Hate on Houston (3 draft picks in a row)

hakeem94 · Nov 25, 2022

good writing!
you have to do this more often on other subjects too...

JW86 said: ↑

So over the last few months I've seen a lot of people, random people for the most part on Twitter, but even known national or maybe even local sports journalists (podcast poofers and such) who either come out with a very strong opinion of not wanting to see us get Wemby and or the #1 pick to a general softer opinion that it wouldn't be fair to get 3 draft picks in a row.

Now as an outsider, a non-American living in Europe, I definitely see that the Houston Rockets gets a lot more hate or flack for whatever was done in the past than most NBA teams. Houston as a city somehow seems to trigger something too, maybe because it's one of the biggest cities without a major media influence that LA & NY in particular do have.

I personally believe envy for being an attractive FA spot has something to do with it. There also are clear personal vendettas, like Charles Barkley's money owed from Leslie or Ben Simmons though no reason why OR against certain individuals like Harden and Morey, but that cannot explain why even Olajuwon is often overlooked in top-10 lists and the first one to be kicked out of a top 10/15/20 list for someone like Curry without blinking.

Whatever the reason may be, for a team that was clearly the only one in recent who could've taken the Warriors at their peak outside of the Cavs, the respect has rarely been shown. It's almost like it's an open secret that you do not give Houston too much credit and in doing so would violate some (unwritten) understood agreement. I bet a lot of people are reveling in seeing Jabari Smith Jr struggle and oddly enough very few acknowledge they had him #1 now.

So this is where I want to put my focus, Green last year and Jabari this year are easily put down and articles painting them in a negative light when struggling is evident. This is not necessarily Houston related as I've seen many big Twitter accounts like NBAcentral post stats of rookies over 5 or 10 games, national media putting a lot of pressure on high draft picks when they don't "pan out" from the get go. Look at Bol Bol, mocked and laughed at for years, now proving everybody wrong.

Now the new fad is saying you'd love to see Wemby on any team at the bottom, but not Houston. Anyone but Houston. The reason? Well some have mentioned how bad we look and Wemby would get lost on a team with only young guys running iso ball. This is a legitimate argument, not gonna lie. If I were unbiased, I'd say Houston is not at the top of my list for getting Wemby. This is one reason, another would be seeing Garuba & Sengun thrive means Houston does not need Wemby as much as another team. Scoot would maybe make way more sense.

The problem in general is that people don't really have a reason other then stating they'd hate to see it, not even hiding their hate. If fit was an issue, then Detroit makes no sense either. OKC definitely doesn't because they have Chet. Pelicans have Zion etc. So what seems to be particular for the Rockets, even if not expressed, is the possibility of having 3 top-3 picks in sequential years.

Especially now that a report has come out that discussions were held about teams not allowed to have a top-3 pick for more than 2 years in a row. Houston is the only one who can do that right now so that definitely seems to contribute to painting us in a bad light. Granted, our play, lack of a system, iso ball heavy offense and Silas decisions do make it easy to dislike us. However, it's not like even with the best coach you could have this very young team in top 25-27 or even higher. Look at the Pistons or Magic who consensually look much better than us, are also bottom 5.

Regarding the top-3 pick, I think people seem to forget the history as well. Here's a good look at who had the worst record, best odds and who actually got the #1 pick in the pre-2019 era where top 4 teams had 25% chance at getting the highest pick. As you can see, only 6 teams actually were the worst team so finishing last and with the highest odds, actually landed the #1 pick. This is important because us finishing dead last has no considerable advantage or even bottom 3 at all!

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sport...-lottery-history-no-1-overall-pick/101752858/

We finished dead last in 2020-2021 and 2021-22 and we got the #2 and #3 pick. The 2nd worst Magic got the #1 last year and since 2019 (last 3 drafts) the 2nd to worst team actually got the #1 pick. And even if that is not guaranteed or even getting a top-3 pick when finishing bottom 3. Pistons last year were bumped to 5th as 3rd worst team by record.

Even if you disregard this and want to make an argument about tanking, why does OKC get away with blatant tanking and Houston is somehow a scapegoat of whatever people see as wrong about tanking and the system? I really don't get that other then Presti being advertised as the smartest guy in the room, even after breaking up a dynasty by not wanting to pay Harden.

So with all this being said, how you feel about this hate for Rockets potentially landing another top-3 pick? Of saying Wemby is not what we need / other teams provide a better fit given our system and roster? And how you feel about the media's portrayal of us right now as well as how fans perceive us and our players, reveling in seeing Jabari struggle this year and Green last year?
Click to expand...

hakeem94 · Nov 25, 2022

Rockets34Legend said: ↑

KPJ is not a PG. We need a PG that it's only role is to run the offense, dish the ball to scorers, and score when it's necessary.
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alperen sengun!

juanm34 · Nov 25, 2022

F*** the haters!!!!!

hakeem94 · Nov 25, 2022

Verbal Christ said: ↑

Wemby will transform whatever team he goes to that is just the fact. The hype he brings with him hasnt been seen since the Lebron or Yao days. The physical tools blended with that skill package is absurd. If we were to be lucky to land him he integrates immediately. He can play any frontcourt position. His skills as a playmaker, creator and finisher would compliment all our guys and he would single handedly fix the interior defense by himself.
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ah sounds a lot like embiied(or chet), a crazy skilled 7 footer dribbling around shoting 3s , playing defense and playmaking...

and where is 76ers(or okc) now? almost ten years later?
LOLOL
yes indeed, transformed them from mediocrity threadmil to another mediocrity threadmill....
they aint winning nothing with this guy in 20 years...

Verbal Christ · Nov 25, 2022

hakeem94 said: ↑

ah sounds a lot like embiied(or chet), a crazy skilled 7 footer dribbling around shoting 3s , playing defense and playmaking...

and where is 76ers(or okc) now? almost ten years later?
LOLOL
yes indeed, transformed them from mediocrity threadmil to another mediocrity threadmill....
they aint winning nothing with this guy in 20 years...
Click to expand...

Garner · Nov 25, 2022

Who is the anti-Houston getting Wemby people?

the only person I’ve heard speak about the possibility of Houston landing Wemby was KoC and he was enchanted by the prospected.

Newlin · Nov 25, 2022

I’m not seeing or hearing any hate for the Rockets.

It’s the ASTROS that people really hate. It’s more than hate, it’s disgust. I LOVE it.

peleincubus · Nov 25, 2022

hakeem94 said: ↑

good writing!
you have to do this more often on other subjects too...
Click to expand...

I like your writings as well. Especially when you wrote about the Rockets coach being a racist and letting that dictate who he gives playing time to.

Top notch stuff.

BallSoHarden · Nov 25, 2022

Why do you care about what people will say on Twitter? These are mostly high school kids who are bandwagoners anyways. If we won 4 championships in a row we would get all of these bandwagoners from Twitter and the media, it would make zero difference. I care more about our team's perception among players, as long as we are a better destination than 90% of the league, which we usually are if competitive, then that is all that matters.

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