[Grantland] Zach Lowe: Rockets clear winners of FA

He showed promise last year, especially when Westbrook went down, but I just have doubts in his scoring ability, mainly his shooting. He shot 23% from the 3 point line last year. I don't know, maybe with increased minutes his shot will get better.

 

I wouldn't go all out and say that the Thunder have no chance when they still have Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka. Obviously they're not as good as they were with Harden playing the Manu role but they can still be successful without it. It's all about adjustments and they adjusted pretty well without Harden in the regular season, they just couldn't adjust without him AND Westbrook in the playoffs. Any team takes a series ending injury to a guy like that in the playoffs isn't going to end on a high note.

Anyways, as for the Rockets... I've really been enjoying Lowe's writing for the last two years or so and really value his opinion. I can't wait until he does his game analysis on the Rockets once the season starts... especially since we'll have more nationally televised games. (He watches everything on league pass anyways but national games are always discussed more)

 

I think trading Harden and then losing Martin will hurt, but Durant and Westbrook are still a very potent duo.

If Lebron goes down...Miami is only as good as a 6th/7th seed in the West.
If Duncan or Parker goes down...SA is only a 4th/5th seed in West
If Paul goes down....Clippers are fighting for playoffs
If Ginoboli goes down...SA is going Championship.
If Howard or Harden go down, Rockets are a 6th/7th seed.

OKC's problem is finding a center. I am not sure if Ibaka can play center for long stretches.

 

In the internet age, most writers seem to come agenda-filled. It really discredits their work when the agenda is obvious, I feel. Even some of the best writers have this tendency, people like Adrian Wojnarowski (great on 'news' articles but often very biased in 'opinion' pieces, such as ones a few years ago on LeBron).

It is said that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Well, Zach Lowe has two eyes and that puts him head and shoulders above many of the sports writers working today, particularly those who cover the NBA.

 

Yeah, I still think the Thunder are the best in the west but in comparison to the other teams fighting for a top seed, they didn't do themselves any favors by going cheap. I think if you have a legitimate title contender you do everything you can to keep that team in tact and if you have to pay luxury tax, then so be it. You'll have more games than most teams, more exposure than most teams, and make more money than most teams, which would soften the hit on taxes.

I agree on Ibaka as well, Perkins looks terrible most of the time, I just don't see how Ibaka doesn't play major minutes at the 5.

 

Thunder are still a playoff team but not a championship caliber team anymore.

 

Reggie Jackson is going to be a huge PITB for every team that has to play OK City this next season. He's gonna blow up big time. Liked him for a long time and I could see in SL he's really putting together his game very well. He is going to make OKC very tough to defend.

 

It's weird. For the most part what Lowe says isn't really anything new to me, but I can see why "journalists" these days don't write stuff like this. It's too normal. It's too objective. To the point where logical readers find the logic and if not agree, at least understand it.

But you wonder if journalism has shifted way too much the other way, to sensationalism. I mean, if everyone's writing BS, wouldn't you be able to get more readers by being sensible?

 

Reggie Jackson is nice and all, but he's not going to space the floor like Martin/Harden did unless he becomes a great shooter. Teams are going to have even more opportunities to double/triple team WB and Durant. Look at what the Rockets and Grizzlies did to the Thunder in the playoffs, then imagine that over an entire regular season. It will wear on them after awhile.

 

love Lowe, love the BS report (Bill Simmon's podcast) when he's on, looking forward to many Lowe articles and podcasts years down the line...think he has a chance to become the Bob Costas of this generation's NBA

 

I wonder if an NBA team will hire Lowe away-- would be a shame for fans because we wouldn't get to see what he writes again.

 

Reggie Jackson is going to be a stud. He's quickly gaining ground on Nick Collison as my favorite non-rocket/rocket alum.

It was difficult 1st round matchup for me last year.

 

I've always liked Simmons. It's amazing to me that he went from an unknown (Boston Sports Guy) to a relative unknown (The Sports Guy on ESPN.com's Page 2) to an analyst on ABC's national games studio crew making $3M a year. This from a guy who used to referenceWhat's Happening in his columns. The Lakers fans over on LG are saying that he and Lowe have Celtic agendas and that's why the Lakers got such a poor grade. Amazing because most of the fans of other teams believe that the national media never stop kissing their ace.

 

If Ibaka can play the 5 OKC could be scary as hell, although people don't give Perkins enough credit for how he allows Ibaka to be such a potent weakside defender.

 

I like Grantland as a whole. Lowe tends to a bit more on the boring side though. Still respect the love he shows the Rox.

As far as the Thunder, you have to think they got a little bit worse when people are trying to hype up Jackson. A top team in the west, no doubt, but when they had Harden, the dynamic was far more legit. I have a hard time saying they'll be in WCF's next season. Which is weird to say, because I had them as the future number one seed in the West, pretty much for the next decade.

 

There is more great sports analysis than ever before. There is all kinds of superb journalism. The problem, if anything, is the proliferation of content and platforms out there and the reduction of gatekeeping. There's a lot more crap to wade through, but there are still great pieces of reporting and analysis.

 

Never say never. OKC still have a pretty good team. Jackson played really good coming off the bench in the playoff's for them.

 

It feels so good to read all these great things about our Rockets. It has been a long time since we got this type of attention. The Texans are getting a lot of attention as well and will have 4-5 national televised games. All we need now is for the Astros to get on board.


Loving It Mayne!! Htown4life

 

The internet is definitely a huge factor in the dissemination of information and publicity. Simmons definitely couldn't have had his rise without the platform of the internet as well.