its one thing to be mediocre if everyone if mediocre... and we know that everyone is already being used to their maximum potential, but it's another thing when you lose to mediocre teams because your players are not being used properly. harden should not be playing 42-45mins a game, on his first stint as a starting SG... it is a recipe for disaster... you see the more tired you are while playing high level basketball increases the risk of injury exponentially... and once you had your first major injury... it will bog you down the rest of your career, especially if you had it early on your career because this is the time you rely mostly on your athleticism to be good... I would rather lose games this year than lose harden due to injury... they should manage his minutes to 34-36 mins only and ensure that he has enough energy to play the full 4th quarter where it really matters... defense depends a lot on energy level... no energy no defense... a gassed out harden and parsons = no defense...
I got a bit interested in how youngest teams in the previous years were doing, so digged them up from the past 15 seasons: Winning %, Wins, Team, Year 30.3% 20-46 Washington 2011-12 67.1% 55-27 Oklahoma 2010-11 61.0% 50-32 Oklahoma 2009-10 29.3% 24-58 Memphis 2008-09 50.0% 41-41 Portland 2007-08 29.3% 24-58 Boston 2006-07 31.7% 26-56 Atlanta 2005-06 22.0% 18-64 Charlotte 2004-05 34.1% 28-54 LAC 2003-04 73.2% 60-22 San Antonio 2002-03 47.6% 39-43 LAC 2001-02 18.3% 15-67 Chicago 2000-01 18.3% 15-67 LAC 1999-00 38.0% 19-31 Boston 1998-99 43.9% 36-46 Boston 1997-98 Ranking by Defensive Ratings: Defensive Rating, Winning %, Wins, Team, Year 3 73.2% 60-22 San Antonio 2002-03 9 61.0% 50-32 Oklahoma 2009-10 13 38.0% 19-31 Boston 1998-99 15 67.1% 55-27 Oklahoma 2010-11 16 29.3% 24-58 Boston 2006-07 16 43.9% 36-46 Boston 1997-98 17 50.0% 41-41 Portland 2007-08 19 22.0% 18-64 Charlotte 2004-05 19 47.6% 39-43 LAC 2001-02 21 29.3% 24-58 Memphis 2008-09 27 18.3% 15-67 Chicago 2000-01 27 31.7% 26-56 Atlanta 2005-06 28 34.1% 28-54 LAC 2003-04 29 18.3% 15-67 LAC 1999-00 30 30.3% 20-46 Washington 2011-12 Notes: So with a few teams stand out from here, the most interesting young teams are '09-10, '10-11 OKC and '02-03 SAS who were above 60% winning% and SAS winning the championship. Other than that, the median of these teams is: 34.1% 28-54 LAC 2003-04 Someone from CF mentioned that young teams take time to be good defensively. However, with the second list it actually seems to be not significantly related to age, as the median defensive team is: 19 22.0% 18-64 Charlotte 2004-05 So I certainly hope we can pick up the defensive intensity. We will not be able to reach a 50% winning % if we keep this kind of defense.
.. and additionally... a 50 win season would place Rockets T-3rd out of 16 youngest teams a 45 win season would place Rockets 4th out of 16 youngest teams a 40 win season would place Rockets 5th out of 16 youngest teams a 35 win season would place Rockets 7th out of 16 youngest teams a 30 win season would place Rockets 8th out of 16 youngest teams IMO a 35+ win season with the current roster should be considered as a success from such a young team.
Who'd have thought the youngest team in the nba would have issues with an experience thing like team defense. We are not contenders, this team as built isn't meant to be contenders, heck our entire team's actual salary this year is about as much as just Kobe Bryant's
SAS are an outlier, though they had the youngest team, that team was All Duncan, All the time, they were basically a bunch of kids carried by the peak (26/27 yo) version of the best player of his generation. OKC on the other hand really did have the load on its kids, but there's was their roster of the future almost, ours not so much.
There's already a study done on the correlation between age and success, with far bigger sample size. And it does use weighted age of teams. Not sure if you used that or simply average age on the roster. http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=571
This game was probably the most painful this season for me because we should've beat Dallas at home. I think we got out coached...we couldn't adjust to their zone and we weren't communicating on defense (i.e., Mayo's last 3-pt'er doesn't happen if CP and TD talk to each other). As far as JLin, it sure looks like our offense becomes stagnant if he's not in. Harden plays iso and everybody spreads is what it comes to. TD tries to create shots for others but simply does not have the handles and the court vision/awareness that Jeremy has. Nonetheless, I am of the opinion that if the coaches don't believe in JLin then bench him and start TD. It also looked to me that they started Parsens on Mayo and when OJ went off, they had to bring in TD because they didn't trust Harden or Lin on him. Jeremy was the odd man out.
You don't watch the games and you made all your analyses base on stat sheets ?Dude,seriously ? That makes scouting jobs that much easier,they just have to sit in the office and study the stat sheets !! Boy ! we all can be NBA scouts !
I hate one on one basketball with no team movements at all. That is exactly what happens in the recent 8 out of 9 losing streak. Rockets have been winning with 10 of 12 winning streak. The coaches manipulate players to this losing streak and try to get out of it by pointing fingers at their players. Damned. It is the same players. They play exciting games until the coaches bench JLin for no reasons at all. Then all other players are benched as well except Harden. What a double standard!!!! Coaches like this can never fare well. The integrity of Sampson is deplorable. McHale think that his players can fly without wing. Everybody in this league have designed game plans but Houston Rockets' game plan is ****ty. It is the coaches who have screwed up at the end. Fire all the coaches. The game isn't exciting to watch anymore. The coaches have ruined the team spirit and the ball movements by the unrealistic dumb plans before every games. Watch the games before then you can tell the quality of coaching has not been there. Fire the coaches and resurrect the team. Sampson is bad news for every team in the world because he cheats.
