5 Reasons Why I Think The Rockets Could Be Better Next Season

I see Adrien backing TJ. I honestly don't know what our options are for a backup 3 at this point... certainly not Covington?? I guess Garcia & Jordan Hamilton are still available.

 

I believe the quality of our big men relies on the emergence of D Mo in the rotation. Terrence Jones is a very intriguing player because of his unique athleticism at the 4, but his smaller frame worries me against bigger front court duos (Aldridge Lopez, Gasol Randolph, bogut lee, etc.). Dorsey and adrien are obviously bodies available for dirty work and foul fodder, but their offensive games are less than desirable. D Mo however, has the ability to do it all. He has the frame, athleticism, rebounding, ability coordination. We all saw it in flashes last year, but if he can cement himself as a reliable third rotation for Dwight and jones, that would be a huge step for the rockets at a very good price and age.

 

Maybe you're right in regards to this team because Bev has experience with this group and is a bit better 3-point shooter, but even then... why would you not start Rubio? He plays good defense, has long arms to get into passing lanes, can cause turnovers, run the break, and is an exceptional passer/playmaker. And is two years younger and has way more upside. Don't think there's any reason not to start him. Especially with Morey's historical liking of Rubio.

But not like this situation will ever happen.

 

Hopefully Hamiltons impressive work ethic this off season will translate to the court. If not maybe, the Matrix unless he goes to play with the One.

 

I agree that even as the team stands our shooting and defense have probably improved, my biggest worry is play-making. If McHale wants this team to get up and down and score early in the clock it needs distributors. Without Lin and Parsons we lost two of the fastest guys with the ball and two of our best distributors. While Daniels, Ariza and Canaan bring more consistent shooting I'm afraid they're not going to be as effective in transition.

 

Great write up! Do we have our first Jones only fan lol. Thanks man good read!

 

Great write up man, agree with pretty much everything and I love optimism pre season, it just makes life easier and more fun with more to look forward to, thanks a lot!

One question, and this is for anyone with an opinion,

I truly believe we will be better than we were last season, along the lines of everything outlined on this thread. HOWEVER, we were 4th seed in the west last year, and it wasn't by 1-2 games. Just how much better do you think we will be? enough to overcome any of the top 3? and did any team behind us last year improve even more than we did so we might still be looking at 4th-5th seed?

 

We have a great opportunity to develop these young guys early in the season, see what we have, and cash in a few at the trade deadline. My worry is that my namesake will instead run a short bench, go with the players he knows, sabotaging trade value in the short term, and wearing down our key players by the time the playoffs roll around.

... but that all sounds so negative. Great op, glad to see some optimism.

 

Awesome write-up!

Never overlook the potential of organic growth from within.

 

I read most of it. Seems you have a very optimistic view on the Rockets. I think you were also the one that wrote a piece about how Morey should retain the rights to Parsons. That obviously did not happen and I for one am happy it didn't.

You bring up some valid points but the key word is "could" be better next season not "will" be better. Obviously they have a chance to be better but without Parsons, and the lack of depth on the bench this team still has a ways go to.

 

Spoiler

D*MN Good Analysis
I am looking forward to the season

Rocket River

 

Good write-up. Restored some much needed optimism for me.

This point was especially salient:

But as I’m sure some are eager to point out, it’s not the 2nd year version of Paul Millsap most people are wanting to trade for, it’s the 2014/2015 version they want. Still, is Millsap good enough to warrant giving up on a player that is 6 years younger, bigger, more athletic and has a very good chance of being just as good as him next season or even better in a couple of seasons?

If you look at Millsap's progression, he's only recently developed into a decent 3 point shooter. Here's his shot allocation over the last 3-4 years:

Year...........................Paint...................Mid-range.................3s
2010/2011.....................54%......................44%....................2%
2011/2012.....................59%......................37%....................4%
2012/2013.....................61%......................34%....................5%
2013/2014.....................57%......................22%....................21%

Also, Jones' problem isn't just the 3s he misses....it's also the open ones he doesnt take. He really needs to speed up his release, and not dip down to his belt during his windup.

The greatest need on this team right now is a PG that can score and distribute. Beverley is great as a guy that gives you 25 minutes a night and fills in when someone is injured.

If we can get Dragic while holding onto TJones, I would be more inclined to see how the year works out at PF. See how TJones and DMo develop. If they get better, but not as much as we need, then trade them for a better "fit".

 

Well it is certainly optimistic but I don't see Jones being a competent defender at the 4 any time soon and certainly not against the larger PF's in the league, I know that people keep trying to say that he's not undersized, but that's how he plays. Jones is occasionally flashy, and that's why his fans support him like they do, but there isn't a lot of substance behind that flash at least IMO.

