Let's be objective for a moment and analyze what this team lacks going into the 2014-15 season. -Bench Depth -Competent Coaching (can't drive this point home enough) -Playmaker besides Harden -Starting PG/PF I know this is obvious to most of you, but I just want to gauge the opinion of CF on where they think the team lands this year, come April. The Southwest division this year is poised to make a run at the playoffs. That's 5 teams right there!! I think there is a solid case for 9 teams to make the playoffs ahead of the Rockets. Generally, let's look at each one. Pelicans (Elite post presence both offensively from AD, but defensively from AD/Asik, but health is the primary point here; otherwise, Gordon, Tyreke, Davis, Anderson, Holiday can net this team a playoff spot) Mavs (Elite coaching, offensive options, elite coaching) Grizzlies (Post presence, defensive tenacity, better offensive output this year) Thunder (Team got worse for sure for the next 8 wks, but Jackson will be a huge, and maybe WB steps up to the challenge for the next 2 months. Also, I think Steven Adams is going to have a breakout year and they'll be upper echelon with KD back) Blazers (elite offensive output, and any one of those starting 5 can have a big game anytime including Lopez) Warriors (see Blazers; new coach; tougher mentality going into the next year) Clippers (definitely top 2-3 team in the league; 2 potential MVP candidates, something to prove) Suns (guards on guards on guards, solid playmakers, good coaching) Spurs (all of the above) So realistically, where do you see our team landing in April and if in the playoffs, how far? The team is riding on Harden/Howard's health and I think that's really concerning. Frankly, I'm worried that what we lack is what is critical to make a playoff push. This is not meant to be downer thread, but I want to see where fellow fans stand with this and what their perspective is for the coming season.
Well we'll just have to see how Ariza and the bench fills up the missing roles from last year. Technically we got better this year with our superstars. Harden being more of a leader and defensive player coming back from FIBA. Howard being more healthy with his back. Bev has a bit more offensive game than last year. Dmo has certainly improved a lot. But all of our other players are all question marks. Ariza is a known contract year player, Jason Terry is.... and then the rest of the bench has just been playing against 2nd/3rd stringers in preseaon.
Playoffs. I agree that the Rockets are an injury away from being a lottery team, but even last year, their chances would have been shot with an injury. Sure, they had some band-aids that could slow the bleeding initially, but they were toast if Dwight or Harden went down for a long time. I'm more thinking that McHale and Morey are the ones who need to deliver here soon. McHale needs to develop a top 10 defense. No excuses when he has Dwight, Beverley and Ariza in the starting lineup. If he can't do it, they need to find a coach who can. Morey needs to find a trade, preferably for an upgrade at power forward or a strong guard. While there have been a few bright spots, their bench looks very weak. Not too concerned about this... it will happen.
I think you're putting too much weight on the bench and not realizing that teams play players staggered and when players are staggered, bench production hinges on individual production. Who says Troy cannot have a game where he goes for 30 points (all it takes is 10 shots) yet, you ignore that. Who says JT cannot average 10 points for bench production along with DMO - yet you ignore that. I'm all for guessing if we'll make the playoffs but dont downplay the team because we lost a few players and added more players. Even if I were not a fan of this team, I would take this years roster over last years roster 10-10.
We need to put a cap on harden's mins...Last season he played way too many minutes..You have to find a way to rest your best players throughout the long season. Harden looks way too fatigue when playoff time comes around. The Fatigueness affected his defense. With less mins in okc he was a close to a lockdown defender.
less mins because he wasn't in the position he is now. he has what he wants so the minutes will be in 35+.
I agree with Clutch on that point also. The team can only do so much. I'm seeing a lot of promise from the defensive side of the ball during preseason. I trust Morey because he claimed that this year's team will be better than last year's and I'm excited, yet anxious to see what happens. McHale, I don't trust so much. There were a lot of games last year, where we should've won, and I think that solely relies on coaching.
Two things. I'm an advocate for Troy, and I think he will be a great 6th man, but only if McHale uses him properly. Also, we haven't seen enough Terry to make that kind of claim. The story with DMo is the same for the past 3 years. Consistency. We need a consistent 4 to fill that spot. DMo has gotten better, I'll give him that, but he sucks it up terribly in games every so often. Consistency has not been seen in his tenure so far. Also, I don't know how/why you would take this year's roster over last year's 10/10. Jeremy will be sorely missed if we don't upgrade the backup PG spot, because Canaan and Smith have proven squat. Asik, mind his attitude, was a perfect backup C that was critical in the latter games of the Portland series. 45% of me regrets Morey not matching Parsons, because that SF position would be solidified for 45 min, and we could see one of them play the 4 when playing small. Surely that percentage goes down if Morey makes the move with said cap flexibility, but with the season a week away, I'm not as enthusiastic about the team going into this season as opposed to last. Those Pacers games in Asia were fun.
The Warriors do have a new coach. I am not sure he can coach at all, but he is new. What is this about a tougher mentality? I dont understand. Is Curry gonna be all buff and be an enforcer this year? I mean WTF? The Suns will take a step back. Sorry - they simply played over their heads last year. I can see 36-40 wins for them. Just WOW on the Steven Adams prediction. Has there ever been a bigger, stiffer white guy that gets pub than this guy? Damn, if he was black, no one would have even heard of that guy... Many fans do this to their own team. All they can see is the good things about other teams and all they can see is the negatives about their own team. It's called being too close to the situation. Let's face it. If the Rockets had a top notch coach, everyone here would predict them to be top 4 in the west, easily. This McHale situation makes it dicey, however.
Sucks we all have to say this...but barring an catastrophic/prolonged injury to Howard or Harden, the Rockets should make the playoffs. How high we could be has many factors. If everyone remains healthy from this point forward, Houston could remain the 4th seed(with the Thunder slipping from the perch due to Durant's injury). 1. San Antonio Spurs(Every time we count them out, they keep finding a way to win.) 2. LA Clippers(Blake takes the next step) 3. Portland Trailblazers(This team shocks the Northwest Division, and get lucky without Durant) 4. Houston Rockets(Coaching prowess limits this team, but doesnt skip a beat) 5. Dallas Mavericks(Coaching maximizes a conglomerate of aging parts with youth) 6. Golden State Warriors(1st year coaching growing pains...may conflict with how Curry plays) 7. OKC Thunder(Durant is this team's heart beat, without him, this team will desperately struggle.) 8. Phoenix Suns(Small ball part deux)
Well, just *****. I stand corrected... I would rephrase my question but I am not sure what to call the guy. He is big and stiff, though. He seems more white then anything else, especially with his athleticism. I simply do not get the love for the guy. I honestly think people in the national media try to make him into something he is not to try to make it look like OKC didnt get BEAR-RAPED in the Harden trade.
every team you named has a PF that can shoot. its only so much a coach can do without one, and now only having one playmaker now. people are always blaming McHale smh, but the other guy always gets a free pass.
I think at this point I feel like all of the same 8 playoff teams in the West are going to be back again this year, but I truly believe Portland has the best chances of being the 1 to drop out if I had to pick a team. No team was healthier last year and I believe I read they were one of the healthiest teams in league history. I also think the way their schedule worked out was huge for them. Their first half of the season was very, very, very easy and then got tougher late. I think if it were flipped and they started off with the tough first half their record isn't nearly as good.
