For a young team, the only realist expectation is that they improve, and we as fans see these improvements translate onto the court. In my opinion, so far, we have seen these improvement. The play of Smith and Morris have been outstanding, both are second year players (pretty much rookies by experience level). Give this team some time, another 15 games or so. This time last year, everyone was calling for Morris to get some action, same thing is with Jones this year. Give the team some time, they know what they are doing.
Previous teams. Lin before his injury and after Linsanity had started to die down with the embarrassing Heat loss and the return of Melo and Amare, was leveling off as to what we see now, a 12 to 15 pts with around 7 or 8 assists, PG. Capable of scoring more but it depends on the game. His defense has improved but he won't carry a team on his back with high scoring for extended periods now that people see him coming. Aside from him, Aldrich a serviceable backup C but at times has issues holding onto the ball, some what raw due to being behind two better big men. Douglas always known for his offense but is a streaky shooter and not great at ball handling like a traditional PG. Morris' most noticeable trait out of the draft and from the times he hit the court in preseason last year have always been he has offense, the only question mark was if he could translate it to the position of a NBA 3 or tweener 4 and succeed. Smith and Delfino, were question marks but both have proven serviceable. That is literally everyone getting minutes, no idea what any of our rookies will turn into since they haven't been on the court longer then 6 minutes. Plenty to form an opinion on how their talent is likely to mature within a few months time. If they develop past that, sure you can put that on the current coaches but none of the players getting minutes besides Asik are doing things they haven't shown signs of doing in previous seasons. And Vipers while they are under the Rockets and try to run similar plays are still coached by their own smaller coaching staff. No one from Adelman or McHale's group stays for every Viper's practice nor has those on the team return to practice with the main team unless the players are called back to the team.
I find that a lot of the "suck" comments are not about expectations. If it's about expectation, they should read "xx is disappointing" or "I'm disappointed in xx". Many of those "suck" etc. comments are written out of hatred or with an agenda.
I am a little bothered that we are back where we were last year. Meaning, this looks like a 8-10 seed team. The silver lining is that there is a silver lining, whereas last year's team was overachieving, this year's team can and will build from here. Speaking of, I'd like to see more guys down in the valley. There is no PT for certain guys and Rio Grande is the perfect place to develop. No player makes me drool more than Royce. The guy is a playmaker. He has great vision. He is a player this team could use. The Rockets need to be firm and supportive of this guy with his anxiety. Overall, I think the Rockets are meeting my preseason expectations, but when I see them on the court, all I see is a team that can get better. Thus, my expectations rise when they play well and fall when they make rookie looking mistakes. Gotta love roller coasters! Speaking of, what happened to Astro-World?
I have to disagree. We are heading towards a 6-10 pick. The Vegas over under is 35 wins. I would pick the under right now. What exactly do we have on this team? Starters: Harden - All Star and possible super star. He is a player that i will look at 6 or so times a game and go how the **** did he do that? Nuff said. Asik - starter for many teams in the NBA. A forbidding presence in the paint and a rebounding machine. Parsons - a starter for one half of the teams in the NBA. Currently doing everything on the court possible except for shooting. Maybe, just maybe he will grow into good shooting. Our PF's. None of them would start on about 26 teams in the NBA. Lin - probably playing as bad as he ever will in the NBA. Bench - Morris and Delfino and not much else. Morris is looking good. Go back and figure out how many times you have complained and *****ed about Morris playing or not playing. I hope you have some shame. Rookies - Short term hope that Jones will step up. IMHO D-Mo has by far the highest upside, but he is having trouble putting on muscle. 30 pounds might make all of the difference in the world. Sergio LLull? I have not kept up, but can't he buy out his contract at the end of the season and join the Rockets? Offense - It is Harden show. Unfortunately if Harden is the focus of the opponents defense they will slow him down. Not a lot after Harden, but bits and pieces of promising material. Over the next few years Asik could develop into a successful 16/13/2 defensive center. And he is young. Defense. 40% effort and 40% making correct decisions about rotation etc. A bright spot. Now if they could only keep up the pressure for an entire game ... The coaching staff. Be careful who you blame. There is currently a much sounder argument that the staff is working miracles than failing on the job.
