Who started improving under Ime? Of the draft picks under Silas, Ime kicked out TyTy, Garuba, Christopher. Jalen never became of anything. Jabari "improved" by not doing anything under Ime and still today has a very restricted role. Tari has been Tari this whole time. And Sengun was improving under Silas already. Year 2 was actually his most efficient season. His raw stats just looked better under Ime because of a bigger role. But he also became a one trick pony and became much easier to defend over time.
Duh. This has been abundantly clear for many years and there are a lot of reasons for it. Stone was never qualified to be a general manager - he has done everything possible to prevent a President of Basketball Operations being brought in because he is insecure and doesn't want someone that could expose to ownership the reality of what has gone on. The Rockets have lacked any real philosophy or culture, there is a lack of people that have coached at a high level or have scouted and coached long term as a high level - there is just a lack of actual basketball knowledge at a detailed level. You can see it in how the Rockets have drafted, how they have built their roster, how they have developed players and their strategic style of play. The only thing that has kept it from being a circus has been Ime Udoka, because at a minimum he doesn't let his GM excuse players from practice and not tell the head coach (which happened under Stone), he doesn't let Stone bring losers on the roster like KPJ or Wood - and he will bench players that don't play hard. He sucks at other things but he at a minimum does that. At some point everyone will stop making excuses and realize it is easier to build a team and win with a GM that wants people that are smarter than him around him, that values experience and a deeper understanding of the game.. that wants to develop players and build a team, that "gets" it at a higher level.
The team, as a whole, improved under Ime vs Silas. It’s evident in the record. That being said, Ime isn’t the answer
those Silas years were the absolute worst Remember when KPJr just drove off at halftime? And we had people on here defending that insane stunt… that was the culture of the Rockets back then
I think there is pretty much 100% agreement throughout the site that Stone is a horrible GM. It’s unfortunate that this organization holds nobody accountable and quite honestly no longer appears to be making a real effort to win a title. As dumb as they are, I still think they know that adding a damaged 34 year old FVV doesn’t make us a contender against OKC.
The funny thing is that Stone wanted to bring Schroeder back because he thought he was good for the younger players....... and keep in mind that Schroeder is one of the most disliked players in the league by other players. Kevin Porter Jr..... Christian Wood ........ John Wall ..... Dennis Schroeder... the Rockets GM and HC at the time praised all of these guys as people and as influences on the younger players. Coaches like Wil Weaver and Jeff Hornacek getting the hell out of the organization because it was a hot mess.
The team as a whole improved because the Rockets got rid of tanking players and signed (to way over market contracts) good players to play on the team. Giving Ime credit for the Rockets stopping tanking is like giving McHale credit for the Rockets return to playoffs when he took over for Adelman. Sure, Harden was a lot better than FVV, but he was replacing Lowry, Dragic, and KMart. FVV was replacing Nix and KPJ on a team forced to tank.
There was ZERO accountability for the players on the Rockets before Udoka. Silas was a mealy-mouthed man that the players did not respect, and he actually was holding the players MORE accountable than the GM, who let his favorite players have hall passes to miss practice. There was ZERO discipline. Wood refused to go in games, Porter left at halftime and constantly interrupted practices and through tantrums and nothing happened to him. It was a joke around the league - even guys like Sam Vecenie discussed that the Rockets organization did not hold the players remotely responsible and it impacted player development. When Udoka joined the Rockets, he had the personality to tell the GM to stop excusing players from practice - to stop bringing in toxic pet projects. Udoka made the players accountable. They had to show up on time, they had to practice - they had to play hard or they were benched. He also pushed for bringing professionals. That is all because of Udoka - it isn't because of Stone or anyone else. I don't like Udoka's arrogance and his philosophy is mediocre -- his lack of humility will cost him as he will not improve like some other coaches...... he has plenty of flaws, but he deserves credit for bringing structure and accountability to an organization was basically inept, toxic and dysfunctional from the top down.
It would carry more weight if Jeff Green said it. But low-character disgruntled PGs playing for a team and having KPJ prioritized over them is probably not going to end well.. for anyone.
OK, Just burn that bridge! The organization go in trouble when it would bend over backwards to enable Harden. The current state is hard to label. The coach staff has some stuff to prove. Overall the org is not customer friendly.
The thing many fans don't realize is that Rockets in the Silas era was built to fail. Not only were those teams absolutely devoid of any talent, devoid of veterans who gave a damn. But Stone also brought in zero point guards and FORCED the team to play with SGs with low BBIQ as the lead ball handlers. Remember even when the Rockets sucked under Morey, he never ignored the PG position. Brooks, Lowry, Dragic, even signed Lin for a team that he planned to originally tank. Morey may be overrated and make too many trades, but he understand basketball a fundamental level much better than Stone or any Fertitta's kids in the front office. And you know why Ime "changed" all that? Because he simply played FVV until FVV ran out of gas and eventually just stopped. Because even to this day, the Rockets STILL just bring in makeshift PGs like Amen and Reed. That's why people realized Ime isn't nearly the guru he made himself out to be this season, because he can't succeed with a no-PG team either.
I mean he's 32, not 34, but regardless, yeah FVV moves the needle for us, but we need to freaking yank that needle.
The franchise is becoming a laughingstock. How many guys have called out the Rockets as being a bad org? Wemby was told you better hope you dont end up there, we have role players like Schroder calling out a team when he is a career journeyman, he literally just lost a chance at a job for a one year deal late in his career by saying that, that is how much he hates Houston. We give Tari Eason $81M and he seems unhappy to even be on the team still, we have KD calling out the players while still on the team, just wait until he is gone he will say Houston was the worst org hes played for as well.
I agree. Ime is just outdated. The NBA has changed and he cant change with it. His stuff would work better 10 - 15 years ago. He's not objectively bad like Silas was. That man had no business being a head coach anywhere.
