Good post but sadly wasted on the peanut gallery who thinks Stone should made a top 3 team in 3 yrs just like Presti.
Orlando Magic been rebuilding since they traded Howard how the hell would being "Magic lite" be good? You already going crazy in a 3 yr rebuild how would you like a 15 yr rebuild? Pacers did their rebuild in 2017, which is when they traded Paul George for Sabonis and Oladipo. The reason these teams look good now is because they've started their rebuilding process a lot earlier than the Rockets. Rockets are amazing because they did it all in just 3 yrs compared to teams like Magic and Pacers who took much longer.
If you view how old that franchise is .......35 years old.......established in 1989. Then delaying one rebuild perhaps for 3-4 years is like nothing. Major stars have bailed on them, that is probably heavier than delaying a rebuild more than anything but I think if they can establish that they are a good team..... The overall Image should at least shift........ Nope it looks like the Rockets overtook them but in reality they just traded for 30 year old FVV and 28 yr old Dillon Brooks ......who looked like borderline All Stars in 2 months of time ....that was all and they regressed to the mean now. Orlando just did not sign any Veteran of Fred's caliber, could they have done it? Of course. Slowed down the pace and made everyone play elite Defense which was not really sustainable over time to win several more games. And Ime Udoka actually being honestly responsible for at least 3-4 more Wins.
If I remember correctly, Biyombo lost a lot of minutes to Landale in Phoenix, just around the playoffs. I never was a fan of the Landale signing, but Biyombo is not the solution. They both aren't great.
How many of those guys you named have ever made the all-star team? Zero. How many will make it next year…..zero. To be a contender you need to have multiple all-stars and while we all love Jabrari, Jalen, etc….they are not difference makers that separate us from the other average teams in this league. They are decent enough to keep us around .500 basketball.
Imagine if a idiot fan said this about Presti, "without his assistant, Presti wouldn't be a GM". So Stone only gets credit for the perceived missteps, but all the other stuff is Eli? Man I didn't know that's how it worked!
Hire Bob Meyers if Stone gets fired but I'm afraid by the time that happens, it's already too late. I personally think Tilman is more impatient than a lot of Rockets fans including myself so I can see it happening next year if we don't make the playoffs.
You don't know who will be a allstar. Also creating a winning culture is more important than stupid allstar selections. You guys just don't like the way Stone looks and will never be satisfied
"Stone is only good on draft day" https://www.audacy.com/sportsradio6...ing-back-at-rafael-stones-trade-deadline-past
What would Tilman be impatient about? We're in the playoff hunt after year 3, with a great young core. Stone needs a raise
Presti did not go to the lawyer profession, he went straight to the NBA after College. Buford offered him internship.... At least inform yourself...... not appropriate comparison as Presti started off pretty well already with Popovich near him. Dude went thru all the smaller basketball jobs to the assistant scouting job...... Dude understands every process in a basketball team because dude worked in almost every job related. Dude was to basketball as Mozart was to playing piano or Tarantino to independent filmmaking....prodigy and effort. Transferring from another job to be great at the profession is not impossible but I do not like the odds.
.[/QUOTE] We are not in the playoff hunt. We are the 4th worst team in the western conference. the NBA has created a mirage that is the playin. The warriors will 100% make it over us. If we even manage to go .500 for the rest of the season (which we haven’t done in months) we still won’t be able to make it.
Stone is usually a We are not in the playoff hunt. We are the 4th worst team in the western conference. the NBA has created a mirage that is the playin. The warriors will 100% make it over us. If we even manage to go .500 for the rest of the season (which we haven’t done in months) we still won’t be able to make it.[/QUOTE] Rockets are in the Play-In mix though, which is big improvement from chasing the worst record past few seasons The NBA probably does want the Warriors/Lakers, but as a biz it would be better to cut the deck and let a young team like Rockets surprise Vegas odds and get in one of the last 4 slots that they are battling with Warriors/Jazz/Lakers The NBA has created a playoff mirage since expansion of NBA because only 1 out of the 30 (or 16 PO teams) will hoist the trophy which are super long odds for the middle of pack and non-contenders(ie tankers) The team that manages to go on a 4-5 game win streak or have a 7-3 or better 10 game stretch post AS break will be in drivers seat Good thing is the young guys playing In playoff type games rest of way, good experience rather they win or learn (from a loss) Should be fun post AS break
I love imagining all the different words that could be represented by the asterisks in the thread title. Come on Stone doughnuts! Come on Stone chipmunks! Come on Stone poledance!
We are significantly better than the last two years, but anyone paying attention knew the western conference was going to be hard to break into the playoffs for. Most predicted we wouldn't. Most didnt even see the play-in as likely. And here we are, experiencing that reality. For me, my attention is turning towards next year. The FO gave up on this year, so I have too. Next year, it will take around a .500 record (41 wins) to make the play-in, I think we fall short this year and end up around 36-38 wins. To make the playoffs outright next year, probably need near a .600 record (48-49 wins). IDK if a 10 game improvement is in the cards for next year or not. Stone would have to be aggressive and make the right deal(s). I am not so confident of that, but who knows? I am up for being surprised. What I really hope doesn't happen is we tread water, don't make significant roster improvements and end up fighting for a play-in spot next year. That would seem a repeat of this year and while this year wasn't terrible, plateauing around .500 next year would be very disappointing.
Talking about next year right in February seems way far fetched.........I have not given up on the season as in we have things to talk about even when not making the Playoffs.
There is nothing more overrated than the "Play In". Playing in one more meaningless game won't change anything and isn't any different than the high leverage games the guys will be playing in the rest of the way. Agree with @Mathloom in that this forum has become very tribal and absolute with every thread devolving into b**** fests about what the Rockets should or should not do. The truth is that the Rockets are still figuring out what this team is supposed to be. Ime's lineups, the Steven Adams trade...it all points to the Rockets being still in a development mode right now. As they should be. Some might not like hearing it, but we don't in fact have a "franchise player" yet. Sengun is closest but he's not there yet and he's still not in the "untouchable" category. I'd love to put him there but his defensive lapses are far too frequent to be given that mantle. And I'm not about to feel good about designing *another* team to make up for one players disdain for the defensive side of the ball. His defense on Turner was a ****ing joke. The team should remain flexible. We need a 3 point shooting center this offseason as a hedge against Sengun never becoming a consistent defensive presence. We need another SG as a hedge against Jalen Green remaining inconsistent. The only true constants are Amen/Jabari/Tari who still contribute somehow if they aren't contributing on offense. Sengun/Jalen/Cam are the ones that need to be consistent on *both* sides of the ball. Whichever one decides to do that will probably be in line for a max deal. The other two will either play a reserve role or be dealt.
