All The Evidence You Need: Why Rockets Aren't Championship Material

I think the Miami/Celtics is the model that is the only viable option. We don't have a core of Rockets Vet's in the team that serve as the leaders of this team.

To become the Spurs, yes you do have to have a brilliant coach, but you also need a good mix of talented Veterans + high potential young players that stick around...it has been a turnstile here in Houston in the past few years

 

Just to clarify my point, even if we had Popovich coach the Rockets this season we would not be top 2 seeds in the west. We are just too raw as a team and too many inexperienced players not having played a lot together. Can McHale develop the same core players in the next few years to be the next Spurs? Don't know, but only time will tell.

You are right tho, if Pop did manage to coach Rockets this year, even tho we won't win it this year, we will be top contenders for the next 10 years.

 

Well, we did have a guy named Hakeem Olajuwon who played center for the Rockets during that time. As I recalled, he was playing with a chip on his shoulder for not winning the MVP that season. He averaged over 30/points per game in the playoffs that year...Dwight comes no where close to Olajuwon dominance! In addition, we played more team ball than this current Rockets team...smh, too much ISO play and lack of effort on defense is going to keep us from making a deep run in the playoffs this season....

 

This is exactly why the Rockets moved heaven and earth this offseason to go get Dwight. They knew that in the playoffs they would need a way to score in the half court when games were decided at 90 points or fewer.

The Rockets could easily slow the game down to a craw and hold teams to 90 points, but scoring in the half court is what is this teams bugaboo.

Is Howard solving all this teams issues in the half court offense??... no, but he's surely helped. Look at the past couple games when the Rockets were not able to blow teams away just by simply pushing the pace.

They need Howard to be enough of a threat to score in the half court to make their offense work for the playoffs. This is why when people criticize Howard's efficiency in the post I say its not his efficiency that I'm worried about, its how the defense guards him, that I am worried about. That is what opens up EVERYTHING for the Rockets offense in the half court. The threat. That is what allows Harden to go crazy from the perimeter and get what

If he's not enough of a threat for them to give something up to guard him, than the Rockets are going to have an issue in the playoffs. If its not, or he's not healthy, than the Rockets have no way of winning basketball games that are topping out in the low 90's in scoring. To win without a half court offense, they have to be well over 100.

 

I don't think having JUST Harden and Dwight allows us to follow the Miami model, especially out in the west, which is why we'll need to get a third star if we do want to go down that route.

We'll see in FA but I don't see us getting Ray Allens and Birdmans for deep discounts. Additionally, most if any players in the league do not see Harden as the same level as Durant / LeBron. Sure it would be nice to have a solid vet or two come for the minimum but there's about 5 teams that are ahead of us based on talent alone.

Maybe if we got Melo, Love, etc... some guys would play for cheap but that's a different story.

We could also follow the Mavs model from 2011 or Heat 2006, have one go to guy, one anchor guy for interior defense and lobs, a few solid defenders with ability to knockdown 3s, and who knows what can happen in the playoffs. But again, both of those teams had experienced vets.

 

That 03-04 Detroit team was beautiful.

 

Haha but we're literally the opposite of what that team was with the exception of maybe Chandler Parsons.

Ben Wallace: Most dominant defensive presence and rebounder in the game at the time, demanded absolutely zero touches on offense and played hard every game. Always ready to kick someone's ass.

Dwight Howard: Arguably most dominant defensive presence / rebounder next to Noah but complains all the time about not getting enough touches throughout career, extremely turnover prone when he does get the ball. Smiles all the time, even when losing. Only similarities are the ugly FT percentage.

Rasheed Wallace: Veteran with trashy mouth, did plenty of dirty work, could get under opponent's skin with declining athleticism.

Terrance Jones: Young inexperienced player with great athleticism but hardly ever gets under anyone's skin and is anything but an enforces. Also likes to take outside shots like Sheed but then again who doesn't these days?

