After 41 games, we're 28-13 and sitting 2nd in the WC and 1st in the SW division. That's on pace for 56 wins, despite: Jalen's early funk Cam's early funk Alpi's recent struggles Tari's extended absence Jabari's injury Our prized rookie giving us next to nothing so far. We have two likely All-Stars and a possible All-Defensive team member. And if we can ever get Alpi and Jalen on fire at the same time, it'll be freakin' magical.
I can honestly say that I had no idea our record would be THIS good at the halfway mark, especially considering our youth and how Ime's teams traditionally start slow-ish. But our Houston Rockets have really put the league on notice, and I hope that we can maintain this momentum going into the second half! GO ROCKETS!
Our first half record is indeed remarkable, but I do think that the upcoming 2nd half will be challenging - we’ll have 2 matches vs. Cavs, 2 against OKC and 2 more against the Warriors (less challenging than Cavs and Thunder, but we always suck vs. these annoying Warriors). We also have 2 more matches vs Nuggets (hard difficulty if Jokic playing), 3 vs. The Suns which are struggling for a Play-in spot, and 2 vs. Magic, that are back with Banchero and perhaps with Wagner as well by the time we face them. If we shall make around 23 wins in this second half of the season, I will be satisfied. Even if we don’t keep the 2nd spot, but as long as we don’t drop from the 6th spot to secure our ticket to the Playoffs.
Half way thru the season Rockets 4th in the league and half a game back of the Celtics….said no one in their right minds before the season! To all you overly critical people just shut up and enjoy the ride this year!
A+ for performance B+ for standing pat ...management tinkering A+ Udoka with slight caveat that it could have done without the fights and cussing. Ref problem so I still gave the highest grade as it ignited some kind of fire among players in the positive sense.
Shutting up would leave CF without much input from the other side and that shouldn't be done in the wake of Elon calling it the 'Age of free speech' lmao.
Coach has us at: 2nd in the West #4 Defense #9 Offense and #1 Offense in January at 121 points per 100
SAME PARTS, BETTER OFFENSE. #1 in the NBA in January (though we're about to enter a brutal set of games). How's that for moving the needle? I thought there's no possible way we could improve unless we all became better shooters? Jalen's played well for half a season but his explosion came when we started pairing him up with Amen and catching teams off guard with their combined speed. I told you that pace could magically make them even shoot better. If these two are improving their jumpers, we're set at the SG/SF spots for 10 years. Green/Amen could be a legendary wing duo if they keep listening to Udoka.
Missing Jabari in the starting lineup big time. Underappreciated. I don't think it's possible to do both at a top 5 level with the drastic increase in pace. Cleveland's Def rating dropped from 5th last year to 10th.
I am not totally surprised. Last year they went 41-41 despite Tari missing 60 games, DB missing some time while Tari was out and Amen missing 44 games. IMO, without the huge gaps missing Tari and Amen, the Rockets would have won 5-6 more. Bottom line: I expected them to win 50+ this year. They only need to finish 22-19 to do it and I expect a little better.