[The Ringer] Will the Rockets Be the Surprise Team of the Year?

They already are, aren't they?

 

From the clip : In his last 3 seasons in Memphis, Brooks took 6 shots or less a total of 4 times.
For those counting : In his first 9 games in Houston he already has 3 games with 6 shots or less.

 

Probably because he got paid now.

 

That, and he's gotten the recognition he thought he deserved.

 

Ime doing what Ime does!!


Go Rockets!!!
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We're like that for now, man. I hope we can surprise like last year's Kings team.

 

Shout to @Mathloom to be fair. I recall reading a post a few weeks back where he said something along the lines of "the way people were talking about the Thunder last season is how they're going to talk about the Rockets this year" and I thought...ehhh HOPEFULLY. But yo, he was god damn right.

 

Man, I couldn't find a basketball podcast today that didn't cover the Rockets. I love it so much.

 

Thank you so much bro, and in fact I have been saying this for quite a while.

March 2023

October 2022

July 2023

 

You say that now, but in the offseason the joke was that he would get more confident in bad shots because we paid him handsomely. Got to give Udoka and Brooks credit, they have clearly worked out an understanding that protects us from overshooting while alleviating Brooks' worries that offense gets paid and defense doesn't.

 

I don't know at what point this is a surprise. I think a lot of people underestimated the Rockets because of their record and play the past 3 seasons. But there were several reasons why they should be improved this year:

1. The Rockets are trying to win. You can argue, if they actually tried to lose the past seasons, but in the very least, the roster and playing time was designed to maximize the developement of our young players and not to win.
2. We were and are a very young team - but our young players each got a year older. Players should get better every year they are in the league (at least for the first few years).
3. We have added quality veterans. I know people said that we have overpayed for FVV and Dillon, but that doesn't change the fact, that they were above average starters and Dillon was on an All-NBA-Defense team.
4. We have switched coaches - and we went from a coach, that will have real trouble to find another HC job to a young coach, that has led his last team to the finals and got fired for non basketball reasons.

So anyone that has expected this team to continue the play of last season with only a minor improvement probably underestimated these points. Now, if the Rockets get a playoff (not play-in) spot, yeah, they are the surprise team of the season. But fighting for a play-in spot? I would argue that was a legitimate expectation.

 

In a nutshell, most of us were all still in our PJs when the storm hit us.

 

the grizz don't have anyone that can score

 

The Cocaine Bear.

 

Have to admit, I was wrong about Brooks. I always thought he'd be an amazing role player but I thought his ego would keep him from reaching that. Glad to see that he's accepted the role and thriving in it.

 

And they've all been effusive in praise for the team. They hated us when we were trash and love us now that we're good. Maybe the "media conspiracy" is just that casuals hate on bad teams and like good teams. Shocker.

 

If the Rockets are still playing around .650 basketball halfway through the season then they are definitely the breakout team of the year and Ime will be a shoe in for COY.

 

.650 is a elite team win pace from a team that won 22 the year before. It would be one of if not the biggest leaps for a team from the previous season. A lot lesser leaps have gotten coaches the award. This team probably just needs to clear .500 honestly to get Ime the award. Clearing .500 from a 22 win season prior is a monumental leap that rarely happens.