https://www.si.com/nba/2021/10/25/nba-power-rankings-first-impressions-lakers-warriors-nuggets 27. Houston Rockets (Record: 1-2) Christian Wood has been exceptionally productive, but this is going to be a very long year for the Rockets, who are hoping Jalen Green and Kevin Porter find their sea legs sooner than later. None of this is surprising, of course, and Houston isn’t trying to make the playoffs anytime soon. But it’s not entertaining yet, either. — JW
Rockets at #26 in this week’s ESPN poll, helped by beating OKC (#30) and competing for a while with Boston (#19). It’s worth noting that OKC is starting 4 players under 23. It will be years before this is true for the Rockets.
https://theathletic.com/2911168/202...tatus-plus-what-to-make-of-every-team-so-far/ 27. Houston Rockets (Previously 27th), 1-4, -7.2 net rating Weekly slate: Loss at Mavs, Loss to Jazz, Loss at Lakers Suffice to say, it’s been a rough start for the youth movement in Houston. The Houston Rockets are taking a super patient approach, as they should. There are no ways to mistake that they might be thinking of anything resembling competing for a playoff spot this season. Jalen Green has struggled to make shots. Kevin Porter Jr. is turning the ball over a lot as he adjusts to full-time offense initiating duties. Josh Christopher has barely played, and when he has, it hasn’t been meaningful. Alperen Sengun has been fine, but he hasn’t been given major minutes yet (he’s oddly racking up a lot of steals so far). But this should be the Rockets’ growing pains. Maybe the best news for them so far has been Eric Gordon is scoring hyper-efficiently. Anything that might boost his trade value for a contender could grab another asset for Houston. GIF ON THE BEAT:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/pa...ks-golden-state-warriors-hottest-teams-league 26. Houston Rockets 2021-22 record: 1-5 Previous ranking: 26 Christian Wood is an exception on the rebuilding Rockets as a core player who is in his prime. Wood, 26, has been Houston's most productive player, averaging 19.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. It remains to be determined whether Wood has more value as a long-term fit with the Rockets' developing young talent or as an attractive trade option. -- MacMahon This week: @LAL, @phx, @Den, @GSW
If Rockets hope to seriously contend in 2 years, they’ll have to pay Wood a lot and then almost immediately have to pay Green and others. And I still don’t feel like Wood Is a true all star. I don’t think he can be the 2nd best guy on a winning team. 3rd at best. And do you want to pay him what his stats (after playing for a lottery team 3 years) demand? we should definitely entertain trade offers. I also don’t think Wood makes anyone better. So he’s not a plus in development either. Good player, but not good enough to ignore any assets we may be able to gather from a trade. Don’t sell for pennies but listen, you never know what team will be desperate come February.
https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2021-22-week-3 29. Houston Rockets Last Week: 29 Record: 1-5 Pace: 103.9 (1) OffRtg: 97.8 (28) DefRtg: 105.0 (14) NetRtg: -7.2 (27) That game against Boston where Jalen Green shot 8-for-10 from 3-point range was, you guessed it, an anomaly. He’s otherwise 4-for-32 from beyond the arc, having missed his last 15 attempts. But he did get to the line for 15 total free throw attempts against Utah and the Lakers last week. He’s got sprinter speed in transition, some craftiness in the half-court offense, and some bounce when he’s given a runway. The early struggles with his shot (and with lazy passes and defensive mistakes) can’t be ignored, but the process of turning that stuff into an All-Star-level player will be fun to watch. The Rockets are the only team that hasn’t played a game that was within five points in the last five minutes, though they were down just two early in the fourth quarter in Dallas on Tuesday and kept the Lakers’ stars on the floor until the final buzzer on Sunday. Given the strength of the opponents, any clutch time on the rest of this road trip would be an accomplishment. Week 3: @ LAL, @ PHX, @ DEN, @ GSW
https://theathletic.com/2926408/202...tier-what-im-buying-or-selling-for-each-team/ 29. Houston Rockets (Previously 27th), 1-9, -7.1 net rating Weekly slate: Loss at Lakers, Loss at Suns, Loss at Nuggets, Loss at Warriors Are you buying the Rockets as a young team that can’t score? The inexperienced Houston Rockets have been one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA through this young stretch of the season. But when you break down what happening for them on offense, scoring isn’t really one of the problems. They aren’t making anybody forget about the 2017 Warriors, but the Rockets rank 20th in field goal percentage, 12th in 3-point percentage and 11th in free-throw rate. So how did they become one of the worst teams on offense? They keep giving the ball away. The Rockets turn the ball over 19 percent of the time. That’s the worst in the NBA. Sure, Jalen Green is shooting 35.3 percent from the field, and Kevin Porter Jr. isn’t much better at 36.7 percent. But this team’s issue is letting the other team take the ball. Verdict: No, I’m not. This is a team that can’t take care of the ball. But they’re shooting respectable percentages. Turnovers will be a problem for such a young team, but we’re going to see Green and KPJ start making shots at some point. Defense will be their issue throughout the season, not scoring. GIF ON THE BEAT: GIF
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/pa...r-rankings-week-4-best-teams-league-right-now 28. Houston Rockets 2021-22 record: 1-9 Previous ranking: 26 Big man Christian Wood, the Rockets' leading scorer, indicated after Saturday's loss to the Nuggets that he'd like to be featured more prominently in the offense. "I think it could have been better if I was more involved in the offense," Wood said after scoring 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. He didn't get his wish in a loss to the Warriors on Sunday, when Wood had four points on 2-of-5 shooting, the fewest points and field goal attempts he has had in any game with the Rockets. -- MacMahon This week: DET, POR, PHX
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/11/08/nba-power-rankings-golden-state-warriors-stephen-curry-rise 28. Houston Rockets Current record: 1–9 Previous ranking: 26 Among the many things to like about Jalen Green’s offensive game: He’s getting to the free throw line, 30 times over a recent five-game stretch. That bodes well for a young player who is seeing his name pop up alongside LeBron James and Luka Dončić for scoring numbers as a teenager. If only the Rockets, 28th in offensive efficiency, could figure out a way to play together.
