately they still suck at shooting, and are figuring out how to play in close games. Amen looks alright. I think showing out in SL and preseason made expectations a little high, and now against real comp with real pressure we're seeing the growing pains. Seems to be playing more wing than PG which is a credit to his versatility, and also an indication of where the coaches think he is in development. After the disaster Orlando game, he's looking more controlled. I don't know which annoys me more: Jabari's flat jumper hitting front rim, or Jeff Green at center. At this point Jeff Green is basically a center that doesn't give you shot blocking or rebounding. He's also undersized. Maybe he can switch a bit? Oh wait, he's 37 and can barely stay in front of guys. To top it off he also can't shoot. But at least he can handle the ball to the foul line and pass it back out the the 3pt line. Masterful roster construction by Stone. Let's roster 1 legit backup center (this is actually still tbd) and spend 2 other backup frontcourt spots on aging stiffs. One of which has to have everything go right in order to check into a game for 5 minutes. I'm sure the locker room vibes are off the charts though.
The best case scenario was probably going to be following the blueprint Orlando set last season, where they finished just outside of the play-in, but can be very confident they have two no-doubt rookie max extension candidates, another extremely young guy who is already locked in on a way below market contract, a coach everyone has confidence in, and a clear pecking order on offense that lets them closely target fits with their future transactions. That team started 5-20, then went 29-20 before getting eliminated from playoff contention and shutting everyone down the last 4 games of the year. There's still a lot of games left, and ultimately, both the front office and the coach need to figure out who is mentally tough enough to get their teeth knocked in and keep on fighting. I know that Brooks and VanVleet are not giving up even if the team starts out 5-20 or worse; time to find out if any of the young guys have that same kind of grit.
Most everyone knew at least the first half of this season was going to be rough. Took less than 3 games for the doom and gloom club to start squawking. Happy Halloween!
A large part of that is Reggie Bullock who has been playing like trash and Tari/Jock Landale who have been injured. Hopefully this is a good sign when Tari and Jock come back healthy Rox are gonna start stringing games together.
The scary part is that as we confirm if our players suck or not as the season goes on, Stone who is responsible for constructing this roster may not even be fired. If the goal is for Patrick to take over as GM, then who in their right mind would want to take that role on. They could very well just hold onto Stone until things blow up and Patrick takes over? What is even scarier is that an inexperienced kid who has never worked a real job in his entire life who was gifted a degree from USC (known to just coddle the wealthy and hand out degrees with little effort as a bad GPA makes the school look bad) is "learning" from someone like Stone. This is going to be a disaster for the Rockets going forward.
Jeff Green and Boban aren't supposed to see play most of the time. If everyone is healthy all the center and pf minutes would be taken by Sengun, Jock, Bari, Tari and Tate. That's 5 guys for two positions and you want yet another dude to compete for the front court slots? Lol. That's not even counting Samuels who is a 2 way center for this team. Only grizzled vets like Green and Boban would be ok to rot on the bench for 99% of the time and then get suddenly inserted in the lineup in case of injuries. If it was a legit backup he would be pissed and angry to sit on the bench every game.
The problem is that most assumed we were just tanking last year. The reality is that that was our level. We would do well to listen to Bill Parcells: "You are what your record says you are". Not good is giving excuses about how some games were close and how we're tanking so we're actually better than what our record was -- well Parcells says you're wrong.
You raise a good point, you’re not going to find a proven 7th-8th man vet that’s willing to play behind Jock Landale. I mentioned this in other threads, and how that limits you to UDFAs and G-leaguers (interestingly, the Rockets only brought in one center for summer league). My definition of legit revolves around the measurables and physical capabilities of the player, rather than their nba experience. I’m basically wishing they had gone for an unknown commodity that could maybe develop into something over the Udonis Haslem style vet. I also realize I’m going crazy over the backup backup center, but that’s what an 0-3 start does to a mf. Tari coming back would be a big help in those departments. Is he glue that holds the bench defense together? On paper he’s a good foil to Jabari in the frontcourt, so we might see more Jabari at the 5. But as your main rim defender, he seems more theoretical and kinda feels like Robert Covington at center.
I have avoided posting on here because, simply put, the team does not look good. It will take some time to get Ime's schemes ingrained into these boys' heads, but nothing looks good so far. The team needs Whitmore and Eason. Other early observations: Jabari needs to be more physical on offense and get to the line more. Sengun has arrived. Cut Jermaine Samuels and sign Keon Johnson. Pick and roll and screen dynamics need to improve for the 3 point shooting to improve. Edit: just saw that we missed our chance on Keon and Brooklyn got him.
Statistically we are bad but we were good at the second and third games. Quite different than recent years. We are going to start winning soon.Hopefully.
Did you see the 'I am pround of you guys' thread? Folks have been more than lenient given the situation. But I guess it is all angle.......
