I could care less about our W/L record I just don't like how players are being used & misused. This is from top to bottom, Parsons, Harden, Lin, Patterson etc. And Patterson bothers me with his softness & him constantly taking shortcuts & getting out rebounded by our guards & being invisible. And Harden not giving any effort on D ( I don't care if you suck on D as long as you actually try) annoys me as well same with his iso fails. And Parsons being used as a spot up shooter is frustrating. And lin not being used at all is an embarrassment he has one of the lowest USG of NBA PG's (10 FGA max in most games) & no pnr plays are being run for a pnr PG. And always taking Omer out in the last 5 minutes of the game needed to have stopped 10 days ago but Sampson still did it yesterday (after he said he wouldn't) & I fully expect him to do it again tomorrow.
The problem is we are doing neither. We are heading back to the 14th pick. If we don't get a max player we are back on the treadmill of mediocrity.
You should put "yet" at the end of that. Harden could turn out to be a lot better, or a lot worse than we expected. He still has so much to improve upon.
Actually, we have some bright spots, yes? Harden. Currently 3rd in NBA scoring. (Probably 3rd in TOs too, but oh well.) Asik is beasting. Well, 3rd in boards in the NBA and his offense is improving. Lin? Jury's out, but I think he'll get there. In any case, he'll need some time to iron out the kinks. We do need to solve the need-another-Star thing, which probably won't be taken care of this year, because the Rockets will aim for not only high-cost talent at the 3 or 4 but someone'll who sell tickets along with win games. My only truly unreasonable request would be to find another coach. I think McHale was hired with a coupon because Morey knew we'd be in transition (neither fish nor fowl), so why pay (and frustrate) an Adelman type? I don't want McHale's troubles to dictate his future, but I do hope he isn't back next season. He isn't quite what we need. EDIT: ^This, but as I said, they'll aim high, maybe too high (we'll see).
I would like to think that, but I know better. If I'm wrong, I'll happily admit it, but I don't think I will be.
Based off the talent displayed in their previous settings and what I see on the court. We have a talented but young team, I didn't see playoffs in our picture before or right after the Harden trade. Based off what I see, a lot of the mistakes that cost us games seem to be scheme or personnel break downs. I attribute that to the coaching staff. The only player that has played beyond what they previously displayed has been Asik, he is the only one that I could say was possibly helped by this coaching staff. But when you look at the team as a whole, while they aren't world beaters they are not lacking in talent anywhere except the backcourt.
1. The Rockets are 4-4 so far this year. Last season, they were 2-6 after the first 8 games, and finished 34-32. Just a little perspective. This year's team is doing about as well as they did overall in the past few seasons record-wise, and has had a better start than last season's post-lockout squad. 2. This team has its flaws and has had its periods of bad play. However, this is what you get from a young team, and this is what you get from a 4-4 team. If you only have encouraging-looking performances, you wouldn't have lost 50% of the games. Every other .500 team probably has had a similar mix of good and bad. There are 15 guys on the team, the probability that every player is surpassing expectations in every phase of his game is pretty much zero. Some are going to do well, other will struggle, and performance for each guy is going to vary a good deal from game to game. 3. In the larger scheme of things, getting .500 level performance with a roster full of inexperienced players is a positive sign. Typically, guys at the experience level/age of the Rockets roster have room to improve. This combined with the flexibility that the team has in terms of cap room gives them the ability to possibly take a significant step forward in the future.
What previous settings? College? Europe? Harden is clearly what he was in OKC. Lin is a work in progress -- neither as good as the 28-game-stretch that made his fame or as bad as the end-of-the-bench status he dealt with before that stretch. Everyone else -- save Asik (who you stated has improved), Douglas (the jury is still out despite everyone calling for his head) and Delfino (he is what he is) -- has ZERO track record except college and, with all due respect to the NCAA, there ain't no comparison. Since the Rockets staff is also responsible, at least in part, for the D-League affiliate, it could be argued the resurgence of Morris is on their watch as well.
The Utah Jazz were the 8th seed last year and were destroyed by San Antonio. Are they on the treadmill of mediocrity?
Remember when the Rockets traded for Pau Gasol and was going to pair him with Nene (and Lowry) last December? The Rockets were not expecting McHale to lead a "transition" effort.
I agree, except for PPat and Jones. Pat has played in enough games now to be more consistent. Many of us gave him the benefit of a doubt last season because of his injury. Coming into this season he said he was 100% and basically implied he'd do better now that he's healthy. And what have seen? The same Patterson from last season and most of the first season. He had a great stretch late in his first season for about 2 weeks IIRC, which made us believe that was the real Pat. We thought he'd finally got it. However, it looks like that's all it was, a great stretch. Temporary. He woke up for one game this season, and only because he had a friendly war going on with Battier. And that's why there's a valid reason to sit him and play Jones. You can't do much worse than a PF who can't rebound and can't battle physically. Pat is not a perimeter 4. When pat takes more than 10 shots, we're 1-4 this season. He's not shooting well. How much less could jones produce? If anything, losing his spot may give Pat a wake up call and now we'll have two guys trying their best to secure a spot, rather than two who are content because the spot is safe.
We very well could end up with the 14th pick again, but there's a difference between a group of veterans (who've reached their ceiling) getting the 14th pick and a team with a bunch of young players getting the 14th pick.
Awkward basketball with awkward play sets. Players play like in D league games without proper set plays and consistency. Tough for coaches, players, and fans. It is good that we said our talent players can play any position. I think all 30 NBA teams are full of talent players. The truth is that these young players can not even play two full set plays properly. All coaches can do are to tell players to move ball around to find an open shot/ mostly 3 pointers. A simple rule for inexperienced NBA players. Currently players only used their own athletic abilities to win games or lose games.
Wait a minute. Aren't we 4-4? Aren't 2 of our losses very close losses including the defending champs? Aren't we suffering through chemistry issues, a coach who has to be away, a headcase tweeting every 2 minutes not to mention no depth at the 1 and 4 position? I mean all things considered, I think this team is doing quite well.
We've finished above .500 each year we've had the 14th pick I believe. This year we've gutted our team and the avg. age of our players is 23. Morey has said many times already, if we finish with the 14th pick again this season, that means we're probably over .500 with a whole new squad--that's a good thing. With Scola, Martin, Lowry, etc. you knew what you were going to get and there would be little to no improvement, but with these young players it means you have a bright future because there's only 1 way to go from here, up. That, plus the fact that we have cap space for a max player, I'd be very pleased with the 14th pick + a 43-39 record going into next season.
Couldn't agree more. With the old crew (Lowry, Martin, Scola), the 14th pick was the CEILING for the group. If we get the 14th pick this year, imo, that is our FLOOR with this team.
