Houston Rockets: B+ Preseason projection: 52.5 wins Current projection: 52.3 wins Why a B-plus for the Rockets, who are on track to finish almost exactly at their preseason line? First, I thought that expectations were inflated for Houston in the wake of Fred VanVleet's September ACL tear, which left the Rockets without any proven point guard options. As Houston hoped, recent lottery picks Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard have solidified the position, with Sheppard making a leap in his sophomore campaign. And Kevin Durant has been the difference-maker the Rockets hoped, leaving Houston top-five in offensive rating despite a recent slump. Second, the Rockets have been one of the league's unluckiest teams thus far. Houston's record (25-15) is fifth in the West by virtue of a 9-12 record in games that qualify by the NBA's definition of clutch time (within five points in the last five minutes of regulation). The Rockets are 24th in clutch defensive rating, which seems unlikely to persist given their talent at that end. NBA midseason grades: Rating all 30 teams at the halfway mark - ESPN
Ime completely turned this franchise around. Seeing comments on here that he's "worse than Silas" made me bust out laughing when I read that. He's probably second to Rick Adelman in terms of our best coach since I've been watching, right after Rudy T. He has limitations offensively. I view him as similar to MDA who had limitations defensively. Both also struggle to make scheme adjustments. We would benefit from hiring an offensive mind as a lead assistant.
He is a decent coach, just not a championship one. As is, there is no apparent better replacement for him. In the next year or two, I hope one is available.
He has a pretty successful track record so far, I'm not sure that's the only metric we should use. He's still inexperienced and has already been to the finals with a very young team. MDA was a hamstring away from being a championship coach. He should not have significant influence on personnel decisions though as some have suggested he has currently.
It’s a reasonable opinion, but he has shown no ability to recognize his own weaknesses which would be the first step to getting better. I hope you are right and he is not the Narcissist I think he is.
If coaches were drafted like players, Udoka would probably be picked at the 10th-15th range. He's the proverbial high floor low ceiling kind of guy.
I think fans either are not comprehending the fact that we have a weaker roster than the top teams in the league or they willfully don’t want to admit that we don’t have enough to win. You didn’t answer my questions. I emphasized the fact that this team is unique in that it has an imbalanced roster that none of the contenders have this issue. And the usage of Durant as a combo guard highlights this. Again none of these teams start 2 non shooters. Whether you or these fans accept it or not, the fact is our roster construction is unique with 2 non shooters and no point guard. What coach if inserted would drastically change this team given the current roster?
