[Poll] How many games does this team win next season?

This year has been fantastic, and it's wonderful to be back playing competitive basketball, something that I, along with many others, feared wouldn't happen again so soon. It's been satisfying to watch Sengun prove his doubters wrong, and I believe he's on his way to becoming a superstar. The future looks very promising and 40 wins are very possible this season.

My expectations are measured, yet specific: Cam and Amen will become more established in the rotation, with Cam possibly playing around 25-30 minutes each game. Unfortunately, Tari may be sidelined for longer than anticipated, likely missing most of the season. I predict that we'll make a trade by the deadline to acquire a shooter and a reliable backup center. My best guess is that we might bring in either Nick Richards or Capela, as well as Grimes.

 

Curious if you still feel this way?

 

Yes, of course

 

Well, the Schedule is not as easy as folks here have proclaimed it to be......

Around 0.49 ish teams......on average... with several mixed bags....... tons of close games.

 

The Rockets have been so bad on the road this season, it's nearly as bad as last year in terms of win/loss.

The Rockets have 2 decent road wins (NO and Den - both in December) and all the other 3 against tank teams (mem, cha, det).

The Rockets won 8 road games last year.

It's unclear if they'll even match that this year. @Washington, @Memphis @SA seem winnable right now but everything else is looking pretty L ish.

The silver lining is that the last game is at LAC who is probably resting for the playoffs at that point - they will probably put out a bunch of guys from the East LA Community College Huskies.

 

Just like Stephen Silas won the last 3 games otherwise they would have concluded with a 19 Win Season....

Sure felt like a 19 W Season instead of a 22 W Season last year.

 

Current team is fragile. The starting 5's. VET to YOUNG ratio is 2:3. Dillon was out for a while and now FVV. The ratio shifted to 1:4. Think originally Ime/Stone wanted 3:2.

We win more home games this year, but terrible on the road. So even with a 2:3 ratio, team has much room for growth.



While team is performing higher than my expectations this year, it is fragile and over achieving at the same time. Young guys have to take bigger leaps next season, otherwise my fear next year might be the same (might even skid). Team growth is not linear.

If had to pick, maybe bank on Bari and Cam, if both can take a jump, then team will be more stable.

 

Injuries are the only thing holding this team back from a 40 win season

Rocket River
and that's cool

 

Overall I feel like the team really has performed at or slightly above expectations thus far.

The issue with the record, and the reason why we won't be .500 or better most likely is because I feel like the competition level is soooo high right now in the NBA. There are really no off nights, and even the "tanking" teams like Portland have very talented players capable of going off on any given night.

The Rockets have restocked their talent level to a certain degree, and that's a success. However not enough, and especially not deep enough with talent to really be competitive for a playoff spot. I hope that Stone, and Fertitta see where we are, see where the league is, and conclude like I do that they just need to continue the path, do not take short cuts, and double down on bringing in talent.

This is NOT the time to dump all your assets and bet it all on one player that might be considered an all-star that you think will help you sell tickets. Be the NBA version of the Astros. Be patient, and you can never have enough young talent.

 

The rockets were never going to be .500 or better this season. if you actually thought so, you just set unrealistic expectations regardless of the boatload of money they spent which was on 0 actual stars

 

To be honest that sounds like exactly what I would expect from a year following 15 wins or whatever. It's realistic progress.

 

over 84% predicted a sub .500 year...

32 games remain...

gotta go 18-14 to hit .500

i'll maintain my 41-44 win prediction.

 

yeah not happening. clearly you didn't factor in the rockets have a grand total of 5 road wins after 50 games. and they have 18 road games left. Anyone paying attention this season know the struggles of the rockets on the road. It isn't random.

No team with that horrendous of a road record is hitting a 40 game win season. They have the same road record as charlotte/memphis who all tie for the 2nd worst in the league. only detroit is worse. and it just doesn't get fixed with 30 games to go

 

I voted 33-36. But 38 has been my prediction since December. I think that's the most realistic number as things are going.

 

The bookies have drawn the line either at 31.5 Over or Under....... probably 32.5 Over and Under somewhere.

This was viewed as very low even before the Season but I guess the 40 W prediction is likely more difficult.

Udoker is showing nerves... with the L against Blazers etc....

It all comes down to Injuries I suppose......

 

While this team is trying to find its identity, losing Tari and FVV for extended periods surely doesn't help the wet concrete set. I wonder if Tari will be able to continue his career.

 

I'm not a gambler. If I were and the O/U was 31.5, I'd bet heavily on the over.

 

Our off-season:
Vet acquisitions: 2 mid-tier talents, 2 qualified bottom-of-rotation guys, 1 certified scrub
Youngsters got a year older, and we added a couple of new teenagers
Shuffled the entire coaching staff

Yet somehow, this team was supposed to miraculously be over .500 and make the playoffs.

 

For sure but given how much involved those gambling sponsors are in sports.....those odds are good omens for how things shake out.

I would win more because I had the Wizards Under 24.5 and they had the slightly higher odds than Houston Over 31.5 for instance.
(Wiz have the 3rd hardest remaining schedule)

Before the season.