need to draft talent. No more 14th picks or 8th seed exits. Its hard to watch but its for the greater good.
Who cares whether they meet in the 1st round or in the WCF? If the goal is to win the championship then it doesn't matter when we beat GSW.
Sorry just don't agree with you. Harden needs to play hard on the defensive side of the ball all the time period. Last night in the 1st quarter I saw a layup drill because of the terrible perimeter defense and if that keeps up this team won't even make the playoffs. He needs to be totally be invested in the defensive end for this team to break out of this long slump. This team as constructed has the capabilities to win 10 plus games in a row if they play hard nosed defense.
Rockets lost 7 home games in the first month. That's a ton. If you look at standings via Home Losses vs Road Win (the Pat Riley method to gauge standings throughout the season), the Rockets are currently 12th in the West.
Yes we will make the playoffs. Utah also lost Gobert last night for at least a month. That should be a heavy blow to them and their defence.
he has never play hard on the defensive end the entire game so what makes you think he would now? i agree his "standing like a statue" defense is horrendous and he needs to put a little more effort on that side of the ball, but to expect him to play that kind of defense when he has to do so much for us on the offensive side for 40+ min a game is just ridiculous... he's not LeBron james
Yes mathematically OKC has 7 losses and is currently 3rd overall in the west. Rockets are currently 10th overall in the standings with 11 losses. No one other than the Warriors have run away from the pack technically...having said that the Spurs are 2nd overall with 4 losses. Rockets are fortunate and the western conference might be unfortunate if/when the Rockets get their act together because as bas as they've played so far they're well within striking distance to get a playoff spot and one would venture to THINK the Rockets should continue to improve as the season moves along
If our chances of beating GSW / SAS are > 50%, then yeah go for it!!! But if it's like 20% chance, then wouldn't it be better to reload with a high pick and try again next year? At this point in the season, we have the choice to do either: go for it or tank. Further on down the road, the tanking option won't be there anymore.
Setting a fluke WCF appearance as the bar for success is just setting yourself up for disappointment. Houston was a good team last year and the miracle comeback against the Clippers should live forever in lore, but they simply weren't the second-best team in the West last year or anywhere close to the Warriors. Adding talent should have allowed them to keep pace with (what seemed like) an improved West, with the Clippers upgrading their bench, the Spurs adding LaMarcus Aldridge and the Thunder getting Kevin Durant back. As it turns out, the West is struggling and none moreso than the Rockets. As for the question of the thread, yes, they obviously still could make the playoffs and I expect them to. Their horrible start hasn't doomed them because everyone other than Warriors and Spurs has stumbled out of the starting gate as well. I think the Rockets will eventually get back to the caliber of play they've shown the past couple of seasons, which should be enough to get back into the playoff picture. Hopefully, they at least get the 6 seed. 7/8 looks like first-round death.
they weren't the 2nd best team in the west last year? Who was then? Because as it stands they were one of the last two standing in the West. Any other picks is more hearsay
They can make the playoffs and they probably will. The West isn't so monolithic this year that a low seed is out of the question already, and the Rockets are too damn talented to be a lotto team. But I doubt they get out of the first round.
Playoff locks: Warriors, Spurs, thunder. Warriors will runaway with it, while okc and SA will be 2/3 in some order. Playoff probables: Memphis, clippers, Dallas. In some order barring major injuries. Playoff bubble teams: 2 of these teams will make it. Rockets: I think they will be 7th. They will get their act together. Jazz: depends on how long Gobert is out. I still give them the edge for 8th. Phoenix: missing some pieces. 9th Minny: too young and inexperienced. 10th NO: too big of a whole to climb out of 11th I think rockets and jazz make it, but you can talk me into Phoenix, Minny, or NO as well.
Yes, sometimes teams overperform. They were a miracle comeback away from being out in round 2 in six games. The comeback counts and it was great, but I don't think something as flukish as that puts in concrete how good a team is. I think the Spurs and Clippers were better teams (and the Warriors, obviously), though the Clippers ran out of gas at the perfect time for us.
