That is it. It is basically kind of an insult to die hards like most of us here. Watching the Rockets last season was a chore, but the team pivoted to Durant because they thought they could make a move up to be a contender. I was willing to take it but turns out Durant for Green/Brooks was kind of a wash, the so called young cores development stalled out short of where MGMT wishfully thought it would, the pieces didn't and still don't really fit, and the D only and K& Pray offense was very stoppable. The Rockets acknowledged it wasn't enough last season and it became clearer after the playoffs that not only was it not enough, it was even further than they thought from enough. So, either you go further in to win now (Brown, Ball, Giannis) or you concede your rebuild failed and keep looking. As of right now it seems like they decided on- neither? Just not be good enough & let Durant depreciate and let Sengun value turn into Sabonis as he gets further exposed as not Baby Jokic at all
I think the answer to this is pretty clear. They think they can present the illusion that they are contenders in the regular season, that keeps the average fan engaged rather than taking a step back and lose them. That's why KD is still here even though turning him into a future asset would be optimal.
Exactly. To someone like Stone what's important is to keep the 52 win seasons going for as long as possible now that he has done one tank session. It benefits him that young players are developing slowly. He also benefits when a vet in key position goes down with injury (3 times as likely as younge player). It's much easier to be mediocre in the league (and blame young core or injuries) than to have high expectations of championship contender (knicks fired Thib to get the championship). Need to make risky moves (like Bridges trade). With hospitality business owner and a lawyer GM, hard to expect much more than a competitive team with low ceiling - cover my ass and luxury taxes attitude.
And they whooped our ass and decided they needed to get better. Our FO said, no let’s double down on old and slow.
Already forgot between Yao retiring and acquiring Harden how we had to churn through players? After watching how the new CBA has impacted parity and what type of teams are winning championships.... you leave no room that the FO believes or is capable of making a Harden/Haliburton trade? Make a couple of Knick like moves? Our 3 and half season tank job is what lost fan engagement.
We lost in 6. I guess that qualifies as "whooped our ass" when you are a doomer. Lakers doubled down on injury prone, one dimensional players. You really want to drastically overpay and make a Kessler like trade? Or you just b*tichin? Knicks.... certainly a young and fast paced team that just won the chip....
Yeah, They whooped our ass. The Knicks are a well balanced team. There oldest rotation guy was Josh Hart at 31. You should be full of that Kool-aid by now.
For once we agree. The Clips have had a good off-season. Hmmm, got off their old guys, what a novel concept.
Glass half full vs half empty: We were 3rd and 13th in defense and offensive rankings per NBA Stats , which is relatively balanced especially missing our PG. Hard to see teams blitzing against KD if FVV is on the court, except as a change of pace. We most likely wouldn't have come out of the WC but some of y'all just downplay it. I swear some of y'all just don't even look at the minutes distribution and just mindlessly screech "old". The top 5 players in MPG was KD plus 24 year olds which left Tari Eason out. Add FVV into the mix and only 2 players in the top 7 would have been 30 and up. Based on actual minutes played.... we are a very young team.
I'm willing to give them at least until the regular season starts but they haven't inspired confidence so far.
You are surely not one of the guys that I totally disagree with, I live for entertainment mostly. The Rockets are not short of entertainment, even when Silas was there, it was just flat out comedy.
Jabari Smith didn't participate in the 2022 draft combine, nor can I find any record of his 3/4 sprint speed ever being officially measured. Tari Eason didn't do the 3/4 sprint at the combine either - he only had his measurements (height, weight, wingspan, etc) taken. Finally, there is no measurement for "athleticism" at the combine (there isn't one for quickness either, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that quickness is the combined result of all the running drills. So these numbers are either completely made up or you derived them from unverified estimates. Either way, this isn't empirical evidence... https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility?SeasonYear=2021-22 @StrawberryJamm is correct in his assessment that Jabari is a slow player - both physically and (way more importantly) mentally. He simply doesn't process the game the way a truly "elite" role player does, which explains why he (a) is so bad at rotating to the open spot when someone (usually Alpi) gets trapped in the paint; (b) has never shown the cutting instincts that Amen and Tari have (and KJ Martin did while a Rocket), and (c) hasn't ever been a particularly good help defender/weak-side shot-blocker. All of these weaknesses would still be a problem even if he were the fastest runner in the NBA. Jabari's fortunately improved over the years, because if he were still playing like he did his rookie year, he wouldn't still be playing in the NBA. But let's not pretend that Jabari is a gazelle who's been held back by Alpi or Durant. In fact, if it weren't for Alpi's playmaking and Durant's gravity, Jabari probably wouldn't score a single point - he's that dependent on both of them to get an open shot.
this team without their starting PG and key role player (Stevo) won 52 games in the tough west. If Fred Kd and Steve are healthy, they can win a first round series. Its up in the air after that
l lol they didnt decide to get better, they are playing the hand they were dealt once the biggest star in the game decided to leave. The point I do agree with is that sorry ass team eliminated the Rockets - the players Stone is banking on breaking through to be "stars" arent breaking through....
