I want them to at least try to make the play in. If and only we are completely eliminated, shut down the vets and let the kids play. Need Amen and Cam to get as much run time as possible.
I fall back on this as my best-case long-shot expectation for this season. Around equal odds of this happening versus the Rockets getting into the play-in.
Said it before the season expectating the team to double the wins was unreasonable. Still at team of 19-22 year olds plus Brooks and FVV
I want to see them go 13-7. 40 wins would be a huge confidence boost for the young squad. They'll swap out some vets this off-season with some that can actually participate on the floor and add a young stud in the draft and hopefully Jabari will pack on 10 pounds of muscle this off-season and sleep every night with a bees nest in his bed so that he comes into next season angry and ready to compete.
I expect about 10 more wins. More interested in individual players. I'd like to see more FVV, Amen, and Sengun with 2 of Smith, Brooks, and Cam. That likely will only happen a little as Udoka seems to be trying to develop Green.
13-7. Rox need at least one 5 or 6 game win streak mixed in. And a little luck for a change. Hopefully Jalen hits a sustainable hot streak. I've seen stranger things happen.
Tonight’s game will say a lot. If we can beat a good Sacramento team on the road, it will signal that we are again back to being competitive. Playing Amen and Cam is imperative.
40 wins is the bar of success I set for the Rockets before the season began, for the following reasons: Any average GM should be able to put together a 40-win team. If Stone can't build a 40-win roster with $60M in cap space and 3 recent top 5, 1st-round picks, then he shouldn't be trusted this offseason to get it right for next year. The win-loss record is directly correlated to the growth of Green, Sengun, and Smith. If the Rockets can't reach 40 games then those guys have underperformed. The star that the Rockets are seeking is supposed to already be on the roster from those recent top draft selections. Sengun is promising, but I've been disappointed by Smith and Green. So if the Rockets can win at least 12 more games, I'll view this season as a success, even if we miss the play-in. It's important to finish the year strong because it determines the offseason strategy. If they win 40 or more, the Rockets don't need to make drastic changes to the roster. You can afford to give Jalen Green another year to see if he takes a leap and leave the starting lineup the same. You would just need to make moves to deepen the bench depth. You wouldn't need to trade the Nets picks this offseason or any of the young core. You would just need to trade players like Jae'Sean Tate, Jock Landale, or Aaron Holiday. If they win less than 40, more drastic changes are needed. You can't bring back the same roster next year and expect play-in or better. I also firmly believe it would be a mistake to bring back Stone as the GM. The front office will need to explore trading pieces of the young core (e.g. Green, Smith, etc) and draft capital for more established players that can push the Rockets into the playoffs. TL;DR - These last 19 games are important because it will determine how much change the Rockets need to undergo during the offseason.
Wow - I love the optimism, our road record is really bad, would be a miracle to get to 40 wins, but hey, let's go ! DD
last 2 years were lost because Stone pressured Silas to develop KPJ and Green. now same thing is happening after the allstar break. Stone pressure for the Green experiment year 3. That man will never be good at nor should be related to any basketball operations.
I feel the reason why they are giving JG4 this long leash is because the prior two seasons they were focused on KPJ being the captain of the ship I think an article was published about the Rockets doing just that So if Stone was willing to go that far for a player he traded for with a 50th or so draft pick.......then imagine how patience he is going to be with his first selection, who has show flashes of being to take over qtrs/games with scoring, Stone will over brown-nose for Green as long as he is under contract with team And his defense improved because they were bottom five last year and now in top 5-10 with him as starter Stone is going to give him next season to decide on extension, which all you want from him is more consistency of the good games, and work on 3Pt & FT shot everyday this offseason, and every season forward The receipts are going to be classic, from either side (pro or anti)
I don't think it's that easy to put together essentially a .500 team these days, at least in the West. (Maybe it's a different story in the Least.) Look at the records for Dallas, LA, and Golden State, all teams with true superstar players... they're barely over .500. It was never realistic to expect us to basically double our win total in one offseason, even with $60M to spend. For me, 35 wins would be a moderately successful season. That doesn't necessarily mean I think Stone should keep his job though.
All the front office preseason rhetoric was "we're starting phase two" and making the play-in games. I thought our best-case scenario was 35 wins, and early on, that seemed achievable because the players bought into Udoka's defensive system. Injuries, wear and tear, and a lack of player improvement finally derailed that early optimism. Since making the playoffs was the standard, I think Stone has to be judged as an underperforming GM. He was unable to deliver an in-season trade that could help the roster. In my opinion, this offseason will be Stone's make-or-break moment. He has to be hoping that Brooklyn continues to struggle. What the Nets do in the last 20 games seems far more important than how these games play out for the Rockets. Also having a little more lottery luck might help save Stone. As of today, the odds look more in our favor.
That's literally what most experts projected for this season. Your bar is unrealistically high, sir. It's also what I thought was realistic for us this year. I will be thrilled if we finish with 35+. That's a huge leap forward. This team has given me exactly what I wanted to see this year. I wanted to see us competitive in most games. I wanted to see one or more of the young guys break out. I wanted to see a few others give us hope that they could break out. And that's exactly what has happened. Would have been better if Jalen had a more consistent season and Tari didn't get hurt. But everything else has been everything I could hope for and more. If you expected more, that's on you, not Stone.
I don't like this sentiment about not being realistic to double the win total. The expectations must be higher. Also, Fertitta said it's time to start winning and Udoka said he expected to make the playoffs. I don't think they're happy with the win-loss record or the progress with some players on the young core. I firmly believe if we had gotten more consistency from Green and Smith we'd be 10th seed or better. They were supposed to raise the ceiling this year. Sengun has been good, but I was expecting more from Smith and Green - Green especially since it's his 3rd year. That's why I've been adamant about winning 40 games. If they don't achieve that the Rockets have to look at trading off some members of the young core because they can't risk missing the play-in again next year.
