We should be 4-13

Expectations were off, though. What would yours, or anyone's, expectations be if the Rockets had just outplayed the Clippers by 10 in the fourth quarter of game 6 and lost, last season? Probably "solid team, second-tier contender, not elite." It's great that the Rockets had a fantastic comeback and made the Western Conference Finals, but it set a median expectation of "nearly as good as the Warriors, maybe Lawson bridges the gap," when nothing about last season really bore that out except the fact that they made the WCF on the back of a one-in-a-million comeback.

The Rockets should definitely be better than this, but the West has seen a number of should-be-good teams scuffling and the Rockets were more equivalent, IMO, with the Grizzlies coming into the season than the Warriors.

McHale wasn't a great coach, but he was competent. This faceplant looks more like a random team-wide slump (when considering the last few years) than a systematic failure. That, IMO, is why Morey isn't pushing the panic button and firing everyone. Something had to be done, at the very least symbolically...especially if McHale had lost the players (which happens even to good coaches, sometimes, after a long coaching stint and dire circumstances). I don't think McHale elevated the team, but I don't think he lowered them either. We just have to hope that the Rockets regress to the mean, since their mean (from the past few years) is pretty good.

 

Harden/Ariza for Micheal Jordan Legacy. Good trade...

 

Still trying to complete my analytical calculation for a more thorough response

 

Rockets should actually be 0-17 given how little they've cared about this season. Kinda shocked we've made it to 6 wins.

 

Management has been busy with finding a good housing complex for Simmons.

 

Let's take a look at the 7 wins:

Okc: nice comback after Russell Westbrook got in foul trouble
Orlando: required OT
Kings: nice win. Almost blew a big lead
Clippers: cp3 didn't play. Got away with goaltending at end
Blazers: took a miracle Brewer 3 to tie
Philly: lol. Down by 7 in the fourth. Took 50 from Harden to pull it out.
Knicks: got away with a key moving screen on a Ariza three, and then Ariza should have been called for traveling or double dribble near the end.

Their wins could all have been losses save for the Kings game.

 

lol, although for the Knicks I thought that was a legal screen, Afflalo just flopped.

A more accurate assessment of that one would be: "down 3 with under a min left Harden jacks contested 3 and lucky rebound goes to Howard and we are bailed out with a Thornton 3 to tie"

 

While I'm not debating anything you've said - I can't stop laughing at you justifying wins by blown calls for the other team.

If we were flip that coin and start jotting down losses recently to blown calls on us....

 

Let's take a look at the 11 losses

Nuggets: wtf
Gsw: lmbao
Heat: nice win, they built a big.... oh no they forgot to play in the second half
Brooklyn: hahahaha
Nuggets: wtf again
Dallas: Dirk, chandler, and Wes Matthews rested and they still lost
Boston: Mchale's 2.5 hour resignation letter
Grizzlies: 4 more three pointers and it would have been tied
Knicks: finally, a OK loss.
Grizzlies: home court is worth 3 pts. Lost at their place by 12, lose at home by 9
Pistons: try not to fall behind by 28 in the first half and you might have a shot