Also, if you are expecting anything at all out of Joey Dorsey and Jeff Adrien, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. Those are back of the bench kind of guys that should only see the floor in absolute blowouts or if there is an injury or two.

As to the bench, as of right now, it makes last year's bench look awesome, unless we pick up a couple good players we'll roll into the year with a much worse bench so that's not really a reason for optimism.

 

Funny Thing

With Dwight = Rockets can work the offense like with Hakeem - not as good but like that
With Harden = Rockets can work the offense like with Stevie Francis

Inside out . . ..
or
outside in

Rocket River

 

I dont think it matters if we are better or worse than last season.

All that matters is that we are better than the other teams in the NBA.

How good we are is not relative to how we were last year.
It's how good we are relative to the rest of the league.

So to all those people who think we are weaker than what we were
last season, dont worry. That is irrelevant.

We could be half as strong as last year, just as long as the
other teams are less strong than us this coming season.

So the question is (or should be), has the Spurs improved?
Has OKC improved or gone backwards?
Ditto Portland, GSW, NOP, the Grizzlies, Dallas, Phoenix, Clippers.

That's the other 9 teams I think will fight for the 8 playoff spots.
The other teams, not so much.

My gut feel, 4, 5 or 6th seed this season.

 

Lol you copied the entire post just to say "nice job"? Made the entire thread like double the length, making me scroll down way more than I have to dammit -.-

 

I hear you, he needs to be more TEXEFFICIENT.

Great job crash!
-Roc

 

great post, but I'm not so sure we are going to be better.
Asik was a monster back up for Dwight. Asik >>>>>>>>>>>> Dorsey
The Ariza/ Parsons chanfe is not clear now, but Parsons was a great team player
I dont see how can it be our six man.
Agree with the Tjones part

 

Repped. Great effort and like your spirit, but have to disagree with the optimisms.

1) Jones. Milsap didn't come into his own until his 5th year, we don't have that long to wait. Of course there is a chance that Jones doesn't have to wait as long, but if we are going to compare... I don't think court awareness & defense is something that he can improve that quickly and it doesn't appear that we have the right staff to coach him on that. 3pt shooting, again, it took those guys several years to bring up the #s, it will take Jones a few and only if he is as diligent as those others.

On a side note, have we heard anything on his off season training?

2) Daniels. You are right, those samples ARE way too small. He was also playing like there is nothing to lose (sound familiar doesn't it) in those games. How will he play on a regular basis is another thing. If he can be a spot up shooter like Bullard, that would be great. But as a wing player, we maybe expecting him to do more than that. Can he defend, from those 5 games, I wasn't convinced. Can he be coached, sure. Do we have the right staff to teach? Well, I think you know my answer to that.

He is the current player that I have high hopes for, but am reserving my judgement until seeing more action.

3) Defense Our team defense sucked last year. I'm not convince we have upgraded other than individual defense with Ariza. Holding out judgement on Dorsey until further examination. Individual defense is not going to make up for poor team defense, that needs to be fixed and I'm not convinced that it will. Canaan is too small to be an effective defender, if he is going to be our backup PG, I think we'll be exploited there.

4) Offense. I think people really under estimated Parsons & Lin's contribution to the flow of the offense. As the team stand now, there are no true distributors other than Harden. Just because some of them are athletes, it doesn't mean they can run breaks efficiently and we know we do alot of running. Until Howard & Harden comes to an agreement on how the offense should start, I don't think it will be any better than last year between the 2.

5) Bench Unless we are combining Daniels, Canaan & Johnson into 1 player, I don't see them replacing a very competent Lin who does everything decently and spectacular at times. Daniels & Canaan have not demonstrated anything in the distribution & defensive category to convince me otherwise. We can not expect much from the rookie Johnson.

The way I see it, if we go into the season with the current team (which I highly doubt it), we are no better than a 50 win team. With that said, I'm sure Morey will make at least 1 significant move before season starts.

 

I'll add one more reason: Attitude

Last year was all about having fun. We heard the guys saying over and over what great chemistry they had and how much they loved hanging together. Every freakin' interview they repeated that stuff. Where did it get them? A first-round exit due to poor play at the most important point of the season. This year's team icon: Parsons, having so much fun!

This year is going to be all about business. Chandler and Lin have taken their bromance talents to Dallas and LA. We've got Ariza coming in, who seems like he's never had fun in his life. Harden is tired of hearing about what a sieve he is on D and is already showing the necessary effort to improve that part of his game. And I guarantee that Dwight was mightily pissed off when his new team got no further than the first round. Once Morey lost out on the big names, he responded by proving he saw what our weakest link was and brought in some defense. I just hope Milkhair and his staff toughen things up, too. This year's team icon: Patrick Beverley, full-tilt effort for 94 feet.