Despite a few losses recently, I'd still put us ahead of where I thought we'd be coming in to the season. We're a .500 team, that's crazy to me after the last 3 years.
It’s good that we’re at least .500. However, we started strong but lost momentum as the schedule picked up. We left wins on the table that will bite us later in our quest to make the play-in/playoffs. The west is competitive and we could easily get pushed outside of the top 10 by a team like the Warriors.
Compared to last year it is heaven but the team was 15-12 at one point so expectations were quite high weeks ago. Injuries happened and defensive intensity started to weaken.
Predicted 30ish wins and am pleasantly surprised. Sengün is a Star. Jabari has shown flashes of being an elite role-player. Our two new veteran starters set the tone every damn game. And Jalen Green still flashes his tantalizing potential, albeit rarely this season. I think we’re in a great place
Jabari looks like a 3x All Star if coaches are benevolent.... It looks good enough but I would lie if I say they look like OKC......the pieces have to mesh perfectly later.
35 wins was probably a reasonable expectation and they are on pace for more than that. They’ve left some wins on the table but they’ve also capitalized on some teams with injury problems. .500 seems about right so far. Post all star break I think they go on a run.
Not too concerned about the record. Every game we lost (except the first two of the season) have been incredibly close and competitive.
I would partly blame the weird schedule for some of our losses. But we also had some easier games against injured teams. In general we are a tough team to beat and that is the most important thing for me. It seems like Green is slowly getting out of his slump. We could maybe even go on a longish winning streak after the all star break if Alpi, FVV + Bari/Green constantly play well. Going forward I would like to see more minutes from Cam&Amen. I feel like Ime is completely focused on reaching the Playoffs and wants to achieve a major turnaround like Mike Brown did with the Kings and relies too heavily on our vets.
Anyone would've taken 15-15 and run with it. Let alone Sengun being an All-Star and Brooks playing All Defense. Some unlucky losses to Atlanta, Pacers and Sixers (all east teams) but the small twitchy guard teams tend to give us trouble. Curry also. Pretty happy with the season overall and I'd give it a 9/10 with the only negatives being Jalen Green inconsistency, Amen Thompson injuries/jumper, Tari lingering issues and the flu thing that was going around.
If Brooks and Jabari are still out, I predict the Pistons break their streak against us. Until Amen and Cam get integrated into the rotation our bench really sucks. Landale, Tate, Holiday, Bullock are not rotational players on a playoff team. I’ve been preaching patience all year, but after last night’s game, I think Ime needs to start pushing more minutes towards Amen and Cam, so they can contribute to the post all-star run and Stone needs to trade for a backup center. We outperformed all expectations, due to our defense and a bit of luck with other team’s injuries. I was content before the year started for us to get mid 30 wins, but their unexpected success the first 30 games, has convinced me, that with a little tweaking here and there, we can keep our core progressing and make at least the play-in. Lakers, Phoenix, Pelicans have all avoided the devastating injuries to a star. I doubt that lasts all year.
I’m pleased with where we are, but the fundamental lack of shooting on the roster was a problem going into the season, and remains a problem. positive surprises in no particular order: 1). How effective of a coach Ime is. Simply put, Ime has had the biggest impact on this team’s success. Going from worst team in the league to a 500 team in one season is pretty damn good. 2). Rockets D with Sengun. While the defense has been inconsistent of late, overall, we’ve proven that we can be a top defense in the league…WITH Sengun in the middle. Again, much of the credit goes to Ime. 3). Our offseason free agent acquisitions. The 2-yr max FVV deal is looking good, and so is the 4-yr deal for Dillon the Villan. They represent 2 of our best 3pt shooters right now. Uncle Jeff’s value can’t be understated as well. Holiday is actually our best 3pt shooter through 30 games. I refuse to acknowledge Landale is actually on the team. But overall, our free agent additions have far exceeded expectations. Other than Ime, our free agents have really given this team the hard nosed identity it needed. 4). Sengun. If it wasn’t clear last year, it should be clear now. Al P is our franchise player and we need to build around him. I’m excited about his developmental progress. He’s averaging 21/9/5/1/1 in 32 minutes…and he’s only 21. lol. We were due for a break. Thank god we dipped back into that 2021 draft for Sengun or it would have been an unmitigated disaster for the Rockets. Sengun is Stone’s only true great achievement as GM. 5). Bari & Tari. Both have taken big steps in year 2. Both are shooting well, and the defense is improved. While neither may ever be a true star, both have huge motors, mentally tough, and great work ethic. Im 100% convinced both will be really good two-way players in the league for many years to come. They are both excellent fits around Sengun. 6). Cam. This is more of a wait and see positive, but coming off summer league MVP and dominating the G-League, Cam has done everything the org has asked him to do. Granted we haven’t seen him in much NBA action, but he sure looks like a prospect with star-level potential. Very exciting to have someone like that waiting in the wings for his opportunity. Looking forward to seeing him get some minutes in the 2nd half of the season. negatives in no particular order: 1). Shooting. While our FA’s, Tari/Bari are shooting well, it’s not enough. Jalen’s 3pt shot has not come around, and FVV’s minutes are not sustainable given his age and injury history. That basically just leaves us with an undersized Aaron Holiday for long range shooting in the back court. That’s not gonna get it done. Granted this issue was undoubtedly made worse by the KPJ debacle right before the season. But both Holiday and Brooks will see some sub-40% regression. We also know that Jabari is more of a mid-range guy at this point in his career. So, we really need to find some shooting, and preferably in the back court. 2). Jalen. With out a doubt the biggest disappointment this season. Highest draft pick since Yao, and now in his 3rd season we just haven’t seen significant development since he was drafted. He deserves the full year to figure it out, but his slow processing, poor jump shooting, and difficulty finishing at the rim are troubling. At this point I think we ride out this year, but absent a big turnaround in the second half of the season, the Rockets should be looking for a new shooting guard this offseason. 3). Amen. I only put this in the negative category because it’s unfortunate that we haven’t seen our #4 pick in much live game action this year. It’s all just freak bad luck and folks calling him a bust are laughable, but it is unfortunate that we’ve missed out on seeing how good Amen is so far.
