Wayne Winston: Rockets won't be among most improved teams

If I didn't know about how hard Lin worked this summer and that Howard was really healthy, I'd probably say the same things.

As a matter of fact, this team has question marks. No one knows for sure how Lin is going to play or how Howard will hold up. No one. There's no guarantee this team wins 55 games next year. There's still a lot of work to be done. There's still a lot of issues and questions.

Will our D actually be any better?
Will Lin be more consistent?
Will howard be a better post player and ft shooter? Will he stay healthy?
Will Asik play with passion?
Will Dmo or Jones rise up to be a decent 4?

I mean, these are all legit questions that anyone could raise. With that many, people need to realize these Rockets...I mean, us being ranked 10th is not hating on us - it's just people seeing the challenges the team faces.

These Rockets may overcome them, and that's what we hope, but it's a lot - especially to expect this from a young team and coach.

 

Probably took typing in high school.

 

Sure, we just added the best big man in the league to pair him with one of the best shooting guards along with a roster which has improved insofar as role players are concerned, and the result? Same team.

 

Remember how bad the Rockets' second team defense was last year? If you just replace those 16 minutes per game (that's 1/3 of the game!!!) with a defensive stopper (Asik or Dwight) so that you have 48 minutes of rim protection instead of 32, the Rockets will be monumentally better than last year. And that does not even include the possibility that Asik and Dwight might play together and gel (which is my prediction, though it will take some time).

 

Ten games better for Cleveland is 34 wins. That's the equivalent of Philly or Toronto last year. It's not unrealistic.

 

Actually Omer only played 30 mpg last season, so add in 18 minutes of rim protection per game (38% of the game with dramatically improved defense).

 

I think this team is as good or better than some of those T-Mac/Yao teams that did win 50-55 games regularly. I don't see why it's such a stretch to predict that this team will win at around the same rate in the regular season. Harden and Howard might not be as good as prime T-Mac/Yao (debatable), but the team overall is much better.

 

It seems that all this hedging from the media is coming after the first pre-season game.

 

If i had to bet on cleveland being over or under 10 wins better than last year i would take the over. They have some good young players on that team.

 

Stopped reading at (Al Jefferson).

 

So... I've been watching a lot of Orlando-Dwight highlights (from individual games) and I really think people are underrating his post presence. Sure... he doesn't look like dream in the post, but he does pretty well with his back to the basket and does have 2 or 3 basic moves that work for him. I mean when he was in Orlando that was basically the whole offense. Not saying he is a world beater, but this whole "Dwight is a terrible post player" crap is nonsense.

 

You could ask similar questions to a lot of the teams they have ranked ahead of us.

Warriors: Can they stay healthy? (Very big question due to their injury prone players)

Brooklyn: Do KG and Pierce have anything left? How do they fit? How will they improve on defense?

I can go on

 

Last season, Dwight averaged something like 0.7 points per possession in the post or something like that. Dwight today is not the same as Orlando Dwight, and likely will never be.

 

Last season Dwight was hurt. This season, Dwight isn't hurt. Therefore I conclude that his numbers should go up.

 

His interest in being from the same town as George Costanza and the other celebrity was enough for me to feel bad for U of H students that have to take his class.

 

I found this article from a Lakers blog that kind of sums up my feelings about Dwight in the post. When I look at what to expect from Dwight I'm more prone to look at the 11-12 season than the 12-13 season just due to the fact that he was under all kinds of pressure to come back earlier than he probably should have from his injury. I know it's possible that the production he had last year could continue, but from initial reports out of training camp it appears he's got his "bounce" back.

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2012/08/20/dwight-howards-offense-and-how-it-helps-the-lakers/

 

I don't get it. Most of that's just wrong. If anything, most stats point to Lin NOT being a defensive liability. Is he like a plus defender? No...but he's not some sort of sieve lol.

And to harp on Howard and Lin for playing "poorly" is weird since both, while admittedly below expectations, did decently well by most nba standards. It's also disingenuous for him to not emphasize Lin's poor 3 pt shooting without mentioning how, in the later half of the season, he was shooting around 39% from 3 pt land...

 

I've never been one to jump early in terms of analyzing the rockets. I feel if they stay pretty healthy,they're a top3 seed in the west. I think,well I know the rockets have 2 questions that no nba team can answer on the same team. Add the emergence of parson and the other young talent that can get better,I'm seeing great things.

 

I don't know why Lin's gotta be the determining factor when we have 2 certified All-Stars + another 1 almost-all-star calibre than can carry us. Lin can contribute but still most of the responsibility will be on Howard and Harden's shoulders unless Lin can prove that he's also one of the stars of this team.

 

It's also easier to ride the wave of mediocrity year after year while you're collecting assets until that one or two magical years when the tumblers fall into to place and you score a couple of star players.

Truthfully, I didn't find anything ground-breaking or massively insightful by this guy that suggests advanced analytics, although he seemed to favor Vegas odds as a way to determine team success.

If anything, he should be sitting in on an analytics symposium given by DM.