Tayshaun Prince: Up and coming long defender, can shoot the 3 ball, not dependent on touches, could move off-ball well.

Chandler Parsons: Doesn't demand touches very often. Willing team player and long athletic defender. Prince would croak before shooting with the same arc as Chandler does on his 3s though.

Rip Hamilton: Not ball dominant, loves curling and shooting off screens. Excellent shooter from mid-range, okay from outside.

Harden: Ball dominant, likes to create off isos or pickrolls. Has maybe ran one curl play his entire life. Only midrange shots he takes is FTs.

Billups: Leader, clutch performer, shoots 3 ball well - seems to only shoot better when game is on the line. Good and smart defender.

Beverely/Lin: Bev's more pesky than Billups and Lin might have a quicker first step, but none share his leadership qualities of running a team, getting guys in place. Then again, neither command the respect he did. Also neither shoot the 3 as well as Billups, neither is as crafty on offense.

Larry Brown: HoF coach. Ran team offense, had everyone buy into defense concept.

McHale: Not any of those things, doesn't draw up well-designed plays. Confuses me at times with his rotations and seems to not care much about getting the entire team to player defense.

 

Of course realistically speaking we are top tier contenders. The objective is to build the right supporting cast around our core players. That way we will be top tier contenders. Next season I believe we will be top tier contenders. That's if we build on the success from this season.

 

I think we'll make it to the 2nd round and give the other team a run for it's money. A 5 game improvement is bigger than you think. If we walk away with 53-55 wins (that's +8 to +10) - that's huge. that's a big jump.

I'll take that as a good step in the right direction.

 

Too lazy to read this whole thread, but I hope people have pointed out the two mathmetical flaws screaming out as soon as you read the first sentence.

1. An "average" of 92.3 ppg means roughly half of the Championship teams were above that mark. It's not very meaningful to take distance from the average on its own. (ie, 102 vs 92.3).
2. Points per game is apples-to-oranges when it is not pace adjusted.

 

Nobody ever thought they were besides bandwagon fans.

Where did you get this notion that ppl picked this team to win it all from?

 

That's why if you can get Melo you do it. Old crusty ass Tim Duncan locked up Dwight last year in the playoffs, Dwight is a finisher and a pick and roll player, not a dump the ball like Yao in the post scorer. Put Melo on the block in half court with Harden and Dwight and that opens everything up. Of course defense would still be an issue but half court scoring I think is our biggest weakness.

 

Did no know what heck "bugaboo" meant...so I looked it up.

This is the urban dictionary's definition.

bugaboo
overly annoying person that constantly calls or goes to your home uninvited.
Jeremy L. is such a bugaboo!
by sexqueen July 11, 2003

lololol

 

blame lin, even though he only started 1/3 of those games!

 

cant be on the same level as the clippers when they swept the season series. i am confident we can beat any of the 5-8 seeds in 5-6 games, so good point. tho if the blazers can go into the playoffs at full strength, i thnk they're a tad bit below the rockets. dont have anyone to stop lma or dame when they're on. but rockets top to bottom are a better team. so it should be a close series

but for the clipprs, having jordan play starter minutes and blake's emergying post game, they are def contenders. and that obnoxious deep bench, ugh

 

Our Pace is #4 in the NBA

The average Pace ranking for NBA Champions from '94-'13 is #18. Only two of the twenty champions were in the top-10 for pace in their respective year.

 

Sorry, that's bad logic. We swept the Spurs too. Are they not on the same level or higher? Some teams are just bad match ups and there's not much you can do about it.

We're on the same level because our records aren't all that different. Yes, they have some games on us so I do believe the Clippers at this point are a better team, but I don't consider them on a separate tier like the Spurs or OKC.

 

It's crazy when you look at the past 20 years there have only been 8 different championship teams. In the NBA, there really is no such thing as lighting in a bottle... unless you consider the Mavericks or the Pistons.

 

I was joking