[Confirmed] Rafael Stone involved in practices, coaches meetings, halftime discussions

I hear George Santos averaged 22/9/5 there.

 

thinly-disguised anti-semitism. reported

 

Then that's when Tilman needs to step in and clean house. But right now, they're clearly tanking. Do people not understand that in order to finish with a bottom 3 record, that means losing roughly 60 games? And that the only way to do that is to either have no talent on this roster or make sure the talented players you do have aren't put in position to win?

I hate losing, but they needed to use these last 3 seasons to stockpile young talent via the draft before they start having to convey their picks to OKC. Otherwise they risk being stuck in a Les Alexander-style neverending rebuild where they're winning 40-45 games and either missing the playoffs or getting knocked out in the first round.

If they get Wemby or Scoot, use their cap space wisely(sign a couple of veterans who can mentor the young players), and get a competent coaching staff, there's no way they're this bad next year. At minimum, they're a 30-win team and they only get better from there.

 

Show me that interview

 

Just 37 games left in the 3 year plan. Come July the strategy will have flipped. Win, win, win no matter what!!!

246 Games with which to lose. Rockets are 85% of the way complete. Now its just a matter of the basketball Gods saying #1.

I'm not holding my breath.

 

Well, that and hope the Nets lose, lose, lose.

 

Stone Learned it from Morey. I blame Morey.

 

Stone takes it further than Morey.... and Stone isn't as smart as Morey.

Stone is smart.... but there is smart and there is SMART.

 

Stone better be careful.... there are rumors of others lurking.

 

Adam Silver gonna appoint Joe Dumars to run the Rockets (like Colangelo/Sixers)?

Spoiler

“Joe Dumars is the executive vice president and head of basketball operations of the NBA.”

 

Funny how that works.

 

Look.... I don't like the GM getting involved in the coaching and practices.

But culture needs to come from the players ultimately. Harden was just never a real leader despite being a top 5 player at his peak. It's just asinine to suggest Morey "enabled him". Seems lots of posters have this "Coach Carter" mindset when it's just not the reality of pro sports. As great as Pop is.... he had Tim Duncan to set the culture.

 

I don't entirely agree, especially when you are talking about drafting 18-19 year old players. The front office and coaching staff can certainly set the tone and lay out what is and isn't acceptable. Further, teams can target players that fit their culture and style. The Rockets currently have neither.

 

I don't mind GM involving practices, coaches meetings, halftime discussions if they have basketball background. Stone doesn't seem to have it. It's kind of like the blind leading the blind. I'm more interested in Gordon's reactions during Stone's halftime speech. The reactions should be priceless.

 

Which is why I said "ultimately". I absolutely agree that the coaching staff and FO need to set some sort of minimum standards but I can't think of a single team in NBA history that had 7 rookies and a culture.

While I think the FO and coaching staff should be doing more ( BTW hasn't Lucas been the one trying to set culture?) I think people's expectations are off. We never brought in any real vets (EG doesn't count) in our Hinkie style tank job. Personally I think those vets are more important than FO and coaching staff in setting the culture.

Folks just need to accept the Rockets are trying to be as bad as possible. Would they be acting like this if Wemby and Scoot weren't in this draft, I have my doubts.

 

While Wembenyama has a good skill set, I'm not sure if he has a strong mentality. If he had stayed in a Euroleague team and came to the NBA after chasing success like Doncic, he could have made a bigger splash, but he got into a lousy rivalry in the French League. When I watch clips from most of his games, the players on the court look like part-time basketball players. I'm always skeptical of a player with such a mentality.

 

Have no fear.. I'm sure Sengun gonna get his below 30 mpg .. No need to **** on the second coming bruh.. Embrace the inevitable!

 

Who cares? Most people want Sengun to get rid of this franchise as soon as possible. If the arrival of Wembenyama will ensure that, I want him the most.

 

.

Sorry buddy but as Rocket fans we got Sengun and we are happy with him. You can cry about it somewhere else.

 

They are different things though.

The Rockets can be bad and they can tank while also establishing a strong culture. The Thunder are doing it right now for example.

The fact that the Rockets are relying on an assistant coach to establish culture says it all.

Culture and setting good standards starts at the top and works it's way down. Organizations need to be on the same page and have the same values.

Having veterans helps establish culture but they are not the end all, be all..... veterans like Gordon do not establish culture on the Rockets because they can see there is no culture, no accountability from the top down.

All young teams have issues and have rough patches, but the Rockets are especially bad.