2018-19 Houston Rockets Thread of running it back (mainly)

[elfenix 34,171]

Like trading in a car you're upside down on for another car you're going to be upside down on but goes 0-60 in 2.7 if it doesn't explode.

[Sbbruin 21,732]

8 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

And you?  Yeah, fuck you.  

I mean that in the nicest way possible.  

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

27 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I think Russ catches way too much shit, so does playoff Harden.  It’s just funny how hard Houston shit on WB and now half their fans are like this is fantastic.  Not as much on this site as Reddit etc.  

Anyways, I’ll be a fan.  Fuck everything in LA.  

Where are these “fantastic” fans. Not on the Rockets thread. 

[ChiTownDoc 21,101]

Just now, ChickenSandwich said:

Where are these “fantastic” fans. Not on the Rockets thread. 

Said right there I don’t see much of that on here on Surly but...

There’s definitely people who completely trashed WB who are excited.  Cockgobbler custom fitted jersey douche comes to mind.  

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

Gotcha. I’d say the mood here is semi stunned and a bunch of WTF, but why not. 

[Rockethorn1978 6,061]

What message board fan base has a choice? I mean outside of the spurs fans on here that are an extension of the spurs front office and head coach success and know everything.

literally everything I’ve seen has bee wtf that turns into well guess I’ll have to figure out how I’m gonna be positive and cheer. You can find someone I’m sure since it’s thiusands of posters but the overwhelming majority isn’t ecstatic by any means.

[Tylerocks 2,551]

After mulling it overnight, I'm warming up on it.

I have no idea if it will work.  Something is going to have to change as far as style of play goes, obviously.

Getting another scorer is a huge deal to take some of that burden off of Harden.

He's 4 years younger.

Healthier.

Has a swagger/attitude that will bring some energy.

The Rockets seem to be a pretty well hated team, for whatever reason.  Might as well bring in one of the most polarizing players in the game.  

Go full heel.

 

[BigOrange1 6,422]

good stuff from the ringer:

Quote

It would probably be too much to expect Westbrook to completely reorient his game toward becoming a knockdown spot-up shooter; Jason Kidd didn’t start that project in earnest until he hit his mid-30s in Dallas. But he doesn’t have to completely overhaul his game to have a chance to be a big help in Houston. While Westbrook isn’t on Paul’s level as a surgical practitioner in the pick-and-roll—this is not a knock; few in historyhave been on CP3’s level in the screen game—his more physical, bombastic, and explosive approach could add a jolt of adrenaline to Houston’s offense. Westbrook isn’t quite the burner he once was, but he’s still got more burst off the line than the current model of Paul does, and he’s better equipped to blow by a defender to get all the way to the basket. Only 11 percent of Paul’s field goal attempts came at the rim last season, compared to 40 percent for Westbrook, who shot a career-best 63 percent on those tries, according to Cleaning the Glass. Those numbers for Westbrook could both rise when he’s flanked by more dangerous shooters in a better-spaced half-court setting.

Another ball handler capable of breaking down a defense off the bounce to get into the teeth of the coverage before taking it himself, lofting a lob to a lurking Clint Capela, or whipping a pass out to an open shooter could be a real boon for the Rockets offense. Westbrook led the league in points created per game via direct assist in each of the past two seasons, and he did that on a team where hardly anybody could hit a 3-point shot; he threw a league-best “802 passes that led directly to a 3-point attempt” in 2018-19, according to Second Spectrum data cited by Chris Herring of FiveThirtyEight. His shot creation might look even better on a roster featuring at least a half-dozen capable catch-and-shoot targets in a scheme that has set new NBA records for total team 3-point attempts in each of the past three seasons.

Maximizing Westbrook’s value within that freewheeling, bombs-away philosophy, though, will require him to focus more on creating for others than for himself. Westbrook attempted 5.6 3-pointers per game last season, the second-highest rate of his career, despite making just 29 percent of them, the third lowest. Barring a major change in beyond-the-arc accuracy for Westbrook—who has the lowest career 3-point percentage of any player in history with at least 2,500 attempts—the bulk of those shots would be better directed toward the waiting hands of his teammates. Will Russ be able to find it within himself to stay within himself, knowing that the Rockets’ other options—Harden, Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker, Austin Rivers, Gerald Green, Danuel House Jr.—are much better equipped to cash in on the looks he can create than he is?

