#6 at CBS https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...-out-eastern-conference-has-new-frontrunners/ 6 Rockets To be "going back to the drawing board" on defense, as Chris Paul said after the Rockets' blowout loss to the Clippers Friday, is not a great position to be in five games into a season where the Rockets were expected to provide the biggest challenge to the Golden State Warriors. But the Rockets' switch-everything defense, its most underrated strength last season, has been atrocious. The Rockets rank 25th in the NBA in defensive rating after finishing last season ranked seventh. Injuries and Chris Paul's suspension have hurt, but early returns on the Rockets are not encouraging.
Don’t deserve ratings this high. Bad team atm and there’s no shame in saying it. We’ll get better but bad now.
yeah but I thought power rankings implied "who's hot right now," not "which are the best teams regardless of overall record." Clearly we are not hot.
We look like an elite team on paper sans a couple of scrub rotation players but you got to earn it, earn the tag good team. Can't come pin, lay turds and expect everybody to believe we are automatically elite. They just gave up in two home games, gave up easy buckets to the Clips and Pels. At least foul out if you must. That is not just struggling, that is giving up and zero effort. That said I expect a convincing win against them Blazers, other than that there is not much to say.
we're #19! we're #19! https://www.nba.com/powerrankings/2018-19-week-4 19 Last week: 17 Houston Rockets Record: 3-5 Pace: 100.5 (20) OffRtg: 106.0 (23) DefRtg: 111.3 (21) NetRtg: -5.3 (22) Wins over the Nets and Bulls helped the Rockets start the climb back from a 1-5 start, though they haven't necessarily figured things out on either end of the floor. They allowed Brooklyn's 13th-ranked offense to score more than 120 points per 100 possessions on Friday and scored less than a point per possession against Chicago's 29th-ranked defense on Saturday (with James Harden returning from a three-game absence). It feels like we're just waiting on this team to make a trade, with injuries to Eric Gordon and Nene pushing guys named Gary Clark and Isaiah Hartenstein into the nine-man rotation, but the upcoming schedule is tough, with their next seven opponents having a cumulative record of 47-19. Week 4: @ IND, @ OKC, @ SAS, vs. IND
ESPN has us at 12 http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...pert-panel-ranks-league-30-teams-ahead-week-4 12. Houston Rockets 2018-19 record: 3-5 Carmelo Anthony (22.5 points per game, 65.4 percent shooting) looked like Olympic Melo in the wins, and James Harden is healthy again. Now let's see if the Rockets can hold up against playoff-caliber competition with the Pacers (twice), Thunder and Spurs on the schedule this week. -- MacMahon
CBS has us as the headline https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...er-after-rough-starts-as-context-remains-key/ NBA Power Rankings: No concern over Rockets, Thunder after rough starts as context remains key There are valid reasons for why Houston and OKC are struggling, and why teams like Sacramento are winning by Reid Forgrave @ReidForgrave 4h ago • 2 min read . . . Context is especially important when looking at three teams with high hopes coming into the season but stumbled out of the gate: the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards. If you're a fan of the Rockets or the Thunder, you should feel a little bit happier when you're looking at the context of those rough starts. For the Rockets, James Hardenand Chris Paul have only been on the court together in three games so far; the Rockets are 2-1 in those games. I am not concerned about the Rockets; come April, they will be a top-four seed in the West. Nor am I particularly concerned about the Thunder. Their four-game losing streak to start the season comes with the context that Russell Westbrook not only didn't play in those first two losses -- he wasn't able to play during training camp due to recovery from his knee surgery. The surreal shooting woes will correct themselves in time. 8 Rockets Like I told you last week, the Rockets' miserable start comes with a giant piece of context. Namely, this: The Rockets have played three games so far with both Chris Paul and James Harden in the lineup ... and have won two of those three. The defense is worrisome (22nd in the NBA in defensive efficiency). Less worrisome is Carmelo Anthony's adapting to coming off the bench. He dropped 28 points off the bench against Brooklyn last week. The Rockets are exactly what we expected them to be coming into the season: Not quite the team they were last year, but certainly in that second non-Warriors tier of the West.
Sports Illustrated https://www.si.com/nba/2018/11/05/n...gs-stephen-curry-klay-thompson-damian-lillard 18. Rockets | Record Last Week: 2-1 | Overall Record: 3-5 | Previous Ranking: 18 Back-to-back wins make everything feel a little bit different. After getting thumped by the Trail Blazers to start their week, Mike D’Antoni let it be known his team was “playing like crap.” Now, after a pair of road wins, Houston is in position to make its horrendous start a problem of the past. All they'll have to do is pull out at least three wins in two games against the Pacers, one against the Thunder and another against the Spurs. And for everyone out there who got lazy on Halloween and repurposed their Hoodie Melo costume by wrapping a towel around their waist and walking around with a loofa and soap on a rope to go as “Washed Up”, know that Carmelo’s scored at least 17 in four of the last five and shot 44.4% from distance during that stretch.
