What does Zach Lowe have against the Rockets? He was very confident in picking the under (52 wins) before the season even started. His latest podcast is about how Thunder and Nuggets are atop the West and have separated themselves and leagues above everyone else. He mentioned Thunders and Nuggets point differential like no other team is close when Rockets are barely behind the Nuggets (11.9 vs 11.5) and Rockets are only .5 wins behind because they've played one less game. I remember last season he kept talking about how the Rockets weren't really a 2nd seed, and seeds 2-6 were barely separated, ignoring that the Rockets clinched #2 seed with a week remaining while all the other teams were fighting tooth and claw until the very last game. I know he has a mancrush on Jokic and always pulls hard for the Nuggets even though he tries not to show it. The bias is heavy with him.
I’m not sure this is a fair characterization. Zach said he took the under because of the FVV and DFS injures, as well as his concern that Durant and Eason will miss games (the latter of which has proved to be right). He also said our floor was high and had us around 50 wins. With regard to his belief that OKC and Denver are in a different tier than the other contenders…I’m not sure he’s wrong. We have a lot to prove to get to the level of those teams.
In his most recent podcast, he was talking about how they have separated themselves from the rest of the Western Conference this season so far. Their really isn't much separation between the Nuggets and Rockets so far this season. Rockets have played a somewhat easy schedule but the Nuggets have played an even easier schedule. Their best wins are against the Timberwolves twice without Anthony Edwards.
The Rockets were really the number 2 seed. I will say the Rockets had not separated themselves that much from the 3-6, but that doesn't change that the Rockets earned the number 2 seed with three games to spare. Everyone should have a mancrush on Jokic. I've had a rough time listening to Zach this year, but loving Jokic and thinking the West was tight last year are not showing a bias in my mind. Mostly, I know OKC and Jokic are great, and I'm tired of hearing about it.
I think he may be the one superstar who will walk away near his peak instead of hanging around for several years of decline.
I disagree - his game is going to age well & his decline is still going to be all-NBA level. I don't see any reason for him to not go until he's 40 in 2035. He'll still be an elite player then.
The Magic beat the Warriors with Steph, Butler, and Draymond. They are a really good team without Paolo. If I’m them, I’m wondering what I can get for Banchero (though I doubt they’d pull the trigger).
I was thinking the same thing watching the game last night. Charlotte needs to do the same thing with Ball.
Would it have anything to do with the Rockets playing only 12 games to the Warriors 16 when this was posted? The answer is yes.
It was due to the injuries to FVV and DFS. He also thinks KD and Tari will miss time. Spot on with Tari and more than likely KD will miss some games. He’s not a hater but any means and actually like Houston. He’s not as high on them as OKC and Denver for obvious reason but Houston is easily team 3 and it’s not close.
eh I don't like the way he talked about the team during the playoffs. Said they were playing football and getting away with fouling the entire time. "They play a different sport". It's always passive aggressiveness and backhanded compliments when he talks about us. Always been that way with him even though he tries to play it off and come off as unbias. Back when Harden was on the team, the Rockets were the villains to Curry and the Warriors heroes in his eyes.
You can’t even see Okogie, without expanding. So, he’s clearly the worst defender on the team, by a long shot. Man, what value do people get from these so-called “advanced” individual defensive stats, esp DRtg (which is the X-axis below). They are just useless … there is no other way to describe Okogie being so categorical misplaced. I can say with certainty…coaches and GMs do not use these stats. They literally have AI trained on multi-camera, game video, customized to their team, to answer their questions. And maybe someday us fans will too, and DRtg will finally be dropped from discussion.