There will also be major questions about how effectively Westbrook can replace Paul on the defensive end. Russ logged big minutes for an excellent Thunder defense last season and proved he can be a disruptive force, ranking fourth in the league in steals and fifth in deflections. His off-ball work, though … well, it needs work, and neither he nor Harden (whose defensive effort has improved since its meme-producing nadir) have consistently shown a capacity to stop top-flight opposing ball handlers at the point of attack. Westbrook is better built and better suited to check point guards than the bigger Harden; is he ready to accept that challenge, and help Houston stay solid enough on that side of the floor to be able to overwhelm opponents with its offense? (If not, a lot of responsibility figures to fall on the shoulders of Gordon, who locked up Donovan Mitchell in the Rockets’ opening-round playoff victory over the Jazz before Houston fell to the Warriors in Round 2.)

Stepping into a secondary offensive role might not be as hard for Westbrook to accept as the general public might think. We’ve already seen him show an increased willingness to take a step back to create space for the growth of an ascendant teammate: Last season, he posted his lowest usage rate since 2010 to make room for George’s emergence. Will he be willing to do the same in Houston, tossing the keys to Harden and recommitting more frequently to working off the ball, if that’s what Daryl Morey, Mike D’Antoni, and the rest of Houston’s brain trust believe will give the team its best chance—not just to win an individual game, but to finally break out of the Western Conference for the franchise’s first NBA Finals berth in a quarter-century?

 

[Bevo 13,527]

Still need better play at the forward positions.

[CurlyDumps 4,439]

@Snacks  the length queen has gotta be pumped about adding some length.  Length matters.

[Houston20 224]

I think people forget how compatible and comfortable Harden and Westbrook are together. People also forget how great of a passer Russ has been in okc. Him cutting to the basket or beating his man and passing it out to the open guy, if he doesn't lay it in, is going to be fun to watch.

[BigOrange1 6,422]

 

 

[Machinator 32,097]

 

[Machinator 32,097]

 

[hookem48 4,631]

2 hours ago, maninblack said:

Welp at least we won't be boring. I'll give Morey credit for that.

no shit, gonna be awesome when Russ and James are rolling on the floor fighting over the ball.

[HtownHorn 14,486]

Well, now we know why Houston has been stagnant in signing FA's including their own. I don't think they have officially signed Rivers, House, or Green yet.

[NowThis 931]

13 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Well, now we know why Houston has been stagnant in signing FA's including their own. I don't think they have officially signed Rivers, House, or Green yet.

Rivers and House have signed with HOU

[El Diablo 4,232]

Can Russ feed Chandler the way CP3 did in NO? Kinda made Chandler doing that.

[HtownHorn 14,486]

1 minute ago, NowThis said:

Rivers and House have signed with HOU

They announced they were going to resign, but haven't seen anything confirming it.

[UDontKnow 10,439]

1 hour ago, El Diablo said:

Can Russ feed Chandler the way CP3 did in NO? Kinda made Chandler doing that.

Tyson Chandler is 37, so any points he produces is a bonus. Here are 3 legitimate things to get out of him:

1.) Boards

2.) Rim protection - might not necessarily translate to blocks

3.) Getting Capela to stop being soft

[tx 3 putt 76,368]

this is going to be one hell of an nba season. i can't wait for opening night 

[Dutchrudder 11,115]

3 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Not likely. There are 2 pick swaps and 2 top 4 protected picks with no offset language should the Rockets have a Top 4 pick in 2024 and 2026. The 1st swap is in 2021, so it's not likely conveyed. The other swap is in 2025, maybe that one actually conveys. But there is a chance that none of the picks are used by OKC.

This is incredibly important. Yeah we take on one more year of salary with Westbrook's contract, but he is still tradeable in the future. And really, it's 2 picks given up at most, with 1 swap that is likely to happen,  and another that at worst takes us from 21st to 30th in the draft. Not a huge amount paid to get out of an albatross contract that would have cost more to send elsewhere. At least with Westbrook coming back, we get a player that can do some great things, even if he's very poor in other aspects. RW is such a marketable guy on his own, you could probably send him to the Knicks next year when they strike out, and get some decent value for him. 

Sources: Pick protections in Thunder/Rockets, Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul trade:
2021 swap, protected 1-4 -- OKC can swap Clippers pick or Heat pick.
2024 first round pick, protected 1-4
2025 swap, 1-20 protected
2026 first round pick, protected 1-4

This is actually a brilliant move by Morey from a tactical standpoint, because he can choose to trade him wherever, whenever Morey wants. CP3 didn't have anywhere near the market interest RW will, and RW could net you back at least 1 of those firsts given up. It's truly remarkable what that guy can do when given room to work his magic. Given the rumors of the Harden/CP3 relationship souring, I think this is really making the most of a bad situation. There was no reason to wait on a third team to route CP3 to, because you need to pull that trigger before another team comes after Westbrook with a better offer. The only other contracts in play for a CP3 swap were John Wall, Wiggins and the junk from Miami. This was the best of the lot available. 

