Just wanted to check-in right before the season to see where we are as a fan base. Personally I'm a little concerned. The preseason action I've been able to catch hasn't exactly put my mind at ease. I can't help but be concerned about our lack of size and athleticism. The defense looks like it will continue to be a problem. I'm worried Capela still doesn't recognize the level of intensity he has to play with consistently for us to win. I also worry that Russ just won't be able to change his style of play at this stage in his career. On the bright side Harden looks like he's ready to go. Am I trippin?
I'm confident that we can make it to the WCF. I need to see how this Harden/Russ marriage works though. I need to see if the distractions of the China BS affect the team
Downgraded noticeably from Paul to Westbrook. Gave up a ton of assets in the trade so little room to improve. Ownership is looking to cut costs and skate underneath the luxury tax. Going to be a bad year, basically relying completely on Harden to carry the team and this poor organization.
Westbrook seems like the kind of player who will use November and December as his preseason. It will be tough to render a verdict on this team until after the allstar break. But I prepared for another early letdown.
Somewhat confident, but don’t agree on the long playoff run. Seems like you jumped from 1st round exit straight to long run. I’m in between, as in 2nd round exit seems very likely given the competition and our struggles.
We still have James Harden, so we're gonna be really good. The Warriors are finally out of the picture, so we may be able to sneak through to a title, but I don't think we're better than last year.
I'm very concerned about our defense and westbrook's chucking, especially in the post-season, although I'm trying to stay optimistic and hope for the best.
I am very confident. What we're missing now is a good defensive scheme that fits well with our personnel. I am sure Westbrook will find his way to play with Harden and the rest of the team efficiently and have his best year after his MVP season.
The Rockets were a hamstring away from possibly winning the championship. I don’t understand how you just throw that all away, why Harden couldn’t work things out with Chris Paul. It’s just childish. You don’t have to be best friends but just work it out on the court for the betterment of the team. Then you can go your separate ways off the court. The trade for Westbrook was not the answer. Worse defense, worse shooting, worse basketball IQ. I hope things work out but I’m not optimistic unless we shore up the supporting staff with better talent.
Hot take (or maybe not so hot): Those pundits will be proven right. CF will proven right (before Westbrook became a Rocket): "That's why KD left! That's why Paul George left! You can't win with this guy! Exciting dunks & triple doubles be damned!" 2nd round ceiling. Tilman & Daryl are saying the "right things" but barring a trip to the Finals (or maybe even winning it), Mike won't be back.
as of right now, not too confident tbh...more like cautiously optimistic this midget squad will struggle on the boards, and I don’t trust our defense been 2 years and the Rockets still ain’t replaced Ariza... Russ and Harden will turn the ball over, and Russ unleashed can legit lose u playoff games...u can never trust our role players to hit all these jacked up threes when it really counts
It's a coin flip to me. The Rockets get 1st in the west, cake walk to the finals, WB and Harden finally get their title. I buy it. The Rockets miss the playoffs entirely. Morey fired, the rockets are in a rebuild. I buy it.
I was very confident in the beginning of the offseason after we got WB. But now with Morey issue lingering, I’m not so sure. Rockets preseason performance so far hasn’t helped. Granted it’s preseason, so I’m not panicking just yet.
I think WB was the second prize after Jimmy Butler who himself isn't the best fit here. But I think we would have kept CP3 for couple of years at least.
Not confident. "It's only preseason, blah blah blah..." Last time we looked this trash in preseason I wrote it off as NBD and we headed straight for .500.