Are you looking in the mirror now? Rox may not be a contender now, but that has a lot to do with missing 25M in the roster more than "taking a wrong turn". Injuries happen its not like you can ensure everybody is perfectly healthy. And this team isnt a play in team wtf.
So today in Clutchfans, Adams was just a decent backup center. Durant sucks Reed is only mediocre at shooting on the ball. Reed is the best thing since Betty White due to 1 great half (I like Reed, I loved his hot streak through November and first half of December, I like his future, but he's still probably the 4th best Rocket right now).
PoOr ImE dOeSnT wAnT tO pLaY tHiS wAy “We’ve quadrupled down on it,” Udoka said. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...best-offenses-sengun-thompson-sheppard-durant … Instead, the Rockets would close out the worst seven-game stretch of 3-point shooting (58 of 236; minimum 200 attempts) in NBA history, according to ESPN Research, losing their fifth game in seven outings. Not even 24 hours later, Houston coach Ime Udoka expressed resolve in his team's unconventional offensive approach and its potential for sustainability. "The formula can work," he told ESPN. "What we do is hunt quality shots," Udoka said about 90 minutes before a late tipoff against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Toyota Center on Jan. 16. "Non-conventionally [is] the way we're doing it this year as far as not having a true point guard out there, like a setup guy like Fred [VanVleet]. "Kevin and Alpi [Alperen Sengun] are drawing all that attention and getting open looks. And then a lot of teams are doubling, scrambling, and we're dominating on the glass. So, the formula is those guys are going to draw attention, draw a crowd, get the numbers behind it or we get the advantage." "We've got the talent," forward Jabari Smith Jr. told ESPN. "It's like we've just got to figure out how to make it work. It's untraditional, but you see flashes. And sometimes when the ball is moving and popping, that's when we build those leads and it really turns into something." UDOKA AND THE Rockets coaching staff experimented all of last season playing big lineups and finished the 2024-25 campaign leading the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (14.6). Houston's size also allowed it to crash the offensive glass off misses with ferocity. That naturally yielded more second-chance points, another statistical category the Rockets led last season (18.1) on the way to a 52-30 record. "We saw something that worked last year and kind of tripled down, quadrupled down on it," Udoka said. "We became a bigger team. ... We're taking advantage of our size and the offensive rebounding that some of our guys naturally do. Amen's great at it, Tari's great at it, Steven's great at it. Jabari and some of those guys have grown into it, Alpi as well. So, it became a thing last year. But we've doubled down on it this year." "When we need a bucket, there's not a lot of thinking," Rockets guard Amen Thompson said. "We just try to get KD the ball. You want to double Alpi and leave KD open? Want to double KD and leave me, Jabari and Reed on the backside roaming? He's an extra threat for sure." The height of the 6-foot-11 Durant, a 15-time All-Star, only added to Houston's size. … "When you get Alpi [Sengun], Steven and Jabari crashing like that, we're getting so many chances to get more offensive possessions with KD out there shooting along with me, Reed [Sheppard] and Jabari," Thompson said. In Udoka's mind, Sheppard and rising star Thompson are crucial figures in Houston leveling out the ups and downs of navigating its nontraditional, bullying offense. Sheppard can help by aggressively attacking opposing defenses from the 3-point line. Thompson performs at his best when he's inflicting damage with penetration and attacking the rim for dunks and kickouts to teammates for open shots. "When he can get off the glass and push and make those spectacular plays above the rim, especially at home, the crowd feeds off of it," Durant said of Thompson. "We feed off it." Udoka agreed, but he's hungry for more growth from Houston's young guards. "The formula can work as we're getting Reed and Amen up to speed with the point guard position," Udoka said. "That's what we have to do this year, and they've taken steps and grown in that area. ... They've got to find the balance of being aggressive, and in Amen's case, specifically, getting to the basket or finding guys to score. We know it's not going to happen overnight. But by the right