Let's be realistic for a second...What are people actually expecting from the Rockets roster?

You kinda missed the point. We don't expect them to immediately win a championship.
But this team made easy to avoid mistakes, some of the guys don't care for defense, not enough team play(see that beautiful Spurs video) and with our roster you can honestly expect them to win in the Portland series.

We aren't disappointed because they didn't win a ring, but because they lacked heart, ball-iq and the absolute will to win as a team, you'd like to see as a fan.

 

Anytime that you have two of the best players at their respective positions and you get tossed out of the first round of the playoffs, it is a failure. Blame it on whoever, but ultimately it is a total failure.

Learn from it, improve the roster, and try to do MUCH BETTER the next time around. The leash on McHale is very short.

 

No one is saying Houston is the most talented team in the NBA. They have more capable talent then Portland in my opinion, but are mismanaged. And i think its a dissapointment for this team to lose that series. What should we expect? Idk. Its subjective. I expected at least a second round, but idk if thats being unappreciative or calling it how it is.

 

I don't believe this season was a failure. It's just a process. I was also expecting a second round exit at least. But at the end of the regular season when we lost our momentum, i was starting to be afraid of the first round.Our defense was so bad. I hope Morey unloads Lin,Asik and Parsons. If we cannot grab a star,I prefer a defensive 3 and a scoring 6th man, a vet 4 would be okay but i am sure TJ will correct some things. In reality this was his first season.

 

Like I mentioned I only listed players at their primary position (i.e. where they logged the most minutes).

 

I want to love our stars. We have them and they are pretty talented, elite talent. I want to love James Harden, just that he has something to do, and then we all will LOVE him.

 

One thing I've learned from the Post Season is that majority of people who make their points on the free throw lines are over-rated in the playoffs. You can be a great player in the regular season with favorable whistle calls but GTFO if you think it will work in post season.

 

I dont know if this is true or not, but heard on the radio (rumor) that lebron is looking at Houston once free agency starts.

 

Here's the detailed breakdown with secondary positions included. I also included some of the potential acquisitions that have been rumored for the Rockets.

<TABLE>
<TR><TD>Player</TD><TD>Pos</TD><TD>Min</TD><TD>PER at Pos</TD><TD>Opponent Per</TD><TD>NET PER</TD></TR><TR><TD>Harden</TD><TD>PG</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>19.8</TD><TD>5.9</TD><TD>13.9</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SG</TD><TD>99%</TD><TD>24.8</TD><TD>13.9</TD><TD>10.9</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SF</TD><TD>8%</TD><TD>22.6</TD><TD>12.5</TD><TD>10.1</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>50</TD><TD>12.5</TD><TD>32.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Howard</TD><TD>C</TD><TD>93%</TD><TD>23.2</TD><TD>16.3</TD><TD>7.0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Parsons</TD><TD>SG</TD><TD>4%</TD><TD>7.5</TD><TD>17.9</TD><TD>-10.4</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SF</TD><TD>92%</TD><TD>17.2</TD><TD>14.6</TD><TD>2.6</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>12%</TD><TD>17.2</TD><TD>18.1</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Jones</TD><TD>SF</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>12.6</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>12.6</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>73%</TD><TD>20.5</TD><TD>18.9</TD><TD>1.6</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>C</TD><TD>7%</TD><TD>22.1</TD><TD>21.3</TD><TD>0.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>Beverley</TD><TD>PG</TD><TD>63%</TD><TD>13.1</TD><TD>14.3</TD><TD>-1.2</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SG</TD><TD>4%</TD><TD>11.7</TD><TD>9.3</TD><TD>2.4</TD></TR><TR><TD>Asik</TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>4%</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>6.3</TD><TD>4.7</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>C</TD><TD>33%</TD><TD>16.2</TD><TD>16.1</TD><TD>0.2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Lin</TD><TD>PG</TD><TD>52%</TD><TD>12.6</TD><TD>13.3</TD><TD>-0.6</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SG</TD><TD>27%</TD><TD>19.3</TD><TD>17.4</TD><TD>1.9</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>SF</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>7.8</TD><TD>-7.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>C.Anthony</TD><TD>SF</TD><TD>44%</TD><TD>22</TD><TD>13.7</TD><TD>8.2</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>73%</TD><TD>27.1</TD><TD>14.8</TD><TD>12.2</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>C</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>47.9</TD><TD>13.1</TD><TD>34.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>K. Love</TD><TD>PF</TD><TD>79%</TD><TD>26.1</TD><TD>14.2</TD><TD>11.8</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>C</TD><TD>29%</TD><TD>35</TD><TD>17.7</TD><TD>17.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Rondo</TD><TD>PG</TD><TD>38%</TD><TD>15.9</TD><TD>18.3</TD><TD>-2.4</TD></TR><TR><TD>D.Williams</TD><TD>PG</TD><TD>83%</TD><TD>18.5</TD><TD>13.3</TD><TD>5.1</TD></TR></TABLE>

