We are top 10 (10th) in ppg at 104.3 We are top 10 (6th) in pts allowed per game at 93.7 ppg. What happens from Beverly gets back? I think we climb to top 3 or 4, and will be among Chicago, Indy, Miami and OKC when its all said and done. We have played three meh teams and beaten them by an average differential of 10.7 ppg, which is good for Number 2 in the league. Great teams smash bad teams, and we have have done so. Great teams do not play close games that are decided in the 4th quarter, particularly against bad or middlin teams. We have not done so. Great teams have another gear and do not win by out-efforting other teams. We have shown that other gear. Along the same vein, great teams are able to put together big runs during games that blow them open. Miami has done it. The showtime lakers were the best example of being able to hit another gear and literally run the other team out of the building. We devastated the Mavs in Q1. We wiped the floor with the Jazz in Q3. We have had a good number of short term but impactful injuries with Bev, Harden, Lin, Caaspi getting dinged up. That has hurt our offensive flow. Caaspi's absence really hurt us last game, but Parsons came through. We obviously still believe in going small. Our best stretches of basketball have been with Caaspi and Parsons in the game as stretch 4's. But now, we can go on a run with either Asik or Howard at center. I'd argue that last night, Asik's defense in controlling the paint was better than Dwight's. His play with Howard out in the 2nd half keyed a great stretch of basketball that looked like our best play from last year, and Utah was out of gas from fighting our starting lineup and did not have an answer, particularly their bigs. Lin has been simply outstanding this year. He is going left with authority, playing without the hesitation we saw last year, his shot is sure, and his defense is sound. Our quality of depth has revealed itself these first three games, and the league better take notice. Beverly's return will take us to another level. The other key contenders in the West are OKC, SA, LAC and GSW, and they all feature elite PG's. We need Beverly to slow them down, as well as Derrick Rose when he gets his game together. Lin will handle the rest of the west, plus whatever PG's Miami, Indy, Brooklyn, etc trot out.
Learn how to spell Beverley. I can't believe over half the people that post on a Rockets site can't spell his name.
We are also last in turnovers at 20 a game. Great teams are never last in this category. It's 3 games, we are definitely a WIP and I wouldn't take anything out of these games outside of the fact that we beat 3 teams we should beat. I mean two of these teams are lottery bound and the Mavs might be too.
Do you consider the 2012 OKC Thunder with Durant, Westbrook, Harden a great team? What about 2011 Celtics team with KG/Pierce/Allen/Rondo? Or 2013 Pacers team that almost beat Miami? What do you think about those teams?
Yes that 2013 Pacers team that lost games really closely and turned the ball over like heck? Yeah, that's why the lost. OKC and Boston were two of the best teams of protecting the ball during their runs - that's why they went so deep. So I take it you agree.
It's only been 3 games, but the TO tendency seems to be a continuation from last season. I wonder whether this is simply that certain players need improvement or whether it's a function of our playing style.
Yeah, I distinctly remember a lot being made of OKC not turning it over as much in the playoffs. Don't know the actual stats but I remember interviewers talking to Westbrook & Durant about it that year.
Now all we need to see is the Rockets come out in their varsity jackets and the bamboozling will be complete. JK... but after seeing what happened to high hopes and the Texans, I'm going to have to see what the Rockets do against contenders before I fly sky high with them.
It's exciting but I'm not getting my hopes up too high yet. I still see a lot of holes that need to be addressed. I need to see how they perform against good teams in form.
Agree, too early for this. Although OP did title it "knee jerk" for a reason..... Here's your homework. Do this same report card at 20 games, 40 games, etc. Thanks :grin:
OP here. This is my second kneejerk titled thread in this young season, and it's damn fun and abou ttime. What makes this season great is expectations and hopes -- we have a legitimate team that is in the mix as a contender. We get to speculate about the ceiling of this team when it hits on all cylinders, how this team matches up with the elite in this league, etc. Last year, we had an exciting team, but we knew it wouldn't win it all. In the years before that, we had the "scrappy" team that was headed nowhere, and you just couldn't have title expectations or real hopes of contention. Then before that, we had Tmac and Yao, and windows of hopes and very brief glimpses of expectations. Clutchfans, we are in the sweetspot of fandom. We get to agonize over defeats because it might cost us a top 4 seed, we get to pontificate about how good this team can become, we get to gloat at the dominance we see, we get to be in an awesome mood for the next 24 or 48 hours until the next time the team stomps someone else. So kneejerk away Clutchfans. We haven't gotten the chance to do this with real authority, expectations and hopes in about a decade, and I'm just loving every second of it. We are going to be among the elite all year long, and the future is incredibly bright.
I don't understand why you keep saying things that are just not factually true. Pacers regular season TOV% - 14.4(28th in the NBA) Pacers Playoff TOV% - 14.0(against the Hawks), 15.5(against the Knicks), 15.8(against the Heat) Pacers are a bad ball-handling team that turns the ball over alot despite playing a mind-numbingly slow JVG pace that generally limit turnovers. In fact, Indy fans consistently talk about Paul George's limited handles and George Hill not really being a consistent PG(similar to the Lin talk here last season). You can say a lot of great things about the Pacers. Controlling turnovers is not one of them.
What did I say that was not factually true? The Pacers were one of the worst teams in the playoffs in terms of TO's per game, definitely in the bottom half - and guess what, they LOST to Miami - a team that didn't turn the ball over as much. I am just confused as to what you are disagreeing about.
The assertion that you think a team cannot be great while turning the ball over. You mention OKC losing to Miami in 5 games in the finals as a sign that "low turnovers is necessary for success" and at the same time mention Pacers losing to Miami in 7 games as "see, turnovers kill you." And you don't see the inherent contradiction in your own post?
I personally am waiting for at least 20 (preferably 30) games to start statistical analysis this season. I guess speculation can begin somewhat sooner.
It feels so good to watch the Rockets when they have a strong team. Last time I was this excited for each game was the early t-mac/Yao years. I think I watched all 82 games, most of them via the old MMS feeds lol. Hopefully I won't have to resort to that! Point is, enjoy the ride! As the OP said, knee jerk away! We don't get this opportunity every year.
