Comparing the Rockets roster with other West contenders

OP, why did you separate PF and C when the NBA put them together as Big Men Front court rotation at the Allstar's?

This is the new NBA

 

need to address the 4...no bballholic fan but TJ has had more than enough time.

 

I just sent an IM to my buddy here at work who's a Mavs fan comparing every Rockets starter to every Mavs starter and telling him all the ways that Rockets players would destroy them. He tried to rebuttle that the only advantage is Dwight over Pachulia, and the rest is a wash. That of course is laughable. Harden vs Matthews? You for real?

Anyways, what I thought was funny and the main reason I wanted to find a thread to post it in, is all the Mavs starters came to me immediately... all of them except one. I legitimately had to look up who their small forward was before feeling like an idiot when I realized. Does this mean that I'm completely over that chump? Or does it mean that I'm trying to block him out? I'm confused.

 

It's a very crude measure, but it does match many expectations when you heavily differentiate between starters and reserves. I did a 80/20 split and got:

Spurs and Warriors tied at 22 points
Rockets at 19
OKC at 17
Clippers at 16
Grizzlies at 13

Morey was correct when he said it's really hard to improve at the very top.

 

I'm too lazy to do this but someone rank only starters.. Then only backups... Then apply 75% to starters score + 25% to backup score...

 

Also, please don't be a homer.. Steph is > CP3

 

Here is how I would rank it, with some explanations:

PG:
1. Curry and Livingston - League MVP and a great back up.
2. Westbrook and Augustin - Might like this PG combo better but WB's tendency to overshoot and be turnover prone prevents them from being #1.
3. Paul and Rivers - Paul carries this PG combo while Rivers will sink it. The fact that Paul is so great on both ends put them in front of the following PG combos.
4. Lawson and Bev - Great combo with an offensive PG and a defensive PG but we need to see how they will be used. If only we could fuse them together...
5. Conley and Udrih - Put them ahead of SAS PGs because Conley is in his prime, unlike Parker who is on the decline and injury-prone. Udrih is a great back up.
6. Parker and Mills - Still lethal but not too crazy about this combo due to age/injury. Mills missed a large part of last season, too.

SG:
1. Harden and Thornton - I think KJ will be insurance, only. I love the Thornton signing since he is a great spot up shooter. Harden separates us from the pack.
2. Reddick, Crawford and Stephenson - Was not crazy about the Stephenson trade but if he can play close to his Pacers days, I like their SG rotation. Reddick pretty much does everything Klay does, anyway.
3. Thompson and Barbosa - I really think Thompson is vastly overrated. He does his job well but he is pretty much an elite 3 and D player with quite a bit of overrating on the D part. He is a good defender but not elite. Don't love Barbosa as a back up.
4. Green and Manu - Solid rotation. A ahead of the the rest because they play both sides of the court well.
5. Lee and Allen - Also very solid but Allen's non existent offense puts them behind.
6. Waiters and Murrow - One of OKC's weak spots. Murrow is good for them but not good enough on D to start. Waiters could be a interesting 6th man if he didn't think so highly of himself.

SF:
1. Durant and Roberson - Like Harden, KD (if healthy) separates OKC's SF rotation from the pack. They aren't too ahead since Roberson cannot shoot for the life of him, though.
2. Leonard and Anderson - I don't think Leonard is ever going to be a go-to player consistently. But if Anderson can play like he did in SL, then that is a great rotation.
3. Barnes and Iggy - Very good, solid rotation. Both are solid on both ends.
4. Ariza and Brewer - Good rotation. Just wish Brewer could hit the 3 more consistently. His lack of good shooting sinks us.
5. Green and Carter - I think Green will lead the Grizzlies in scoring next season. Like him in his prime than Pierce so close to his end.
6. Pierce and Johnson - Like I said, Pierce on his last legs is not preferable if he is a starter. Johnson is an ok backup.

