2023-24 Houston Rockets Thread - Climbing out of the Gutter?

[BigOrange1 6432]

The new season tipoffs tonight and the Rockets were certainly active over the summer, adding in a respected head coach and a couple of veteran starters to bring some experience to the young core.  

Projected startig lineup:

PG - Fred Van Vleet

SG - Jalen Green

SF - Dillon Brooks

PF - Jabari Smith

C - Alperen Sengun

 

On paper, it's an intriguing group.  How well they mesh together remains to be seen.  The western conference looks pretty deep this year and the Rockets could be an improved team but still find themselves at the bottom of the standings.  They owe their pick to OKC if it doesn't fall in the top four so there is not much reason to purposely want to lose this year.  The Vegas win total was set at 31.5.  I'll say they finish slightly better than that and go 36-46.  Probably not good enough for the play-in tournament but if they can get the young guys some expereince in some games that actually matter in the second half of the season and the young guys look like they belong, I'll consider it a good start to phase 2 of the rebuild.

 

Game 1 is tonight at 6:00 in Orlando.  Go Rockets!

Edited October 25, 2023 by BigOrange1

[Slacks 6819]

I'm old and don't have ATTSN. Help a brother out. 

[Fud 9551]

I could use an illegal stream

[TonyTexas 10504]

I use the Dofu Sportive app. It’s pretty good for NFL, NBA, MLB, CFB, NHL

[HtownHorn 14663]

Jalen Green needs to stop sucking.

[Macklemore 2876]

This is a pretty disappointing start so far.

[BigOrange1 6432]

i use streameast

[Slacks 6819]

52 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I use the Dofu Sportive app. It’s pretty good for NFL, NBA, MLB, CFB, NHL

You're Grrrreat!

[Macklemore 2876]

58 minutes ago, Fud said:

I could use an illegal stream

I don’t get how people put up with illegal streams. Most of them don’t work, popup and malware AIDS. Just horrible 

[Slacks 6819]

Just now, Macklemore said:

I don’t get how people put up with illegal streams. Most of them don’t work, popup and malware AIDS. Just horrible 

The steam I am using works fine. I don't know about its legality. 

Also, without ATTSN, it's steam or nothing. 

[wildcat09 29337]

Good sir, it’s called Space City Home Network now.

[wildcat09 29337]

Amen really needs to work on his handles.

[HtownHorn 14663]

I feel that the O/U for wins was way too high. This team is going to suck.

[ATXbronco 4062]

My Orlando Magic say :fu: :fu:

 

It's crazy.  Houston has my two favorite draft targets going back a couple of years.
Rockets are going to be crazy good as these guys come together with the brand new Coach.
Assuming that Coach is actually good and didn't just inherit a good team back in Boston.
Most people (smarter than I) think he'll do great.

[IDIOTsavant 8482]

Amen Thompson was -34 in 21 minutes….a folding chair might’ve done better.

[TonyTexas 10504]

37 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

I feel that the O/U for wins was way too high. This team is going to suck.

Ok Greenspoint 

[ATXbronco 4062]

Just noticed there was a Boba and Goga in the same game tonight.

[ATXbronco 4062]

Boba was apparently the last Rocket to make the regular season team.  
Good for him!

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

1 hour ago, HtownHorn said:

I feel that the O/U for wins was way too high. This team is going to suck.

Yea but now you can’t blame Stephen Silas all year. Maybe we just suck haha.

[perfectchaos007 6621]

I just hope the lottery is kind to us next year and doesn’t give our pick to OKC

[Fud 9551]

On 10/26/2023 at 11:25 AM, perfectchaos007 said:

I just hope the lottery is kind to us next year and doesn’t give our pick to OKC

By all accounts it's a weak draft at the top, but Houston could potentially get two top four picks 

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

Refs are dog shit

[HtownHorn 14663]

3 point shooting and FT shooting is complete dog shit.

 Lulz, we worked to get a Smith a wide open 3 at the end of the game.

Edited October 28, 2023 by HtownHorn

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

Going to be a long season 

[BigOrange1 6432]

jabari smith is going to have victor wembanyama nightmares

[perfectchaos007 6621]

Feels like a 23-59 type year for us. 

[Dutchrudder 11133]

It's still a young team, lots of time to develop. Nobody should be expecting the playoffs at this point in the rebuild, it's a happy accident if it happens. They took a similarly young and upcoming team to OT and lost. Meh, it happens. 

At some point though, this team will need to grapple with tanking for a top 4 pick and going for the play-in, just like better teams in Dallas and Portland did last year.  Keeping that first and picking this year could be a tremendous boost in the future. 