YEAH BABY!!! https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2021-22-week-4 30 Last Week: 29 ↓ Houston Rockets Record: 1-9 Pace: 103.6 (2) OffRtg: 100.2 (28) DefRtg: 107.3 (19) NetRtg: -7.1 (26) The Rockets’ earned their first clutch time of the season last week, taking both the Lakers and Nuggets down to the wire on the road. Jalen Green brought rain with a step-back 3 over Anthony Davis that gave them a chance in L.A., but Kevin Porter Jr. was 0-for-4 on clutch shots, missing the game-winner against the Lakers and a mid-range pull-up for the lead with less than a minute to go in Denver. Daryl Morey, Mike D’Antoni, James Harden and Ben McLemore (he of the near-perfect season) are all gone, but the Rockets rank 29th (ahead of only the Jazz) in the percentage of their shots (7%) that have come from mid-range. Alas, they rank 28th offensively, with their starting lineup having scored a paltry 81.7 points per 100 possessions, 20 fewer than any of the other 11 lineups that have played at least 100 minutes. The Rockets have scored 102.3 per 100 (not good, but not startlingly anemic) in 171 minutes with Christian Wood on the floor without Daniel Theis. There are three teams that enter Week 4 with only one win. The Rockets will host one of the other two on Wednesday. Week 4: vs. DET, vs. POR, vs. PHX
https://theathletic.com/2942209/202...us-a-chaos-check-for-all-30-teams-even-yours/ 30. Houston Rockets (Previously 29th), 1-12, -9.0 net rating Weekly slate: Loss to Pistons, Loss to Blazers, Loss to Suns How have the Houston Rockets existed in the chaos? The Houston Rockets have not existed all that well within the chaos of this season, as they’ve almost always been a way to steady a team in the win column. But that’s to be expected with their roster construction and keeping John Wall out of real games. The frustrating part for the Rockets has been not seeing Jalen Green get his footing just quite yet. He’s really struggling to make shots, and he’s not featured in the offense in a way he’s used to. He has to adjust to that new rhythm of the game until he can earn more opportunities. They’re the first team to lose 10 in a row this season, and we’ll probably see another one of those at some point. Why is the team here this week? Lose 11 in a row, and it’s kind of hard not to throw you down to the bottom of the rankings.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/pa...comeback-complete-plus-our-new-1-30-breakdown 29. Houston Rockets 2021-22 record: 1-12 Previous ranking: 28 Houston, which has lost its past 11 games, is paying the price for relying so heavily on such an inexperienced backcourt. The Rockets rank last in offensive efficiency (98.9 points per 100 possessions). Their starting guards -- Kevin Porter Jr. (37.9%, 4.3) and Jalen Green (35.8%, 3.1) -- are two of the four players in the league shooting less than 40% from the floor and averaging more than three turnovers per game. -- MacMahon This week: @MEM, @OKC, @NY
https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2021-22-week-5 30. Houston Rockets Last week: 30 Record: 1-12 Pace: 102.9 (1) OffRtg: 98.9 (30) DefRtg: 107.9 (17) NetRtg: -9.0 (27) The Rockets continue to employ a starting lineup that has scored an amazingly anemic 81.9 points per 100 possessions, 25 per 100 fewer than the league average. It did have some better runs (plus-3 in 21 total minutes) against Detroit and Portland last week, but in its 15 minutes against Phoenix on Sunday, the lineup was outscored by 25 points, shooting 6-for-24 and committing eight turnovers on 32 possessions. If you think that a Christian Wood-Daniel Theis frontline is a little clunky, you’re probably right. Overall, the Rockets have scored 14 more points per 100 possessions with Theis off the floor (103.6) than they have with him on the floor (89.6), though the loss to Portland on Friday did include three vintage screens of his own defender (one, two, three) to clear paths to the rim for six of Kevin Porter Jr.’s 18 points. The crowd comes to see you play the hits, after all. With Theis’ help, the Rockets lead the league by a wide margin in the percentage of their shots (39%) that have come in the restricted area. But with New Orleans’ win over Memphis on Saturday, they’re the only team left with just a single victory. That came in Week 1 against the Thunder, who they’ll meet again on Wednesday. Week 5: @ MEM, @ OKC, @ NYK
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/11/15/nba-power-rankings-golden-state-warriors-brooklyn-nets 30. Houston Rockets Current record: 1–12 Previous ranking: 28 The Rockets are bad. In the last 20 years, only two teams have a worse turnover rate than they currently do. This team wants to play fast, but in reality their first-ranked pace is more a byproduct of flimsy defense than an ability to take advantage of as many open-floor opportunities as they can. (Defensive possessions against Houston are a league-short 14 seconds, on average.) They also rank 28th in transition frequency off live rebounds.
