Fertita is too cheap to fire Udoka. It absolutely will not happen. And I’m not even sure that he should. Stone’s seat should be hotter, but if I was a betting man, and I absolutely am, there will either be only minimal changes, or Stone will stupidly throw a Hail Mary for Giannnis. Time will tell, but it will be one or the other.
i dont think this 'whole fan base' has ever agreed on anything... lol closest ive seen was a 97% approval rating when we traded for Ty lawson.... and we know how that worked out... lol
I assume this piece was mostly written before Game 4. Sengun needs to be looked at in a bit of a different light after these last two games and especially if he keeps playing like this. The hypothetical Kawhi trade of Sengun and two firsts for a 34 year old who has played less than 60 games in 4 out of the last 6 seasons on an expiring contract seems ridiculous to me.
This is a good point but it's still unlucky to go 0/3 on this. We'd be in a much better spot if 1/3 or 2/3 were healthy, and obviously 3/3. I think it's fair to admit that it was a gamble to rely on these 3 guys, while also acknowledging that losing all 3 of them is still really unlucky.
The thing is, it's a myth that those are the most irreplaceable. If we had those 3 guys but lost Sengun and Amen we'd suffer just as much if not more. That's 5 "irreplaceable" guys. No one has 5 irreplaceable guys. So the reality is that this is a very flat team in terms of talent and we lost: - 1 old guy starter for a season. We had two high value prospects we were aiming to develop at the PG position even before the injury. Further we had an elite passing big to soften the blow. We had from summer till trade deadline to acquire some help but voluntarily opted against it. This is a front office problem, not a luck problem. No one is owed perfect health and front offices have to make choices. - 1 old guy backup C for half a season. We had arguably the best 3rd string C in the NBA in Clint Capela. We were on pace to win 50+ games before Adams or Durant ever stepped foot on the court for us so calling him irreplaceable is hilarious to me. - KD played a crazy amount of minutes this season and barely missed games. The timing of his injury was very unlucky but overall we were very lucky with him. More likely: we overplayed a 37 year old in the regular season. The bad luck component here is minimal. Dwarfed by the good luck of our first round opponent missing their top two scorers. Luka and Reaves are worth more than what we lost by any measure.
Yeah, I don't think any of the young players on the Rockets are "rotten". I think it is fair game to question the development of the young players and what their upside is --- but none of them are "rotten", all of them are at least good rotation pieces, and one of them is an all star and two others still have that kind of upside. I don't think the fit will be remedied easily. Sengun and Sheppard are a terrible fit defensively - and Sengun and Amen are a terrible fit offensively. I personally think that Thompson is going to end up a 3, unless his shot and handle really improve. Sengun could be an offensive monster if he had better touch and outside shooting - I think he is likely what he is going to be, which is still good but a bad fit.
We are the firing of a coach and the trading of a geriatric star away from competing..... We might get by with an offensive coordinator. DD
It’s cute that you think that a billionaire in today’s America would be held accountable for casual racism.
Someone sitting in the Ringer has been affiliated or emotionally close to the Rockets...... No way writers are using that word for it, I am hugely disappointed as well but 'rotten' did not hit me. The way Stone has done nothing, that was close to rotten.
Yeah also they were talking about because of Durant Injury, and Injuries of Fred, and Adams there just going to run it back. With all the bs with the media, and hate from everyone. What true on the court and in the locker rooms are that they all like each other, and Health was a major factor this year. Lets just wait for end of next year, to decide on what to do. This summer thou i feel they must find a bench, there needs to be a few roster moves to improve the bench. Need to see what this team can do when Healthy. Although that may be challenge look at the ages of who unhealthy. Durant and Adams always out lol Eason may be gone.
Maybe? The Sengun limitations are still there as are the fit problems. Also, while the Rockets fought hard in game 4 -- they were playing a team up 3-0 without their two best players, and they knew Austin Reeves was coming back for game 5. The Lakers likely want this series to extend a bit to let Luka get healthy for OKC in round 2. Sengun does some things very well - he can score, he can rebound and he can pass when he has guys around him. However he also is a poor defender, a poor outside shooter, a poor free throw shooter - which makes him difficult to play with a lot of other players.
They are very unlikely to all be healthy. Their best player is 38 years old next season and has an extensive injury history.... their "leader" is 33 years old next year with heavy milage on his body and is coming off a serious injury. Their best defensive center is 33 year old and is almost never healthy. Tari Eason is always banged up and DFS is a walking injury risk and is 34 years old. It was and is a poorly built team.
No right to complain about injuries when known injury prone players or players with the first Bush administration listed on their birth certificates are acquired.
Exactly, and the Rockets either got discounts in trading for the players (KD/SA) or they were well aware of the injury/age concerns and still signed them (FVV/DFS). It is why the comments on "not our year" or discussion of injuries by Stone rubbed me the wrong way. He isn't a stupid man, he was well aware of the risks and he has to know he was very lucky to have KD play the number of games and minutes he played.
"They're limited in what they can add to this roster. Even though they got draft picks from other teams, they're not getting high draft picks going forward." aka Adam Silver once again does not think Houston is worthy of a star player, rigging the lottery for. Only Dallas & San Antonio.
