I am going to go through the new team vs the old team and give a percent on how much I think we have gotten better. For example a 100% increase would mean double the production
FVV vs KPJ: Even without KPJ being a prick, this is arguably our second biggest upgrade for this season. An actual PG who tries on defense is unheard of. I will say maybe 75%
3rd year JG vs 2nd year JG: It is no secret that Jalen hasn’t been efficient in his career so far but this year I think that changes. Having a real PG should significantly increase his efficiency, but I don’t expect that much of a PPG increase, maybe 23-24 PPG, but a big jump in playmaking, efficiency and defence. I’ll go with 50% increase
Dillon B vs KMJ: People who think DB was a bad signing are casuals. Overpaid? Maybe but he is everything we need. KMJ could legit do one singular thing; dunk. I like KMJ but he cant be starting regularly to make the playoffs. DB is an all-nba defender and his downsides I expect Ime to get control of. This is a huge upgrade and I’d say about a 60% increase
2nd year JSJ vs 1st year JSJ: This is when we see the real JSJ, the touted no.1 pick JSJ. His confidence is up, hes hitting his shots, this man is about to prove everyone wrong. 70%
3rd year ALP vs 2nd year ALP: This is probably the smallest jump from our starters, but still a significant one. I think he will become more confident from three and better defensively, while still doing his usual ALP things. 30% increase
Amen vs Nix/TyTy: I forgot how bad our backup PG was last year. Our rookie is going to be sm better immediately even being raw. I don’t even need to explain, 100%
Whitmore vs EG: This is our only downgrade this season, while I do believe in Cam, he will not be more productive than EG. I would say -50% but EG didnt play full season so I’ll say -30%
Tate vs Tate: I mean, basically the same player so I’ll just assume he will progress slightly so I’ll say 5%
2nd year Tari vs 1st year Tari: Obvious progression for the GOAT but I don’t think it will as much as the other young guys, 25%
Jock vs Usman: A decent addition and more than likely better than Usman was, 35%
Ime vs Silas: This is the most impactful addition to our team by far. I am including all of the background staff and team direction. Going from arguably the worst coach oat to a coach thats never missed the playoffs is huge. The fact that we are not actively tanking is such a huge swing in wins its unbelievable. I am going to say 400%
If you are keeping count, on average that is a 73% increase which would turn our 22 wins into 38 wins
I feel as if that if the west wasnt as strong we would a perrenial playoff team
TL;DR: We will get better at an average of 73% turning our 22 wins into 38.
The rockets will be better but that’s not saying much considering they have been arguably the worst team in the league since harden left. The won’t make the play ins or even be in the mix for it imo.
I don’t see how nuggets, suns, clippers, lakers, warriors, kings, grizzlies, wolves, Dallas, pelicans and okc are not all significantly better than them.
And people say math is hard!
ong
Vegas doesn’t see it your way
i thought vegas had us at like +/- 18 wins better than last year or something
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2023.html
over/under was 23.5, your team was worse than expected
as in this year they were going +/- 18 wins added on to our total, meaning +/- 40 wins this season
You think Vegas projects the Rockets at 40 wins? Lol
They sucked ass last year, so yeah it won’t be hard to be better than that.
I would bet they are much closer to 22 wins than 38. Most teams got better, and the Rockets feel like they lack a true first option. I imagine a scenario where Jalen Green, FVV, Dillion Brooks and jabari smith jr are all kind of fighting each other for their shots. None of these guys are very efficient so I think itll be a little gross at times. Maybe 28-30 wins imo
Udokas coaching style is also going to make it rough for awhile. The young guys may get benched repeatedly until they can do what he wants them to do. They may be a respectable team by the end of the season, but it’s going to be chaos and a lot of L’s at the start.
I think you’re underestimating what good PG play can do for a team. Look at the Magic’s record with and without Fultz. I think Fred/Amen can have a similar effect for us this year.
Then on top of that we have a coach who is instilling actual defensive and offensive structure. We basically won 22 games on pure talent last year playing glorified AAU ball with half the bench being borderline NBA players (Nix, Tyty, Josh Christopher, Garuba, Garrison Matthews, Bruno Fernando.
