By the end of the year, will we be good enough to take OKC and Denver in the playoffs?

KD is taken out too easily and the guard depth is comical........let's survive the Bucks and Portland and Joker first......

 

I don't think we'll even better than the Spurs at this rate. What I fear most about this team is like the Grizzlies.. we end up in a situation where we gotta pay our guys but it's not good enough to win it all so we just end up being more and more mediocre as other teams get better than us.

 

Yes, he was a floor general but Freddie's shooting was all over the place and not 'Steady' at all.

 

Ime Udoka has always been gimmicky.....meaning he wins a lot of games and lets you think they can win it all but then they have some confounding and dumb mistakes and games.

 

I say...why the hell not?

 

You left off the Spurs...the NBA will continue to prop Wemby up.

 

And his 7'7 will prop himself up .....

@Jontro

Spoiler

 

Booker is playing so much better without KD though.....it was a bad fit after all.

KD had to play lockdown Defense there and that is not who he is at this point, or any points in his career.

 

I'd say 50/50.

 

wed be lucky to win 2 games against okc and 3 against denver. thats just the reality. they beat us talent wise and are better constructed (our pg and imp role player is hurt)

 

This is so funny.

When the rockets were playing with max effort on defense last year, everyone worried that we were succeeding because we were just out working other teams in the regular season, and you can’t do that in the playoffs because everyone hustles and plays tough in the post season. We fretted over chasing empty regular season wins while not recognizing the lack of skill, talent of shooting that would rear its head in the playoffs.

Now we aren’t playing max effort in regular season. Ime is jeopardizing regular season wins to see if Sheppard can play in the rotation and close the game vs San Antonio. We are super worried that blowing regular season games will cost us in playoff seeding. Ime can’t coach because the team is unfocused and lacks hustle. They should be playing with max effort and hustle in the regular season.

Why can’t we just be awesome like OKC and win every game, get the top seed, have multiple stars that can score at three levels while being great two way players as well? The Rockets suck and Ime should be fired.

***

No, I’m not saying the Rockets should be above criticism. But damn people, pick a lane.

 

If fans were very observant, you would have observed that OKC have played 2 more games than the Rockets at all times....

Always keeping the Rockets at bay in the Standings.

Right now mostly keeping a +13.9 Point Differential to the Rest of the Field.

 

Still think OKC is 1 Tier above Denver in the Regular Season but that gap is smaller in the Playoffs when everything slows down.

 

Agreed we should be.

If San Antonio does better than us in the playoffs I’ll be so mad.

 

With basketball anything can happen. I just hope by the end of the year we will have mastered taking advantage of double teams they send at KD and ALP. On defense teams help off their man. The second that happens the person who go helped off of should locate to an open spot on the floor and know what to do from there. KD specifically since he is more prone to coughing it up needs to know where that person is instantly and pass it to them. That person then needs to be trained what to do from there.

If Ime puts in a system where the second someone gets double teamed that person has an outlet then we can take on anyone. Right now unfortunately people just remain in their spots or help comes way too late.

On defense in less than a second decisions are made to help off of, stunt, or switch. Offense needs to be just as fast in these decisions.

 

Anything can happen in sports but IMO OKC unfortunately is going to be dynasty like Spurs were and will win multiple titles. They draft incredibly well. They have 2 stars that mesh perfectly with one being an MVP and the other having Scottie Pippen like potential. Caruso is. DPOY candidate, Chet is a great 3rd wheel. Harty is just an engine that does all the hustle **** like Rodman did. They also have insane amounts of chemistry and one of the best coaches in the league.

 

You realized, and they have a sneaky good organization with decent, trusting people from janitor, chef and so on to Presti, owner Bennett whose net worth is lower than a lot of other owners'.

Hartenstein is much better offensively than Rodman, recently with 33 points and 19 boards vs Kings.
Can pass like Sengün junior. Would prioritize him over Dort though.

That is exactly how you build a team and an organization from top to bottom.

The New Duncan Spurs.....except Shai is Duncan.

 

So if you believe OKC is a dynasty, then you think they will win like 2 of the next 3 titles?

Meaning there's 1 title up for grabs split between Nuggets, Rockets and the entire East for the next few years?

That's a bleak outlook, especially considering we cashed in 2 young assets (Green and #10) for a 36 year old KD.