I can't say how excited I am for this team. When it came to Harden wanting out and the team being torn down, and that way it happened, I basically felt like a jaded, hopeless basketball fan. I thought the league was in trouble because of the pampered stars and their attitudes. Raf Stone has steered this ship masterfully, in my opinion. Say what you want about him lucking into things, but to go from Harden wanting to leave to the young talent we have now, and the potential of the Brooklyn picks is nothing short of miraculous. I love this team. Bunch of young, talented dudes willing to work their asses off. Seems like they should all be pretty tight knit, too. Call me crazy, but this current crop is franchise-altering. Not just from a talent level, but more from an attitude level. I realize it's early, but I can see it. It's infectious. I have two kids. My four year old is the oldest. He talks about sports, but doesn't really know about them. I know what sports meant to me as a kid. I hope he can grow up with this baby bottle Rockets team and that I can watch them through his eyes. I remember that feeling as a kid. I probably haven't felt that way since shortly after I joined here, twenty (!!!) years ago. I kind of feel that way again. I think we could be legit contenders by time my son is coming into his sports obsession prime. Because of that, I'm actually considering League Pass for the first time. I'm assuming I'll be spending a lot more money than ever in this franchise, less than two years removed from saying I was swearing off the NBA. Say what you want about Harden. He was great, but I kind of felt like he was fool's gold for the last four or five years he was here. This feels different. It will take probably 4 years, but it feels different. I can't believe the turn this franchise has taken in two years! Edit: I know there will be some I. D. I. O. T. comments, but let's bring some humility and family style action back to this board.
those here know ive always been a strong supporter of the tillmen and cold stone. long live supreme leader tillmen
Rockets fan since Hakeem was a rookie. I haven't watched a single game since Harden left because I knew we would suck, and I hate losing. This new crop of very young, but talented players will motivate me to watch games this year. Long live the Houston Rockets.
Same here, joined 19 years back during Yao Ming's rookie years... dont really care if we tank for Victor, gonna go through the growing pains once again, Rockets forever!...lol
I also believe this journey will be fun. The road is definitely going to be bumpy along the way but hopefully we compete for many years and who knows maybe even win a championship one day.
I agree. I haven't been this excited in over a decade. JC did make me turn the TV off yesterday with his selfishness
I like it. seems like OP once again has that paging Cyberx energy this board needs!! Should’ve paged Ruh-Felle lol
I've been a Rocket fan since 77', 78' and a season ticketholder since 99' but fell off during Covid. After seeing this group, I think I might re-up.
I'm told "The Process" by the 76ers was 7 years. I felt the Rockets would take the accelerated path with multiple 1st round picks each year. They seem a head of schedule with Thrilla, Sengun, Tari, and Snake (Snake Eyes Smith) Porter will prove to be the lucky pick up by Stone
Keep this same energy. The Rockets will need all the support they can get after this low expectation period wanes and guys like Jalen Green are off their rookie contracts. As Stone said himself after the Harden trade, you can't really judge him until years down the line. I'll really be interested to see how he handles the 2023 free agency and 2024 season. It's much easier to choose a top 3 pick than it is to mold a competitive cohesive roster around them in free agency.
Stone should never sign a FA again. Just use draft picks in perpetuity. Man has my 10000% trust in the draft.
If the generation of Kawhi, Simmons, Durant, Irving etc have their way, basketball stars will all just either play for top seeds where the team owner caters to their every whim or sit out and post passive aggressively on Twitter, so you could still be right.
Selfishly, the pampered attitudes of star players has never really bothered me because Houston has historically always been a very attractive city to professional athletes. As long as the front office continues to do their job, and build a team that players would want to play for, FA shouldn't be a huge issue when the time comes. And as an added bonus, with guys like Jalen and Jabari, you might already have the star power (and team culture) in place organically which would make roster building all that much easier when we are ready to contend.
About the only thing Tilfart has done well is learn from the mess he made breaking down our championship roster. The hiring of Stone and getting out of his way is his only redeeming value. As far as Stone, with a little luck, he has done an amazing job drafting. Free agency is a mixed bag, we'll see how he does when we're ready to spend but I have hope despite Oladipo and Theis debacles.
My big fear at this point is that the inevitable star FA signings next summer (or the one after) will introduce big egos that could affect the chemistry in the wrong way. If Stone can navigate those tricky waters without screwing up, then Tilman should open his vault and pay him whatever it takes to keep him around for a couple of decades.
We will probably still be a bottom 6 team in the NBA. But, it will be fun watching and seeing how our core shapes up. Just don't give up after we go on a few harsh losing streaks. These are 19 and 20 year olds...
Looking at the free agent list, do you think we try to make any big move or do we take advantage of the cap space to absorb a contract to take on a player/asset? The free agency list is slim right at the point we need to start competing so it's a true challenge
