Remember the rumors that said KD and Ime didn't want CP3 anywhere near this team when news came out that the Clippers were gonna release CP? That should answer your question as to why we don't have a vet PG. Ime and KD don't want an environment where they will be held accountable.
If the Rockets were great without FVV, the narrative would have been, "See, FVV sucks, and wasn't needed". Now that the Rockets are playing poorly without FVV, the narrative is still "FVV sucks and wouldn't fix this". Personally, I was expecting internal improvement and KD to cause the Rockets to be better, overshadowing the value of losing FVV, such that it would be the first sentence. I never expected FVV getting as much hatred for being injured, and the rest of the team not being good enough. Granted, a lot of this is the Rockets are down other players too. This isn't to say FVV is the only player that he could do what he does. The NT-MLE if used perfectly in hindsight, would not fix this.
This is the worst, least enjoyable "good" Rockets team that I can remember - and that was actually true a month ago, not including the ast 2 weeks' Parade of Horribles Last night was just so ridiculous I can't even get mad about it because I gave up on these guys after the Lakers losses.
A lot of people are overlooking(or have forgotten) less egregious collapses like the Sixers game where the Rockets were up 7 with under 3 1/2 minutes to go and blew that lead before falling in OT(yet again). And of course there are the near collapses like at home vs Orlando(turning it over at midcourt when KD slipped and needing Alpi to hit that hook shot to send it to OT), Dallas(blowing a 10 point lead late before Alpi hit a bank shot in the lane), New Orleans(choking a 9 point lead and being down 104-100 late before the Jabari 3 and KD game winner), and of course Miami which I don't need to recap. Basically since the scouting report went out on the Rockets in late November and the early red hot shooting inevitably cooled off, the team has been extremely predictable which is why they've pissed away so many games and are barely a .500 ballclub(30-25 overall) since December 1. This is where a competent coaching staff is needed. But instead of making any adjustments(aside from tweaking the starting lineup occasionally), we've seen nothing but doubling down on the same mistakes that keep costing them these games they should be winning.
Watched the first half and some of the 3rd quarter and then did other things...when I went to bed, I checked my phone and saw that the Rockets lost AGAIN but in OT by 2 points. Had no idea until this morning that they let the Wolves go on a 15-0 run to end the game. Glad I didn't see it live or I would have lost my **** again. I am always going to be a Rockets fan (I mean I still followed them with Silas and KPJ) but goddang it this team frustrates me more than any other Rocket team. We are going to finish as the 6th seed and get bounced in the first round by the Lakers. Then the FO will not do anything in the offseason and think that bringing back a healthy FVV will fix everything. We can all see this from a mile away.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The Ime Udoka role as a coach is just not good enough. ....... ....... .......
I would say mid-November was when teams really got down just clog the paint against the Rockets as they don't have enough shooters. Basically, Reed was on a huge heater that masked how poorly the Rockets' starting lineups were doing in mid-November through mid December. The Rockets have a negative Net Rating without Reed since 11/15. This isn't to say Reed is a cure-all as he hasn't fit with starters (well at least one of them). This is more a proxy of how the starters have been since then. Basically, the Rockets are average when any of the shooters is off the court, when Amen is off the court, or when Sengun is on the court.
I used to enjoy close games the most but now I just assume we will lose them. It's a bad place to be in as a fan. At this point, I honestly feel like losing a bunch of games the rest of the way, falling behind Phoenix into the play-in, then losing those two games would be the most merciful ending to this season. At least we'd know major changes were likely coming and wouldn't have to be disappointed in a longer playoff series, which against most of these playoff teams I think would likely be a Gentleman's Sweep at this point
It's not even the pain of losing close games. It's that they're almost always mired in them even if it's a crappy or shorthanded opponent. We shouldn't be going to OT(and losing) against the G-League Warriors at home. We shouldn't need a miraculous finish to defeat the Pelicans. We shouldn't need to eek out a win over a Mavs team that has Cooper Flagg and no one else. Since January 1, they've played 42 games. Basically half a season's worth. They're 23-19 in that stretch. And out of those 23 wins, only 6 have been by double figures.
Everythign is DIFFICULT with this team. Nothing is ever easy. The recent Atlanta game is the exception that proves the rule - nothing ever seems to flow naturally in terms of having optionality, plan A doesn't work, go to plan B via ball movement or cuts or whatever. it's basically that the Rockets are dependent on *everybody* having good jumpshooting luck simultaneously to score points, or cobbling together enough offensive rebounds and junk. The defense is not as good as last year or good enough to win games on its own The turnovers are among the worst in the league- bottom 3 with tanking teams. All 3 of these items get magnified/exacerbated in the 4th period leading to a horrific slew of losses. When I see the Rockets within 1 or 2 scores heading into the 4th I get resigned to a loss.
On needing everyone to shoot well....I think this is because the Rockets play so few volume shooters. Also, it is easier to contest when there are fewer people that need to be guarded at the three-point line. On defense....Brooks is missed. DFS was meant to help replace Brooks, and that has failed. I'm in the minority, but I'm not loving the JSJ as a SF defensive experience. Hes fine as a PF, but with Sengun at center, Durant at PF, and now Reed at PG, he's not good enough defensively to be the 2nd best POA defender. No rim protector. Reed, Durant, and Sengun are not switchable defenders. Turnovers...Reed isn't ready as a PG. Amen isn't a full-time PG.
and if this team go into OT, just toss it up as an auto L. you know sure well this team is not composed enough to pull through in OT
Embarrassing losses are Ime's speciality. His other speciality is blaming everyone but himself in the post game press conference.
I thought it was weird to hire IMe off of his *suspension* to begin with but I thought his reputation was overblown - 1 year coaching an elite NBA championship caliber Celtics team & more or less obtaining the same or similar results to Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla says more about the players than the coach. He made one good move in his Celtics year which was to move Robert Williams to the wing/corner defense spot after a rocky start instead of underneath which allowed him to fly in and contest and their defense was unstoppable for about 50 games. But, that was it.
