Didn't you just post some dumbass thread about enjoying? This forum will be better when you're gone. What a cynical hypocrite.
#’s 1 & 4 should be top priority. Overall team defense is good enough but to #3’s point a defensive big will give us even more roster flexibility. I’m just being patient to see what move we end up making to improve.
We're a struggling team's best medicine due to the inability to consistently run a half court offense due to poor shooting. MIlwaukee- falling apart? Gets a tired Rockets team with rest advantage, just barely wins Sacramento, can't score at a high enough pace most nights to make up for their bad defense? they can against us! GSW lost 5 in a row, no curry or green? Go see Dr. Udoka and he will prescribe an offensively challenged **** show so you don't gotta score to win;.
@DaDakota It is a brutal watch when the Rockets shoot like this, and we can expect more games of this ilk. I am all for making immediate improvements, but we have to be very careful with how assets áre spent. We still don't have a Star, and the Rockets FO know this. It's evident with all the reporting that the Rockets áre being patient in the hope that a younger Star, who can grow with this team, will become available. Conserve assets to strike when a Star is available and then build around that Star by adding the correct complimentary pieces. We should however in making trades on the margins to address our glaring weaknesses. Utilize expiring contracts, the MLE as a trade exception, and a few seconds. Any major move willl have to wait until the offseason due to the BYC of Jalen and AlPs contracts. If drastic changed áre not Made by the offseason than we should be worried.
The Rockets are over achieving considering some fundamental limitations. There is a lot of criticism for Udoka - and some of that is fair, but he has gotten them to where they are with discipline, high effort and maximizing what they can do. The biggest flaw is that the Rockets lack a superstar - a player that will get them 30 a night and close out games. That player was supposed to be Green, and that just isn't happening. So that means it most likely needs to be a player from outside the organization - very very hard to find. The other large flaw is a complete inability to hit open perimeter shots. That is killing them. The front office has largely gotten a pass - but from a long term perspective this is not a well constructed team. They have had an incredible number of high draft picks and yet lack a franchise player. The Sengun pick has been a home run (Good job Eli), but Green and Smith have been mediocre picks. Amen Thompson has quickly become a defensive stopper and a good player, that has shown some progress shooting the ball - but he isn't likely to be a star without the ball regularly being in his hands. This team reminds me a lot of those defensive minded Memphis teams that had Gasol and a bunch of defenders--- they could get you 45-55 wins but they are not winning any titles. It isn't all doom and gloom - someone like Green, Amen or Reed could break through - or maybe Sengun becomes an animal on offense..... plus the Rockets have the Suns picks. It isn't ideal though.
Simply put: Fred and Jalen dont have the ability to generate good shots for this team or themselves. Sengun's size limitations have also grown more apparent.
This This is the year to find out, instead of relying on FVV and Brooks, who we know are not the answer. I said it coming in, that this is still a development year. We need to pivot to Amen, Tari, Jabari, and Sengun based rotation. We have to find out who to pay. FVV and Brooks helped us re-set the culture, but they have always been stop-gap vets to bridge us to the future. The talk of extending FVV will put us in mediocre hell. We need his money to either pay our existing core or to bring another star on board. We will not be contenders this year and Stone severly handcuffed our ability to make a major move in-season. We can still make the play-in or even play-offs playing our youth, if Ime will just commit to running a fast transition offense based on the athleticism of our youth.
I really like that Memphis comparison, I agree. The endless debate on who's the "franchise" player here answers itself. Just like the old adage about having two "starter" quarterbacks. We have some young and very good players (I think Alpi makes the all-star jump this year) but no undisputed superstar to elevate us to the next level.
We aren’t a contender until we start paying for luxury tax/officiating. What too real? 1. We have good shooters. Just that the lesser shooters are the ones bombing away. And also our good shooters haven’t really proven themselves with consistent play. 2. I wish Green had a bigger bag of passes and finishes. Floaters and middy are fine, I mean I could live with the streaky shooting if he were consistently dealing 5+ assists. 3. Jabari has been swatting **** everywhere this season. Impressively so. What’s the deal with calling Sengun a PF? This isn’t 1991 and no one with his brand of footspeed is considered a forward. Also, like, zero career minutes as a forward. Kinda weird to insist otherwise… 4. I really believe Amen is the guy and he’s just stuck behind Freddy Pattycakes. His teleportation act around the first guy is insane and he’s looking to pass. If he had landed on Portland or somewhere else that gave him the keys he’d be otw to stardom. Especially if the shot improvement holds.
We need a new backcourt. JG should have never been drafted. And, when the Rockets saw the mistake, it should have been rectified long ago...when there was more trade value there. So we need a 2 that can shoot it from downtown and D up. That would add a lot to the bottom line, and translate to more W's. Enough of this BS. FVV has done the first part of what he was brought in to do. Now it's time to use his contract as a facilitating piece for a star.
1. I hope you are right, but our outside shooting has been pretty bad......maybe as Cam matures, and Reed gets more NBA ready. 2. Yes, but he doesn't, I am ready to move on from him. 3. Sengun on offense plays the post, you can be a post player as a PF - Barkley, McHale etc....and a PF on D - I believe he is more suited to playing PF, and pairing him with a shot blocking guy. 4. Yeah, I think Amen is probably our best bet as well. DD
Oh the joys of exceeding expectations....Perhaps it's because the Rockets have been far more elite defensively and mostly offensively off-putting. Like it or not, I believe the Rockets will have a elite defensive mindset for the next few seasons unless we make a major trade for an offensive minded superstar. I still believe this will be an evaluation year with the offseason being a major inflection point in direction. However, clearly the offense is the weak link. Hopefully, shooting will progress back to averages but I don't expect a lot of improvement outside of that this season. While I don't think Ime is an offensive minded coach, I think the bigger hurdle is that this core is still overall too young and doesn't know how to play offense together. Like he has to put on the training wheels for the offense, but it's missing so many open 3s. I know CF is allergic to it, but be patient as we will still need a full season to diagnose.
I don’t think they are overachieving at all. It is more that they are getting some wins (Philly and Minnesota on the road) that you didn’t expect because other teams are still trying to gel. They have their flaws, which stop them from contending this year, but the arc of the team is up for the next several years. They have an identity - defense first. The core is so young that internal growth will continue to see year to year team improvement for another 3-5 years. Before this stretch of games, Nook expected them to go 5-10/6-9, while I was looking at the opposite - 9-6 or 10-5. They are on my pace. I am enjoying this team- a team that is on pace for 50+ wins and a top 6 seed. Tari and Amen have taken a leap up in impact. Sengun is an all star. The team can’t buy a bucket at times, but the arc of this team is right on schedule.
I don't think we are built for the playoffs yet but I do think we can get a top 6 seed if Jalen has his supernova stretch in the second half. The 2025 off-season will be key. If another team likes Jalen, we may be able to pull off some really cool moves and construct a more bullet proof roster.