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

so so glad the Wiggins rumors were total bullshit

[El Diablo 4,232]

36 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

Tyson Chandler is 37, so any points he produces is a bonus. Here are 3 legitimate things to get out of him:

1.) Boards

2.) Rim protection - might not necessarily translate to blocks

3.) Getting Capela to stop being soft

Yeah, I don't have high hopes for his point scoring but CP3 lobbing it up for Tyson to get the jam was pretty sweet.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

4 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Said right there I don’t see much of that on here on Surly but...

There’s definitely people who completely trashed WB who are excited.  Cockgobbler custom fitted jersey douche comes to mind.  

I’m in your head even though I barely come over here anymore. I know as an Oklahoma loser you have nothing.  Please link the posts where I have trashed Westbrook. I don’t think I have ever dedicated a post to him. I will be waiting eating deep dish

Edited July 12, 2019 by Iconoclast Texan

[HtownHorn 14,486]

16 minutes ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

I’m in your head even though I barely come over here anymore. I know as an Oklahoma loser you have nothing.  Please link the posts where I have trashed Westbrook. I don’t think I have ever dedicated a post to him. I will be waiting eating deep dish

I've been clear that I thought Westbrook was over-rated, but after seeing Paul perform abysmally in the playoffs I knew running it back wasn't an option.

We will see if having the best back court in the NBA means anything in terms of playoff success, going to be interesting nonetheless. 

Rockets still need a starting quality wing, maybe someone like Justin Holiday.

[Pimphand 5,597]

This seems like SS Hindenburg in NBA form

[Zavala 1,384]

2 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

Tyson Chandler is 37, so any points he produces is a bonus. Here are 3 legitimate things to get out of him:

1.) Boards

2.) Rim protection - might not necessarily translate to blocks

3.) Getting Capela to stop being soft

God I hope #3

[Zavala 1,384]

36 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

This seems like SS Hindenburg in NBA form

It's a Rocket.

Maybe it takes us to space.

Maybe it blows up.

Either way we gonna have the most eyes on us in the league.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,799]

so so glad the Wiggins rumors were total bullshit

I mean...you can still have him...I'll provide free airport shuttle too

[Rockethorn1978 6,061]

If the Rockets can pull off Iggy and add him to what we have then I would say it's about as good as we could get going into next year.

[CurlyDumps 4,439]

You guys know what Chandler means, right? 

More length!!1

[Zavala 1,384]

8 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Said right there I don’t see much of that on here on Surly but...

There’s definitely people who completely trashed WB who are excited.  Cockgobbler custom fitted jersey douche comes to mind.  

Try here

Clutchfans.net

[CurlyDumps 4,439]

1 hour ago, Zavala said:

Try here

Clutchfans.net

[HtownHorn 14,486]

I like the signing of Chandler. The Rockets are finally prioritizing having a rim protector play with the 2nd unit. He if comes close to averaging the 18.3% rebound percentage he put up last year it's a quality addition. The only 2 Rockets that were that high last year were Capela and Faried. He would also rank 2nd in defensive rebound percentage.

Though the addition of Westbrook and his 28.3 defensive rebounding percentage could also mean the Rockets will not be complete sieves on the glass next year, which was a big reason the defense struggled at times. They ranked 29th in DRB per game and 28 in TRB last year.

[Murfdogg21 4,412]

3 hours ago, CurlyDumps said:

You guys know what Chandler means, right? 

More length!!1

But can we take that length?

[Dutchrudder 11,115]

The more I think about it, the more I like it. Whenever I watched Russ perform great on OKC, he would grab the board and dash down the court with reckless abandon towards the rim. He would lay it up or dunk 9 times out of 10, and the possession would be over. This usually takes less than 5 seconds in total, which means Harden won't have walked past our free throw line. The other team with rebound or inbound the ball, and Harden will already be back on D, helping him conserve energy for the next possession that Russ doesn't start with the ball. This will increase his efficiency when he does have the ball, because he will be 100% charged and ready to do his thing. Russ can stand in the corner and watch Harden take his turn with the ball, and they can keep swapping back and forth each possession, keeping each other fresh. Perfect Harmony!

