Absolutely, also remember Bzdelik wasn’t back yet we also had Ennis starting. I went back and re-watched those games about a month ago and our rotations were horrendous. Mainly Ennis who would get caught in no mans land and everything would break down. Same with Melo. It’s easy to oversimplify without knowing what’s really happening on the court.
I'm not surprised by that stat and thanks for sharing. I genuinely believe that fully healthy, we are a title contender and the only team to take GSW to game 7 and adding Faried as a backup C puts us in a better position than last year. Now, I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but there is a lingering thought in my head that there will always be some sort of injury with our key players. Am I the only one who thinks that? Knock on wood that Harden is durable, otherwise, we wouldn't have been having a conversation about playoffs.
of course, because it is a regular season, and they are not motivated... they clearly did play fantastic defense in stretches this year...so we know they can do it...
The chances of us being healthy is lower than any other team's and if we could manage the timing of injuries we would do it right now too. Just not the way it works. If you spent all season saying "if we were healthy" then you will be saying the same thing in the playoffs. A contender plans for injuries. The front office of the oldest roster in the league should have more depth than the average and should use it. I'm optimistic about our defense improving, I just don't know how much. With our offense, it's easier to plug people in and get them acclimated. Defense requires time, experience, chemistry - especially a defense so reliant on communication and reads. With the additions of CP3, Capela and Shumpert we are only now going to see what this defense is capable of with 3 of its 5 best defenders in the rotation. Further, the addition of Markieff while extremely underwhelming and defensively worrisome might have an incidental value of improving both Tucker's rebounding, defense and shooting through a significant reduction in minutes. IMO if you're going to bet on anything, don't waste your time betting on health. Bet on the defense gelling quickly and bet on the front office signing 1 or 2 more players who might be outside the rotation when healthy but ready and playable when called upon.
Yes, staying healthy is a concern. Also, EG is only shooting 32% and has yet to regain his form from last year. He’ll need to step up for the Rockets to make a run. It would also help if we signed a SF like House that can knock down 3’s and play a little defense.
now, looking up a few numbers is lazy i invested a good portion of my life in my theory, thats not lazy my son...not thats anything wrong with being lazy
House and Keiff will be back soon. Nene and Iman will be on the bench soon..... times will be good again.
Last season we our winning percentage was over 90% when James, CP and Clint started together Take THAT for data. LOL. I'm hoping we can get back in the groove after the ASB when Clint is back
disagree with what? we won a lot of games without 'our rim protector' and lost many games with 'our rim protector'
Don't you mean the big 1? Harden? Capela should never ever ever be mentioned as part of a 'Big 2-3-4-or-5' and if he is, your team has no championship aspirations. You cannot win a championship with Capela as your starting center or really center period. -BH
No other contending team in the NBA lost their no 2-4 best players for an extended period of time. OKC losing Roberson and a couple of role players dont equal losing Capela, Cp3 abd EG lolz. Pretty sure in a completely healthy season Rox would have dominated like last year.
If Capela is our second best player come playoffs then it will be a quick exit. Also big “4”!!!! Since when!!!!
The rockets don't have a big 4 and that's a big reason why we're losing. Defense is the biggest culprit but part of the reason we're so awful on defense is that Chris Paul is playing like a shell of his former self. He's no longer as reliable of an offensive threat and this has led the rockets to play with more offense oriented lineups on the court. The Gordon at the 3 lineup was used last year to jump start the offense or to close out games last year not to keep us afloat. The sad part is I'm not sure how the rockets get significantly better. As has been mentioned on this board a lot recently, the CP contract is so huge that it prevents us from making big time acquisitions. We have a great superstar in Harden and a good 3rd or 4th guy in Capela but we need some luck here. We need to somehow get another star to be Harden's robin, we need almost a complete roster overhaul with defense and length in mind, and we need CP to at least maintain his current level of output as a really good starter for the rest of his contract.
