Getting to 55 wins at this point will require some pretty heavy lifting going forward. BEST case scenario is Harden comes back and they trade their future flexibility for Jimmy Butler ASAP and then play .500 ball for 10 games before gelling. If everything goes right from now on and they stay healthy I'd set the ceiling at 53 wins. That would be impressive.
All last year the Rockets were where that BUCKS logo was. Pushed far into the O efficiency and low but above average in D. I mean, where the Rockets are now is why they are 1-5. Staggering.
The issue is moreso the offense for me. When your offense is as good as it was last year, it makes it easier to play defense. Our offense is trash now and the reason is because MDA has not adapted it to the personnel we have now. The hard cold truth is we don't have a stable of 3 and D guys to just chuck up 3s all game. MCW isn't a 3 and D guy, we can't space the floor for him. We don't have as many 3 point shooters as we did last year. We have a lot more 2 point shooters. MCW only strength is pushing the ball and scoring on fast breaks and occasionally slashing. Melo's strength is ISO mid range around the elbow area. We need to create more 2 point shots to keep the scoreboard moving and stop chucking and praying so much. While getting Butler would help, the offense is so predictable and it looks atrocious if no one is hitting 3s. Teams just switch on us and guard the perimeter and collapse into the paint when we do get a drive...then that guard has to make a tough layup or kick it out to either a guy who can't shoot OR someone that is covered.
I hate to say it, but its true. I love MDA, but he doesnt have a history of adjusting his system to fit the personnel on offense. I'm just hoping we can get better players...sigh by trade deadline idk.
The Rockets would have to go 54-22 the rest of the way to win that many games. That seems a little far-fetched given their offensive and defensive woes thus far.
And this is what is terrifying with MDA, every time he's had a failed team it's because of this sole reason. Not using Pau the right way for example because MDA simply just doesn't believe in posting up. I saw someone ask "Why aren't we posting up Melo more?" for the same reason that Pau had issues with MDA, he sat Pau Gasol for his small ball lineups...this is even as the Lakers didn't have a team even constructed to do that. They had an older team with two bigs (Pau and Dwight) and like a 40 year old PG in Nash and a Kobe that wasn't that far from retiring really. He had to play a more half court more plodding system but instead he tried to go small ball with a faster lineup. Eventually they gave up trying to play his preferred style and started to win games but by that time it was too late. Especially with Dwight already playing for his next team (as he likes to do...) but he CAN certainly coach different offensive styles, he's just stubborn and that was his biggest issue with Melo and the issue he's always had with stars. Now here he comes to Houston to a GM that loves his style but Morey did not do a good job of bringing in players to support this style. We know MCW can't shoot. We know that Melo is a career 3 point chucker with poor % from 3 really, even in his prime. We got rid of Ryno who stretched the floor and replaced him with two bigs who are still WORKING on their 3 in Chriss and Hartenstein... We just don't have the team to play how we did last year. We need a more half-court methodical game that abuses mismatches and takes the easy mid-range shot when it's there.
