27 replies to this topic

[marbony81110]

I have been reading articles and forums over the last couple of weeks and I am noticing a pattern...the Rockets are a borderline playoff team and will take a significant drop in the western conference standings. I have seen articles and forums that have the Nuggets and Suns ahead of the Rockets.

 

People are taking losing Parsons, Lin, and Asik as if the Rockets lost a Lebron James or Kevin Durant. Ariza will provide the same production as Parsons with better defensive support. Lin has been replaced internally with Cannon and Daniels. Asik wasn't truly replaced (it's hard to replace a big, defensive minded center like him), but I'm sure Dorsey can handle those 10-15 minutes a game as a back up with a better offensive sense as long as its not free throws.

 

I understand people not liking Dwight or James, but that shouldn't sway the obvious. This is a really good team. I'm not saying that as a fan. It is the truth. I'm a Tennessee Titans fan and I know my team really sucks. I'm not a biased fan.Think of it this way, the Rockets were an 8th seed when it was JUST Harden. How do you come to the conclusion that with Dwight, Harden and some good role players the Rockets won't see anything above a 7th seed? The only thing missing from the Rockets was TEAM DEFENSE. It wasn't just Harden.

 

This team will be a 4 or 5 seed and lose in the 2nd round or Western Conference finals. I have confidence in the players, but not in McHale's ability to out-coach the better coaches in the league.

[rocketrick]

I just don't believe the Head Coach (Kevin McHale in this instance) needs to "out-coach" going forward.

The NBA is a players game and I for one am willing to tell the truth.

[Steven]

The media is always bashing Houston. Rockets win 60 games.

[Cooper]

I think we will be a mid seed 4-5 again but the difference between that and 7-8 will only be a 3 or 4 games so if we catch some bad breaks its possible to be in that spot. 

[Willk]

The media is always bashing Houston. Rockets win 60 games.

I would look at what Vegas says instead of the media since they have a financial interest in their predictions. Writers can say whatever they want without any ramifications. Vegas has them as 4th in the west.

[kdo]

The answer is simple.

Last year's team, for all intents and purposes, worked. It gelled more quickly than most people expected. If they kept the team, and merely polished it with greater cohesion, in all likelihood it would be an improved team.

However, over the summer, this pretty sucessful team over the season had a mini blow up, and key players and positions that were part of the "gel" is no longer here.

Granted, the newer players / replacements of those we lost are better...but only on paper., and only on assumed individual talent, that may or may not fit with the flow of the team at this point. Thus, many media publications are once again (understandably) treating Houston like a new configuration, similar to how it was at the beginning of the previous season.

Gelling quickly during a single season to a winning record is not a common occurence, and it was highly hoped that Houston would have kept the team, as it was, and improve over the summer. It's pretty much a half-reset, and Houston is also a small market, so the media becomes pessimistic.

[Buckko]

The only gelling that matters is between harden and howard. The rest is merely bench players and Ariza, thanks to his skill set is literally a perfect plug-in so I can't see any gelling issues to speak of.

[Steven]

I would look at what Vegas says instead of the media since they have a financial interest in their predictions. Writers can say whatever they want without any ramifications. Vegas has them as 4th in the west.

I meant Houston in general, not just the Rockets.

Vegas doesn't know how good Papoejdjtbekfnfifous is.

[rockets best fan]

@marbony81110

no doubt we take more than our share of negative press. however when you read into the articles you realize most of the writers haven't seen enough of the Rockets and are usually way off base on the internal workings of our organization and locker room. I use that fact to establish who creditable writers are. I know the Rockets about as well as any fan could, so when I read articles way off base on what's really happening it makes me take a look at that writer's creditability when considering other material he has written or will write. some writer's are more interested in hits than getting to the truth. once a writer writes enough bad articles I will no longer read his material or accept his statements without verifying through other sources. there are very few writer's who really know the Rockets. two of the worst offenders are Bill Ingram on basketball insiders and dang near every writer on Bleacher report. you will find very little real valued information coming from either of these two, but there are others. I'm floored by the lack of respect sometimes, but have pretty much grown use to the noise makers

 

I too am excited about this up coming season. I appear in the minority in believing we are a better team than when we finished the season. Lin was addition by subtraction to me. the players we have to replace him will be better than him IMO. Parsons was a good player, but his production will be replaced and exceeded by Ariza. Asik's only real impact for the team came during the playoffs. we went most of the season with him either pouting or injured .......which ever story you want to believe. personally I believe he was pouting. however in either case his effectiveness to change where we stood at the end of the season record wise was minimal at best and when you consider the time we wasted at the beginning of the season trying to make the twin tower effect work Asik was more negative than positive. I believe with the assets his trade provided us we can be a better team over the long haul. I trust Morey to turn that Pelican's pick into something to help this team to the next level of it's evolution.

