[No Dunks] Are the streaking Houston Rockets for real?

Why would it be fake? It's not like we are 0.88 from behind the arc. Our shooting is ok we are hustling on defense and sharing the ball on offense.

 

At the moment, the most common "detractor's" talking point is comparing Houston to last season's Utah Jazz, who started the season 10-3.

Looking at each team's respective first 9 games, there are some similarities, but also some major differences.

1. OffRtg: Jazz at 15th, Houston at 11th.
2. DefRtg: Jazz at 9th, Houston at 5th.
3. NetRtg: Jazz at 7th (3.8), Houston at 6th (5.1).
4. Pace: Jazz at 14th, Houston at 30th.
5. Def Rebounding Percentage: Jazz at 29th, Houston at 9th.
6. TOV%: Jazz at 27th, Houston at 4th.

The Jazz will proceed to win their next 4 games, primarily due to their hot offense. At a 10-3 record, the Jazz had the 2nd highest offensive rating (which is naturally unsustainable), with their defense dropping to 10th.

What I find particularly interesting here is the Rockets don't seem to have a "serious" flaw so far. The Jazz had serious turnover and rebounding issues that did not manifest itself until later on in the season.

However, there are some slightly concerning stats, namely that the Rockets opponents are shooting just 32.2% from 3s, which is the same as the Jazz last season in their first 9 games. The key differences are:

1. While the Jazz were one of the better teams in limiting open to wide open 3s to start their first 9 games, their opponents also shot very poorly from them (30.3% open 3s, 34% on wide open 3s).
2. The Rockets have also been good at limiting wide open 3s, and their opponents shoot a decent percentage when wide open (36.7%).
3. However, the Rockets are actually not as good at limiting "open" 3s (4-6 feet closest defender), giving up 13.2 "open" 3s per game. In addition, their opponents are also shooting very poorly from them (26.1%).
4. Of course, this doesn't account for things like who is shooting, and it's hard to say how "open" 4-6 feet is when NBA players are so long and athletic.

 

Even though it's early, I think We are for real.

The streak is a great, unexpected development, but We played good ball since our second game (IMO even in the dreadful ORL game, We had a nice run in the 3rd to almost tie it, but We fell apart after).

It's refreshing to see so much team basketball, so much hustle, energy and will to win. Aside from the ORL game, We either matched or outmatched the opponent's energy and physicality. IMO if it weren't for that god awful reffing, We would've blown out even the Pelicans.

Yeah, playing at home and other team's injuries played a part in the streak, but We didn't win games with some outlier performances from our guys. We're winning because We play hard, team ball on both ends. And Ime and his crew are fantastic so far! Game management is top notch, and that's why I think the early season success is sustainable. We're coming in better prepared than the opposition, and with so many guys wanting to finally taste winning, and hard nosed vets leading them, We're simply going to play harder than most of them, which will get us some unexpected wins.

This season is getting exciting!

 

That is fair....sounds good.

 

I feel for Amen as he's not been part of any of the wins.

Regarding No Dunks, it's nice to finally hear them talk positively about the Rockets.
Even back in the Harden era, they talked sh#t about us and never thought we were any good.
Leigh Ellis who has now left was a large part of that.
Any way regardless of who didn't play on the opposition the last 6 games, teams are always gonna have injuries and you can only play the team they put on the court. Who cares?
It's been fr#cken fantastic to watch us again this season.
I see Pistons (with many putting us on the same timeline as them) are just 2-9 this season. Maybe the Silas Effect??

 

With 6 of the next 8 on the road and only 1 team (Memphis) not considered a possible contender, this stretch will definitely let us know whether they're for real or not. Clippers should come around if healthy. Not sure they will by Friday, but... The Warriors are the Warriors. With Curry they're always dangerous. The Lakers are definitely going to bring it after we whooped them already and the Nuggets are the Champs.

On the Road
Clippers
Lakers
Warriors

At Home
Grizzlies
Nuggets

On the Road
Mavericks
Nuggets
Lakers

If we could come away with at least one win against the Nuggets and Lakers, then win at least 3 of the remaining games with Clippers, Warriors, Grizzlies and Mavs for 5 of 8 then I think that would be considered "for real".

Or we could just win them all for a 14 gm streak.

 

Utah traded Mike Conley while Fred van Vleet isn’t going anywhere, that’s the biggest difference between the Jazz and Rockets.

 

Are the streaking Houston Rockets for real?
If...
1) They can duplicate the hustle and defense they have established at home on the road
2) Keep it up over a full season

then, yes.

 

I doubt the win record will be as good as it is right now.
The Rockets bench has been kind of mediocre and Jock Landale has unfortunately been really poor thus far.

 

There is a strong possibility that the Rockets have just gotten off to a hot start like the Jazz did last year. However, even that would be a success in my eyes. The Jazz were basically a .500 team until they decided to tank the last 10 games of the season. Many people considered .500 a best case scenario for us. Going from 22 wins to ~40 wins would be a huge leap. FVV and Brooks weren't going to get us there by themselves, it was going to take some growth and maturity from our existing prospects and that's happened. We have something to build on now. Of course, Utah is 3-7 and dead last in defensive rating this season and we don't want to follow that.