Rockets are 0-3

I will give Udoka at least 10 games before I make my judgement.

 

Harden is not the same player. Dude can’t beat his man to the basket anymore which pretty much takes away the threat of the step back.

On top of that he’s still the same guy off that court as 10 years ago. Clubs, Strippers, Night life with 20 year old rappers, etc etc.,,,

PG13 while still a solid all star level player is on the wrong side of 30 and injury wise has had horrible luck especially over the past few years.

This team has some intriguing talent but you gotta patient and let it all cook before really making judgment. Still very raw young team.

 

2 of 3 games was close. There is not much to turn this into wins. Van Vleet need to lead this team. He is not the leader right now what the Roaster Former surely excepted fro him. I cant understand why they dont traded good 3 Point Shoter. You are strong in the paint and if Sengün drive in they must double him and we see a lot of passes of Sengün outside but Houston got not good 3 Point Shooter. Against the spurs it was too much TO and missed FT and this game TO was good and FT too but the FG% was bad. I think this team will learn and then start to win games in row. So first 3 games my judgment:

+Sengün
+Brooks

This two player are the only guys who give the performance what you wait from them. The rest are all under there possibilities in my opinion. So there is a lot room for improvement!

 

I totally agree with what you said.

My issue with this team is the decision making from top to bottom.

The signing of Jeff Green just doesn’t make any sense, not every old player will be a mentor in your locker room and on the floor for your young players, mentoring is overrated, what you can do on the floor is the only thing can earn you respect nowadays.

Playing any minutes with Bullock is just dumb.

Seeing J Smith Jr grabbing a rebound and then running with the ball in slow mo until he hit a wall of defender or running into bad spot that ends up with him taking a bad shot or passing out to his teammates, you will also start to question what kind of instruction the coach was giving him during the game?

I don’t care about how many shots FVV missed after 3 games, but why he was never in any position to start most of the offense nor moving to help out his teammates and just standing there at the corner, that’s something lots of the fans so upset about it.

 

The team as a whole has gotten better. Credit to udoka for not being silas and demonstrating some level of competence as an nba head coach.

I think the future is in good hands with Udoka around.

Yea the offense and defense looks more structured and more organized. Yes guys are playing harder and overall smarter. But despite that, through three games, Green and Jabari look like the same players as they were last year.

There are two different things here to look at. The overall team structure and system that is being built plus the culture, and then the play of individual players. They are not one in the same.

If Jabari and/or Jalen had taken a jump as individual players the Rockets would at the very least be 1-2 and potentially 3-0.

It’s only been three games, so maybe once they settle in they will look better as individual players. But I doubt it. I just don’t think they are star level players.

The team will get more wins than the previous three seasons just based on the upgrade from Udoka to Silas. But I don’t think this team will progress to the next level with Jalen and Jabari emerging as star players.

 

The Rockets youngins did not explode like a certain Cam Thomas.

 

I think it is naive to pin it all on Jabari, Jabari is never going to average 28 or 30........and probably not by a long shot now.

Jalen is Jalen, he has some new circus tricks but essentially he is the same player who is not a good shooter.

He can go on a 12 point burst in minutes and then cool off and score nothing the rest of the way.

He is not the clear Number 1 option that is why his scoring will stay at 20-23 ppg.

 

True about Jalen, he is not a good shooter, but don’t forget the former MVP in this league is also a poor shooter but had lead the Bucks to a championship. Obviously no one should compare the two and expect the same, I am just saying even at Jalen’s current skill set level, he could still be a very good player in this league for a while IF he is playing in the right situation.

 

Are you referring to Giannis, he is a defensive monster, it is just my 2 cents but I do not think the Bucks are built like a super team before the Lillard trade.

They were built to dominate in the regular season.

They won it once but people knew that the Bucks were struggling in the Playoffs for years.
Partly they could not score when it matters most.

 

I see improved intensity and defensive fundamentals from everyone on the team. Even guys like Jalen who has been lackadaisical at times when he doesn't have the ball in his hands--9 rebounds is a good demonstration of his effort level having improved.

This is a game we probably win if Curry is having an off night. Nothing you can do about the best shooter in the world going off like that.

 

He had an off night until the 3rd Quarter lol.... I mean we could find excuses every night like this.

You do not score 95 in a home game, and you sure do not score 86 in the season opener in Orlando.

Saric and Chris Paul did not even shoot.

You are a bad team on Offense if that happens.

 

True, but in the end he knocked down 4 in a row when they needed it. Just Steph Curry being Steph Curry. Hate that dude but have to give him his due.

 

If the Rockets for instance won by 1 point, it would be great but the Offense is shet....fact remains.

 

Our offense is bad... we knew it would be. We took a team without shooters and didn't fix that problem in the offseason. It's what we expected. We need a major breakout from a young player to have even a mediocre offense and we haven't had that as of now.

 

The Warriors knew they were going to either lose it by single digits or come out with a narrow win.

They had Klay and Gary Payton on speed dial when Curry did not hit those.

They were prepared for those scenarios.

Their main goal is to get Draymond the Donkey acclimated.....I think it was quite obvious and winning was just a by product....I do not think they were expecting the win that night.

The Rockets were the ones begging for Wins.....not the Worriers. You could see that the Worriers did not rush, did not get that excited, only Curry did his usual show boating.

 

Sure. As said before this loss meant more to the Rockets than a Loss to the Warriors, they do not really care unless it is a Home loss.

Veteran teams are just using games against young teams to mesh their units.

The Hornets game would be a real test, prospects vs prospects.

 

Current snapshot of winless teams.

East: Nets 0-2

West: 0-3 Blazers, Rockets and Grizzlies tied.

Hopefully Rockets will climb out first.

 

Hey at least that Brooklyn pick is on track...

 

Positives like the thread asked for:

Rockets are clearly playing better interior and transition defense than last year. It is no longer a layup drill day in and day out.
Dillon Brooks is playing really good on both sides of the ball.
Amen improves each game, but, of course has a long way to go.
Sengun is starting to get his head around being one of the main facilitators.
Tari will be a tremendous addition to a struggling bench. I can’t wait to see him, Tate, and Amen in transition.
Bari looked a little more comfortable (trying to stay positive)
Free throw shooting which cost us the San Antonio game was very good.
Udoka actually coaches DURING the game and is holding players accountable.

What I want to see more of:
Give Cam the Bullock minutes.
Hold the vets to the same accountability standard as you do the youth.
FVV not slowing down the pace.
More Amen at PG even if he struggles. He looks like someone that learns quickly and can take the criticism. We are not going to beat this schedule to start this season, so get Amen more comfortable sooner rather than later. It is different to gift your budding superstar that gives maximum effort than what Silas and Stone did with Jalen.

 

After doing a deep dive on team statistics after three games the Rockets appear to be awful at everything. They are even worse than last season. However, they are 1st in one category: minutes played!