I expect to see improvement on the offensive side of the ball alright but this team is shaping up to be an absolute stink pot on defense. But yeah, your post is spot on about these signings being because MDA is the HC. But I have very grave concerns about the tactical direction this team is taking. CLE, OKC, SA and GS have shown you what style of basketball is winning basketball and so far, the Rockets appear dead set on going in the opposite direction especially on defense. I'm going to have to see this work on the court before I become a believer.
Anderson / Beasley / Gordon / Harden are all top 10 defensive players. Uncanny that we were able to assemble all of these guys under a top 3 defensive coach. What Morey & Les are showing us is that you can't just say "defense wins championships", you have to live by it. They are walking the walk.
I agree with the OP. At least Morey is doing something and grab two players that fit the coaching hire. It beats waiting around for stars and missing out good FAs like what we did in the past.
Look, bottom line, if I told you one month ago that our free agent haul would be Eric Gordon 4 yrs guaranteed, and Ryan Anderson $20 mil per for 4 yrs guaranteed, most people would be livid. The only reason some people are supportive of these moves is because us human beings can only bare so much disappointment; the brain retreats into a protective mode of self delusion. These signings and this whole freaking offseason is a disaster.
Rockets couldve kept their 12th pick and still have gotten Anderson and Gordon. At least in the draft the team does the choosing, not the player.
I think everyone was wanting Anderson next to Howard and at a reasonable contract. Though it's hard to tell what a reasonable contract is this offseason. Anyway, the team now seems to have a few more options at the PF with Anderson, Beasley, and maybe DMo and Dekker. At least we'll be seeing less of Ariza manning the PF position due to lack of options. But Howard's leaving has left a big hole at the center position. Unless Pringles believes in throwing out two power-foward frontcourts on a regular basis, Capella is going to need some help.
2nd in offense 14th in defense I predict we get the 6th seed and surprise everyone by losing in the second round. Everyone admires how much length we have. On Defense.
When players touch the ball on offense and when everyone is happy, the defensive effort improves. Any effort at all will be an improvement from last year, when our starting C admitted to quitting in the middle of games.
I hope Morey's not done because we need a center who can defend and rebound and we need a point guard who can facilitate, shoot and take care of the ball.
Don't even bother OP. Everyone around here seems to think there was 20 All NBA 1st Teamers out there and Morey struck out on all of them.
I'm happy if D'Antoni is happy. These guys are obviously not bad players at all, they will hit shots which will open up Harden, and they fit the model of players D'Antoni won 60 games with. Provided that Durant ends up somewhere other than GS or SA, I think we're good and we still have money to play with. I'm happy all-in-all but some people will never be happy. There would be people that were unhappy if we landed Horford and Conley. It's all good and the little pieces we add from here should be huge. I look forward to seeing what we look like when MDA figures out the rotation he likes.
Just a quick thought isn't it strange that harden said he would recruit durant hard this off season, however we have heard nothing of the sort. Wonder if durant and harden had something worked out? I could only hope, if he goes to the Warriors each team should just give the title.
No, that is not what everyone thinks. What people who get what is going on think is that you need to rebuild around Harden, not retool around MDA. [Reality] Les doomed this team We had a 1.7 RDTG last year. The 14th Worst in franchise history out of 49 seasons. Of those other 13 seasons - 6 times we were lotto teams. 5 times we were around .500, and 2 times we were actually decent - although both of those times we played in the Eastern Conference as it was back in the 70's! So in the modern era, we have never seen a Rockets team with a 1.7 RDTG or higher be anything better than a 43 win team. Last year was 41 wins. And since then we have let go of Howard - a big time defensive center and brought in D'Antoni - known for weak defenses, Ryan Anderson, not known to play any defense and considered useless when teams go small, and Eric Gordon - who once played some defense and ended hurting himself doing it. We once had a team of Parsons, Lin, Howard, Harden, Bev.... We now have a team of Anderson, Gordon, Capela, Harden, Bev.... We have literally made 0 progress from 3 years ago. And next year is going to be a mediocre year. And the year after that you are going to see Harden walk. Had the Rockets not signed anyone beyond a 1 year deal (2 year with team option) and let this team struggle next year 3 things would happen. 1. We'd get a great draft pick 2. Our younger players would develop and put up bigger numbers making them more appealing as trade assets 3. Teams would be willing to trade for a lot of our players with those short contracts 4. We'd have a ton ton of money heading into free agency of 2017. With more tradeable assets, a high pick, and even more cap room - we'd been far better situated to make the leap into contention - high enough to keep Harden around. But not that's not going to happen. Good job Les! Thanks for screwing up this team. Morey will be gone, and so will Harden. That much is clear.