** Min col is % of the teams total minutes played at that position

 

I sincerely doubt Lebron is even thinking about free agency right now. Maybe him and his agency had meetings back around the all-star break about their game-plans and their contingency game-plans, but right now its all about 3-peating obviously.

I would have to think that Lebron will go into this off-season first evaluating his decision based on what Miami does & talking out the situation with Wade & Bosh who are obviously three close friends who made the decision to come together, and will probably decide to split up the band based or try to stick together as a group.

-If Miami loses in this round, I think the conversation could be different. I think you might see Bosh decide to leave to chase a higher dollar max contract with another team like Dallas or LAL that will have true max cap room, and at that point with Bosh leaving it frees up a ton of interesting scenarios for Pat Riley to build around Lebron with multiple good mid-level types, maybe bring in a big like Asik or Varejao, and sign Wade to a smaller but longer contract to ensure that he retires with the Heat.

Bosh has the most to gain financially by leaving because he knows that if he stays its either going to be by picking up his option on the current contract or taking a smaller contract in the long run. The smart business decision for him is to take a full max contract elsewhere in the league. Wade probably isn't getting a full max deal outside of Miami because of his health concerns so I think he takes the money in Miami and resigns at less for longer. Lebron will get his... In Miami.

I just dont see any way that Lebron leaves quite honestly. Maybe if the Cavs trade the #1 pick for Kevin Love and Lebron skips town to chase another dynasty, but I doubt it. After all the success Miami has had, I just dont see Lebron leaving Miami, and I do think that they either everyone comes back together or Bosh leaves and Pat Riley uses that to his advantage to bring in better/younger supporting pieces around Lebron & Wade.

 

I expect us to at least beat the Blazers not get beat.

 

Dude, we understood your point and I think 99% of us are in agreement with you. However, our point being that we should of won the first round against Portland. That is what we realistically expecting to happen this season. Harden however well you think he is, we all agreed that he is better than any guards on Portland's roster. We believed that with the addition of Asik for Howard backup or even twin tower, we could handle LMD and Lopez with ease. Which that wasnt always the case.

From Coaching to individual player, we failed so hard on this series. The whole organization will need to look into this and resolve this ASAP, because quite frankly it will stick to the players and effect them.

 

agree 100% with you, just when your driving to work in Houston traffic and hear that its like a cup of coffee with 4x the amount of caffeine your suppose to have in a week.

 

Maybe it's because I've been a fan so long, maybe it's because I don't have comcast so I wasn't invested in the season, but... I don't get the melodramatic reaction to losing in the first round.

Yeah, we have a great center and a great shooting guard. This was there first season together. The roster has obvious problems. We hit a match-up that exploited those problems, but those problems can be fixed. This isn't getting knocked out every year by Utah or Seattle. If you're worried about how we match up with Lillard and Aldridge, be glad its not Stockton and Malone.

Eventually, the wheels will fall off for the Spurs just like they fell off the Lakers, leaving Oklahoma at the top trying to keep their two stars happy in a tiny, tiny market. CP3 is an amazing point guard, but check out his injury history:

Code:

Season      Age     Tm  Lg Pos   G  GS    MP
2005-06      20    NOK NBA  PG  78  78  2808
2006-07      21    NOK NBA  PG  64  64  2353
2007-08      22    NOH NBA  PG  80  80  3006
2008-09      23    NOH NBA  PG  78  78  3002
2009-10      24    NOH NBA  PG  45  45  1712
2010-11      25    NOH NBA  PG  80  80  2880
2011-12      26    LAC NBA  PG  60  60  2181
2012-13      27    LAC NBA  PG  70  70  2335
2013-14      28    LAC NBA  PG  62  62  2171
Career                 NBA     617 617 22448

617 games played / (738 total reg. season games + 53 total playoff games) 
= 78% of possible career games

We're in a great position, we've had our two superstars for one season. Realign your expectations a little.

