As currently constructed: are Rockets championship contenders?

Exactly!

 

Guys - contenders does not mean favorites.

There are 10-14 contending teams this year.

Don't be afraid Clutchfans. Even a blowout loss to the #1 team in the West does not revoke our contender status.

This team has new parts, and some big holes, and is going to lose tough games before (and if) they learn to put it all together.

No one here is going to be awarded a prize for playing the safe probabilities - that we don't go to the championship. Have some cojones.

Go Rockets.

 

It's like people pretend Morey wasn't here during the JVG and Adelman era, like this current philosophy is all we've ever been.

 

If it comes down moving DMO for the 3rd piece then you pull the trigger without hesitation and I don't have a clue as to what you mean about handicapping the team. You have to give to get and the value that some CF fans place on the emerging elite untradeable DMO is much much higher than what most NBA GMs see him as IMO. Last nights game should have told Morey a lot and the objective is to win a championship.

 

Contenders have to beat good teams consistently. Do the Rockets?

Maybe next year. Sigh <shrug>

 

JVG and Adelman weren't yes men/puppets like McHale. JVG and Adelman had their own philosophies and had success with their philosophies before coming here. The same can't be said about McHale.

 

Because the Rox did have the playmakers with little to no post presence once upon a time. It didn't work out well. Howard is currently trying to defer more to Dmo and Dmo has been consistent with his defense and post scoring. I think other GM's value Dmo more than you think. Smith is a good back up and so are many guys we got but I'm done with that undersized Scola era. I cringe to think about going back to that place.

 

This current philosophy hasn't been established very long so... why define Morey by it? Why condemn him for it? He's done so much more already.

 

Then if GMs value DMO more than I think, then now is the time to move him for the 3rd piece IMO.

 

There's really no 3rd piece affordable nor would be of any significance. You notice right now Dwight is on and off and most of the post presence would be Dmo on Dwight's off or rest nights? It is what it is. I still think Pap could help because he did have decent handles before the injury when the Rox went on a good streak with Howard sitting out. Gotta find a way to get Pap to play like that again and Harden definitely appreciated that playmaking help.

 

Outside of Phoenix, there's not a team in the west right now I'd pick the rockets to beat in a seven game series. They will be exposed come playoff time.

 

They are a contender, but not quite championship. They need one guy other than Harden who can make plays.

 

no

I don't think so...not the way the west is..Beverly is nice but we really need a PG who can run the offense and make plays on high level when Harden isn't on the floor..I was at the game last night against Warriors and when the refs are being hard on Harden he shutsdown..reminded me of the playoffs where harden just shutdown and only dwight had it going..MOREY PLEASE MAKE THE DRAGON TRADE HAPPEN..HE'S ELITE AND THE ANSWER

 

My thing is Morey seems to go blameless for the most part around here when he is a big part of the problem along with Les. If Morey wants to go with this philosophy, why hasn't he constructed a roster that matches the philosophy better? The roster really doesn't have many if any good shooters right now. No good play-making pg to run the read and react effectively along with Harden, etc. Morey has accumulated some talent but its not meshing well and on top of that the organization decided to extend a weak coach for a team that lacks a lot of leadership/direction a lot of the time. None of it makes sense. The reason the team has done as well as it has it that Harden has played like a top 2 or 3 player in the world most of the year. When he is shut down, the team has no chance. The team is basically depending on Harden to be Jordan/Hakeem like with no real backup plan. A lot of this is on again Morey and the front office.

 

Bev isn't going to cut it. We can't expect him to shut down guys like Westbrook and Curry, but he needs to at least make them work on defense and he needs to make plays.

Getting Dragic or Lawson (pipe-dreams) would do wonders for our team. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies. That's what happened last night. We need a perimeter guy who can produce buckets and set up others. If Curry is off, you've got Thompson and vice versa. If Harden is off, you've got nobody. Bev, Ariza, Terry, Brewer...they've all got to be set up to score.

Canaan has potential. Hell I may even take a flyer on Calderon. I love Bev but he's the weakest link when we face the elite of the West.

 

The culmination of Brewer, Terry and other factors etc was suppose to be a difference maker. Seems like those guys are only good in spurts.

 

Not so fast ....

 

In the playoffs, you don't have to play every team, just the team's in your bracket. As long as we matchup well with the teams in our bracket, we can contend.

But yeah, I prefer we try to avoid GSW, MEM, and LAC for starters.

 

Great post! A definite positive from last night's game was that the "playoff" Howard finally showed up. His play this year was beginning to give me doubts, but I now have renewed confidence that he will show up for the Rockets when needed in the playoffs. Rockets have a very good team, but once the regular season closes out and teams focus on closing out on the perimeter shots and the refs tighten their calls on Harden (as happens each year in the playoffs) the Rockets will unfortunately continue to struggle with getting out of the first round against the best in the West.

 

This is the first time in a while that the race to the championship is pretty much wide open. No heavy favorites like San Antonio or Thunder or the Heat.

All the current "favorites" haven't had a history of playoff success with their current lineup.

Warriors, Memphis, Cavaliers, Hawks, Wizards.

Its wide open.