The OKC team that won 23 games in 2008-2009 had 20-year-old Durant and Westbrook plus 22-year-old Jeff Green playing heavy "developmental minutes" and was about to add Harden and Ibaka via draft. The OKC team that won 50 games in 2009-10 had an average age of 23.2, which was the youngest team in the league by a big margin (2nd youngest that year was 24.1). Its 4 current and future star players were 21, 21, 20 and 20. The current Rockets team averages 24.4 years old, the 5th youngest in the league. It's core players are 23-26. Even its rookies are on the older side compared to OKC's. OKC was winning 50 games with the youngest team in the NBA since 2006. Houston's 45-win team is younger than most teams, but isn't the youngest even for this season. Yes, HOU has a max-contract star in Harden, but OKC had 3 max level talent players on its roster, plus Ibaka. There have been plenty of "up and coming" 8th seed teams that never become contenders. Take this one, for example: http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/WSB/1997.html
Last night's game was an adrenaline rush and huge disappointment given what was at stake. I think at the end of the day though when all our blood pressures have lowered, we can all find ourselves in the same boat as OP.
Ahhhhh the quarterback syndrome.....takes waaaaay to much blame for losses but close to no credit for the wins.....what exactly does better coaching? McHale wasnt given 4 HOF'ers like D'Antoni, and he ended up with the same record as him....D'Antoni deserves ridicule, his team was supposed to be a title contender.....i just dont understand how a coach/player can be ridiculed for their performance when they exceed expectations? James Harden this, McFail that....in the end, haters gonna hate ..... I'M wit cha OP!
Thanks for a good thread. I agree with you there are a lot of very stupid threads going on, some people are clueless.
The GARM is full of billionzz of idiots right now, but hang around... after we steal game one the vibe will change.
Love this thread! We are Rockets! We are playing the Best in the West. Can't get any better than this going into training camp Buy Tickets. Don't miss Game 3. It will be Electric!
Agree 100% our goal was to make the playoffs even on our rebuilding year and we are ahead of our expectations.
Great way to put things. Some people on here don't realize how spoiled we are to have the team we have now. Sure, this team has tons of growing pains, but come on guys. Like the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day! Comments should flood this thread so that it will overshadow the other ridiculous threads.
I agree. The board, which is the best of its kind (thanks again Clutch), has been so hard to read lately with so many unreasonable threads and posts. I understand the need to vent about a loss, but the amount of knee-jerk and extreme posts (positive and negative) that have been going on are excessive. On top of that, there seems to be more and more arguing between posters that is more personal than about basketball. We don't need that here. We are all here to share in following our favorite basketball team, so let's keep this board respectable.
They have max cap space and players to build around, but never mind that. Keep pining for a bench player on the Kings.
We shouldn't be upset about how the season ended Before the Rockets were in a playoff race, nobody was really complaining about their play because we were just enjoying the ride. We all just liked watching an exciting team without expecting to make the playoffs. But once the Rockets slipped into 8th earlier in the year, many here started complaining about various things after losses. Just chiiiiillllll. It's not like the Rockets were going all the way this year. They have already exceeded expectations for this year.
Good and funny post. The future looks great for the Rockets right now, to bad that more people don't see that.
Of course not. OKC model takes not only a willingness to tank, but also a lot of skills and luck. But my post has nothing to do with "OKC model." The point I was making was simply that while this team is in a better position to move into a contender status (and by that I mean 55+ wins and a good chance of getting into at least the conference finals), they are far from being "on the way" to being a contender in the way that OKC in 2010 or Portland (pre-injuries) or even the 2004-5 Rockets were. They need to gather and preserve assets without wasting them on reckless bets. First and foremost they need to hit a home run (and not a "solid single") with available cap room, but they also must deal with even the finer aspects player management and team building.
This has nothing to do with an unwillingness to trade Patterson. The issue is that what the team got in return was bad: a guy who (1) lost his rotation spot in short order, (2) had one of the worst rookie years for a 21-year-old in terms of offensive efficiency since 2000, and (3) is a below average shooter from every distance, from near the basket out to the 3 point line. This is not just about how good each player is this year, but also what this data shows about Robinson's lack of future potential. Yes, Morey's success so far have outweighed his mistakes, but these mistakes do matter. It's hard enough trying to become a contender without saddling yourself with unforced errors.
This is all true, but given where we were at the end of last year, our current situation is just about a best case scenario.
