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Have you checked their opponents for the first 6-7 games?
Getting rid of Parsons and having Ariza as the replacement.
Their defense can be potent once Beverly is back.
The only thing stopping them is McHale.
Have you checked their opponents for the first 6-7 games?
Ariza is definitely and improvement IMO
but that's about it. they are probably getting beat by a Blazer or fill in the blank team in round 1 or 2 imo
1st round exit
Yeah, their schedule has been soft so far, but they seemed to have shown real improvement on the defensive end.
They can be a 2nd rounder, or a WCFinalist this year, which is an improvement from last year for sure.
I can't see them going to the finals or winning it all yet, but with an improved defense, anchored by D12 and flanked by Ariza and Beverly, they can be a very difficult team to match up against.
They are not a deep team and the days of 6-8 men playoff rotation are long gone especially if you wish to beat the Spurs, that is also one of their biggest weaknesses aside from Mcfail.
I wouldn't say fluked. They consciously let go of Parsons AND Lin. I think losing Lin is addition by subtraction. Idk if they are a better team yet. Asik was leaving no matter what and they haven't found a decent replacement for him. And they have no legit PF. Jones is still developing, and teams like the Clippers and Portland with athletic PFs will give them trouble. They hired a defensive minded assistant coach, I think that can help. Really need bench depth.
They should go after someone like David West or Paul Millsap.
2nd rd exit is their ceiling. Ariza's addition isn't going to propel then from a 1st rd team to a WCF. They have the same coach, it remains to be seen if Harden could actually show in the postseason and they still have a thin bench which is important going forward.
GSW, Mavs, Spurs and even A low seed OKC could all spoil Houstons aspirations.
Good thing his contract is up at the end of the season, so if they don't get past the first, he won't be back. With McHale's luck, this mother er could end up advancing to the second round and getting a five year extension
i dont think they can beat a healthy spurs team
all spurs need to do is put green/kawhi on harden contain him, and its over...
don't get me wrong. Spurs are 1 likely injury away from a 2nd round exit as well. but still. The Rockets are just not going anywhere unless they make a midseason trade
Agree that having the offense being centered around the Bearded Flopper will again not work come playoff time.
Could he, will he learn to distribute the ball and involve a healthy DHoward more? Q is more will McHale insist he does?
Not likely.
I was thinking the same. Bosh would have been a great get ... but by trading Lin developing Terence Jones and getting the upgrade on defense in the Ariza/Parsons swap. I think Arzia + Jones - Bosh - Lin as crazy as it sounds makes the Rox better balanced.
Yes, their schedule is soft especially since Pop punted before Last Thursday's night game ...but as SURE as I was that they were not legit last year ... I am really starting to buy in to their team despite my loathing of Dwight.
Like I said earlier this week give them RC, and I would give them great odds at beating the Mavs and AT LEAST Pushing the Spurs to 7.
Bosh would have put them on another level. Oh well. I wouldn't turn down 30 extra mil either .
Harden just had double digit assists last night for the second time. Not sure why people think he doesn't distribute the ball tbh. His problem was defense and right now it's shooting.
nobody said he doesn't distribute the ball
League ed. We missing our starting PG and PF for most of this season.
Beverly is a top 5 defensive guard in the league. Jones is 10x better than Motiejunas.
Beverly/Canaan/Daniels
Harden/Terry
Ariza/K-Pap/Garcia
Jones/K-Pap/Motiejunas
Dwight/Black
But can it get them past McHale when the bright lights are on?
Jones and a healthy Dwight is pretty scary matchup for the Spurs tbh. The Rockets are a better team with Parsons over Ariza, but he's a great subs ute. Turtlehead and Garcia are good role players. Rockets are scary for sure
the blazers of last season
^ah. well then he's dumb. Harden has always been a playmaker, not just a one-dimensional scorer
IF Ariza can keep it up, he may have morphed into giving us our Big Three by complete accident. Add three point shooting specialist JET and do everything Papanikolaou and you have a solid core to do some damage in the post season.
Have they got a new coach, better pg and a pf? Lots a crappy teams they have been padding their record on
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