Despite all the complaining that has happened on clutchfans, and all the talking heads saying the Rockets were going to be a lottery team this year even after the acquisition of Harden - We are actually one of the best teams in the league and based on these metrics we are actually grossly underachieving. Hollinger Power Rankings has the Rockets at #8. #6 in the West. Expected Win Percentage has the Rockets ranked at #9. #6 in the West and only a fraction behind Denver. This is impressive considering we were the youngest, most inexperienced NBA squad with the greatest roster turnover in the league. Adding to this, we acquired our franchise player only days before the start of the season, McHale was absent due to a family tragedy and we also lost three rotational players in a mid-season trade. There's also the comcast debacle that means less Houstonians get to watch the games and our home-court turnouts haven't been very impressive (weaker homecourt cf. teams like Denver who benefit significantly from their home floor) As this group gets more seasoned the floor of expectations should be the fifth or sixth seed in the West moving forward without any major acquisitions next season. With the high upside and development of players like D-Mo or Ohlbrecht who fill in critical voids on our existing roster we could easily be on the cusp of elite status by next season without even adding a 2nd franchise star. http://espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi/_/sort/EWP
The only reason why Denver and Utah have such huge homecourt advantages is because of the elevation of their cities, causing altitude sickness especially on the second night of a back to back. Studies have shown that otherwise homecourt advantage isn't that huge.
Totally agree. What adds to the excitement is that we have a huge ability to sign another top tier player during the off season.
I derp'd up but I can't edit, thanks for the clarification. ESPN power rankings has us at #8 but is largely subjective (still nice to be validated). Hollinger has us at #5 which is even more impressive.
HCA in the NBA is a real thing. But yes, Denver and Utah receive an even more pronounced advantage due to their high altitudes.
We can be one of the best teams in the league but it really doesn't matter. You can only win the championship in this league if you have multiple superstars. Right now we only have Harden whose on the lower end superstar tier.
Name ten players better than Harden. Or five better perimeter players. There are only two players who are clearly better than Harden imo. 1. Lebron 2. Durant Then you've got Carmelo, Wade, Chris Paul, Westbrook, Tony Parker, James Harden - all have their cases.
The high on clutchfans are really high.. and the lows.. sure are low. After we win, Asik is one of the best centers in Rockets history apparently and the Rockets are one of the best teams in the league After we lose, everyone start panicking and freaking out lol..
To be fair, it sometimes takes two losses for the complete freakout. After one loss, as long as it is to a good team, there is a lot of "young and inconsistent" to balance the freaking.
Rockets are FAR from being one of the best teams right now. Above average? yes. But not one of the best. But if you're talking in terms of long term success, yes, rockets are one of the teams that have best positioned themselves for long term success
TIER 1 Heat, Thunder, Spurs TIER 2 Clippers, Grizzlies, Pacers I say we are Tier 3, therefore not quite one of the best, but getting there.