We didn't win the game. The Knicks lost it by themselves. McHale got lucky. Can we count on good luck every game? I don't think so.
This is a very good and true post I do agree with it word for word. But in perspective it's not that bad really. I mean there is always going to be growing pains with a newly assembled team, and we've had injuries as well. I think we will be fine long term
The Western Conference is really overachieving this year. 22-13 is only good enough for 5th to 8th place and a 1st round exit to a vastly superior opponent. In the Eastern conference we would be 3rd and have home court advantage against a very weak team. It's like sending your child to an elite, high achieving prep school and giving him/her a pat on the back for getting a B- on a report card. It's not good enough in a super competitive pool of students, when the bar is set that high.
I like this analogy. This is the reason I don't like the fact that the team is sitting pat right now. First round exits and the team as assembled isn't acceptable. I don't want 04-08 again. It was empty. Completely empty.
Sure, we'll give him the 2 remaining years of Dwight's explosive athleticism... and of Harden's crucial mental development...
I don't like McHale either. I would rather have an X and O guy too, but it is not as simple as replacing him with the best guy available. Changing a team's system is a big job and often involve roster shuffle too. McHale, despite learning slowly, is...well...learning. He improves on certain areas while he's been decent with other areas. I think the organization is giving him the chance this year to prove he can win in the playoff. If he doesn't get us to 2nd round without a very sounding reason, I think we may have another head coach next year. For team's sake, I hope McHale learns faster, the way this team's been playing, we ain't gonna make to 2nd round.
Losses are to be accepted. Which team doesn't lose anyway? However, imo, what is unacceptable is the fact that mchale hasn't learned his mistakes. Even with a full roster, we only had an 8-9 man rotation of Lin, bev, harden, casspi, parssons, dwight, asik, garcia. It was only when asik pouted and got injured that mchale gave jones the chance to earn more minutes. And now with bev out, brooks got some burn. You guys ever wonder why we have back problems? Parssons, lin, and now now maybe dwight? An injury in one common area tells us one thing, something aint right in coaching, training, drills or whatever. Injuries do happen of course. But injuries on the same area?
Better yet, hire Kidd and have McHale write daily reports. :grin: Back to topic, it's about expectations. The expectations for having two (supposedly) top 10 players is understandably very high. Many believe we can contend this year. Even Morey said something to that effect. Not that we would be a lock, but we should have a legit shot. That's what the expectations were. Now the team does not look like a contending team. As frustrating as losing to the Sixers and the Kings, those were actually far and in between. We do beat losing teams with a fairly high percentage (.737). But we are .500 against teams with winning records. That means we are just an mediocre team among playoffs contenders. We are far from being elite, despite having two franchise level players and a bunch of talented role players. And it's not just the records. The eye test confirms that too.
This team is intentionally flawed. Signing Dwight meant we had to accept having the one of the weakest PG and PF rotations in the league, and not building a quality bench. Was it worth it?.....sure, but it means we can't compete today. Once we get the 3rd star (and I'm convinced we will), we will have fixed one of the PG/PF slots and we can start building the bench. Unfortunately, that day may still be a year away.
McHale is not coaching right. If Harden does certain things that aren't in the spirit of the team, Harden is a good enough guy that he'll start to make improvements with a better coache's insistence. Dwight has to play PnR, what is the use of good PnR guys like Harden and Lin if it isn't going to be utilized. If Lin tries to play his game, playmake and makes a few mistakes, not unlike others on the team that also make mistakes, it seems like McHale has a tendency to take him out the game--and who knows for how long? This is bad coaching. This is a young core team. They need real coaching and to be a team. They don't look like a team much of the time and it isn't improving. It looks like a lot of talented pieces but disorganized and trying to figure out some things on their own. When all else fails, go to Harden to try to outscore the opposition.
The Rockets currently have a big problem with Asik, their third most talented player, contributing nothing. Until Asik is traded or gets back on the floor the Rockets will probably hang around the 5th or so seed in the West.
I'm going to disagree with you here JTR (which I'm sure you love). Asik WAS our second most valuable player last year no doubt about that and coming into this year is TT worked and he could play with the starters and then go on to finish games I would agree with you but the fact is he is our backup C. Asik is most likely playing against other centres who have little to no offensive game and will most likely have limited minutes unless dwight gets in foul trouble. He's impact is reduced with the role he will have on this team, this not making him him the 3rd most valuable, and I don't think talent is the correct term to attach to omer, he is more valuable or higher awareness/ IQ on the defensive side of the ball. Just my thoughts
Asik, when not pouting, is the most hardworking rocket on floor. Talentwise a lot of other rockets are ahead of him.
after miami got lebron, it took them 2 years to win it. the rockets have most of the talent they need, but there's still some fine tuning needed for this roster. this team hasn't found their groove yet. the rotation keeps changing and i imagine we'll see more heart from this team when games start to be more meaningful.
This I do have a big problem with. How much do you want to bet that AB gets re-glued the bench when Bev comes back? That just doesn't make any sense to me, esp. when you have obvious places to steal a few minutes here and there (take a few from Harden to get him more rest in general, take a few from Bev so he can afford to play fewer minutes with more energy, take a few from Garcia because hell -- he rarely contributes these days, tbh). I doubt it will happen, tho.
I said third most talented, not third most valuable to the Rockets. He is certainly a top 7 center in the NBA, and neither Parsons nor Lin is in that league just yet. He was something like 20th last season in xRAPM, which is the best measure fans have for judging a players overall worth. The Rockets just have a ton of talent tied up in Asik that is not being utilized at all.
For me, Asik just doesn't seem to have the offensive game to seem more talented than Parsons and Lin. His defense may be tops on the team however.
Absolutely. ATM this team is a pretender. At most they will take it to 2nd Round. Come playoffs time, their usual style of play won't work. The defense and double teams will come hard and fast and it will be brick city. Team lacks urgency and effort, maybe it's the idea that they are a great team has got to them that they can slack off and not play as hard, essentially underestimating opponents. I find that we always are fighting back to get the lead.
I have to at least say that this is unproven. Everyone should expect the defensive rotations to improve as the season progresses. The Rockets have yet to figure out how to transition from Asik, the solid paint protector, to Howard the rim protector. The Rockets have the offense to hang with any team in the NBA in a playoff series. The WC playoff landscape may change significantly now that Westbrook and CP are injured. Asik may return or Morey may be able to turn Asik into a significant resource.
