I think that Alpi doesn’t try to take enough 3 point shots in order to get better. Even on the expense of an overall lower fg%, until he’s able to develop he’s shot. That’s what the Spurs allowed Wemby do this year, and he really improved.
I don't like looking at strength of schedule. Unfortunately the Rockets aren't good enough to have guaranteed wins on their schedule. Hopefully they just take it one game at time and don't take their opponents lightly.
WHAT WE NEED! Pelicans W Magic W Suns W Mavs W Bulls W 76ers W Then we get back home to face - Nuggets L Hawks W Magic W Utah W Pelicans W IMO We MUST win at least 10 of these 12. Rocket River
We are 5-9 since Fred got hurt, including some really bad losses to **** teams. This team is missing his leadership and on court production, which says everything about the so called face of the franchise.
Exactly, nobody expected us to reach close to that total at the beginning of the year. I hope the guys get their mojo back soon, but if not that’s just a sign of a young team learning how to win. It’s a process they are going through right now. Team is still very young.
There are only 20 games remaining at this point, so we can’t make it 17-9. We won’t make 17-3 either, as after this 12 games stretch, we’ll have a VERY difficult 8 games to end the season. Let’s assume we’ll make 9-3 in the upcoming 12, and then 4-4 - this will bring us to overall 50 wins - which is indeed above early expectations. But when you think of how good we looked by mid-season on one hand, and how many stupid losses we had (season opener vs hornets, the 2nd loss to the Nets) on the other, then it’s a little bit disappointing. Whatever, I just hope we’ll have enough wins so we won’t drop from #6.
Don’t know how I came up with 17-9 must have been sleep walking. 11-9 is what I predict and falling to the play-in.
I don't really care about the schedule anymore. We lost to the Jazz and Nets, we can lose to anyone. The Vipers could've given those garbage teams competitive games.
Will you be shocked if they lose to any of the teams on that list? they can easily lose half of these games based on what we have seen so far from this team the past few weeks
Of course, any team can lose any game. I'm actually hopeful we could go 12-8. Was curious which ones you think we'll lose though?
We became very unpredictable. We can lose one of the two upcoming matches vs Pelicans, then win against Magic and Suns, and as we might think we’re on a roll, we’ll take a loss against the short-handed Mavs. I really hope though that in the future we all look at this thread and think “how sceptical we were for no reason” as the team will have strong finish to this season, and February will remain as nothing but a memory of a bad streak.
I have a slightly different perspective. When I step back and take a deep breath, I see a team that has always played well when healthy. They went through fatigue exacerbated by injuries near the hallway part of the season because they grabbed the most rebounds in 24 years and went full playoff intensity from day 1. We were healthy on the second game back from the ASB and our starting PG - without whom we've never played well long - twisted his ankle in the first few minutes of the game. I think if FVV doesn't twist his ankle that game, we'd have shaken off the rust and rekindled the chemistry by now. Instead, it will take a few more games to get back to normal. We might not win at a 55-win pace like before, but we're not defined by what we were when we were fatigued and injured. The idea that we should be able to overcome the most exhausting offense and most exhausting defense and injuries by just announcing "no excuses, next man up" is a childish one. Other than elite teams, teams play before their winning standards when they have unique fatigue and injuries. I specify unique fatigue because I'm not talking about general NBA tiredness. I'm talking about facing the 3rd most packed paint every night, breaking a 24-year rebounding rate and playing top 5 defense early in the season. Which I predicted would cause fatigue and injuries months before it happened. I don't know how people couldn't see that coming.
While I generally agree, the FVV/Green/Brooks/JSJ/Sengun lineup clicks defensively. There is a lot of chemistry in that lineup. With Amen now a starter, roles have changed and the lineups don't have the same chemistry. I think long term, Amen as a starter is the way to go. I expect the Rockets will be better with FVV, but I am expecting a stepback until the Rockets figure out the defense.
Welcoming the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, March 8, at Toyota Center. Engaging the Orlando Magic on Monday, March 10, also at Toyota Center. --- Assessing the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, March 12, at home. Renewing rivalries with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, March 14, in Houston. Expecting the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, March 15, at Toyota Center. --- Squaring off against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, March 17, at home. Clashing with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, March 19, at Amway Center. Road-tripping to face the Miami Heat on Friday, March 21, at Kaseya Center. Exploring a matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, March 23, at Toyota Center. Waging battle with the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, March 25, at home. Expecting a challenge from the Utah Jazz on Thursday, March 27, at Delta Center. Dueling the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, March 30, at PHX Arena.
Well, 1 down and several more to go. I'm pessimistic we can catch the Lakers at this point. Finishing ahead of Denver likely requires 51 or 52 wins including beating them both times at Toyota Center. The last game of the regular season could have a lot riding on it. 50-51 wins should be enough to finish ahead of Memphis since the Rockets have the tiebreaker.
It's hard to say anything about the team until they get back to full health and have their rotation including FVV and Jabari for five games straight. Need at least that much time to gel and see what we've got, because before Jabari went down we were #2 in defense but like #15 in offense, and then for that month Jabari was out but we were beating Memphis, Cleveland, and Boston with a supercharged Amen in the starting lineup, we improved to like #6 in offense but dropped to #17 in defense around that time. So even if it wasn't reflected in the W-L for January, losing Jabari certainly hurt us. It might be that, just for this season, to get the maximum performance out of all our players by just nailing chemistry and rotations that can pick apart other teams' weaknesses, we'll need to keep the Twin Towers mostly together, even if Amen plays starters minutes. But I definitely think this roster still has not hit their ceiling yet even for this season, and we'll see some big leaps and bounds in the next two months that will make everyone fear us come playoff time.
