What's been the biggest reason for Rockets surprising start?

Harden could penetrate at will even with Dwight... Rockets just didn't have enough shooters.

Rockets couldn't score off the bench, nor had anyone to relieve James.


The BIGGEST difference is, Ryan-Gordon >>>>> Lawson-Thornton.

 

How incredibly open the lane is is a combination of my three points. Dwert, Shooter, MDA system. It's not just one of those.

You can say Harden can penetrate with just Shooters and MDA system...sure. But Dwert in the mix is nonetheless the last Big you would put in the paint if your are trying to maximize how open the lane is. That's indisputable, imo. Doesn't mean you can't win with bigs. I'm just talking purely about how open the lane is.

done defending my statement that how open the lane is is our #1 reason for success, due to three things, compared to last year.

 

This statement is different than saying Harden specifically. Gordon is able to exploit the lane as well and even with Harden resting on the bench.

It's great having BETTER players!!

 

The roster fits better than it ever has and Eric Gordon is the best offensive player harden has been paired with as a rocket.

Top to bottom with a few exceptions the roster can do exactly what the system needs out of their spot. They still could use upgrades at certain starters but it's not a matter of the players just not fitting their role anymore.

 

We went from brewer as the 6th man and needing bev or Ariza to be our second best offensive player to brewer a end of rotation guy and bev and Ariza our fifth options when they are on the floor

 

Eric Gordon has no doubt the biggest surprise so far this season for the Rockets.

We know what Ryan Anderson can bring to this team, but most people never will expect we can get something like this out of EG.

Sometime it's better lucky than sorry, think about it, this team could have Kent Bazemore instead.

 

The sum is finally nearly equal to the total of its parts, we're finally NOT overachieving.

Addition 1: We've added competent players with Anderson and Capela to our starting unit.
Addition 2: We were able to shored up our bench with Dekker being healthy, Capela and Nene both doing well within their asked roles, Brewer is not as heavily depended on now to be the main 6th person off the bench. And Gordon has been amazing being the 6th man off the bench. He's been a lot effective in his role than I thought he would be (still waiting for when Gordon and Anderson will miss games, our depth will be really important then). Having Dmo coming back will definitely be very essential to when and if Anderson misses time, don't know what we have for plan B if Gordon goes down for a extended period of time.
Addition 3: An established coach proved to be more important than we thought, we finally have someone who can use Harden in a role where we can absolutely excel in. Mike D'Antoni has been able to lead this group to a great offense scheme, this team is going to go as far as our DEFENSE takes it. I'm excited to see how well this team fares against a more disciplined defensive team, at this point I don't think we have enough chemistry to over come that yet but it's definitely going to be better than years past.

The Rockets started to worry me a bit there, I've only been following basketball seriously from 2002+ because Francis dribbling out the basketball until the game was over wasn't my idea of fun, it was slightly more watchable when Yao was drafted. Then we had Tmac who was definitely one of the better SG/SF in our league but injuries played its part before we could properly surround him and Yao with enough depth to do some damage.

Off topic but..still wish we could have properly seen the 09' team HEALTHY with: Alston/Tmac/Battier/Scola/Yao w/ Artest (or Battier) off the bench. Just for one season

 

Yeah I agree, D'Antoni wouldn't be here if Dwight had chosen to stay (which I couldn't see, too many teams that were out there could offer him better money and the role "he wanted"). Dwight wasn't happy at all last season and our defense paid the price, if you aren't happy playing offense you definitely don't want to pick up the defensive slack when you know someone has the tendency to let players leak into the paint constantly.

Yeah he didn't post up much but his effort on the defensive end was piss poor because he was unhappy with his touches. Had more of a negative effect I think.

Agreed, addition by subtraction (or at least modification). We were able to let Brewer play within his role, he's a streaky player and excels when he's able to cut to the rim. If he's feeling it from the 3pt line, let him have it! If not we finally have options with Dekker / McDaniels. I'm assuming Dekker is > McDaniels right now because he's able to stretch the floor with his 3pt shooting. Come on back Dmo, we need to shore up that PF/C position with someone who can shoot, pass + play solid D.

