That cycle has happened for 3 years lol. Rocket fans actually are not used to drafting 19 year old high end lottery picks before the last three years. In fact it never happened I think. Hence why so many rocket fans don't know how to properly criticize 19-21 year olds playing. Before Green, Yao and Francis were literally the only high end lottery picks we had since 2000.
That cycle has happened for 3 years lol. Rocket fans actually are not used to drafting 19 year old high end lottery picks before the last three years. In fact it never happened I think. Hence why so many rocket fans don't know how to properly criticize 19-21 year olds playing. There has never been an era of Rockets history before this where 20 year olds were leading the team in usage rate.
Depends on how you view it....if you ask Udoka, he would say adversity makes you stronger in the long run...... Also Tilman did say it was Phase 2 but he never actually gave a clear command of winning a certain number of games. If 10 teams have 40+ Wins, it really goes down to the 1 or 2 games won or lost.
I agree with that (could even be the Rockets). Injuries always play a role. But last year, 40 wins was the bar to make the play-in, which means 5 teams would finish below the Rockets. Possible, but it's not as easy to list those teams as it is to say the Rockets will win 40+.
Basically making the playoffs this season is not probable but possible. Upgraded from impossible from the past two seasons.
Thunder, Clippers (Kawhi leg effect), Blazers, Spurs, Mavericks (Kyrie effect), Lakers (Christian Wood effect), Jazz, Timberwolves. 1) Nuggets 2) Suns 3) Warriors 4) Kings 5) Pels 6) Grizz 7) Rockets 8) Clips 9) Lakers 10) Mavericks
Bet you Timberwolves get it together this year barring injuries. I think the Kings will slightly drop but not much....... to 5th or 6th.....the Grizz are still good without Morant. Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid are smoking. Chris Finch is a great dude.
The Rockets were 27th on offense last year and 29th on defense. With net rating of -7.9. It will be very easy to see improvements in the team even without wins.
I have been saying this for months, that our first 20 games are very tough, we would be lucky to win 5 or 6, and that with chemistry and rotation in flux, don't expect much until January. DD
What would be brutal to me is if this years Rockets look just like last years (with some different bodies). With all the off-season changes, I deem the 2023 games as development ones. Maybe as 2024 begins, we get to really see some progress. Sure, there will be some inspiring games, moments and plays in 2023, but I dont expect any consistency early in the season. What I do expect right away is improved team defense. I expect guys talking to each other more and some nights where certain individual defenders are outstanding. Mostly though, I am looking forward to different offensive schemes. More guys moving without the ball. Less selfishness and maybe most importantly, better shot selection.
For the last several years people want to try and make excuses about the schedule and how brutal its going to be as a pre existing crutch. Never took this seriously as the rockets were going to be terrible irregardless. When the schedule got “easier” it made no difference. Truly good teams do no such thing. It isn’t the schedule. Bad teams worry about this as an excuse. Good teams find ways to win regardless. Folks worrying and complaining about the schedule are still in the former stage
Good teams don’t worry about the schedule because they have a good chance to beat any team. The Rockets are not a good team by anyone’s expectations, even the high end ones like mine around 40 wins is considered a mediocre team. There are 15 playoff teams and 15 lottery teams, they play a stretch of 26 out of 29 playoff teams. That’s not some arbitrary excuse, it’s an objective fact. But it also means the schedule will lighten up afterwards so it all evens out.
if you're a .500 team, you're actually considered pretty solid. Either you're on the brink of becoming a consistent playoff team or you have a team that's pretty capped give or take around the .500 mark. you look at any team in that .500 mark or slightly above range and they all have at least 1 or 2 established stars surrounded by a relevant rotational core. the schedule lightening up doesn't apply to bad teams. I've heard that way too long. Bad teams will lose more often than not regardless
While I just hope the Rockets can hang on and survive this tough stretch, there will be playoff teams with aging stars coming into Toyota center looking for a night off that will get absolutely gobsmacked and run out the gym just because we have a coaching staff that will actually properly utilize the youth and athleticism on the team now. Every year there are young teams that surprise the league and the teams who underestimate them - the Rockets under Udoka seem to be the prototypical mold of that.
