"it's not the destination, it's the journey" Folks that get all twisted bc we arent one of the top contenders vying for a title just dont get it imo.... It's about cheering for the hometown team... its about fans coming together to root for their squad... More than likely the season will end in heartbreak - but u enjoy the ride - and maybe next year....! Some of my fondest memories from childhood are loving the Houston Oilers - and they didnt win sh*t for those years... yet fans still filled the Astrodome to show their appreciation after they got eliminated... Winning a championship is great! I LOVED watching Olajuwon hoist the trophy... Rudy T's remarks... but its about watching and supporting your team - win, lose or draw. Do some of yall have kids and think "oh, this one's mediocre - they suck... lets just forget about them and try again... maybe we can draft a better one from the gene pool!" lol
Spoken like a true fanatic. You're the person every team, in every sport, prays for. In my old marketing classes this mind set was what the end result of your efforts strove to accomplish. Glad I didn't walk down that road with my career. Creates false relationships with products that shouldn't exist. The NBA is a product. They are selling it and have successfully created a loyal consumer. Fanaticism is a mental distortion that binds your natural desire for loyalty to a product or person (not a family member or friend). Thank God I figured this out and came to my senses. F^ck that crap. Rockets can sell a good product or F off. I've taken years off before and had no problem with it. I'm about there again.
I was reading an article yesterday on the re-signing of Tate, it mentioned that Stone believes in this roster and wants to give it another year to compete. I don't see the vision either. FVV and Adams returning isn't going to fix a team that lacks fundamental skills - non-shooters, can't dribble, pass and lacking in IQ. Thinking it's enough to catch up to the two best teams in the conference? You gotta be kidding me. This team really reminds me of the Adleman / McHale years, after Yao & McGrady and before Harden .... being stuck on the mediocrity treadmill, even though the team has won more games, it feels really similar. They didn't have a franchise player then and picked 14,14,12,16,18 in consecutive drafts. They don't have one now. They didn't maximize their opportunities during that time because the owner wouldn't allow it and I don't feel like they are doing that now because the decision makers believe they are actually contenders .... I think they are delusional leaning on FVV, Adams and KD along with a bunch of kids who lack fundamentals. I feel like they are wasting time with this roster, I'd much rather see them taking chances in a deep draft rather than playing it safe even if they win 45-50 games, another first round exit is unacceptable, especially when you essentially shuffled the deck chairs around and stood pat. Fans deserve better than that.
We are just in that strange space. The guys Stone drafted have improved BUT have not taken that leap. Snake bitten in the drafts. Bad ping pong balls! We don’t have any high-level specialists that do one or more things well. Our best player is aging out! The list is infinite. I think this is Stone’s last season. If we don’t make a huge leap he is out injuries or not! I think a new GM that is NOT PATRICK would be good. Rafa is like Presti but moves not as good and missed on drafting stars.
It is mostly stress-free because expectations are so low. Our coach is clueless offensively, and our GM can't draft or trade. So, why me worry?
Whatever u wanna boil it down to, man - imo its about a shared experience... people bonding over a common desire or experience... Personally, I think its an experience that is all but lost in the present day... Back in the day... we all watched MJ moonwalk for the first time on live tv... we all watched the last episode of MASH or Thursday night "must see TV".... Those were commonalities - shared experiences... thats what sports teams represent... every team sells large "we're #1" foam fingers - and obviously thats not the case... lol. Nowadays with the internet... everybody can go down their own little rabbit hole... but its the shared experiences that bring us together. Plus... We typically choose our favorite teams when we are kids around 12 or 13 - and let it piss us off for the rest of our lives...
It’s not hard to be a Rocket fan. We have a lot of young guys that are fun to watch and have great potential. We win a lot of regular season games and are usually competitive. It is hard to be a Rocket fan on this forum with all the vitriolic fans that don’t understand the difference between debate and animosity. It’s difficult to listen to your fandom attacked if you aren’t rah, rah, rahing all the time and pointing out deficiencies. I like to talk sports and play gm and unfortunately this is really the best place to do that as a Rocket fan even with all the a*holes and kool-aid drinkers. around here. Thank God for the Nooks, Oremlks, StephenAs and Bimathugs that understand the concept of sport debate and information sharing.
Thats one way of looking at it. However, if the majority felt that way and just using them as an example, but when the Astros were struggling, you couldn't find a fan in the stadium! They would be lucky to draw 5k fans! So, you can say fans are there win, lose or draw but that's not the majority. I think if you did a poll, you would find that most fans prefer to compete for a championship, rather than being a middle of the road team.
Yeah, he's like one of those guys that goes along with the system without realizing all of the good things we have are from people challenging the system. If the Rockets as a business org can do whatever and be cheap and still make money, they will. The only thing that stops them from doing that is fans refusing to buy into the product until they do a good job.
Well sure, man… those r fair weather fans… everybody hops on the bandwagon when times r good… lol But I figure this is CF - we’re more hardcore than that… Now idk what to make of the toxticity… residual fans from the Harden era? Any of us long timers know that there r more crappy seasons and head scratchers than actual contending yers.. lol
Well u keep fighting the fight, sir! I’m gonna try n enjoy the season - come what may. I already got a job… I do this for fun!
