[ClutchFans] Houston Rockets: What's gone right and wrong this preseason

I wouldn't classify tj's moves as speedy.

 

Not that high on Thornton as some others seem to be. He takes a ton of bad shots and this will lead to inconsistency throughout the year. That's always been his problem but this is by far the best team he's been on so well see what happens. Everything I've seen in the preseason Indicates so far he's the same player he's been previously.

 

Lol I love this guy.

 

I don't know Man he looks pretty damn good off the bench. Every team needs a guy who can just straight get buckets off the bench as we saw in the pre season game last night. When he's on he's money and can score 15-20 points in a hurry.

I think he will actually see a lot more time than most people think. He's getting absolutely no mention in media write ups and very little around here but to me he's def in the top 9 rotation. I just think we've missed a player like him the past two years and now that we have him a lot of rockets fans are sleeping on him. I'm hoping he can be our Jamal Crawford.

 

Howard:Capella::
(A) 100 : 60
(B) 100 : 70
(C) 100 : 75
(D) 100 : 80
(E) 100 : 85

How much can Capella replicate of Howard's performance right now? At the end of the season? What effect will this have on Howard wanting an extension worth $30 million a year if he opts out?

 

Agree on all points.

Dekker is a terrible shooter, but what keeps me still positive about him is that he's a smart kid. He knows where to place himself for a rebound, he doesn't do many stupid mistakes, actually he seems like a low turnover guy. Kinda like young Ariza, we'll see. He's definitely no rookie Parsons, who was willing to go at the basket and dunk.

Maybe should have written about Smith. He seems like a solid addition, just need to work on his fouls.

 

Yeah I'm just waiting to see if he actually is able to play off the bench and be efficient at the same time being surrounded with better players. He's a little too streaky and trigger happy for me. Hopefully he settles into a role though because theres a lot of players on this team capable of contributing

 

The whole issue about Jones is his consistency. We have seen him play and kill guys on both ends, but then two games later he seems like a 3rd string PF. Injuries haven't helped, as when he gets into his grove, he gets injured for some reason. Jones needs to play 82 games consistently to prove his value. I liked the guy from the start, but am losing hope as many others are.

 

#BeWell

 

Capela's shot blocking continues to be excellent, and his rebounding has improved. He does need to box out consistently, otherwise he will get in trouble.

Offensive execution remains limited, no low post footwork, and his FT percentage remains erratic. He hasn't developed a jumper either. I did like his powerful dunk on Knight though.

McHale mentioned that he expected more from him, at the start of the preseason.

Harrell is more advanced than him, which goes to show how far Capela needs to go, in order to be considered as a future starter.

We need Joshua Smith as the 15th player, despite his excessive weight as a 3 rd center.

 

Part of me hopes that Bev is just saving his intensity for the regular season and likes that he appears to have better stroke from 3. The other part thinks that his defensive level will never get back to his prime form and that the shooting results are just small sample size. We will find out soon enough.

I would not worry too much about defensive issues the team has a whole given there is gonna be a nice week of practice before the reg season and the bigs that anchor our defense havent seen any time. If DMO comes back healthy and Dwight stays healthyish then the D will be just fine. Trevor looks amazing as always and James has shown he can turn up the effort. Lawson is the unknown for me and having a hopefully rejuvenated Bev as the backup will mitigate any unforeseen issues

 

Both Jones and Dmo tend to get out-muscled&hustled. I don't think that will change, and Jones struggles against Green come as 0 surprise.

Dekker's shot will come - I think it's not surprising for an amped-up rookie to struggle with his outside shot.

Howard - I am surprised he has played only one game but that might be because he has been active in practices and they are taking things very carefully.

 

lets take the 3 disappointing guys and trade them to fill a need:

pat/TJ/KJ

for one of

horford, faried, gibson, thad young, amir johnson

 

If Dekker develops a 3 point shot he will have a chance in the NBA. He also seems to have a pretty decent work ethic hopefully he finds his niche. I dont know if he was the right pick for us tho as playoff team,but I guess Harrell made up for that with his athletic ability/hustle.

 

He isn't and has never been a 3pt shooter. I don't know why people think he'll turn into one now.

 

Parsons and Dekker are not too different. They both play SF, although Parsons was more of a heady court vision 6'9 type coming out of college where Dekker is more the slasher/off-the-ball scorer type coming in.

They both had horrible preseasons. I remember being on these boards railing on Parsons when he was a rookie. He sucked in the summer, and most of us thought he was just another Chase Budinger redux that Morey somehow had fallen in love with just like he had fallen in love with the undersized PF type. We thought he was going to fall flat on his face, because he showed us nothing in preseason games.

All we had to go on were reports coming out of camp that Parsons was doing a great job on defense, and that the coaching staff was noticing it. Dekker does not have so favorable a review. But this team is also at a much different place than Parsons' rookie year team was. That team was rebuilding whether or not the Rockets wanted to admit it or not. By Parsons' sophomore year he would be the longest tenured Rocket on the roster, no joke. Now, we don't have the luxury to just throw a Sam Dekker (or rookie Parsons) out onto the court and let him learn.

Dekker will pretty much be a RGV exclusive player this year. Let's hope he does well there.

 

Man...I'm worried about Dwight...

Just sounds like we're in for 82 games of Dwight "dealing with some issues" or "having a minor setback".

 

it does sound like that. you can only hope that they are resting him for what should be a season with a long post season run.

and that he won't have thing happen like josh smith falling into his knee this year. just a little good luck please.

 

Fwiw Monday nights preseason game against NO dwight came out to the bench in full uniform after halftime. He was jumping around smiling with the team.... Really didn't look like a guy who is injured or having trouble with his back.

My guess is the rockets are just being overly caustous and not taking any chances with him in the preseason. It's howards 3rd year here the coaching staff knows what he can and cannot do at this point. My guess is dwight is finally going to play the deandre Jordan role and just clean up the glass catch lobs and man the paint. This type of play should also keep him healthier as he wont be banging around done low getting beat up by guys trying to guard him in the post.

 

Don't worry. I believe he will be healthy when it's time to talk his contract.