ESPN http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...pert-panel-ranks-league-30-teams-ahead-week-5 15. Houston Rockets Record: 5-7 Carmelo Anthony could be like the Showtime Lakers' Bob McAdoo. He was more like the Memphis Grizzlies' Allen Iverson. It's wrong to make Melo the scapegoat for the Rockets' rough start -- they've had a lot of other problems -- but Melo clearly wasn't part of the solution. It might be best to move on now, as respectfully as possible. -- MacMahon
NBA.com has us as "the team to watch" this week. So we got THAT going for us . . . which is nice. https://www.nba.com/powerrankings/2018-19-week-5 Week 5 Team to Watch Houston -- As the Rockets deal with the Anthony situation, they head into an important week. Games against Denver (on the road on Tuesday), Golden State (at home on Thursday) and Sacramento (at home on Saturday) are the end of a stretch of seven straight games against teams that currently have winning records. They're 2-2 on that stretch so far and may have found their offense in their win over Indiana on Sunday. 18 Last week: 19 Houston Rockets Record: 5-7 Pace: 98.3 (28) OffRtg: 104.7 (23) DefRtg: 109.1 (19) NetRtg:-4.4 (22) This weekend brought an end to the Rockets' pursuit of Jimmy Butler and, apparently, the Rockets career of Carmelo Anthony, who shot 1-for-11 (in Oklahoma City of all places) in what was probably his last game with Houston. GM Daryl Morey will surely continue to make calls, but the pressure is now greater for this team to figure things out from within, despite a severe lack of depth (even with Eric Gordon back from injury). Coach Mike D'Antoni used only eight guys against Indiana on Sunday, but the Rockets had one of their best offensive performances of the season, with Chris Paul making more 3-pointers (five) than he had over his previous four games and James Harden getting to the line 15 times (and making eight 3-pointers of his own). Week 5: @ DEN, vs. GSW, vs. SAC
We made the CBSSPORTS.com headline! woo wee!!! https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...ring-defense-among-seasons-biggest-surprises/ NBA Power Rankings: Bucks' lights-out 3-point shooting, Rockets' sputtering defense among season's biggest surprises 10 Rockets How can this defense really be that bad? One stat that was making the rounds over the weekend could explain it: The Rockets had a net rating of -9.0 with Carmelo Anthony on the court and +1.8 with him on the bench. That's 11 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor, the worst net rating in the NBA of any player to have played more than 100 minutes. (h/t @HPBasketball). CBS Sports' projections have the Rockets being two wins better this season without Melo -- the definition of addition by subtraction.
NBA.com moved us up to 12 from 18th last week https://www.nba.com/powerrankings/2018-19-week-6 12 Last week: 18 Houston Rockets Record: 8-7 Pace: 97.3 (29) OffRtg: 108.4 (11) DefRtg: 108.5 (17) NetRtg: -0.1 (17) Carmelo Anthony is gone and the Rockets have won four straight games, with the league's best offense (124 points scored per 100 possessions) over that stretch. Chris Paul has caught fire from 3-point range (18-for-30 over the last five games) and James Harden has been getting to the line (54 attempts over the last five), though the team has been much more efficient offensively with just one of the two on the floor (138 points scored per 100 possessions in 103 minutes) than with both on the floor (106 in 83 minutes) over the winning streak. The Rockets have averaged the fewest minutes per game from reserves (essentially using an eight-man rotation), but the bench minutes have been pretty good since Anthony's departure, which coincided with Eric Gordon returning from a three-game absence. Week 6: vs. DET, @ DET, @ CLE
this week #14 https://www.nba.com/powerrankings/2018-19-week-7 14 Last week: 12 Houston Rockets Record: 9-9 Pace: 96.9 (29) OffRtg: 109.8 (10) DefRtg: 110.7 (23) NetRtg: -0.8 (18) James Harden has averaged 37.5 points over the last four games, but also seven turnovers over the same stretch, and the Rockets' defense hasn't exactly flipped the switch with the return of Jeff Bzdelik to the bench. They allowed almost 120 points per 100 possessions in weekend losses in Detroit and Cleveland, even though the Pistons and Cavs made only 14 3-pointers combined. Last season, the Rockets outscored their opponents by 5.0 points per game at the free throw line, the league's second best differential. This season, they've been outscored by 2.3 points per game at the line, having seen a small drop in their own free throw rate (FTA/FGA) and a big increase in that of their opponents. After allowing only 23 free throw attempts per 100 shots from the field (the league's sixth lowest mark) last season, the Rockets have allowed 31 per 100 (29th) this year. Week 7: @ WAS, vs. DAL, @ SAS, vs. CHI