PF:
1. Griffin and Smith - Very talented combo but can be prone to a lot of errors/no-shows late in game.
2. Aldridge and West - Almost prefer this combo if LMA and West weren't primarily mid-range jumpshooters. Still a great combo.
3. Randolph and Wright - Like McHale said, skilled big men will beat skilled small men. I like Z-Bo over Draymond Green. Wright is better than Speights.
4. Green and Speights - Give them the edge over HOU's PF combo because of DMo's injury and Jones' shaky playoff performance.
5. DMo and Jones - If DMo can return to form and Jones can take the next step, out PF combo becomes 3rd best.
6. Ibaka and Collison - Ibaka never took that next step into being a #3 option. Still a great defender, though. Collison is not the player he once was, too.

C:
1. Howard and Capela - If playoff Howard can show up for 30mpg this season and Capela takes that next step in his development, we will have the best C combo in the league.
2. Gasol and Martin - Gasol is still an absolute load. He was a real MVP candidate the first month of the season. Martin is a nice player.
3. Duncan and Diaw - Duncan and Gasol can each hit their free throws, unlike Jordan. Diaw is a better player than Aldrich, too.
4. Jordan and Aldrich - Jordan is a big liability due to his free throw shooting. Great defensively but a zero on offense past lobs. Aldrich is not very good.
5. Bogut and Ezeli - I hate Bogut but he does his job and is a great passer. Ezeli gave us trouble in game 5.. ugh.
6. Kanter and Adams - Another weak point in OKC's lineup. Kanter is an absolute disaster on defense, and will be making Harden money.. LOL

I'll add coaching to the equation, too..

Coaching:
1. Pop - Nothing needs to be said.
2. Kerr - Yes, he was gifted a super team but he put them together on day 1. Not many coaches can do that.
3. Rivers - While I do think he is a tad overrated as a coach, he is still top 10 in this league.
4. McHale - Say what you want about him but he can bring a team together and get the best out of them. Out coached Rivers in games 5 and 7.
5. Jeoger - Solid coach, has to solve his offensive problems.
6. Donavan - Really an incomplete score until I see what he did to OKC's system.

Using your score system, the results are:
1. Warriors - 24 points
1. Spurs - 24 points
3. Clippers - 23 points
3. Rockets - 23 points
5. Grizzlies - 17 points
6. Thunder - 15 points

Makes sense since OKC is going to be a mystery until we see how Donavan coaches and they have some weak spots in their lineup at SG and C. Grizzlies rely on their different style of play to beat teams rather than talent. To me, the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Clippers will be neck and neck for most of the season for the top seeds. Thunder will be there if KD is a MVP candidate and Donavan proves to be a good coach.

 

With the West the way it is I could see this team losing in the first round or I could see them winning it all. The same could be said for the rest of the top 5 in the West. There are just too many great teams.

 

McHale > Rivers. Chip be dammed, fool is an overrated scrub with a good speaking voice.

 

@RocketsJumer, while I think you're spot on with your evaluation, I think we also match up very well with most teams in the West. Like the past few postseasons, our success will probably depend on HCA and matchups. I think the best case scenario is to draw the Clippers in Round 2 and hope GSW and the Spurs play each other- since I think not only are they more talented on paper, they also match up with us well.

 

Well, if you're ranking individual positions, you shouldn't take a team victory into account considering that he destroyed us.

 

I actually like the Rockets matchup versus the Spurs. With Lawson, you can attack Tony Parker. The Spurs cannot guard James Harden, even when throwing that Leonard/Green combo at him. Then Dwight can do his thing against Duncan. Only person that really worries me is LMA.

 

I think he's saying we are deeper. Our PG combo will be much better than their PG combo in terms of match ups and flexibility.

 

What is this .....not a number worth a damn in sight.

 

I think at pg, sf, and pf rockets should be ranked one spot worse. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so. : /

 

I would agree if he didn't miss like 2/3 of the season last year.

He played exceptionally well when healthy until the lung injury which obviously affected his aggressiveness.

 

Y'all are crazy. I'd trade both our PG's and/or both our PF's for Ibaka or Conley alone. ****, McGary might have similar value to Jones.

 

Rox might arguably the most versatile,athletic and deepest roster in the west

 

And to think that the rockets had neither Lawson or Beverly in last seasons playoffs makes it remarkable that they got all the way to the WCF.