[SilasCoade 2,620]

1 hour ago, Dutchrudder said:

The more I think about it, the more I like it. Whenever I watched Russ perform great on OKC, he would grab the board and dash down the court with reckless abandon towards the rim. He would lay it up or dunk 9 times out of 10, and the possession would be over. This usually takes less than 5 seconds in total, which means Harden won't have walked past our free throw line. The other team with rebound or inbound the ball, and Harden will already be back on D, helping him conserve energy for the next possession that Russ doesn't start with the ball. This will increase his efficiency when he does have the ball, because he will be 100% charged and ready to do his thing. Russ can stand in the corner and watch Harden take his turn with the ball, and they can keep swapping back and forth each possession, keeping each other fresh. Perfect Harmony!

 

[UDontKnow 10,439]

13 hours ago, Zavala said:

Try here

Clutchfans.net

The only worse cesspool than Clutchfans (courtesy of Dave whatever his name is who founded it 20+ years ago) is SpursTalk. Oh and TOS that we all left whose name won't be mentioned.

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

9 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

The more I think about it, the more I like it. Whenever I watched Russ perform great on OKC, he would grab the board and dash down the court with reckless abandon towards the rim. He would lay it up or dunk 9 times out of 10, and the possession would be over. This usually takes less than 5 seconds in total, which means Harden won't have walked past our free throw line. The other team with rebound or inbound the ball, and Harden will already be back on D, helping him conserve energy for the next possession that Russ doesn't start with the ball. This will increase his efficiency when he does have the ball, because he will be 100% charged and ready to do his thing. Russ can stand in the corner and watch Harden take his turn with the ball, and they can keep swapping back and forth each possession, keeping each other fresh. Perfect Harmony!

Similar thought. Harden and Paul were at their best together when both were iso dominate. They would screen until one of them had the weak defender they wanted to attack, iso then drive kick or shoot.  It was one or the other, not one creating for the other.  It was ugly but extremely effective. 

 This past season CP3 didn’t have the ability to be an iso playmaker and Gordon had to do his best interpretation to fill the void.  The results were predictable. 

[HtownHorn 14,486]

Rockets signed a NG with former #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett.

[UDontKnow 10,439]

4 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Rockets signed a NG with former #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett.

Did you mean the Rockets signed former #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett to a non- guaranteed contract?

Or the Rockets signed a nose guard?

[conVINCEd 21,468]

47 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

Did you mean the Rockets signed former #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett to a non- guaranteed contract?

Or the Rockets signed a nose guard?

He’s put on some weight.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

On 7/13/2019 at 8:30 AM, UDontKnow said:

The only worse cesspool than Clutchfans (courtesy of Dave whatever his name is who founded it 20+ years ago) is SpursTalk. Oh and TOS that we all left whose name won't be mentioned.

Why do y’all hate Clutchfans? That’s where I have been hanging out instead of here 

[UDontKnow 10,439]

Just now, Iconoclast Texan said:

Why do y’all hate Clutchfans? That’s where I have been hanging out instead of here 

You go to Clutchfans to see the latest breaking news about the Rockets. But you definitely don't stay for the commentary. Plus Clutch has slowly been turning into a gaping pussy over the last season. The Dream Shake has become a better online community for Rockets fans.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

32 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

You go to Clutchfans to see the latest breaking news about the Rockets. But you definitely don't stay for the commentary. Plus Clutch has slowly been turning into a gaping pussy over the last season. The Dream Shake has become a better online community for Rockets fans.

Never heard of the Dream Shake before. I will check it out

[HtownHorn 14,486]

Clutch was not a fan of the Westbrook acquisition. Said the franchise sold their future. Lulz.

[UDontKnow 10,439]

5 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Clutch was not a fan of the Westbrook acquisition. Said the franchise sold their future. Lulz.

It's time for Dave to hang it up. He's no longer the official authority of Rockets fans. He used to have a monopoly on insider access. No more.

[Slacks 6,791]

I think Russ catches way too much shit, so does playoff Harden.  It’s just funny how hard Houston shit on WB and now half their fans are like this is fantastic.  Not as much on this site as Reddit etc.  
Anyways, I’ll be a fan.  Fuck everything in LA.  

I've been anti RW's game since before they lost to the heat. I've always thought he was a taller Allen Iverson, but on a team where he should have been less that. he has always been a jacker... but athletic and competitive.

of course I hope he wins as a Rockets...

just like I hoped Carmelo would... and Ryan Anderson... and Dwight Howard... and Yao Ming... and TMac... and Franchise... and Pippen... and Barkley... and a bunch of other guys that won nothing here.

[Slacks 6,791]

[mention=136]Snacks[/mention]  the length queen has gotta be pumped about adding some length.  Length matters.

he's 6'3".