[Poll] Do you think the Rockets should tank or try to win?

They aren't going to intentionally lose (the definition of tank) but they aren't going to win many games either.
This team is just too young to know how to win games in the NBA.

Vegas has the over under at 25.5 (3rd worst) .... That's a tough bet and right around what I expect them to do.

 

The beauty of going young is that in a year where you have your picks you're happy either way.

If we win a lot of games it's likely because one or more of our young players has taken a big leap. If we lose, we get another high draft pick.

It only gets interesting when you don't have the picks or you're not so young anymore.

 

The last ten games last year we were intentionally tanking If we seriously want to win we will win 30 games. Jabari, Eason, Sengun are so much better than Wood, Tate, and Matthews or KJm it is not even funny. We will know pretty quick whether we are tanking or not based on Eason and Sengun minutes.

 

Let the coaches and players try to win as many games as possible.

But, Patrick and Stone don’t need to be trying to squeeze out more wins by adding any vets to the mix.

 

I would be worried if we didn't see improvement in the W column. we have better coaching, more talent, and our young guys should all take a step forward. thinking we will be the same or worse isn't realistic. thinking we will shut guys down when they are just starting to improve isn't realistic either.

we will win as many games as we can, and the should satisfy those who want to push into the play-in.

we will also still be pretty bad, and that should satisfy those who want to tank.

this is a care-free year. just enjoy the ride. if we win, the kids are ahead of schedule and made strides. its a great thing. if we lose, its a great year to lose!

 

Don't forget 2023 is a swap year. If we do better than the Nets, which is not inconceivable given their chaotic state, we will benefit from the swap.

 

Our organization is going to try to win with the expectation that they will lose organically, that's why Silas is still HC. No point on firing him this season when they won't win no matter what. The real test should be the following season or the one after.

 

There should be no tank this season……
I still don’t know why Sil@ss was hired.. but this should be his year to show us why he’s an NBA caliber coach….
He better ride with the youngsters and live with the results….

 

I get what you say. And I seriously doubt that they will fire Silas this year. My point was that intentionally use a bad coach is no different than intentionally play bad players in order to lose.

I actually give Silas more slack than most people here. I want to see him installing and enforcing a real structure on both ends of the floor. It doesn't have to be him doing the actual design. But he needs to get it done. No more "just let the kids figure it out." If it takes a while to get it to work, that's what I call organic losing. But I want to see progress through the season both individually and systemically.

 

The biggest question is whether we believe. Anyone who tells us they knew the Warriors would be what they ended up being is lying to us.

Curry had all the qualities that would make you write him off as a star player. Draymond was playing SF and backup PF, Mark Jackson would have laughed in our faces if we told him Draymond would end up an elite modern defensive anchor better than a traditional C. The coach sucked. Klay looked like any other 3&D role player, no handles to speak of. Iggy didn't join the bench till they made some noise. If they had worried about whether Draymond can be Ben Wallace or Curry will ever be able to create like a Lebron James, the Warriors would never happen. They maximized what they had and what they had happened to be gold, I don't think anyone but the players themselves knew they were special.

The Warriors are a result of great fit, unselfish culture, modern players, modern defensive/offensive systems and most of all INCREDIBLE LUCK with the contracts under team control. We haven't left the contracts part to luck, we've secured that part by drafting 7 players in 2 summers, which is a brilliant play by Stone.

I definitely have a feeling that we have a dynasty in our hands and I can not see how it's going to play out and nothing is for sure, but everyone here must admit the players we have are oddly complimentary in skillset. They seem to be hardworking, unselfish and care about both sides of the ball >> it's really unusual not to have more one sided players and immature players given they are high quality recruits.

Something's up with this roster. I feel it. Most important training camp in franchise history coming up, imo.

 

Build a culture and start winning games against contenders. I dont care if we lose, if atleast we improve from the past 2 years.

I'll probably handle one more year of tanking but i want more meaningful games and less turnovers ugh

 

Does it really matter? Even if we try to win games we'll end up a 20-25 win team.

 

Tankin' is for suckas!!!