 

I share your opinion about McHale. I have beat that drum so loudly I think everyone here is clear on what I think of his abilities. HE'S A SUPER HERO...........HE'S IMPOSTER MAN  I regress  don't want to rile up the masses. however my hope is this is the last season we will be cursed with his presence. so I'm just riding it out.

[marbony81110]

I also think we will be better than we were last year. The team was missing defense. The defense will improve this year into a legitimate top 10 defense. There will still be a need for improvement on the D, but it will be a lot better than last year. Harden will do a better job, however, I don't think he will be some lock down defender. He will do what he has to do to help the team's defense. Meaning far fewer swipes at the ball and effort trying to stay in front of his man. The fact that he will be carrying the offensive load means that he can't be too aggressive because that often leads to fouls that he doesn't need to be collecting.

 

The offense is going to be awesome as usually. As long as you have Howard and Harden with shooters around them the Rockets are going to score a bunch of points. Hopefully, McHale (sigh) can figure out the right rotation earlier in the season. I never thought the twin tower thing would work out last year especially when you have two big men that have no jump shot. 

 

The only element of the Rockets that I am unsure of is the bench rotation. There a few players that have potential. The question is will those players live up to that potential? Daniels should be a sharpshooter from the bench. Similar to a J.J. Redick role. I think Kostas will be a really good six man. I'm just hoping he can be a little bit of a selfish player off the bench and force the action. I think Cannon can facilitate, but I'm not sure of his ability to be the creator of the second unit. I have given up on D.Mo. There is just something missing in his game or demeanor. I'm not sure what it is. I feel that Dorsey will be a beast on the block with the second unit. Crashing boards, put backs, attacking and aggression. If McHale (sigh again) can figure out the bench this team will be much better mainly because of defense and another year of Dwight and Harden.

[rockets best fan]

@marbony81110

I have guarded optimism concerning our defense. I felt we were good enough last year to perform better, but lacked leadership. I'm not sure T.R. Dunn can provide that leadership. as for Harden..........I've heard him talk his need to improve his defense before and it turned out to be talk only. until I see the commitment from him the jury is still out. if we can only crack the top ten as number 9 or 10 in defense I will be disappointed. I think top 5 is within our grasp if Harden really commits.

 

I have given up hope McHale will figure anything out except how to say "the ball got sticky". maybe now that his job is on the line it will light a fire under his butt to actually attempt to lead this team. however even if he does take on the reins of leadership it does no good for the blind to lead the blind. so how much it will help us remains to be seen. I simply have NO confidence in the man

 

as for talent on our bench........I think we have better options than last year. the players maybe young, but are more talented than last year. any improvement will be from the collective talent alone............ not because McHale figured anything out.

[Steven]

What is top 5 defense? PPG or PPP. 20th in PPG is fine for me as long as PPP is top 5 and point differential is top 5. I don't see Rockets ever being top 5 in PPG due to pace. Plus the Eastern confernce are all offensively inadequate.

[marbony81110]

Top 5 in point differential would be great and possible if the team can commit to defense. I agree that it is probably impossible to be one of the top teams in PPG because of their pace. 

 

As I watched the games last year I often wondered if some of the defensive problems was the result of scheme and not JUST the players. There were so many plays where there would be two players open no matter which side of the floor they were on because every Rocket defender not guarding the ball handler would sink close to the paint. That often caused our defenders to over pursue after the pass and led to complete defensive break downs. Its like they were trying to chase them off the 3-point line and force them inside towards Dwight. Not a bad plan, but it is bad when that ball handler can pass to two open shooters instead of forcing a shot over Howard. If the Houston defenders would stay home or in their lane on a consistent basis, that could lead to a big difference in the defense. Maybe they can be more disciplined on D this year.  

[rockets best fan]

@Steven

I was thinking opponent's field goal percentage in my defensive statements above. to me that stat plus percentage of all rebounds grabbed are the truest barometers of real defense.

