I know right Jeremy may not have gotten the assist numbers Dragic gets, but it seems his assist all lead to point blank layups. Jeremy is still young, a below average jump shooter. But the guy gets it done. He seems to me like he is better at keeping that dribble alive in the paint. Nashesque in a since. Obviously does not have the jumper Nash has but, I see the same playmaking qualities in Jeremy. He's a good point guard for this uptempo team.
This team has been very weird to watch. From someone just tuning into the games it doesn't seem like we are an elite team. We struggle mightily in the halfcourt at times...all of our plays consist of the pick and roll and dishing out to the open man for a 3 point shot. We are a 3 point shooting team but when on we are tough to beat. We went toe to toe with the Spurs till Harden got in foul trouble, which is very impressive since the Spurs are a great offensive team. This team is dangerous because we launch 3's but we also have guards in JLin and Harden who like attacking the rim. Also we've got great big guys in Asik and Smith so rebounding isn't an issue like before. On offense we are still basically "winging" it, but it's much better than when Harden was going iso all the time. We don't have ANY post up plays on this team since noone can post up, as a result you have a very fast paced team that scores lots of points.
Very pleasantly surprised with our progress so far. We're not ready to seriously compete for a championship, but considering how young we are, and our flexibility to bring in another 1-2 good players, I'd say we definitely have a bright future. Not 1, not 2, not 3...........
When you look at the current record, you have to remember that the Rockets thus far have had the third toughest strength of schedule in the league (behind Denver and New Orleans). Hell, they STILL have had the third toughest sched in the league in the last 10 games that saw them go 7-3. I'm not predicting anything too insane for this season, but read the following three descriptors and try NOT being excited about all of them applying to your team at once. 1) Playoff team 2) Youngest team in the league 3) Near max level cap space next summer
That's from an espn.com article... Sure, they all say pretenders, but it's mostly positive and the fact that these young Rockets even made this conversation at all is a good sign.
well 'pretenders' for THIS year, for the ring. I think they all pretty much say that the Rockets are going to be dangerous next year...
Look where Dragic and Scola have led the Phoenix Suns to--12-21 and #14 in the West as of 1/3 while Lin and Harden have led the Rox to 18-14 and #6. And Lowry's Raptors is at 12-20 and #10 in the weaker Eastern Conference.
We need a scoring PF - a star up front - to be a contender. We're still not a very diverse team...amazing we score as much as we do. Defense can be learned. But we will always need that next big star to be a contender.
List of things that are necessary for us to become contenders (in order of importance): 1. Star PF with post game and range, at least average defense 2. Defensive stopper (i.e. Tony Allen, Thabo Sefolosha, Iman Shumpert) -Either acquired externally or, -Parsons can develop into one 3. Lin develops a killer jumper 4. Asik dunks 5. Bench either upgrades or becomes more consistent 6. Team plays more consistent defense (esp. Harden)
We are among the best of the 2nd tier teams. Not at the SAS, OKC, MIA levels yet. Our defense needs to be more lockdown. And our 3pt shooting can fail us. But FO is slowly building a better bench unit. I say we enter the playoffs and give serious threat in the 1st, maybe 2nd round.
to answer the ? i think alot will determine on how well we play against the west conf teams that are bunched ahead and below us currently in the standings ( den, port, gs, memphis, etc)from here on out now that were starting to establish our identity
You have to remember though, none of those teams have a carrier like Harden...so you can't really compare them like that. But I suppose the argument is, for the Raps they have Barg, DeRozan and Calderon who are paid like stars...just don't play any D
Better team defense will be needed in the 2nd half of the season. Of course a consistent 12-15/7-9 guy in the paint to complement Asik would help greatly.
