We are 9-5 and should be 12-2 despite not totally finding our rotation and chemistry yet. Lin is shooting great, Dwight appears happy and is dominating on the defensive end, and Jones has strangle hold of the 4 position. All we need to do is cut down on the turnovers, close out on the 3 pt shooters better, and show on screens a little harder and I think we are set. Haven't been this excited about the rockets in a long time. I definitely think we will be contenders by the end of the season.
I feel great about the offense. The defense is just OK. I want to upgrade the perimeter D, then I will be ready to say we are contenders.
At best the team hierarchy 1st tier Jones, Harden, Howard 2nd tier Parsons, Lin, Casspi, Beverly and everyone else Not a contender in my opinion.
The defense is awful till this point. It's all about the defensive mind-set. McHale must emphasize the defensive effort at the daily practice and during the games. Without decent defense, we are going nowhere in the playoff.
As long as we have a healthy Dwight Howard, the defense won't be "awful", but I agree that it needs work.
We're not an elite team, but we're way ahead compared to other teams that have gone through rebuild process. Just give them some time to gel, collect a couple more solid role players, maybe find another superstar (Love and Aldridge are not coming here, so forget about it) we'll be good.
I was just thinking the same thing. Admist some 4th quarter blimps, we are still on par to a great season. Keep the Rockets faith strong!
I think the Rockets chance a great chance of going far into the playoffs. They just need to learn how to play together. When they can use Howard like they were against the mavs, then combine that with Harden and Lin running the floor and pushing the ball they are going to be hard to beat. I would say Mchale needs to continue to grow, also and learn from his mistakes. I understand it's hard to figure out the rotation with new players, but it should be obvious that you play your top performing player ever game unless they are hurt.
Offense is good, but not good enough.There is no consistent low post threat. And push the tempo costs the Rockets a lot turnovers. Besides, I don't think anyone in this team knows when to slow down. A lot of times they are not making the best decision. As in the defense end. Just awful. James Harden doesn't play defense most of the time, Lin is putting effort but still struggles a lot. There's no defense discipline. What is everyone's duty? How to deal with each situation? Sometimes this team plays great defense like they did in Utah and Portland in the second half. But still, no consistency. They are not doing it every game, every minute. The positive thing is, this is only the beginning of the season and the coaching staff is just starting to find a stable rotation. The chemistry is improving as well. Although not at its best, the Rockets team is still a top team. Given time, it's definitely gonna be better. Right now they are just winning games with offense. My opinion is until they realize that every play starts with defense, they nowhere near NBA Final Champion. contenders.
I agree. The team is really good at this stage of the season considering the big changes during the summer. One has to realize that this is a very young team that has to deal first with the inexperience. Without a doubt this affect more the defense. Around the all star break the Rockets will be a team that is very difficult to beat.
I am going to quote OremLk from another thread, because it applies here. Don't even mention the rest of the team, and the bench guys. This team needs to work on things, but it looks good.
This has been the problem for the past two years... I doubt it's going to change all of a sudden. This is who we are, for better or worse.
We're ok for where we are in the season, but not ok to remain the same over the next 2-3 yrs and contend for a ring. I try to not get caught up in the "we should be this record" because you can say that for a lot of teams and improve their records as well.
Rightfully so. I mean, we are supposed to have DH for defense but it turns out our defense is downright horrible. Hopefully we find our groove. How was our defense last year? what were we rated compared to rest of league?
The word "superstar" gets thrown out far too often out here IMO and is frankly over used. There are only a handful of superstars at any point in the league. Currently only LBJ, Durant, Paul, Love and perhaps Paul George fit that description. Neither Howard nor Haren are superstars in today's league. if anything Howard is closer to being called a superstar than negative on D Haren. If Haren can at the very least play average D, he might have a case.
