As currently constructed: are Rockets championship contenders?

Def. somehow we've become a defense first team with an offense that's looking to take off with a recovering howard. then again, the top 5 in the west are contenders

 

We need to see more games from this team, with T. Jones as well, to make an accurate prediction. There's been too much upheaval recently to really know at this point.

 

They are contenders and can beat any NBA team if they are healthy. It has to do all with the matchups though but they can go all the way.

 

I think we can beat any team out of the East in a 7 game series.

Will we come out of the west? I can't say for sure...

 

I know the teams they've been playing lately have been terrible. One thing that gives me hope that they could succeed in the playoffs is the way they play when one of them has the ball. For instance, when Harden has the ball, you'll notice Ariza will move to the corners, Beverley will cut to the basket, Smith will rotate and shift towards the basket, or create a screen. The Rockets without the ball create havoc and disrupt the defense. This in turn creates easy baskets. This is a major reason they failed last year, very little movement and a lot of standing around.

 

This is the first time in a long time where we can say the Championship is up for grabs.

 

Sixers putting Michael Carter Williams on the trading block

 

Yes, because right now it's Warriors and everybody else. Literally there are 6-7 teams that you could consider as championship contenders in the West right now. The question is are the Warriors really that better than everybody else or not.

 

As currently constructed, this team can win the championship, but it'll require a few adjustments.

McHale is still working out the rotation, but I think Beverly's minutes needs to be limited. I'm not sold on Shved yet whereas I really liked Canaan, but McHale needs to have one of the two backups play more and play better. Obviously Harden is the main playmaker of this team, but our PG needs to be capable of doing so as well.
Additionally, there's one guy that we always end up forgetting about: Terrence Jones. The man that started for us last year did a very respectable job as a 20 year old in the West. When (or if) he returns, McHale needs to figure out exactly what the big man rotation will look like. However, we have to be excited when we think about a Howard, DMo, Smith, Jones big man rotation.

Dwight needs to do a couple of things. First, he needs to maintain his excellent work as a defensive anchor. He's been a big reason for our success this season. Secondly, he needs to commit to the PnR more, because damn, he's amazing at that. Thirdly, he needs to continue to go to the post. DMo was having trouble finishing at the hoop on similar shots last season and early in the year, but he continued to go to work. Now he's hitting these shots with great consistency. Dwight has the potential, he just needs to keep working. We can all agree that Dwight's post game is not great, but it's not like the team is really suffering from it. We are successful even when his post game isn't working, that tells you about this team's variety on offense. There's no harm in letting him practice. If we finds his shot before the playoffs, then we have a great chance.

Getting Dragic or Lawson, or any PG available, would be great. But only if we are not giving up someone integral to this team's success. With the right rotation, we may not even need to trade. If we can win a ring, as currently constructed, a few PG's may want to join our cause for next season.

 

To me, there are 3 tiers of contenders out West.

The best team this year (right now atleast)
GSW ---- 30-5 record --- 10.51 SRS

The annual favorites the past handful of years
SAS ---- 23-16 record --- 3.60 SRS
OKC ---- 18-19 record --- 1.38 SRS

The Challengers
LAC ---- 25-13 record --- 6.43 SRS
POR ---- 30-8 record ---- 6.42 SRS
MEM ---- 26-11 record --- 3.95 SRS
HOU ---- 27-11 record --- 4.47 SRS
DAL ---- 27-12 record --- 5.77 SRS

Out of all the teams in the "Challengers" group, the Rockets are the team with the worst playoff experience in recent years. The Harden-led Rockets haven't even won a single round in the playoffs yet. And it's tough for a team with 0 playoff series wins to all of a sudden become an NBA Champion. Championship teams usually lose deep in the playoffs first before becoming a Champion.

Out of all the "Challengers" group, I also have the biggest question mark about our backcourt depth. I'm in the "We NEED a secondary ball-handler" bandwagon. Harden has been an MVP-caliber beast this year but our offense is just overly reliant on him. I love what PBev represents and his toughness, but he's not a true PG. Terry is an ice-in-his-veins killer, but he's not a true PG. Canaan is more scorer than true PG while Shved is more of a combo guard than a true PG.

We need a secondary ball-handler/creator next to Harden in the playoffs imo. Otherwise our offense will become too predictable and easier to gameplan against.

We aren't far off. This team is better than last year's team due to the depth and the development of DMo. DMo really has been a great story. He has such a great skill-set for a young Big. 2-way player, great post moves, 3pt range, runs the floor well, only 24 years old.

I think we could beat any team in the West in a playoff series. And an OKC vs. GSW 1st round series would be amazing because it would knock one of those two teams out of our path. But for right now I still feel like the lack of a secondary backcourt creator will rear it's ugly head in the playoffs. Maybe not in round 1 because we're better than last year, but at some point it will come back to bite us.

 

I want to think so as die hard Rox fan. But Joey Dorsey at back up center just doesn't sit well w/ me in the playoffs. As much as Dwight gets in foul trouble, Dorsey would get major minutes. D-Mo will struggle against D.Jordan, Splitter, Perkins or any other physical center in the west. We will get outrebounded BADLY with Dwight on the bench. We need to pickup Jermaine O'Neal or somebody else that'll bang in the paint.

 

The increased emphasis on defense, deeper bench, and Harden playing out of his mind gives me greater hope than last year.

However when this team shoots 40 3 pointers per game it seems we truely live and die by the three. If the Rockets go cold from downtown for a game or two it makes me really nervous.

 

good point. I suppose I meant that I wouldn't consider us in the top tier of contenders.

 

I think you should post who said no and......

 

I don't know what the definition is for "legit championship contender" but I do believe we have a fighting chance to win it all.

Others I'd put as having a fighting chance:

Warriors
Blazers
Hawks
Wiz
Raptors
Bulls
Grizzlies
Spurs

So that's 9 teams. At this point in the season I don't know how you can limit it down any more than that.

 

We need another playmaker

it cant just be Harden, after we get one we'll be set

 

I voted yes because the condition "at full strength" is a semi-idealized catch-all that basically says "catch them on a good day and extend that good day throughout the playoffs". There are 12 contenders or so that fit that criteria.

However if the playoffs started today, in my opinion, there would be zero chance the Rockets win a title. And if you play the "take today's team, stir in healthy Terrence Jones" route you can't just assume a 5-win improvement from the current batch, it brings the team to a whole new equilibrium that may be better, may be worse and I wouldn't bet on it being so much better that it wins a title.

 

Dragic

 

I will say, though, if you use the generic "top 10 offense + top 10 defense" formula that basketball writers like to talk about for championship teams, there are only 4.

Warriors, Hawks, Blazers, Bulls.

Spurs, Wiz & Grizz borderline.

That, to me is a pretty realistic 4 contender + 3 sleeper contender list at this exact point in the season. It would claim offense is too bad to win a title for Houston & OKC, and defense is too bad for Toronto, Dallas, and the Clips.

 

Hello,

My 1st post as Rockets fan on this site, have been fan for over 10 years now, about current topic, i would say Rockets are not contenders right now, as good as Harder is, this team won't go far without proper pg, so unless they upgrade (and they should do that as soon as possible to find right chemistry once playoffs starts). Most teams now got 2 or even 3 playmakers, take by example Spurs, they don't really have even 1 superstar, but all their play is based on making right pass, the more guys you have that can pass the ball, the more success you got. Obviously Dmo can pass the ball but his a big so that doesn't hold much value, offense often is stagnant and everyone watching what Harden will do, but when his trapped and passed the ball you often see 1 of the guys shooting the brick, so until team get Dragic or someone like him i can't see advancing far in playoffs.