How pleased are you so far half-way through this season?

Like I said at the beginning of the season... Sit back and enjoy the ride...

 

I'm loving the Rockets season so far. I know our bench is not considered to be deep, but after watching the Vipers game prior to last night's Rockets game, I think it's amazing that we have guys like Jones, White, and Smith continuing to develop their game and be ready to jump back into a Rockets uniform at a moment's notice. I'll be cheering them on in the run up to the post-season as much as I've been cheering them on leading up to the ASG.

 

After the trade, everything else is just bonus. The goal of this season was to get true #1 and that has been accomplished. I am excited about the future which is more than i could say for the past few years.

 

I'm extremely pleased.

I have to admit, after we didn't get Dwight (because Affalo is such a beast), I wanted to go full tank mode. I wanted the first overall pick (or at least a top 3 pick.

Then October 28th happened... and then I wanted to be a .500 team. I didn't know what to expect of James Harden being given the green light. He has not disappointed. One can make an argument that this year he's been playing like a top 5 NBA player.

Lin has improved over the course of the season. Very impressed with his driving ability and now his jumper is falling. Really, even if he becomes a mediocre 3p shooter, he would be a bargain.

Asik... love Asik. I was worried that his fouling issues would follow him from Chicago, but I guess that's more 'I only play 10 minutes a game, I can afford to get fouls to prevent easy buckets' mindset. Either way, I love his defense.

Parsons has improved in all areas, except maybe defense.

Honestly, I don't get the hatred for Morris or PP here. Both are solid players.

Really looking forward to watching the team progress through several seasons (obviously with several additions and subtractions).

 

Feel the same way. I was prepared for a season of suck, and the one thing I wanted out of it was a franchise player. We got the franchise player at the beginning instead of the middle or end, so it was mission accomplished from the start and everything else is gravy. I still expected to be a lotto team and perhaps suck a bit less with Harden, and they're outperforming those expectations too. Lin is better than I expected he'd be. Harden and Asik and Parsons are at the high-end of what I had expected they'd be. Only Royce White has been any kind of disappointment among the other players.

So, I'm happy to have been wrong. Now, I want the playoffs. At the begining of the season, I thought we'd be no where close to sniffing them. Now, I'll be disappointed if we fall short. They've raised the bar.

 

I'm ambivalent. I won't be pleased unless we make the playoffs. If James Harden is a Kobe, Wade, Nash, Dirk, etc. type of player, he will carry us to the playoffs regardless of the rest of the team. If he isn't, then we are set up for years of dashed hopes and unfullfilled dreams.

As for how the team plays, I've been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan for over 30 years, so all I care about is winning. I'll take 80-78 over 115-113 if it means more wins. The game only lasts a couple hours, but the feeling of joy or sorrow lasts until the next game, or the next season.

 

Very pleased. Didn't expect them to be this good, not even close.

 

I thought i had a fix on this team until that 7 game losing steak. It still stings. Now, you never know what will happen with these guys.

 

Bouncing back from a long losing streak is a must-learn process for any team growing to become a title contender.

 

I would have envisioned (at the beginning of the season after the Harden trade) that we would be two or three games out of the 8th seed about now. While our record is only that same two or three games ahead of my prediction, having the 6th seed within reach is NOT something I would have thought.

While Hardens play is a little bit better than I would have thought (I had pretty high expectations to begin with), its the play and chemistry of the rest of the team that has exceeded my expectations more. I bought into the ideas that youth and so many new players would cause us problems all season long. That only towards the end of the season (mostly out of the playoff picture by then) did I expect us to start playing well with some consistency. We are a couple months ahead of my initial time table on these accounts.

Not only do we have a good chance to make the playoffs, but we are favored to do so. And more importantly, we may avoid having to play the #1 or #2 seeds in the first round. This gives us a chance, although still the underdog by far, to get a 2nd round opportunity.

Barring injuries, my feeling is that the longer we hang in the playoffs, the more the odds lean towards us. Not to say we would be favored at any level, but most other teams energy will wane faster than ours given our youth. In conclusion, if we can get out of the first round, anything could happen. And while I am not predicting a finals run, we could go deeper than the first round.

 

We're in the playoff hunt, and our management positioned us to add another superstar.

VERY PLEASED

 

This team makes me feel like we can beat any team at a given night. That's how pleased I am.

Harden has been more boss than I expected
Lin has shown me he belongs and competes with the best in the league
Asik has shown that he's a monster at the boards and defense
Parsons has been top notch performer keeping the team together

Then we have players who shows a lot of resilience in Ppat, TD, Del3no, Mook. I have always put chemistry much higher priority than talent in a team. This team's chemistry is extremely good, and the talents are all there as well.

The future looks bright, and I'd hesitate to make any trade at the moment. Anything that loses the starters can be devastating to the team that has youth and chemistry. Imagine another ball dominant diva comes in. Everything would fall apart.

 

No they weren't. This team would be horrible without Harden. I think you people overestimate this supporting cast and underestimate how important Harden is.

 

we're on the right path.

let's get cousins and paul george to team up with harden in houston. see if we can get lowry back too.