No one, really. I thought we'd most likely finish 4th last ahead of the Kings, Suns and Hornets and currently we're 3rd last ahead of the Kings and Suns and a half game behind the Hornets.
Well, to interject my opinion, I had the Rockets before Harden winning 27 games. After the Harden trade I upped my estimate to 34 wins. Vegas had the over/under win total at ~35 games. Lottery slotted in the 6-9 range, dependent as always on how the ping pong ball rolls.
5 or 6 IRRC. I thought we might be as good or slightly better than Portland and obviously we still might end up finishing ahead of them, but I didn't think there was any chance at all of us making the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, by saying that the Rockets are who we (I) thought there were I'm not implying that there aren't things to work on or fix. I think the coaching staff could do a better job of putting players in positions to succeed and certain players just need to step their game up. Then again, I think we need to realize that this is a rebuilding team and thus this roster is very much flawed. There's lots of position and skill overlap and the team is super young and inexperienced. The talent is there for this team to be better -- the pieces just don't quite mesh and talent alone doesn't get you far in this league. Execution and being consistent with what you do is key and I just didn't think that was reasonable to expect from this team.
4-6 is what I expected, and I'm okay with that as long as we are giving crucial developing minutes to guys like Jeremy Lin, Mook Morris and Terrance Jones. Hopefully we get D-Mo in the rotation at the end of the year.
This does show that, despite an MIT degree, when you interrupt live television to read to the world what @IHeartALLMy43Cats "on Twitter" thinks of the play in the 1Q, then you don't really get it. And may never.
He plays 15 minutes a game. He hasn't been very good in those 15 min, but blaming your back up point guard is kind of reaching. It is like saying lets blame Jodie meeks for the laker's struggles.
Truth is no one. This team was never built to contend with the powers in the West. This was a team that was built for a rebuilding year. The James Harden trade changed the outlook in the fact that the team really wanted to try and win as many games as they could for the first half of the season for a few different reasons. My thoughts are it had to do with getting at least one all-star (Harden) in the game, and maybe a second all star as well. Secondary reason being that they wanted to attract a secondary star, and Third would be player value to stay on the rise for assets to use in trading for that secondary star. The coaches are pushing everything they can out of this roster, but the truth is this team is just not very good right now. Its the youngest in the league, and guys that were coming off the bench for previous teams are now having to take on star roles with the Rockets. Its not going to be a pretty year, but here's hoping they hit their stride around the 1st of the year, and this team takes off. Its going to take somebody really, really playing out of their minds though for that to happen. Right now, they are who are supposed to be.
I think should try to pack up Lin and someone else for Paul Millsap and Mo Williams, and do it before the rest of the league knows how bad Lin is.
If you're expected to suck, and you do suck, is that really poor performance? As many have said, we don't have the talent as of right now. Perhaps talent will develop over the course of the season, perhaps next year. But currently, they just aren't very good. I think you're looking too deeply into things. We got Harden because he's James Harden, a 23yr old with superstar potential. He's basically jumpstarting our rebuilding process by one high, successful lottery pick. Other than that, I doubt the Rockets are doing anything differently. And if we continue to suck, I doubt Morey will be a buyer come the deadline.
The Tankers who changed their mind and now want a championship contender. We have what many of the people asked for.....a young team who will get a good draft pick. Our team is going to take a couple of years, and this frustrating part comes with the territory. They will improve, TJones will get some PT. We'll make another big move. All will be well.
I'm happy for the record and playing time for youngsters. A high pick next year would be awesome, but I hope one of the young guns can develop to be a star.
I didnt expect much from the team...personally...thought they could(can) compete for the last playoff spot, but i really didnt expect our guard play to be this bad...infact its the sole reason why we lost both Portland games... Till the Rockets address the poor guard play...this season is going to be on and off...Personally i think Lin is doing average, and Harden has had to shoulder too much of the scoring responsibilities. I love that Lin attacks the rim...and hopefully he starts finding his shot...infact...if the three isnt dropping...step up a lil bit...The reason why Morris and company isnt as effective as they should be once the bench steps up...is bc Tony douglas is a SG in a PG body who just cant shoot...and he just is struggling mightly running the offense(he cant even give us what Rafer could)...hence why scoring often drops dramatically by the 2nd quarter... Btw...Livingston is off the market...joined the Wizards......we really shouldve tried getting Brooks back this offseason...at least bench play would have been a strength...
