Philosophically there was never supposed to be anything different about the Rockets. The Roster was not going to change (until trade season), the style of play was not going to change, their defensive schemes were not going to change, etc. The change from firing McHale was purely a motivational move from a locker room standpoint. It was a clear indicator that the team was not playing hard enough, and didn't have enough mutual respect for the leadership with the coaches on up to the top including the owner. So what's different.... Well they are playing a bit better especially at the defensive end. They have a better record now and have gotten to where mgmt probably wanted them to get to by the end of the year... which is .500 or better. A win on Christmas signals a major milestone to climbing out of the hole and getting this team back on the right track. Even a close loss signals some success. A blowout loss with no effort, and a poor showing in the next game before year end would signal that they aren't there by the likely timeline. The major THING that needs to happen is for this group to go on a tear post all-star break that puts them in great position heading into the playoffs. We all know that in an NBA season its all about when you peak. Last year the Rockets probably peaked a tad bit early, and had to grind out alot of the playoffs. Even lost a few games late in the season they wished they had gotten back (even though they still finished with a GREAT record). So do we see this team working up to a push later in the season, or do they look like a team that is maxing out their potential as we speak? I think a little of both. I personally think they will go on a run later in the season. Even just a small deal will do wonders to help bring in a veteran role player to help stabilize the defense, and maybe add some punch to the bench could help. But at the end of the day I think this first disappointing quarter of the season shows blatantly clear that with the superstar on this team, you have obvious weaknesses that start and end with him. You take that risk and gamble with this team with some tweaks for the time being. You KNOW for a fact that a team designed around Harden with this system can get you as far as they went last season and you take that every time you can. So let's just see what kind of deals Morey can make in the next few weeks, and how great Harden & co. can play up to their potential in the last half of the season leading into the playoffs. Firing McHale was the right move to make regardless because it was the only move you could make at the time. That group needed a big wake up call, and I think they somewhat got the message... or enough to put themselves in a position to peak at the right time if they don't F around anymore with teams like Brooklyn and Denver.
Haven't turned the corner yet, but improvements have been made. It's hard to tell whether they're simply better coaching or just the players realize they have to try hard every so often. Our shooting percentages are slowly going up and not the brick-fest it was at the start of the year. Our defense is...kinda better? Ball movement seems to be off and on but it's getting there. I'm not a fan of a lot of JB's rotations yet, and he seems to suffer the same problem McHale had where he leaves the wrong lineup in for far too long, but other than that he's got us in the right direction at least. Now that our schedule is going to be getting harder we'll really see where the team is at. They've beaten LAC twice, OKC, DAL, etc. There have been some good wins, but those horrible losses mar the season. We'll see what happens.
Sample size is irrelevant when asking what the difference has been in a small sample size. What you said makes no sense whatsoever. And to the OP, the Rockets actually started playing harder and actually started hitting wide open shots.Other than that, nothing has changed.
The trash post is the guy who said he made a big difference with his movement on offense in his limited sample size, which was part of a larger narrative, by a guy who is famous for crafting reality-defying narratives based on personal preference. He made a difference all right... ...it just didn't quite fit the narrative. Motiejunas is a good plyaer and I am glad he is on the Rockets, but to claim he's been the "x-factor" on offense or something since his return is dubious, according to....reality.
No difference for the first 10 games or so, but last couple of weeks it looks like we are starting to play a little better defense. Very slightly. Up to 22nd in defense now. Offensively, we are just hitting some more shots, law of averages. We are about the same offensively as last season.
He looks like he's slowly rounding into shape, but you're right that in aggregate he's been sub-standard. I think that everyone needs to wait a month before judging closely how much of an "X-factor" D Mo is - certainly he seems to improve spacing and ball movement, but the metrics aren't kind so far. With more consistent reps he might improve but even at his best last year he wasn't a game changing 4.
Shh... Fantasy is easier to deal with DMo made us 1000% better in those 8 games!!!! oh.... Right... we're talking about real results.... LOL Maybe in another 10-20 games with the speed things have been moving.... he'll be even on his contribution (probably not).
DD just loved to root for the white guy. He does hustle but he hasn't caught up to the speed of a NBA game yet. It shows. I do believe that we are moving in the right direction but some additional change is still needed. Not ready to compete with the likes of GS, SA and Cleveland.
One thing is for sure: 8 out of the last 9 games, JBB has kept Harden under 37 mpg. His average might even be under 36 mpg. JBB is making a Concerted Commitment to keep Harden's minutes down to normal for an all-star quality player.
It's not a trash post when he was responding to someone who was acting like Dmo has been balling out of control since he's been back. Dmo will be great. But he's clearly still rusty.
The biggest difference has been JBB's willingness to change up the rotation. If McHale was still here we might be starting TJones and Lawson still. That has slightly improved the defense and drastically improved the offense. Other than trades, there's really not much else you can do to improve a team midseason. A big coaching change won't really do much without a training camp