I remember Gordon from the Clippers and can recall past games with him when we played against the Pelicans. He's definitely a great addition to have, I just think he's been relied to heavily on his past teams. With Gordon's ability (and willingness) to play off the ball, he's able to compliment Harden's game when he plays.

Anderson has definitely proven that he can shoot, I think he's probably going to stay healthier than Gordon over the course of their contracts but at least having Dmo now we can focus on a versatile front court rotation. Having Harrell's energy is contagious to the team BUT we can't grab rebounds when Nene (or is out w/ rest) + Capela are sitting..

 

Depth.Gordon off the bench has been huge. When we need a boost he provides in spades. Dekker has been a nice surprise on offense and even on the glass.In general we can now win without Harden having to have a perfect game all the time.

 

rightfully so.

 

Oh I agree, it's just such a huge change. I think people thinking this is all about coaching or Harden playing point aren't realizing how much of a difference the roster changes make.

 

I think you mean we're not underachieving anymore.

Back when Howard first signed with us that year, we truly had two top ten talents on the floor. A first round loss was inexcusable, and McHale should have been fired right there. The following year we met expectations and got to the WCF, although I felt we were just as talented (but not as charmed by the media) as Golden State. The following year, Dwight's regression and Hurricane Kardashian collided, and the excess talent could no longer mask the piss poor coaching. Chinua Achebe happened, Things Fell Apart.

The rebound this year is a sign of a return to appropriate returns given our tremendous talent. We pivoted from Dwight and used that money to build a team of optimal role players around Harden. At the same time the coaching stopped being nonexistent.

To me we've always had the potential. This year is just a regression to the mean. Still lacking the defensive prowess to make serious noise in the playoffs, but at least it ain't last year.

 

Dwerp was a huge distraction to the team. If he were still here, I don't think Eric/Nene/Anderson and everyone could still play this style of Pringles offense.

 

* Harden being the focal point on offense and having everything run through him has made this offense click better. He operates better when he doesn't have to defer to someone else who's ego is easily bruised.
* Having reliable shooters and a true 6th man scoring punch off the bench.
* Respect for the coaching staff and acceptance of each player's role.
* Emergence of Harrell, Capela and Dekker

 

Honestly the last option shouldnt be in the poll because everyone agrees its a combination of al those factors

But to me like what other posters are saying the single biggest reason for the better record is definitely the roster upgrades, going from Beasley/Lawson/Brewer/JSmith to Gordon/Anderson/Dekker/Nene is pretty ridiculous. If we had last year's team but had Gordon instead of Lawson and Anderson/Nene instead of Beasley/JSmith even if we had Mchale as the coach and Harden came into the season out of shape this team would still easily make the WCF. OTH, if we didnt sign Gordon I expect the Rox will be a lottery team by now, he's that big of a difference maker.

 

More direction on offense. Additions of EG and Anderson are huge. Harden's improved attitude as compared to last year. MDA is very good at using players to the best of their offensive attributes.

We are still a work in progress. Teams will adjust and we will have to adapt. So by the 3rd quarter of this season, I am hoping we can come into a true identity.

 

Eric Gordon for his defense and superb shooting.

D'Antoni for giving the young guys a chance. JB and McFail would have played it safe and gone with their standard 8 man rotations.

The youth, Capela , Dekker, Harrell have all made great strides thanks to getting PT.

Trev and Bev for being the glue to hold it all together.

James for an MVP calibre start to the season.

These are the reasons.

 

Where is all of the above button?

 

Think we should add another option. DM and crew aren't idiots. I think he/they genuinely felt good about the roster they had constructed and perhaps it came down to fit and rotations. I thought with the mini-circus the coaching search turned in to and the failed pursuit of mid tier 2, or top of tier 3, FA's like Bazemore that perhaps it was just lip service.

Ultimately I thought the bar they set was too high for this team in year 1 but I've been wrong thus far. So, maybe it's just that I (we) discounted the front office's glowing outlook and set the bar too low. Maybe they are performing right at expectations as opposed to anything surprising. Hence, the option I would add is that consensus Rox Nation expectations were too bearish.

 

This.