On this issue of not drafting a star - there has to be one there to draft and Stone hasn't had Kawhi sitting there for the taking only to pick Marcus Morris instead ..... That superstar just hasn't been available when it was his turn to pick. I wish he was more aggressive in trying to move up. As for the rest of the post - I don't disagree ....
You're acting like you're always happy, like we don't see you on here complaining too lol If you're so happy, why are you even on ClutchFans? This place is not for the average content fan. Someone's lying to themselves.
As much as you think its a good team, it is but just not as good as you would like to be. Mainly because ..... - Cheap owners, - Bad coaching ( Lack of Big name Coach), etc... - Lack of never getting a big name or superstar to join the team during his prime. - Never being able to draft a "Legit Star" in the draft. The absolute peak was Paul and Harden. That probably wont ever happen again in next few decades.
Oh I aint always happy bout things... I got opinions and I like to argue - but i try to keep it in perspective... I'm pissed about something for a bit - then i move on bc it is what it is. I enjoy debating strategy... comparing my take on things with other posters... talking about player progressions, etc... but if I get to the point where I come on here every day and just bi*ch about the same person (KD) ad nauseum - please kick me off! lol! and if I ever become so delusional as to believe that these rantings on a fan board actually have any impact on the course of business for the team - then its time to walk away... lol bc if u think "fans refusing to buy into the product until they do a good job" is some power... no... Tillman will pack up the team and move em to Vegas - just like the Oilers to Tennessee... oh, and who tf do u think that u r to declare "this place is not for the average content fan"? Who died and made u Clutch?
FVV got injured before the season started but after free agency was done. We just traded for KD who was making 55M, signed DFS as DB replacement and signed Capela as an alternate to Steven Adams. All these moves put us at the first apron and we couldnt even sign a vet min deal. We were paying Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard 20M so is it unreasonable Stone wanted the pg to be one of those guys? Amen has played PG since he was in high school and Reed at 6'1 can realistically only play PG in the NBA. I guess shoot and blame Stone for choosing to believe in the guys he drafted? When Stone gave that statement that was already after Adams went down and DFS had been a bust, we were down 37M and DFS made 12M so we were missing 49M in salary and with no capspace to work with. Whats wrong with saying we werent contenders last year? Were we? No? Then why are you crying about Stone saying something obvious? Yeah I guess if Stone had traded somebody and gotten a UFA we would have beaten the Lakers. But you claiming we would beat the Thunder if Rockets got somebody on the trade market is delusional at best. OKC might be missing JDub but the Rockets still had 49M in salary missing, not to mention who we would have traded to get that pg and also KD was still injured. If he came back he wouldnt be anywhere near his usual self, did you see him play? Dude was shut down for a reason. I agree with Stone on not making any moves as that would cost assets to get somebody who ultimately will not move the needle. Instead we put Amen and Reed into the fire and they got valuable playoff experience. You dont care about development but I do. DFS was signed to cover missing Dillon Brooks, you know the guy the board missed all of last season? He was the heart and soul of the Lakers defense so adding him was reasonable at the time. The surgery he got was supposed to be minor and reports had him gonna be ready by training camp. How the F was Stone supposed to know he would lose all his shooting ability? Dude literally shot 38% the last 5 yrs of his career. You blaming Stone for signing DFS shows you are just using future events to judge him, sorry but Stone doesnt have a crystal ball to know DFS will forget how to shoot. How many people said the KD trade was a mistake and we should have kept Dillon Brooks? Thats the reason why he got DFS and you still trying to paint that as a bad move? SMH! The reason Stone got rid of DFS for 3 srps is because he wanted to get help around this team, get the pg and shooters we were missing last year. So in short the stuff you are complaining about last year, Stone tried to address this year. So again why are you still mad and crashing out? You said the reason you are angry is cuz Stone sat on his hands, well now the team is getting at least 5 new players they didnt have last year. Is that sitting on his hands? Or did Stone just made moves when the team has the capspace to make them? To me it seems you just complain no matter what. Instead of looking at what actually been done for the team you just keep complaining and even lumping things that are already done with the current situation. Making this thread when the Rox have been competitive and nowhere near poverty franchises lole Kings just shows you are a doomer. Is it so hard to watch a team that wins 50+ games and gets to the playoffs? Omg what a struggle. OMG how hard is it to be a Rocket fan, people on this board literally blaming Stone for not making a team to beat OKC and SAS but they have it so hard. Fans of teams like the Kings and Trailblazers have it easy cuz their team sucks every year amirite?
Well why dont you **** off instead? Take the years off again since you have no problem with it and I dont either. Why are you posting like somebody is gonna stop you? Just do it. dont wait around just do it. Who is stopping you from ****ing off? Nobody is stopping you. **** off.
The NBA wouldn’t let Tito move the Rockets to Vegas. The place could be completely empty and Tito would still be making money and watching the asset appreciate. One thing is for certain, the NBA is the most corrupt league in the states, but Houston is still one of the biggest (6th I think) media market. If Vegas gets a team, it will be through expansion or moving a small market team out there. I think Memphis, New Orleans, or Charlotte would be much more likely to lose their franchise. Houston would be way down the list. I do agree we as fans have very little impact on how the Rockets operate. About the only way to have an impact would be like Dallas fans chanting to fire the GM which might embarrass Tito into making a change. Houston fans in general are much less passionate than our counterparts in Dallas and San Antonio, so I think that is a long shot.
