Barely a contrarian if you are directly a 0.500 team, more like a harbinger of mediocrity. Or a heavy speculator.
Well, we got what we needed most, a breakout season from one of our young guys carrying him to all-star level play with a chance for more development to come, and strong evidence that Ime Udoka is, in fact, a good coach. It hasn't all been roses--Jalen has been pretty bad outside of a few nice games, and we've barely gotten to see what Amen Thompson can do thanks to injuries. But overall, I think we are on the right track. I think we need the following three things to become a top 5 seed in the west with a chance to do some real damage in the playoffs: 1. Either add a true superstar perimeter player, and/or Sengun improves to that level while we add an all-star to play with him. 2. More/better shooting from roleplayers, which could come either from internal development or external acquisition. 3. Better play from backup guard/center spots (Amen and Cam will probably solve the former after they have more experience under their belts).
At some point we will be closing out games. It's all a process. It's been a fun season. Thank goodness I don't have to watch the trash product we were putting out the last three years.
I was confident the Rockets would win 31+ games this season - I just wish I bet a lot more money on them reaching that mark than what I eventually did. So I'm glad to see them essentially halfway to that mark at the end of 2023. I knew the removal of KPJ and the addition of Ime, the veterans and a larger role for Sengun meant the team would drastically improve. I just thought Jalen taking a leap would've contributed a lot more to those wins, the only thing I really thought would happen at the beginning of the season, that hasn't played out.
Major progress from last year and exceeding the 30+ game win total pace Clutchfans had at the beginning of the season. The rebuild is on pace and phase two's play-in or playoff berth may hit this season. We need to vote Sengun in the all-star game and Jabari has progressed as well. The vets look very good.
