Let's GO !!! Season predictions - bring it!

There is nothing you said that sugarcoats how deadass wrong you were last year, like many of the rest of us. The only difference is that now that you have capitulated and went 180 degrees just as the team turns around, you will be just as wrong again this year lol.

 

40 wins. Plus or minus a couple due to injury or health.

 

I have it similar:

First 25 : (6-19) learning new schemes, zig when they should have
zagged, new players getting to know where their teammates like their
shots, poor shot selectors (FVv & Dillon) leading poor shot selectors,
rookies (Amen & Cam) wanting to shine fast but have to temper
or reign in their emotions and wait their turn.

Final 57 : (25-32) with a few months logged, players start
finding their niche in the systems, begin to understand
their roles. The dust starts to settle.

 

The team will be long and athletic, so the D should improve. The offense isn't getting much better. I can't see them being more than 10 wins better than last season. 32-50.

 

Pretty soft schedule out of the gate so I think this team may start fast the first 15 games then struggle as it works out things and have a decent end to the season.

I think they will get to 40 wins.

 

All the times when you think the team is going on a run, it is not.

Then as you expect them to suck, they do not want to tank and win the last 3-4 games.

40 is too smooth of a number, very likely it is 37, 39 or 41.

 

Memphis won't have Ja - 3 games there. You have SA twice, Orlando, and Charlotte - all lotto teams last year. Those are 7 games that are winnable. Then throw in that Dallas, New Orleans, and Golden State aren't exactly prime teams, and yes, this is about as soft as the schedules going to get.

 

We miss the play-in by 2 games

 

Those cases are rare that expectations meet reality 1 to 1.

Normally it is disappointment or overachievement.

SA, Magic and Charlotte will give 120% at the start of the season, this could play to the hands of the Rockets or it could work for them.

The new guys have never played in an official game with the Rockets and only 5 Preseason games to duke it out.......eh...

 

Rockets are going to be good.

 

It is about runs but I agree here it does not sound as good outside of the head.

The bench seems to be more chaotic to me.

KPJ has to get used to coming off the bench, 2 rookies in Amen and Cam.....Jock Landale..Tari?

If those are veteran benches they are going up against, dang.

 

Look at it this way, no one, outside maybe Udoka, really knows what this team will be until the season gets started. It's a different team from last year in so many ways.

So we shall see what happens. But I think the Rockets will win 7-8 of those first 20 games.

 

Now that we have a coach that's instructed to win and a smart lead guard that knows how to move the ball, they should be winning most of those games that they were in until the end. With tons of talent and a new direction, there should be a big jump.

42 wins.

 

Yes and No.

Most new teams do not gel until December or near the ASB that is a fair point to make.

Especially with a new and inexperienced bench.

Everything is practically new except for a few young players and the GM is old and bald.

7 wins does not sound like much, the trajectory is more 35 W, I do not think at that point Win or Loss can define Udoka.

I am definitely calculating injuries with this group.

 

Who is with me.....who predicts 5-0, 4-1 in Pre-Season?

 

Rockets won 22 games last season with a bad coach and not much real intention to win a lot. I think the Rockets will win 30-35 games. Udoka will expect more effort and will hold players accountable. I think there will also be more competition for minutes on the court with the addition of 5 new players that all have the potential to be in the rotation. Fred, Brooks, Thompson, Landale and Whitmore. This will also help increase effort on and off the court. Obviously there will be some growing pains at the start, but I think once the team has settled on rotations and an identity on the court they will start winning some.

 

On one hand, the team has to play significantly better with maturity, coaching, and a pivot to winning.

On the other, I only see two teams in the west I'm confident the Rockets are better than, very little chance outside of injury the team is better than any of Dallas, LAL, LAC, Utah, OKC, or Minny, three of which they'd have to beat out just to sneak into a play-in. The most games a 13 seed in the west has won in the last decade is 34.

 

I actually think we did a 180 from having a squad where half of the players shouldn't even have been playing NBA minutes into having a squad where legit bench guys like Aaron Holiday may struggle to get minutes at all. If a number of other teams in the west have major injury problems and we slightly outperform expectations, our depth may actually allow us to sneak into the play-in.

But as for realistic outcomes, my prediction is still low 30s on the win total and missing the play-in. A lot will have to break the right way to get in.