can't believe we don't have this thread yet, six games in https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2024-25-week-3 #16 HOUSTON ROCKETSLast Week:22↑ Record: 3-3 OffRtg: 113.9 (11) DefRtg: 110.2 (11) NetRtg: +3.6 (9) Pace: 97.3 (28) Last year, the Rockets didn’t win a road game until Dec. 8. They got two road wins last week, including an impressive, wire-to-wire victory in Dallas on Thursday. Three takeaways The Rockets somehow rank 11th offensively, despite ranking 28th in effective field0goal percentage, one of two teams — the Jazz are the other — that rank in the bottom 10 in field goal percentage in the paint (28th), mid-range field goal percentage (29th) and 3-point percentage (23rd). After coming back from 31 points down to send their game against the Warriors to overtime on Saturday, they shot 1-for-12 (0-for-5 from 3-point range) in the extra period. They’ve shot a league-worst 28.3% on wide-open 3s, with three starters — Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Jabari Smith Jr. — a combined 8-for-42 (19%). They’ve mitigated the poor shooting by ranking third in turnover rate and second in offensive rebounding percentage. Fred VanVleet leads the league with an assist/turnover ratio of 8.5 (34/4). Five of the Rockets’ six games have been within five points in the last five minutes. That includes their two games (which they split) in San Antonio, with their third meeting with the Spurs coming on Wednesday. Week 3: vs. NYK, vs. SAS, @ OKC, @ DET
14. Houston Rockets 2024-25 record: 4-3 Previous ranking: 21 Next games: vs. SA (Nov. 6), @ OKC (Nov. 8), @ DET (Nov. 10), vs. WAS (Nov. 11) After putting together what coach Ime Udoka said was his team's first statement win Thursday against the Mavericks, the Rockets followed that up with a thrilling overtime loss to the Warriors in which they erased an early 31-point deficit. The Rockets rank near the bottom of the league in field goal percentage, but they've feasted on offensive rebounding (15.3 per game) and second-chance scoring (20.8 points per game) to achieve a 113.9 offensive rating. Despite the rough showing against the Warriors, Jalen Green has taken another step in his development and might be poised to set new career highs in scoring and 3-point percentage. -- Wright https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...-edwards-jokic-hit-early-struggles-cavs-climb
Both of these rankings are fair. If the Rockets offense improves, they should move into the top 10 in a few weeks.
nice! here's the entry: 10. Houston Rockets (4-3) Last ranking: 18 In the last week: W at Mavericks, L vs. Warriors, W vs. Knicks Offensive rating: 114.3 (ninth) Defensive rating: 109.6 (10th) Starters: Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün Top reserves: Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard, Steven Adams This was too impressive a week for the Rockets to have them outside of the top 10. Not only are they a top-10 offense and defense through two weeks of play, but they are one of 10 teams in the league through 14 days with both a winning record and a positive point differential. The rest of the league has work to do, and Houston is helping itself by using the same starting five as last season while integrating a top-three pick at backup guard (Sheppard) and an upgrade at backup center (Adams).
Im suprised we are ninth offensively. I thought we were like 29th based on people's opinion on this forum.
Our shooting really is ass (28th in eFG%), I have to imagine the low TO's and high OReb numbers are whats keeping the offensive rating in the top 10
Yeah but I don't think thats all the coaches fault. We are paying Fred 40 million + to shoot 28% on threes? Also Dillon, Amen, Jabari, Sengun ... pretty much everyone besides Jalen Green and Tari is shooting below 34% on threes. A lot of these guys are underdeveloped and its hard to run an offense when you can't space the floor.
Agreed. Though Ime's offensive creativity is lacking, it's not his fault that Fred couldn't hit anything the first 5-6 games
the schedule looks pretty weak the next month or so there should be no excuse for not entrenching themselves as a top 6 seed during that time that schedule looks easy like Sunday morning
This looks to be one of the most mediocre seasons I can remember from an elite teams standpoint. The path is there to not only get in, but even win a round this season. Boston and OKC look to be the class of the league, but after them? Cleveland is 9-0, but is anybody really scared of Cleveland. Denver and Minny have looked extremely pedestrian. The addition of Buddy Hield has me concerned GS may have another run left. He looks like prime Klay Thompson and a perfect fit for what they do.
You forget teams still do deadline deals ....the Mavs went to the Finals making deadline deals netting them Gafford and PJ Washington.
I forgot what national media NBA analyst brought this up about the Rockets(I think it was from the Athletic podcast) but they said the Rockets have one of the highest night to night floors in the NBA to win games because of a combination of depth and elite switchable disruptive defense that is relentless. This means the Rockets are primed to be the type of team that rarely disappoints against weaker teams because of their high floor so I expect to maintain a pretty decently high seed also for the next month also.
