For that to happen, they have to overtake 3 teams that were ahead of them last year in the standings and then there's Memphis getting Morant back and with him the previous two seasons they won 51 & 56 games. I think if this team wins 45 games, one (or more) of the young guys has taken a huge leap forward OR they have made a trade that elevates them. That draft kings projection had them at 43.5 and as I said then, I think that's about right for this team. They are just so young .. Most have been projecting 45ish wins next season, that 45 win total would have had them finish right where they did last season at #11, the #10 team (GSW) had 46 wins. It's really crazy how we've been talking about how strong the West has been for literally a decade. To get into the top 6 and a guaranteed playoff spot the Rockets would have to pass 5 teams - and again, then there's Memphis who I think ultimately wins more games. Getting into the top 10 and a play in spot seems realistic needing only to pass one or two teams if you assume Memphis bounces back to being a playoff team. I think it's safe to assume that the following teams are in the top 4: Minnesota OKC Denver Dallas After that, I think it's possible that the Clippers & GSW take a step back and PHX could also fall off - they can't stay healthy and really don't have much after their stars, no real depth. I think Sacramento & New Orleans finish similarly to where they did last year 8-9 play in. They are just more mature rosters than the Rockets. Then there's the Lakers who are probably going to have every call go their way in what could be Lebron's final season ..... The league will want him and AD in the playoff mix. Seems 9-10 is a realistic landing spot for a very young team in a stacked west. It's a step in the right direction & gives them a shot at actually being a playoff team.
I really think Jalen and Sengun have to pop off the whole years together, and consistently. And Cam needs to get more PT. And I really think Sheppard could help us win a lot of games if he gets into the rotation with a heavy load of minutes to control the offense.
Honestly, I'm looking forward to seeing what tinkering they do with that many days of practice after those 2 games.
Our team stats through 3 games are interesting. We suck at going to the FT line, defensive rebounding, overall shooting, and fouling. We are good at protecting the ball and offensive rebounding. But our ORtg is actually decent at 14th in the league, and our DRtg is Top 10 again. Based on the teams we have played so far, we should be 3-0.
This is why you can't just look at statistics and "metrics" to tell the story of the game. Based on the way we played, our record is justified. The stat sheet doesn't record everything. We need actual strategy on offense, at the moment we're just relying on the talent of our players to get it done, but nothing's being done easy at all. It genuinely feels like the minute we lose defensive intensity we start to lose the game and fall behind. If we didn't have the offensive talent we do have we'd be getting dicked on. If Green doesn't play hero at the end last night, we get punked. We need to start finding a way to manufacture the easy buckets everybody else gets so that we don't have to be all intensity all the time just to compete. We'll never be successful chasing everybody else around the court whilst they stand still and still defend us without having to hustle much at all. It's impossible to sustain that.