time, later in the season, we want to see limited mistakes about certain things we're talking to them about and have them hitting their stride by the time real basketball starts." HELP AT POINT guard doesn't appear to be incoming, according to Udoka, who told ESPN the organization hasn't discussed adding at the position as the trade deadline approaches. Houston is hard capped, sitting at $1.25 million below the first apron. "We've always been confident and talked about our depth and relying on all these guys with Aaron [Holiday] and Jae'Sean [Tate] and guys that aren't playing as much. We felt we had a team three-deep at every position with Clint [Capela] at the backup 5. So, [adding help at the trade deadline is] nothing we were looking at. "We want to see what [Thompson and Sheppard] look like with a year of point guard play under their belt and getting Fred back eventually. For now, we want those guys to grow into that role." Houston ranks 29th in the NBA in 3-point attempts (30.7 per game) and 25th in made 3-pointers (11.3), but the Rockets are sixth in 3-point percentage (37.0). … Just 29.1% of the Rockets' scoring comes from the 3-point line. Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy worked alongside Udoka on Gregg Popovich's staff in San Antonio for three seasons (2016-17 to 2018-19), before rejoining Udoka in 2021 as an assistant in Boston. Hardy sees a Rockets team and offense built in the image of his tough, no-nonsense friend. During their days as assistants under Popovich, Hardy recalled the Hall of Fame coach encouraging disagreement and discourse in coaches' meetings. Popovich hated the idea of "yes men," but Udoka never fell into that category. Back then, Udoka stood his ground. And his resolve to do it now has only grown stronger, knowing that his unconventional scheme can reap benefits down the road that Houston hasn't experienced since the 1990s, when it last reached the NBA Finals. "That's how they've played since he got there," Hardy said. "That's an identity that Ime and their roster has created. I don't see why it wouldn't be sustainable. It needs to be coupled with other things. But I don't think you could bail on your team's identity at a certain point. There are tactical elements in any playoff series that have to be navigated, but I think the overall personality of your team is something you want to establish and try to maintain as much as possible."
Spurs just got stomped by the Pelicans. They are 6-6 in their last 12. Wemby had a snoozer. Harper and Castle combined for 10 points. Yet some on here seem to think their young three is somehow way better than our young group? Nah.
I been of the mind that it is a long season and teams will go through highs and lows. It hurts that Eason is in and out of the line up, Reed plays inconsistent minutes and Jabari is up and down on his shooting.
Rockets will be lethal if we replace Sengun with Markkanan and Kessler. I would throw in the Suns and the Mavs picks to make that happen.
Their 3 might not be much better than the Rockets, but their 1 still has the most potential of any of them by a pretty wide margin. I can't stand Wemby but the guy is a difference maker on both ends. I hope he stubs his toe and is out for a month.
Screw Wembyfraudma. Dude couldn’t even stop hefty Zion. Amen > Wemby and Sheppard > Castle. I said what I said!
I may have underestimated the Rockets. 4-1 and favored in all the rest of the games mentioned. LOL at eternal pessimist @SamFisher.
1). Sengun 2). trade deadline center pickup 3). Bari 4). DFS 5). Tari 6). Okogie 7). Amen 8). Reed 9). Durant Someone probably gets left out, but I think this is our playoff rotation baring injury and assuming Fred and Steveo are out.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6894997/2026/01/28/nba-offseason-salary-cap-space-2026/ Houston Rockets The Rockets have a complicated situation because Fred VanVleet has a $25 million player option coming off a torn ACL, but he likely wants a long-term deal. What kind of per-season salary would that entail? With VanVleet at or near his player option amount, the Rockets could bring him back and re-sign restricted free agent Tari Eason at around the nontaxpayer MLE while avoiding the tax, or they could pay him more via matching an offer sheet or a new contract themselves and pay a small tax bill. As such, the decision might be Eason vs. nontaxpayer MLE for Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, and that may depend on where the offers end up for Eason more than the Rockets’ own preferences.