 

He said he’s willing to do anything to win… he didn’t say what year and he’s 19. We need another lotto pick. It’s all in or none. Two years ain’t enough. You gotta keep the lid on the tank and let it simmer. KPJr in my opinion is the weakest link. Still smells of Harden’s rot. And the ball sticks too much… except when he turns the ball over. Please prove me wrong this season.

 

I feel the same vibe, that the core is special, especially in the unselfish, hard-working part. However, I have no confidence in Silas guiding and leading this core to the correct path. And a little doubt in kpj, but I feel much better about him than a year back.

 

Mark Jackson didn't matter, and Silas won't matter if we are in fact right that this crazy unlikely thing called a dynasty is being born.

I also have a strong belief that a champion needs two coaching cultures at minimum to win. That can be achieved through player movement or coaching/management change. I think the ideal way is you get a disciplinarian first and then you move to a players' coach.

In our case, Silas is not the disciplinarian but they have given him THREE assistants that will kick anyone's ass in practice (Harris, Lucas and the guy who has European experience I forget his name).

People make such a huge deal about Silas, it really doesn't matter to me. I haven't even begun to assess him. These players are so raw yet hardworking, the worst coach in the NBA can get them up to scratch on fundamentals which is where we are right now. Most of these guys are learning the language or having their first real training camp, we're so far from things like rotations and game strategy mattering. Once I see some must-win games, then I can decide what's up. Frankly, Silas' biggest value is that he's a fan of the organization's development strategy whereas you could have a guy like Bickerstaff who doesn't have his ego under control.

Staying on the Warriors example, Kerr is a garbage tactical coach (other than his ability to motivate and get players to choose team over ego) but that didn't stop him from winning multiple titles as HC. Mike D'Antoni (with Eric Gordon and a gimpy Chris Paul as his 2nd/3rd) took Kerr to 6 and 7 games in the playoffs after Warriors added Kevin Durant to a 72-win roster. Phil Jackson was a mediocre tactician and incredible motivator too. Rudy T was a mediocre tactician and an amazing motivator. Budenholzer is a great tactician and a very good motivator, similar to Pops. You can hire a great tactician as an assistant, but there's no motivational assistant that will overcome a trainwreck HC who is out of tune with people who are currently in their 20's.

What it takes to motivate players born in the 2000's is different than what it takes to motivate a previous generation, and while some may not like it the nice guy nerd is the more successful archetype for this generation. The organization seems to be on top of it or there wouldn't be an out-of-the-blue push to fill out the assistant coach positions with hard nosed tacticians.

Short version: it's not that easy to ruin a team's path when there's actual quality players and a solid organizational mindset.

 

This. The 2 last propositions shouldn't be exclusive.

 

I hope you are correct about Silas not mattering. I don’t evaluate Kerr as garbage tactical coach so my view of golden state’s success is a little different. He is not good at in-game adjustments but other than that he looks good to me, at least with the golden state rosters.

We will have a better evaluation of Silas at the end of this season. But I will be disappointed if he cannot use players to their strength and individual player development is the only thing on the table.

 

Don’t worry too much, the best coach in the world can’t have 7 youngsters all trending upwards simultaneously.

Try to see that the hardest part is just getting 20 year old to keep training and playing hard under an avalanche of losses. I think people take that for granted and are jumping ahead.

It’s not the season for players playing perfectly to their strengths. They have to fail first at what they think are their strengths. That cannot be bypassed just like our parents and our first bosses couldn’t do it for us. If after that failure they accept the coaching with trust and open heart, we are golden. Baby steps.

I just need:
- Christopher to accept himself and not compare himself to others, which makes him try too hard on offense.
- Sengun to foul less and move his feet better.
- Green to get to the FT line more.
- Jabari to improve his handle slightly in one season.
- Tari to channel his energy better.

Forget huge giant improvements, our improvements should and will look like these baby steps.

 

I agree with most of this, but Silas himself has said that play time is over and he is going to institute a lot more structure and offensive sets. They brought in Hollins to do the same on the other side of the ball. They are definitely going to lose a lot since most everybody that matters on this team is 22 years old or younger. Gordon will be moved out of courtesy at the deadline if he is not hurt. That will leave Tate at the ripe old age of 26 and a 3 year vet as the old guy. It’s going to be a fun team to watch with some in-game frustration for fans.