If you think CP is the single reason for us not playing hard then I question if you really watch any games
New players, new rules, new season; give it some time before you provide late season ridicule posting fodder. Geez.
Im a little worried if MCW still gets minutes once everyone is healthy. Watching him miss every single 3 he shoots in this offense is painful. It’s like watching corey brewer all over again.
I think it's fair to say that we're seeing a bit of a hangover from last season's success. Harden/Capela clearly aren't in shape yet. People are still getting integrated (Melo and Ennis primarily). Lots of stuff going on but I don't think it's enough to condemn the team. Teams go through bad stretches throughout the course of the year, hopefully this is just a poorly-timed bad stretch. Remember December of last year? Warriors pulled ahead to a 7(?)ish game lead and we all thought the sky was falling. Harden and Capela will play themselves into game shape, CP3 will come back from suspension, and we still have to see what we have in Chriss/B. Knight. Both are big question marks but could absolutely make a significant impact.
Not really, but the team defense hasnt been as bad as it looks according to defensive rating (ranked 12th)
Worried? Mildly, but I thought that this was a 54-55 win team entering the season. First, the defense has not been as terrible as everyone has said. The defense was terrible against the Pelicans but it hasn't been terrible since then. It isn't as good as last year or as good as it needs to be, but it hasn't been a disaster either. The biggest problem for the Rockets so far? The suspension of Chris Paul..... the Rockets would be 3-1 right now had Chris Paul played all 4 games. This Rockets team cannot afford injuries to Paul or Harden, and the reality is that Paul will likely miss 20 games or more this season. The Rockets likely go 10-10 in those games. The Rockets really needed an addition to the team that was a fairly major one and so far it hasn't happened. They have interest in Jimmy Butler, and his addition is the sort that allows the Rockets to control their own destiny while resting Paul and Harden some at different times. Tucker, Gordon, Ennis and Anthony all are useful players but they are all role players and really shouldn't stand in the way of adding someone like Butler to the roster. If the Rockets avoid a lot of injuries, they will be in a group of 2-3 other teams fighting for they 2-5 seed in the West.
Harden's defense has been fine........ the team defense isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It isn't "good" but it hasn't been a disaster.
I'm not buying this "the new guys are getting acclimated" argument. Last season we added Chris Paul, P.j. Tucker, Luc Mbah A Moute and then Gerald Green half way through the season. This season we added Melo, James Ennis and MCW. Why were we so much more acclimated in game 1 last season when we beat the Warriors? They look bad. I don't know what's going on. But they do not look like the same team. And the craziest part about that is the only player to depart who was even part of our playoff rotation is Trevor Ariza. Anderson barely got on the court and Luc was injured through the whole playoffs. So how in the hell do we look this bad? *edit: I suppose I should acknowledge CP3 has been missing for two of those games and Nene hasn't played in any. p.s. The Lakers won last night so we're tied with the Lakers.
Putting on optimist hat: Defense is shaping up really nicely Biggest factor for us not running out of the gate is new personnel Losses against the Pels (length), Clips (length), Utah (length + missing stars) are not surprising since they're more matchup problems compounded on new and missing players EG's 11 straight missed 3s was a fluke Tucker showing a much quicker trigger on the wing-3, yielding good results Brandon Knight will be back.... some day, to replace MCW's minutes entirely Ennis will be back and will hopefully keep that same defensive flow he showed in his last game CP3 will be back Harden will be back eventually Melo gellin in nicely and actually noticing some places where we're lacking (almost like the ideal mindset of someone coming off the bench) Providing that scoring when we're in droughts, giving us some offensive energy even if it's for 1 or 2 plays Quick baseline post-up moves, yielding open layups If Harden is out for more games, we'll get to see what we'll look like with CP3 and Melo leading the way I think we'll be fine. Game 5 and 6 are what the season hinges on.
Not worried. Paul, Chriss, and Knight need to get healthy. Ennis needs to come off the bench and Melo needs to start. 65 win team.
People keep say that players play hard during contract year. Now, everyone gets his money, Harden got his MVP too, there is no reason to play hard every night.
