That's cause no one wants to get caught with Lebron and Wade's booty buddy who help Diddy recruit fresh meat to blackmail.
He also slept with Kanye's wife while they were still married, so they probably don't want to end up on his next diss track.
I am not conceding anything - the question was whether I expected the Rockets to win a championship this season and my answer is that I did not and do not expect one. That doesn’t mean it isn’t possible - but this isn’t a championship or bust team or year. They didn’t even get past the first round last season. As for Udoka - I agree that his job is to win. However, in order for the Rockets to have a good chance of beating the Thunder, Nuggets or Spurs - the Rockets would need a wild card to emerge, and that is someone like Sheppard- and that requires playing time. FVV is a known quantity, both good and bad. So - to be clear, I am not saying the Rockets cannot win a title this year, but I don’t think they are the favorites and I don’t think they have to win a title to have a successful year.
Yes, coaches' job is to win. They are therefore shortsighted by their job nature. They don't know if they will be here long term if they don't win in the short term. But long term and short term are relative. Two, three years is not too long for a coach like Udoka. He has to think about how the team develops within this time frame. If he keeps winning enough games in the regular season but cannot get over the hump in the playoffs, he is going to be axed too. We've seen this happening to more than a few coaches. In order to be a true contender in the playoffs, he needs his high potential young guys to reach their potential. So "winning games" is not just winning some regular season games. Winning is winning big in the playoffs. Udoka is not dumb. He must understand this and is going to develop his players so that they can compete in the playoffs. The only other option is to hope that the FO can make a big swing and get a MVP type of player. If he plans on riding KD's ISO skills to win in the playoffs, then he is not very smart.
When the Rockets play their 36th game on January 11th, they will have played 23 road games. That is tied for the most road games through 36 games in NBA history. There will be opportunity to climb the standings and do some damage at home, where the Rockets are currently 9-2. The eye test shows the defense was bad in December while being very good in October. The last 2 games have shown a return of the very good defense. Combine defense with historically dominant rebounding, and the Rockets should be able to compete with SA and DEN. Like you said, Rockets could get higher on the list. I believe fixing the late game execution on offense (better shots, less live ball turnovers) is the best way of doing that.
