[CBS Sports] Did the Houston Rockets get better by subtraction this summer?

the only plays i remember jeremy making are the ones that cost us some playoff games.

losing parsons play making skills do hurt, no doubt...but it wasn't elite. it can be replaced. hasn't been replaced yet though

 

Idk about The Rockets becoming better by subtraction...

but Clutchfans has..... lol

 

Asik was as close to a non-factor as you can get during last regular season.

He was "injured" for the vast majority of the regular season and was out of shape/playing very poorly upon his return until a week or two before the playoffs.

A healthy Dorsey/Adrien/improved DMo for a full season will easily out-produce his regular season production from last season.

 

That's untrue.

 

I thought this was the most interesting part:

"Motiejunas is a 7-foot power forward/center who can stretch the floor a little bit, is a great finisher around the basket, can put the ball on the floor against a hard closeout, and is likely a lock to be a better free throw shooter than Asik. He just fits with the spread-out, free flowing style of the Rockets much better. The Rockets were also a surprisingly better defensive team with him on the floor than with Asik. They had a defensive rating of 100.4, a couple ticks better than the 102.1 with Asik. And when they put him next to Howard, Houston had a net rating of plus-18.1 in 243 minutes. They annihilated teams with this pairing."

The DMo/Howard pairing was noticeably effective during for the few minutes it got during the season. The problem? DMo couldn't stay out of foul trouble. I'm convinced that the real reason TJones got so much more time than DMo was because he learned how to not foul.

 

This team got better.

Became less turnover prone and better at defending on the perimeter.

Offensively should have a little drop off, but this team will be much better defensively.

 

A positive spin on the off season isn't new?!? This place had so much "Doom and gloom and agony on me", it reminded me of "Hee Haw".

Seriously though, it made me feel better about starting the season off with the squad we have. We can then see what developes the 1st half and have a better idea for trade dead line improvement. I really like Dmo as the backup 5.

 

Finally a positive article about the Rockets!

 

Just off the top of my head...

Last play of game 3 against Portland, Harden lost control of the ball (which would have been a turn over) and the only reason it was saved was a heroic ball recovery by Lin and pass to Daniels for the 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYsK2Ost6Tg

The only reason we don't remember it is because the Rockets won the game.

 

Harden was probably our best clutch player in the playoffs, sadly. Obviously Daniel hit the big shot and Lin saved the ball in game 3, but in game 1 Harden put us up two with a few seconds left in regulation, Harden was killing it at the end of regulation in game 3 and 4, game 5 he hit some clutch shots and game 6 Dwight was our clutch guy.

 

we will be exactly where we were last season

 

However, there are two guys already on the roster you can play next to Howard. The Rockets were 6.2 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents with Terrence Jones and Howard playing together. Jones was the starting power forward for almost all of last season and will still fit as a complementary stretch-4 next to Howard. The key to the loss of Asik being addition by subtraction will be how Donatas Motiejunas fills the role of backup center.

 

We'll be fine.

Lin is a net neutral at best - not hard to replace
Parsons - Ariza is a wash
A main 3 man rotation of TJ, DMo and DH wil do no worse than having a grumpy Asik play about 12 mins a game.

Not to forget we still have assets to make an upgrade.

 

Home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs? I'll take it.

 

Harden sucked in that series.

He's clutch in regular season. The reason you think he was our best cluch player in the playoff was because he was the only option for clutch plays. That clutch 3 pter by Daniels was off a Harden "clutch" turnover which Lin saved.

 

Overall he sucked, but if you think he didn't have a fair amount of clutch shots and plays you aren't remembering correctly.

 

That will be awesome. It means a lot of things I am doubting will turn out to be alright. Sure hope that is the case.

To get HCA, we will have to be healthy, possess great team chemistry, along with young players stepping up.

 

The Rockets picked up a lot of lesser known players that are very difficult for fans to properly rate. There are only a few constants, and a lot of variables in the Rockets equation this year. As a result, the there is a lot of discord about the Rockets' possiblities this season.

The simple fact is, it might end up being OK after all.

 

I don't recall he had many clutch shots in that series. His shots just weren't there.

Game 3 was Daniel saving the day. Game 5 was more of a team effort. Harden played well in Game 6, but the 2nd half was mostly Howard dominating. The other games we lost so I don't remember too well.