Im high on Amen but I just feel like theres almost too much talent with no established hierarchy. Too many guys that could reasonably be “the guy” maybe if Ime is really as good as many think he is, the Rockets can figure it out
They’re a see it to believe it team to me. Great talent but Everything else is questionable
The Rockets will definitely be better than last year but I think you can say that about a lot of WC teams.
I think it’s fair to say they will be better than the Trailblazers and probably the Spurs and Jazz but they’re both good. Past that you’re looking at surpassing the Mavericks, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Thunder which is really tough.
I’d guess the Rockets logical ceiling this year is the 9 seed maybe? But honestly that isn’t half bad given the WC this year
Alp’s gonna keep getting taller till Rockets make play-ins
But what if you add Kurt Angle to the mix?
They’ll be better but no way do they get to close to 40 wins. They’re not that good. I suspect probably around low 30s
I think we end up at like 34-37, but 40 is certainly in the cards. I don’t think people realize how shit our roster was and how bad Silas was. Guys like Jalen, Jabari, and Sengun were being actively held back by that situation andI think they’ll pop a lot more with a competent coach and team around them (especially Jalen).
“Coach that’s never missed the playoffs” is a funny thing to say about a guy who was a head coach for one season before this
assistant as well
Bro cmon, he went out like a jackass but Ime is an excellent coach and clearly an effective motivator.
Dude also inherited a loaded team. Udoka hasn’t proved shit
I mean, he inherited a team that was barely above .500 the year before and was under .500 halfway through the season. Health and player improvement was a big part of that second-half run, but it’s still fair to give Ime some credit— I’m just skeptical of the idea that he’s some incredible wondercoach who can instantly turn a lottery team around
That’s cherry picking a season where they got injured a lot? The same team a year before was in the conference finals
I mean, yeah, they should’ve been better than .500 that season if not for the injuries and Tatum getting COVID, but they weren’t that great either. Kemba was never the same after the knee injury, Hayward was gone, and they had zero depth behind Smart and the Jays. Rob hadn’t fully broken out yet and they were relying on big minutes from Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague.
Sounds more like a roster issue. Udoka also weren’t that great in the first half of the season and there were a lot calling his head. I’m just saying sample size is way to small to say he’s that good of a coach. We will see though
I mean, yeah. We’re literally saying the same thing at this point
NBA Champion Jeff Teague*
Some people are really overrating the talents on that team. The best talent is JSJ and he is projected to be a high end role player. Jalen Green is a future 6 man. Sengun will be lucky to crack a starter role on a serious team. Eason is a role player. Amen too early to tell but he may actually turns out to be a star if everything falls in his favour. Whitmore will be lucky to stick around the league in 3-4 years he’s a Kelly Oubre type with injury and character concerns.
average raps fan take
Your team literally cut the player you named your reddit account after
Typical rocket fans overrating their average young guys. This is what happens when you spend too much time in an echo chamber hyping each other up
shush your team has no future
Dont cry because the Raptors suck. you guys will be lucky to make the playoffs in the next few years
Lol another mad Houston fan
Primarily heat fan but you and your raptors are trash
Raptors fans have moved their pessimism from raptors to other teams I see lmao cuz it’s wayyyy too early to make the type of predictions about young players on the rockets
You are not allowed to express your opinion anymore? Maybe you are hyped by those guys good for you but I just don’t see the talents there. On the other hand OKC has much better talents in my opinion. So I’m pessimistic because I like the OKC young guys but not the rockets picks?
keep ur dumbass opinions to yourself
I love it when guys like you got triggered. Post your shit in your echo chamber where you guys hype each other up, if you don’t like other opinions
Lmao “here’s my opinion guys, what do you think?”
“I don’t wanna hear your opinion idiot”
Yeah, our young players are trash, but I’m sure you think Scottie is the next coming of Magic Johnson and is primed for a major breakout this season after regressing last year in nearly every major statistical category.
RemindME! Five months
I’d say there’s a 4.36% of this happening
Man, the way U judge the increase of young players… Pretty sure my magic will get a ring this season! /S
what? the 3rd the year jump is unanimously agreed upon and this is a special case considering how woeful our system was last year
The root of the woeful system is your GM Rafael Stone and your owner Tilman. As long as they are still around your team has no future
the root of the woeful system was because of Silas and us actively tanking. Your GM is doing a much worse job rn