Recurring themes: Big men, rebounding. Thompson, Love Howard Kanter, Adams Valanciunas Gobert Gasol, Randolph Towns Not to say that those guys are carrying their teams, but that those guys are the key to disrupting us on defense, and making key plays. I don't know what the answer is, but we need another big man bruiser.
The way I see it........we have to score more than 128 pts a game! Mark my word, if we had done this from the start of the season, we would be undefeated! Get'r done DTony!!!! Gooooo ROCKETS!!! ....... ....... .......
I love that Atlanta and Minnesota are the only teams we've lost to that aren't good. All of those teams are good to excellent.
No. We are beating everybody. We just aren't sweeping the best teams. That's pretty normal for event he elite teams. I don't think we've beaten Cleveland but we only played them the once. Definitely beaten the Warriors, Clippers, Raptors and Golden State. Have we beaten Memphis? I can't recall.
Tier 1(.600-1.000): 6-5 Spoiler Jazz(1-1), Celtics(1-0), Clippers(1-0), Raptors(1-1), (Rockets), Cavs(0-1), Spurs(1-2), Warriors(1-0) Tier 2(.400-.599): 14-4 Spoiler Pelicans(1-0), Kings(2-0), Magic(1-0), Pistons(1-0), Blazers(2-0), Knicks(2-0), Bulls, Wizards(2-0), Hornets(1-0), Pacers, Bucks, Hawks(0-1), Thunder(2-1), Grizzlies(0-2) Tier 3(.000-.399): 11-2 Spoiler Nets(1-0), Heat, Suns(2-0), Mavs(4-0), Sixers(1-0), Lakers(1-1), TWolves(1-1), Nuggets(1-0)
Then don't worry - we will get out of the first round unless we face Memphis apparently. The problem is that he isn't good enough to be the 2nd best player on a champion. Might very well be that these guys were playing above the pay grade the first half. There are certainly flaws with this team. Memphis is not a Tier 2 team. They belong in the first group. We are 6-7 against the best in the NBA
I would start worrying if we blown away by top 8 teams more often than not. So far, most recent games have been competitive except Minny game. It is a long season, we are going through speed bumps, hopefully, these speed bumps doesn't cause flat tires.
we've lost to those type of teams. T.Jones used to be an undersized PF, we could use him now as full time Center.
We are 8-11 against teams over .500. We are 13-11 against playoff teams because you add in the Wizards, Hornets, and Blazers, whom we are 5-0 against. My numbers are off somewhere a game because we lost to the wolves. But doesn't matter. We are hit and miss against the better teams in the Association. We are one-dimensional. And we are incapable of winning a championship in this system UNLESS and UNTIL 1. Harden accepts playing alongside another great playmaker and he is willing to play off the ball for stretches of the game as the defense dictates it. and 2. We get a serious upgrade to our rim and paint protection that is significantly better than Capela.
The Rockets aren't the best team ever. Noted. So they are winning the games they should, and many of the ones that are tough. It's also a pretty small sample size. If they don't blow leads against Memphis and SAS, they are 10-9 against those teams above .500. They have obvious weaknesses. These are known. Size, rebounding, tendency to get stagnant in the 4th. Hopefully they can improve in these areas, be it via trade or just better play.
Rockets are good at TEAM rebounding, they'll outboard most teams collectively. But it still helps to have individual bigs that can clean the glass themselves. Even with effectiveness of small ball, still today one of the simplest mismatches to exploit is a size and strength advantage. Bigs might not beat you with their offensive post game, but they clean the glass gobbling up extra possessions and wear you down with defense and hard screens. If those teams also have willing perimeter defenders guarding the 3 point line, they can make it tough. (Also Lakers 1st game...) Though at the time Lakers stormed out the gate strong and they beat the Warriors too by 20 pts. Atlanta has quietly got back to respectability. Theyre #4 seed in the East. If thats one of the WORST teams to lose to, then Rockets are looking alright.
