No. Jalen and Jabari had me worried, but they are coming along. This team was always a legit coach and a steady floor general away from getting out of the gutter. No way the Rockets have the exact same rosters from the past years and have the worst record over that span with Udoka (or any decent coach for that matter.
The turn around has been encouraging. As far as mini milestones for the next stretch of games few comes to mind: 1. The NBA cup will start tomorrow for us. Other NBA teams will increase their preparation and effort. Also for the cup: point differentials matter for the group stage; so for either team; we may see the winning team try to 'run up the score'. Less 'garbage' time. 2. Win a first road game. (next one is Fri Nov 17th, @ Clippers) 3. Different opponents pose different strengths and weaknesses. Fans are curious to see how this Rockets team's defense stacks up against different opponent types. 4. Continue to play hard and hopefully stay injury-free. Guys are young, but playing hard requires physical toll, and be mentally locked in. Let's see how long the team can keep at it.
I’m surprised they’re playing this well. I expected them to be better. I expected us to have a shot at playoffs if everything went right. I did not expect them to roll 4 teams in a row. I did not expect them to play this well defensively. I’m very pleased but also very cognizant of the fact that this is only 7 games into the season. I want to see this for a month before I believe it’s the team and not just good timing in terms of other teams not being ready and us having a good streak — which most teams can pull off for 4-5 games every season.
I agree. The road is going to be a real test. The refs will give Dillon, Tate, and Sengun hell. We won’t have the crowd egging us on. If our defense can weather the storm of those first 3 road games, then I will feel much better about our potential for the play-in or play-offs. I do believe we are going to be on a roller coaster the first half of he season and the pessimists will be out in droves when we have a week or two of struggles.
One of the better replies, I see it similarly. I think Back 2 Backs will be tougher on mental fatigue......and the real test will challenge the thin end of bench. There comes a point where Udoka want to suit up himself but he cannot.....
Of those teams behind the Rockets in the current standings, who do you see overtaking them? 7 Suns - Maybe 8 Pelicans - No 9 Kings - Maybe 10 Clippers - No 11 Spurs - No 12 Lakers - No 13 Blazers - No 14 Jazz - No 15 Grizzlies - No Starting at the bottom - Memphis - No way, they may be 1-24 by the time Ja gets back. Utah - No, they aren't good, totally unbalanced roster lacking star talent too. Portland - No, probably worse than Utah. LALebrons - Nope, Lebron can't do it alone, AD misses too many games. they'll be lucky to make the play in. Wembys - Bad defensive team, worst opponent 3 point percentage in the league, they'll go down before they go up. Clippers - lots of old stars and no one to do the dirty work or play defense. They stay in the play in range. Sacramento - better than they have been - when Fox gets back they might move up some. Pelicans - Zion gonna Zion, likely to miss Fridays game against the Rockets, McCollum out indefinitely, Murphy iii out 3 months. Ingram has been hurt too. PHX - Lots of talent / star power, much like the Clippers but no one to do the little things or play defense. Out of all those teams, the only one I expect to move up is Sacramento when Fox returns, the rest of them are old, injured, flawed or just bad.
Listen, I'm super excited to see them above .500 for the first time in over 1000 days, and I'm optimistic that at least the defense they're showing us is sustainable. But I'm not quite ready to declare this team playoff bound after less than 1/8th of the season. I'd like to get at least to the quarter mark before making those kinds of assumptions.
We're in the subject of futurology, but it's very hard to imagine the Rockets finishing above three of the following, let alone all five: Suns, Clippers, Kings, Lakers and Pelicans. Injuries play (and are already playing) a huge role of course, but it's unreasonable to expect all these teams to struggle at the same time. If we're battling these teams for a play-in spot by the end of season, I'll already be happy. Let's hope I'm wrong and we can sustain the level of shooting we're seeing now throughout the regular season, then we'll be in a good position to make the playoffs.
Since when did the Wild Wild West become so predictable.....I am not saying yours is not true but I sense there will be some shakeup. I feverishly await Trade deadline which is far far away. The Clippers are crazy underrated right now......PG13 is only 33, back in the day Olajuwon was not called old when at 33...... It is bball and not modelling, the best models are sorted out before hitting 25.....only the best survive to their 30s. Clippers have the best net rating among those teams. They just need to bench or low use Harden.
Even with Sengun questionable for tonight, they need to drub this Pelican team missing McCollum, Williamson, and a few other rotational players.
I’m not surprised that they were capable of reaching this level. I’m surprised at how quickly they became competitive. Ime Udoka and his staff deserves all credit here.
