I think we are 'In the Mix' but not assured anything Are we 'A PLAYER AWAY" - I am not convinced on this one Are we "A Coach Away" - This one I am leaning more toward I don't dislike McHale but I think we need some strong assistants Esp on Defense. This team needs a DEFENSIVE IDENTITY I think the Talent is there but the WILL may not be That is the way I feel about the Team as whole WE HAVE THE TALENT but it must be coached up There are some players we could add that could make it easier but hell . . if it were easy it would not be a competition Put on ya hardhats ROCKET FANS and time to goto work! Rocket River
I don't think we're close. A week ago today at this time I thought we had it in the bag. Still sad just thinking about it.
We are two bench veterans/contributors away, IMO. We could wait years for DMo/Johnson to turn into those, but Howard will start to decline in a few years.
I agree, we need to find a coach who has ESP on defense. He will literally be inside the heads of the opponents. We will be unstoppable.
I don't think we are that far away. We got 2 stars already and Morey is doing well restocking the assets inventory. I think DM is excellent at finding cheap talent, and he could parlay some of the strong talent showcased in our summer league into a trade for the coveted third star (a la trading Jeremy Lamb as a major asset in the Harden trade after Lamb tore up summer league). I think any team would want Bev and TJ as part of a trade though (along with the Pellies pick) and DM would have to trust in the ability of guys like Canaan/Johnson/DMo/Daniels.
Honestly I think we are pretty far. 1) An above average starter at PF 2) At least two above average bench contributors It's easy to be optimistic when you have Harden/Howard, but the reality is teams struggle to get titles even with two great players. Look at OKC.
Really need to see how the team plays together. I find it weird that people are losing their minds that we lost out on Bosh and that it would have lead us to having our own big three and a championship. But it doesn't make sense since the Heat had a big three that lost to a better team. That is the the key word. TEAM. Adding depth and building around Harden and Howard is what needs to be focused on. The team is staring to look better with the exception of a hole in the back up center position. And Heat's four times in the Finals is hard to accomplish in the Western Conference. There are too many good teams that can upset anybody. Bosh and Parsons would have the team a top starting five but in no way would we be the favorites due to a depleted bench. Just keep this in mind. WE STILL HAVE TWO STARS.
Our starters will have to play 48 minutes and will have to create and run their own plays for us to make it past the first round this year.
Harden is going to get run into the ground if we don't find another playmaker. won't be a matter of making a top4 seed, but how much left of him will be playing in the playoffs.
To win a championship you have to have all three elements: great players, great coach, and team chemistry. Right now, we have good but not great players. We have a mediocre coach and we have zero team chemistry (blame this on Morey for all the turnovers). We got exposed on perimeter defense last year and this year I don't see any difference. Sure we got Ariza but it's not just about one or two players, the TEAM has to buy into the defense philosophy. The thing is the West is stacked and Texas is no easy cake walk. Dallas was the only team last year that took the Spurs to 7 games. And the Spurs won the championship last year. I'd say before we can even about championship, I think in Texas alone, Spurs>Mavs>Rockets.
Beverley/Harden/Parsons/Bosh/Howard would have put us in the upper echelon of teams. With that said, you can't catch all the breaks, but this team is better off know that they would be having their money tied up in Harden/Howard/Parsons for the next 3 seasons. To answer the question, they are definitely a player away. Coaching could stand to be better, as well.
I think they are a 6-8 seed right now. They have taken a huge step back. Bench is even worse and holes have opened up in the starting lineup
If it was last year's roster, I'd say 1 coach and 2 seasons away, with this roster, I'd say 1 coach 1 more big piece and 2 seasons away.
Our starters last year contributed 40 wins last year according to their cumulative Win Share numbers. If you add in Asik's and Lin's Win Shares to that 40 wins (I believe both accounted for 6.8 WS), the number jumped up to 46-47 wins. That means the Rockets' top 7 players accounted for about 87% of the victories last year meaning that our bench (aside from Asik and Lin) produced very little. Swap Parsons out for Ariza and I don't think you're missing much (Parsons had 7.6 WS and Ariza had 8.0). Even if Ariza regressed a bit his production should still match what Parsons gave us. The MAIN issue is finding players that can step up to fill the void left by Asik and Lin. If the Rockets can't get meaningful minutes and production from their reclamation projects then the team will be look at maybe 45-46 wins at best.
