Doesn't matter, Ime and many Rockets fans go off of eye test rather than anything objective. They care what the vibes say, not what reality is.
LOL, how in the world do you know that? Are you a mind reader and a prophet? The fixation with starting Reed remains with some here.
The obsession with these stats is getting out of control. Their primary use case is for content creation and winning arguments. Reed Sheppard stats come from times you can play Reed Sheppard lol He immediately comes out of the game when he’s at a disadvantage and being hunted by someone dangerous. The Rockets have a deeper roster than most top heavy teams, kicking ass in bench minutes is the expected and planned outcome. Nothing against Reed, but these defensive stats can’t replace eyeballs and need the context.
Stats are necessary to help explain things to those who go on "eye test" but don't know enough about what they are trying to watch to come away with an accurate idea of what is happening on the court. If a person believes one thing, and the numbers (not just one, but a consensus of numbers) suggests something different, the person is wrong.....and those are usually the kinds of people who hate stats the most.
During the offseason, it didn't even occur to me that the Rockets might be a contender. The Fred injury didn't change my opinion one way or the other. The Rockets' performance so far hasn't changed my opinion much, either. If anything, I'm a little less bullish on their chances. Sure, injuries to several key opponents would boost the Rockets, but that can't be counted on. Having said all that, there's no way I would stifle Reed's development at point guard by bringing in a veteran barely better than him, and then get bounced in the 1st or 2nd round anyway. I already think the Rockets are wrong in prioritizing Amen's development at PG over Reed's, because I feel Reed is the better long-term solution. Starting a mid veteran would be a gut punch to both of them. I might go for a vet to play behind them, but isn't that Holiday?
You realize we have the second best net rating in the NBA and net rating is historically the best predictor of who's going to be good at the end of the season? There's 30 games sample size. We haven't even been fully healthy till recently and we have a relatively easy schedule to end the season. I really don't understand how people think we're not true contenders.
The declarative sentenences are funny. Like, you are this basketball oracle, or something. Ok, dude. Reed has shown enough improvement on offense and defense not to utterly write him off as a playoff contributor as you are doing here. This far into the season, the stats show that he contributes to winning right now. In this very thread, there is analysis of his play in *every* game and the improvement is clear. The coaching staff and front office see Reed as an important player right now. You are not supporting your arguments here beyond "trust me, bro" bbs talk.
You don’t think it can go the other way too? You don’t think anyone’s ever used a stat without understanding the context behind it? Used it with no regard for match ups, strength of opponent, outlier play from others.. compared it against an incomparable sample?
Certainly, you can use "a stat" in a misleading way, that's called cherry picking, but when a broad consensus of metrics all say the same or similar things, it's not misleading even if some don't like what it says or their eye test disagrees.
I'd like to believe the Rockets are true contenders, but their inconsistent performance against both good and bad teams keeps me from being optimistic. Could they do it, sure, but to me it would be in the realm of a fluke, not something you'd go all out to pursue. I'd rather pursue a title organically, but maybe that's just me. My prediction: they WILL bring in a vet despite my misgivings.
So, even if we did that rather than a more sensible matchup, what are you worried about....him putting up 35 on us like he did last time? He's only scored more than he did against us in 6 games all season. Glad we went with inferior players instead.
Fair enough but I'll ask a question: The second best team in the NBA is going to lose 20-25 games. Don't you think it's more promising to lose against bad teams in the first half than to lose to all the good teams? Because if you can beat good teams then it's pretty easy to chalk up your losses to things like not respecting the opponent, not being prepared, not taking games seriously. Things a coach can fix. Things that might have to do with running a new system and developing chemistry. The playoff games are going to be against good teams after all. However if you can't beat good teams then it's a talent issue and that's kind of insurmountable with just coaching. It feels like our season is going exactly as it should if we're an amazing team but had significant changes to our offense, are building chemistry and lost our only veteran PG. That we have the second best net rating is pretty amazing to me. I'd love for them to add someone as a cherry on top but tbh I'm pretty confident about where this team is headed.
Those are good points, and I do see plenty of good signs, the biggest being Reed's development and Tari's starting and improvement over what was already a solid foundation. I worry that the coaching fixes will be inadequate or too slow in coming. I wish Ime would insist that Durant and Sengun drop their iso-heavy tendencies and work within a movement-based offense.
How about call the refs call SGA’s shenanigans like they call the rest of the league? Because SGA is getting away with a LOT. How about this? Just call the travels and the arm bar push off. I’ll be fine with that.
I think we see things very similarly. I think Sengun can be used much more dynamically. KD is not going to iso less though. He's 36 and even the 72-win motion-heavy Warriors couldn't convince him to change his game. He is who he is at this point. When the playoffs come, plays get cut out and everything becomes iso-heavy anyway. Perhaps this will serve us in the end.
They can definitely be misleading though, you’re just getting the results and not the process. It’s a make or miss league.
No one does - but @Hemingway is right that what we do about it has less to do with Reed and more to do with who is available and what is the cost for a mid season trade. I don’t think Houston is interested in screwing with our cap/pick situation for a short term fix.
