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.
Something seems to have shifted w the Clippers as of late, I don't think the Rockets were as bad that game, the Clippers were hitting a lot of shots, they look like a different team, they dont have their pick so have every reason to try to compete.
I honestly believe they can beat OKC right now if they played. Even on Sixers game OKC was beatable until last 5 mins. Unlike Rockets they pull away quickly once they get hold of that lead but final score doesn’t reflect the difficulty they had to go thru
Clippers got rid of cancerous vibe killer Chris Paul, and Zubac isn’t there to clog the paint on offense
I agree with everything you said. The nuance that I'm highlighting is that yes, coach needs Reed to reach his potential but it's not his fault if he doesn't. It's Reed's job to reach his own potential, not coaches. Coach needs to prioritize winning. Unless Reed is getting DNP-CDs, it's Reed's job to contribute to getting wins. To highlight the point, coach will never take an L for the sake of developing a player. But yea, it's a delicate balance and it's not as black and white as I paint. But there are times when folks around here see all this potential in a player and start blaming the coach when the player doesn't reach their potential.
It's not a hot take to say any one team won't win a championship. If you can take one team or the field in a bet, you always take the field. But one team has to win it and crazier things have happened. It's why you play the games. No coach will give a player extra time simply because he thinks they might turn into a "wild card." It's Reed's job to become that player, not coach's job to grant it to him. Reed needs to make the best of the minutes he gets. So far, he's well on the way to doing just that. If Reed can contribute to wins and be that xfactor, everybody wins.
I don't agree with this - coaches will play and develop guys that they think they will need come playoff time - if they believe it will make a difference. Reed Sheppard would not be getting the minutes he is getting if FVV wasn't hurt. FVV is very good at the things he does well - but he also has some real limitations. As far as taking one team or the field - that depends on the era or basketball and whether there is a dynasty.
Anybody thinking the offense would be much better with FVV is kidding themselves. I love the guy but the prior post season was a clear indicator. We would cut down on some stupid turnovers for sure but it would not bridge the difference As you said, if Reed can get hot that is our X factor for beating better teams like OKC. It’s how it has always worked. When we played the KD GSW Draymond even came out later and said Nick Young and other role players swinging games was the reason they were able to squeeze it out (CP3 injury and all too) not developing Sheppard, #3 pick who got no playtime last season without the foresight he may help you is ****ing stupid and something no coach will do. Udoka is developing him as is clearly seen. Good for him