[rockets best fan]

@marbony81110

our defensive problems do go beyond just the players IMO. our schemes stink. we don't practice sound defensive rotations. again...... Dunn has a hell of job on his hands. to me our biggest failure was players staying in front of their man. all any team had to do to get an opening was run a pick at the top of the key with perimeter players and our defense collapsed. we had quite a few weaknesses, but this stood out like a sore thumb to me. it seem to me we lack the effort to fight through picks on most nights and our rotations always seem a step late. our adjustments?..............there were none. I really didn't realize the impact Sampson had within the locker room until he left for U of H. he was the one coach who wasn't afraid to get in a players grill. after he left any small measure of accountability left with him. I hope Dunn can replace that ingredient along with some sound defensive fundamentals. we have the talent, however unless the troops are deployed properly with a sound game plan our efforts will be futile

[Alituro]

@marbony81110

no doubt we take more than our share of negative press. however when you read into the articles you realize most of the writers haven't seen enough of the Rockets and are usually way off base on the internal workings of our organization and locker room. I use that fact to establish who creditable writers are. I know the Rockets about as well as any fan could, so when I read articles way off base on what's really happening it makes me take a look at that writer's creditability when considering other material he has written or will write. some writer's are more interested in hits than getting to the truth. once a writer writes enough bad articles I will no longer read his material or accept his statements without verifying through other sources. there are very few writer's who really know the Rockets. two of the worst offenders are Bill Ingram on basketball insiders and dang near every writer on Bleacher report. you will find very little real valued information coming from either of these two, but there are others. I'm floored by the lack of respect sometimes, but have pretty much grown use to the noise makers

 

 Ran into this last week while searching around for something new and Rockets related to read. (this offseason if you're waiting on fresh content from Red94, you will wait awhile) So, I was over reading at the Bleacher Report, and of course the article was about how the Rockets are worse this season. One of the reasons written about was because we had no defensive back-up at center with Asik gone.. A reader responded that Dorsey can provide some decent defense and may surprise someone and emerge as a stopper. The writer chided the commenter with a remark along the lines of "well, he's been in the league since '08, if he was a defensive beast, we would all know by now". Which of course is FALSE because Joey had spent some seasons in Europe in which he won a Greek League Championship and was named defensive player of the year. I called the writer out on his inconsistencies (respectfully)... my comment was removed and I am now banned from posting. Which is fine but he still didn't remove his lie from his own comment even after proven false.  I believe their blog is just an extension of the LA Times anyway, so pretty much par for the course.

 

I believe that the Rockets are among the most hated by sports writers, and we probably have Morey to thank for that. With deals like the Harden one and the poison pills for Lin and Asik, letting Parsons walk, the constant and complete fleecing of the Kings, and much more including the cult of personality surrounding him and his advanced metrics movement. Couple that with adding Howard (the guy everyone wanted on their team but hated if he didn't choose them). Put it all together and host it deep in the great state of Texas and you've got a formula easy to hate for anyone residing in the west or east coasts and the midwest. Personally I love all of the hate, and am glad our bandwagoner bait has finally left the building, so Rockets fans can be Rockets fans and everyone else can.. well, just.... you know.

Edited by Alituro, 06 October 2014 - 01:56 PM.

[Cooper]

I don't think dorseys size translates well to the nba but he will have another chance to prove he can succeed. 

[Alituro]

I don't think dorseys size translates well to the nba but he will have another chance to prove he can succeed. 

Yeah, we will see, I don't have high hopes, but he has some bulk and strength. I'd say Ben Wallace could be his ceiling, similar sized, similar offensive ineptitude. He should be OK stopping bench centers though.

[Losthief]

Yeah, we will see, I don't have high hopes, but he has some bulk and strength. I'd say Ben Wallace could be his ceiling, similar sized, similar offensive ineptitude. He should be OK stopping bench centers though.

 

Dorsey has the same wingspan as asik (7'1.75 vs 7'2) and weighs more (269 lbs vs 256)...size isn't necessarily his issue, height and size are different things.

 

Now..asik has better positioning from what I recall...but we'll see how dorsey has progressed...I haven't seen him play since he went overseas personally so I have no idea.

[clydesmoustache]

This is the only sports website that I read the comments. I used to get angry about all the misinformation and negative press but now I just find it boring. A very large tip of the hat to all at red94! I feel like my basketball IQ has grown by reading this site.