Most of the loudest complainers are losers in life, they just vent frustration here, so they feel they are worth something. Talking about basketball, or specific play is one thing, bad mouth the team you root for is just plain stupid!
I just want to watch some good professional basketball. On TV, if possible. And not have to go to a restaurant or bar to do so. Now, those are my expectations.
When you say this kind of stuff, do you take into account his position on the team or his usage rate or the support he get's from coaches? When Melo and Amare came back, Lin's usage rate went down. On the rockets his usage rate is down severely, to being 47/50 PG in the league. He's playing as a spot up 3 point shooter. Even Sampson admitted that he isn't getting screens or plays run for him (though they'd like to involve him more in the offense in the future if he can improve his left side dribble... i.e. it's Lin's fault that the coaches aren't using him as a PG (smh) ). So you take a situation where a talented PnR PG is being played as a spot up shooter and being asked to defer his playmaking to the team's SG, not just aggressive scoring but also playmaking and you go... well that's his level as a PG. Do you not see how that simply doesn't hold up logically? Put the ball in his hands for 10 games as the main playmaker/PG of the team. Set screens and call plays for him. THEN you will see where he is or isn't. Right now you're seeing a Lin who's being terribly misused and his confidence is ebbing away as a result.
Well said sir... I was thinking the exact same thing. We have all these ppl (myself included) clamoring for rebuild and starting over. Well we did... so please don't expect a brand new team to start winning and all of our players blowing up with all star stats.
Ehh bring em on Seriously, I do like the kid, he is very skilled but right now he is still finding his way....his run last year was nice, but how many times have we seen a player look like a world-beater for a stretch of games and then come back to earth? I know I have seen tons of them in the 40 years I have been watching NBA basketball. If his fans cant accept truthful analysis of their boy's game, then I don't consider them worth discussing with. No player is above criticism if they don't perform...not Hakeem, not Clyde, not Yao or even my favorite player from the last few years Luis Scola. Players come and go, but the team is always there....that is what matters.
Good post OP Jeff. That's why you guys should really not approve those knee-jerk reaction, right-after-one-game threads like: "How do you rate Sampson?" "Macus Morris sucks" or "Patterson is soft" "Lin is a joke" , etc... Delete them when you see them. Those kind of threads should not see light on the board so we all have fewer threads but more quality stuff to read.
Standard "Take it easy people" post. It will be chaos again in here in a day or two. Anyways, thanks for buying us a few days Jeff.
i expected this, and am (by and large) happy and encouraged by what we've seen thus far. Harden is as advertised, Asik even better than advertised, Lin has shown flashes, and Parsons is the classic glue guy. plus the chemistry of this team is very good, and should only get better. ...and let's not forget they're all still learning how to play together, and are also (still) learning a completely new system, different in many ways from what they learned over the summer and preseason. that said, it seems clear that certain of these guys are not part of the long term solution, and given we're rebuilding, I'd prefer their minutes go elsewhere. Both Douglas and Delfino fall in this category. PP may as well. Morris could take some of CDF's minutes at the three, and back up (or start) at the four. and Jones needs more minutes, period. He's go the most upside of all the rooks, and at a position of real need. Why have such a short bench when we're in rebuilding mode?
Hasn't Sampson also been taking Lin out on the last possession of the last 2 games? Don't understand this, and this can't be good for Lin's confidence. Last night it was on defense--Lin is one of the best perimeter disruptors in the league and always plays smart D.
First off were heading in the right direction and I have high hopes for this team. I'm in! Just because I criticize my government, girl, friends, family doesn't mean I don't love them. If your gonna have discussion you can't have just positive, were not paid by the rockets to be just positive. I have legitimate valid complaints/criticism. If you think there's to much negative then post something positive their doing. I'm not shocked their struggling, I expect it. What I can't ignore is lin struggling on offense, rookies not even getting even 5 minutes, playing a 3 at the 4 spot, the way the teams style of play changes nightly, etc. Don't take it personal. By the way douglas does suck, patterson is soft(or shall I say a jumpshooting pf that can only grab 4 rebs) and we been waiting for lin to break out for 8 preseason and 6 regular season games now! They are showing signs of brilliance in these early stages. I hope we all can be honest about what's happening moving forward.
