I'm thankful that the Rockets are in 2nd place in the West!

One quarter of the way through the season and this team is in second place in the West. I thought we'd make the play-in, maybe even slide into the 6th seed, but this team is outperforming my expectations in nearly every way. And the wildest part to me is that I don't think any single player has truly exceeded our expectations on offense. Jalen is still wildly inconsistent, looking like Kobe on some nights and Corey Brewer on others. Sengun has even been inconsistent and has had nights where he can't seem to make a shot around the basket. Jabari has had a few special games, but doesn't appear to have made any kind of leap. And even Fred, the trusty veteran, has had some pretty bleak cold spells. It's absolutely incredible that Udoka has built a team that is greater than the sum of it's parts, in which you never know who is going to step up. I'm absolutely bewildered when, in a game, they show the side by side numbers for each team and the other team always seems to be shooting better and getting more assists and making more threes and yet, we're still winning.

I'm thankful for Rafael Stone for putting this squad together. I'm thankful for Udoka and co for whipping them into shape. And I'm thankful to the Terror Twins because whether the shots are falling or not, it is so incredibly fun to watch them play defense. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!