The problem is our ceiling with this roster isn't much higher than what we just saw. We couldn't beat OKC with one of their stars down. We need another player or two and a guy like T.Jones or Motiejunas to step up in a big way next year to be considered a threat to beat a team like OKC.
Definitely this, but this is to be assumed anyway. We KNOW that Morey's plan is to pair another superstar (or two?) with Harden to turn this team into a legitimate title contender. But to say that we aren't ahead of schedule, I believe, is false. Regardless, this offseason is going to be fun to watch unfold.
I would hardly ascribe the contributions of so many players "luck". Morey is great at spotting undervalued talent. It's what he's known for, and this year is just another year that confirms it. As for ahead of schedule, it depends on what you're measuring. Winning season? Ahead of schedule. Reach the play offs? Ahead of schedule. Win play off games? Ahead of schedule. Reach/win the Finals? To be determined. As for the offense, there is more to it than pushing the pace. Shot selection is a very real advantage. Yes, the Rockets ran the fastest pace, but they also had a very high scoring efficiency due to How they score. Shots in the paint and shooting the 3 pointer is something that can translate to Any pace, whether it's inside out with big post men or drive and kick through dribble penetration. The end results are the same. In terms of the "final" form of this Roster, I think we all know that Morey isn't done. None of us know what this Roster will ultimately look like until Morey is done in Free Agency. Who is the next "foundational" player? Nobody knows. Dwight? Josh Smith? Zbo/Gasol? Bynum? Chris Paul? Given how Morey snagged Harden I don't think anything would surprise me. Nobody except Harden is untouchable. So don't get too attached to anyone whether it's Asik, Lin, or even Chandler Parsons. For the right deal, Everyone is expendable. Finally, I think folks are too hard on this team in terms of Defense. Young teams are notoriously bad at defense. It's a pure experience thing. It takes real life experience to learn how to defend savvy veterans, let alone true Star caliber players. All the practice in the world doesn't prepare you for dealing with the speed of a Rose, the savvy of Tony Parker, the length and shooting of Durant, the physical dominance of a Zbo, or the bully ball of a player like Melo. They need more time on the court defending individually and as a team to learn how to respond. And that will come organically.
You don't think luck played a role in acquiring all these guys in one season and right when we needed them? I did give Morey credit for being good, always have, but he can't acquire what is not available. As for everything else, we actually said the same thing, but in different words.
Of course there's luck, but there's also skill. 28 other teams could have gone after Asik. 29 teams passed on Delfino up to the end of Free Agency. 30 teams passed on Parsons the first time around, and another 6 teams passed on him the 2nd time around. 30 teams had 3 years to go after Beverley. 30 teams had the opportunity to go after Brooks. 29 teams would have been happy to get Harden. Morey puts the team in the position to get good players by stockpiling assets, looking hard at players that are under the radar, and being willing to scour the ends of the Earth. How many GM's spend their time in Europe watching games? Or employ large teams of Analysts? It isn't all 30 of them. There's a saying that Luck is preparation + opportunity. Morey prepares so that he's able to pounce when the right opportunity arrives. Sometimes it doesn't pan out (like with Dwight or Royce White), other times it does. Without Morey, the Rockets never even have the chance to get "lucky".
Fairly certain the Rockets have never won a playoff series against a team with Derek Fisher on it. Something like 0-5 or something. He is Houston's Kryptonite.
Obviously the Rockets need more talent. Daryl Morey has been preaching this all year. Harden is just the tip of the iceberg not the finished product. I find it odd that you think the team is not ahead of schedule when you absolutely hated the trade back in October and blasted both Morey and Less. Yet , Harden became an All-star and the top 5 scorer in the league. The rockets have cap room and a great chance to make a major addition. And you claim the Rockets are not ahead of schedule.
I think stars are made, not born. Delfino, Parsons, & even Lin have the ability to reach Ginobli, Parker status. McHale & Morey (okay..... Morey) just needs to decide if he sees it in them or not. Move on if he does not. I agree with you that there is still work to do & this game six does not put anyone on notice, except the Rockets.
And most of those teams just stuck with the point guards they began the season with, regardless of how awful. Whereas Morey, with the permission of Les Alexander, cut Scott Machado when it became clear he wouldn't be a contributor anytime soon and instead went out and got Beverley and Brooks. If the Lakers had had Beverley all season, how different would their season have been? The Mavs? The Jazz? So many teams could have been improved. And Torocan is right. Every other team has had three years to sign Beverley. They didn't. There was very little luck involved in what Morey did. He had an idea that Beverley could be a contributor, but if, once he arrived, they didn't like what they were seeing from him, he'd have cut him and signed somebody else until he eventually struck gold. He is playing on probability. Look at enough potential contributors, and sooner or later, you will find one. That is why Morey keeps striking gold. I remember everybody freaking out about how many power forwards were on this team at the beginning of the season. Well, it was our position of most need so he loaded the roster with young power forwards hoping one of them would emerge as a star. That hasn't happened yet, but he got rid of a few they felt they had seen enough from, and you can expect they'll be addressing that situation one way or the other. Either they'll look at an established power forward free agent like Millsap or Josh Smith, or they'll add more young prospects until, eventually, one of them does hit the mark as Parsons or Beverley has already done.
I said all year lon that this team reminded me of OKC in 2010. Thankfully, when Durant said it, it opened the eyes of everyone on the outside that maybe didm;t see it before. I CANNOT wait till the offseason officially starts so we can fill the gaps and become legit contenders!
There's still a lot of big differences between the Rockets this year and the Thunder in 2010. We were a 50 win team. Our two best players were 21 years old and Harden and Ibaka were 20 years old and waiting in the wings, already showing signs of being really good. We took the eventual champs (at full strength) 6 games and were a buzzer beater away from taking them 7. Durant, then, was better than Harden is now. Westbrook, then, is better than the Rockets second best player now. In fact, Houston's 3 best players right now are roughly the same age as OKC's 3 best players are right now. I do really like 3 of the pieces you have in place, though: Harden, Parsons, and Asik. If you add another reliable scoreer, preferably a low-post threat, you'll be very close to contending in a few years. It wouldn't surprise me if in, say, 2015-2016 OKC, Houston, and Golden State are the top 3 seeds in the West.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. DM had been preparing for last summer for a few seasons now.
Make no mistake, if we get a low-post presence in the mold of an LMA, Love or D12, it won't take us a "few years" to start contending. It'll be next year that we're title contenders; it's really that simple. We're a star away from being able to hang with the OKC's of the world full-strength.
OKC 2.0 we are not, but definitely ahead of schedule. I'm a homer at heart and like to believe we have a chance to win it all every year, but deep down inside I thought we were lottery bound this year. If you thought we'd take the thunder to a possible game 7 in the beginning of the season you are full of it.
You said it. At first, I saw the Rockets as 10th in the West, pushing some good teams in the regular season.