 

We have enough talents to beat the Trailblazers. But our hero ball lost to theirs. Was expecting advancing to the second round. But definitely not surprised the way it ended.

You can "buy" a championship team by assembling super stars, or you can build one with sufficient talent and smart coaching. With or without tweaking on the roster this team has enough talent. All they need is a good coach. Kevin "the anti-Spurs" McHael is just not going to cut it.

 

Realistic expectation was HCA in 1st round of playoff and make it to 2nd round. Getting to CF was stretch but wasn't out of the question. We didn't meet realistic expectation.

 

This was my expectation also.

 

culture starts with coaching. we dont have that. we have great individual players that play as individuals rather than a team. want proof? our team plays are: iso harden, dump ball to harden, screen for ball handler, pass to outside player to shoot a contested 3. wonder which team makes the most extra passes, is there a stat for this? are we the worst team for this? lol.

overall it's about players playing for the team not for themselves. the team's youth and inexperience is what is also holding them back because they still want to be the hero to carry the team. spurs are old as fk and are way beyond that. danny green's comments were, "i want to win parker and duncan another ring, and I want to get my first" but his comments speak a lot about the team's identity.

need a coach who preaches team defense and unity to help the players develop their team identity. this year was a transition year for all players. howard the new guy, a few new role players, lin who keeps constantly having to adapt to new role, bench, starting bench starting etc, jones adapting to new role, parsons wanting to be that 3rd guy and trying way too hard at it. too many players having new adjustments and individual pressures. it's no wonder this team played so sloppy at times and struggled.

 

You're basing your argument on assumptions that have no basis in fact.

The Rockets want to play hero ball but the Spurs don't? Let's take a closer look at that:

Yes the Rockets run ISOs, Pick and Rolls and Postups. Those are all 1 or two man schemes. We post up 10.47% of the time, we ISO 10.34% of the time and we run Pick & Roll 15.58% of the time. So that comes out to 36.39% of our possessions being "hero ball".

How about the Spurs? They Iso 5.11% of the time, they post up 8.65% of the time and they run Pick & Roll 21.96% of the time. That comes out to 35.72% of their possessions being "hero ball".

Less than a 1% difference? Surprised?

How about the "extra pass"? There's no such stat (I'm not even sure how you'd define it let alone track it) but there is a stat to show the percent of a teams baskets that are assisted vs unassisted. Here's the breakdown for some of the better teams:

Houston 56.3% Assisted
OKC 56.2% Assisted
IND 56% Assisted
MIA 58.8% Assisted
SA 62.19% Assisted
LAC 62.8% Assisted

That's not really too big of a difference is it? The "eye test" would probably believe you to think that it was a bigger difference but it isn't.

 

Making the Blazers look like the showtime Lakers and then seeing them destroyed by the Spurs is very disheartening. There is really no positive way to spin it. No doubt the Rockets underachieved. Anything less than the second round was a failure with a capital "F." In my view, the Rockets did a "Texans." They faded during the last two weeks of the season (injuries played a part) then limped into the playoffs. In contrast, the Blazers were riding a winning streak. By the time the Rockets got cranked up again, it was too late.

Looking at the team objectively, the first issue is the PG position. Lin and Beverly….seriously. Lin is Mr. Erratic, not game to game but moment to moment. Beverly, love him, but he is largely one dimensional. Harden doesn't play defense, end of story. Howard is an athletic freak, but not the most skilled player. Parsons talked too much and didn't deliver. Jones disappeared. McHale, great player, nice guy, largely fills the PR role. This team wasn't going to do as much as we thought they would; they have too many issues.

There is a lot to do this offseason. The PG and PF positions must be addressed. Harden has to get serious about basketball and sell out for greatness a la LeBron. He has to cut back on the booze and the nightlife and get in serious shape. Howard is Howard. Parsons has to improve, work hard, and be quiet. Jones needs to put on about 30 lbs. of muscle or be replaced by Kevin Love. Better bench players please. Say bye to Casspi, Garcia, Hamilton, et al. Keep the 3pt. whiz kid. Bring in a defensive minded assistant coach. Move forward.