I think it is. Last year we were top heavy offensively. Luc and Trevor gave us little to nothing in the playoffs, and came up empty when it mattered most while Ryan Anderson was unplayable. I think we'll find Faried to be a huge upgrade over RA, and that Rivers/Shumpert prove to be much more capable in critical games than Luc and Trevor were last year.
Guys, stop...If you expect Faried and Rivers to be reliable in the Playoffs, then it's something to entertain. Otherwise, stop...The Rockets' defense in the Playoffs was insane last year. Even though they've played good defense the last few weeks, the opponent 3P% seems unsustainable, and the rebounding is still mediocre. That team was special, offensively, defensively, and from a chemistry perspective. Plus, Chris Paul could actually consistently shoot last year.
Gonna call it a wash right now. Right now the bench has been coming through somewhat but not many games ago they were non existent and I was seeing a possible 0-27 again when we are going 5-8 with the refs going against us and we are tired again. Gordon coming in as 6th man last year was huge but now he is a starter leaving us with a hit or miss 2nd unit. If we stay healthy though we should be able to beat anybody in the league.
It’s entirely possible that we go into the playoffs better than last year. You’re basically replacing Ariza with Faried, Rivers, and Shumpert. Injuries really took a toll on our regular season record but our roster looks better now.
Won’t know until everyone is 100% healthy. Paul still doesn’t look 100% and Faried hasn’t even had a chance to play with the starters for long
Alright, you know I love this team and am generally a positive about our team. But the answer is no. Absolutely no. Objectively this defense is no where near what we had last year at all. I would love to be proven wrong in the playoffs. If Harden can hit his threes at a high clip, than this could totally change things.
The defense is trending up. It’s not realistic to have the amount of roster instability that the Rockets have had this season and also an elite defense. On offense you can have James Harden carry the load to stay afloat, but defense requires communication and consistency. Now that the roster is stable and Paul and Capela are in the lineup, the defense has been very good.
Right now, until it has been PROVEN in May/June, the answer is "no". The only thing in the way of getting to the Finals, is beating GSW. Depth-wise, yes; we are better and more equipped for the playoffs than last year. There are no "empty pieces" in the rotation; no "i-slow" Joe, no injured Luc, and certainly not the "20-million-dollar-anchor" in Anderson. But we haven't hit the full stride due to the roster turnover and injuries that the team have had to deal with. Defensively, not yet; we still have the ideal scheme for GSW now, but didn't lose many big-time leads to vastly inferior teams last season. They seem to be figuring it out now, but they still are not at last season's level.
I think we can be better overall assuming we are healthy and have the time to gel till the playoffs arive. Like many have already pointed out, we only lost Ariza (Luc and Ryan didn't play in the playoffs) and added Rivers, Shump and Faried (which are all playable in the playoffs). I think overall our defense will be just a bit worse, but offensively and depth-wise we can be much better. I think what people underrate the most about this years roster is the fact that we have real, playable depth, which will help a lot on both sides come crunch time in the playoffs.
If Harden can keep playing historic level ball in the playoffs, yes. If not, no. It’s really on him. If he can keep doing what he’s doing now in the playoffs then we should be good. Most titles were won cuz the main guy was “that guy” and got support. Can Harden be elite in the playoffs? If this Harden showed up in G6 or G7 then he’d be a champion.
Last year the rockets were elite defensively. Not just good, but elite. It’s the reason they got to the WCF despite harden shooting poorly from 3 in the playoffs. This team is getting better defensively but still has a long way to go to get to that team last year that was a cp3 hamstring away from being nba champions.
The last 17 games will be used to fine tune the machine. Need to get healthier, especially Faried and Shump. Faried was a difference maker for us with his energy and rebounding ability. Shump is kinda lost out there so if he is going to be part of the rotation, he needs to apply to goat cream to his ailing parts. Not worried about Harden. Dude is not human, but he needs a couple of games off.
Idk, our defensive rebounding is still garbage and our defense is being bad is the one thing that has been consistent this season. Just cause we have good defense for 3 games doesnt mean we are a great defensive team. Our defense was Top5-6 in the regular season, we are nowhere close to last year defensively right now. Thats just my opinion and I hope you right haa Now if we keep trending upward like we have been I'll believe it, but as of right now Im pretty skeptical.