[Slacks 6819]

I didn't watch tonight. I expect this team to lose lot early. They may lose a lot late, but their damn sure going to lose early. They haven't played together. New players, new coach, and no elite nba players today. The most talented guys are 21 and under. I see talent, but only FVF and Brooks have real experience. 

Play defense and create open slots and winning will come. 

 

[Irieguy 1059]

34 minutes ago, Slacks said:

 

Play defense and create open slots and winning will come. 

 

So play good defense and play good offense. Genius advice. 

[Slacks 6819]

8 hours ago, Irieguy said:

So play good defense and play good offense. Genius advice. 

It's Rockets science. 

 

Go ahead and make some FTs, too. They cost nothing to make. 

[billfromlaketravis 11444]

Feels like we’re in an endless rebuild like the Kings. 

[Irieguy 1059]

2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Feels like we’re in an endless rebuild like the Kings. 

You didn’t notice that the Kings are very good?

[billfromlaketravis 11444]

1 minute ago, Irieguy said:

You didn’t notice that the Kings are very good?

Yes. But it took them like 10+ years. 

[Baboontyme 2809]

Is Whitmore going to play? Why isn't he getting minutes? I don't follow the Rockets but I drafted him in the last round of fantasy. 

[HtownHorn 14663]

18 minutes ago, Baboontyme said:

Is Whitmore going to play? Why isn't he getting minutes? I don't follow the Rockets but I drafted him in the last round of fantasy. 

Because Tate is the Rockets's Maldonado.

[Slacks 6819]

31 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Because Tate is the Rockets's Maldonado.

Because it was game 2 and Whit is a rook. 

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

Missing Wemby and Chet and instead getting Jags for 100s of loses just didn’t work out for us. 

[billfromlaketravis 11444]

7 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Missing Wemby and Chet and instead getting Jags for 100s of loses just didn’t work out for us. 

Wemby, absolutely. But Chet?! Come on let’s not anoint this guy yet. 
 

I think they drafted the best player available at their slot in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Wemby was always going to the Spurs if Pop was the HC. 
 

If the NBA was interested in parity, they’d ditch the lottery. 

[HtownHorn 14663]

Rafael Stone has built a team that can't shoot or defend the paint. Amazing.

[Dutchrudder 11133]

4 years 86m for this guy lol...

 

 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

[Dutchrudder 11133]

In case you missed it from the Spurs game, the Sengun dunk over Zach Collins was pretty cool! 

[Macklemore 2876]

What a dunk by Alpi!! That should be good enough for the win! The first win of the season and Ime’s first as Rockets head coach. How sweet it is!!

Edited November 2, 2023 by Macklemore

[Murfdogg21 4412]

F the Spurs for winning the lottery. 

[billfromlaketravis 11444]

4 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

F the Spurs for winning the lottery. 

They didn't win shit. 

Silver placed Wemby on the Spurs. 

- Pop is a proven coach that also shares the company line on politics. 

- Wemby and his family have a relationship with Tony Parker. 

 

Meanwhile in Houston... 

- Fertitta is hosting Trump at The Post Oak. A huge NBA no-no. 

- The Rockets hired Ime who was suspended by the Celtics for banging a coworker's wife. 

 

The NBA Draft Lottery is the easiest thing to rig in professional sports. 

[Slacks 6819]

So... I can't get ATTSW and I'm old, so my steam game is wack... 

I'm at the game tonight. 

Dillon Brooks might be the best all around player on the team right now. 

Jabari needs plays called for him. 

Van leet can't shoot. 

Jalen Green is trading water. 

Al P Sure is going to be a constant. 

Need another big. Javale McGee is destroying. 

[HtownHorn 14663]

Starting 5 is good. The bench is a fucking disaster.

Bench was outscored 45-14, but Rockets still ran away with this game.

[Slacks 6819]

13 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Starting 5 is good. The bench is a fucking disaster.

Bench was outscored 45-14, but Rockets still ran away with this game.

That's because the bench is slow and can't seem to score. Amen Thompson would have helped, but getting destroyed by Javale McGee down low was eye opening and concerning. 

NBA is going to go back to having true C, so a true backup C will also be required. Landale is tall but his feet were cinder blocks. 

It was one game, so... 

[Tylerocks 2553]

Tari Eason coming back should help the bench a bit.

[BigOrange1 6432]

Eason was only supposed to be out 2-3 weeks.  Any word on whether or not he is nearing a return?