Step 1 - The last peak: In 2005 the Astros were swept in the World Series Step 2 - Decline: In 2006 the Astros fumbled around with some mediocre moves and barely missed the playoffs. Step 3 - Denial: Throughout 2008-2009, the the team had hedged trying to stay competitive with a hodge podge mix of young rookies and old veterans, but hovered around .500 Step 4 - Window closes: By 2010 - Window closes: the 3B's were retired or traded, Oswalt was traded, and even Pence was traded (2011) after leading in home runs. Step 5 - Rock bottom: In 2011, the Astros had the worst season in the MLB, and in Franchise History (.339). Step 6 - Enduring a rebuild: In 2012-2014 the Astros would post two more .300 seasons, and another losing season. Step 7 - Return to winning: In 2015 the Astros returned to a winning record, which would continue* to the present for 7 seasons and see them make the finals 3 times. Step 8 - Win it all. 2017**. *The Astros were 1 win below .500 in the very shortened 2020 season but did make it to the conference series. **The Astros banged on trashcans during their 2017 title win Step 1 - The last peak: In 2018 the Rockets lost 4-3 in the WCF with a timely injury after a franchise record in wins. Step 2 - Decline: In 2019 the Rockets fumbled around with some mediocre moves (Carter Williams, Knight, Chriss, Anderson) and fell into the playoffs, getting smoked by Golden State. Step 3 - Denial: By 2020 the Rockets threw a hail mary pass for Russell Westbrook in an attempt to make up for gutting their depth the previous 2 seasons, and even tried Carmelo Anthony the season prior. Step 4 - Window closes: In 2020 the Rockets moved Westbrook, Harden, Ariza and several other vets and closed the window. Step 5 - Rock bottom: In 2021, the Rockets ended the worst season in franchise history (.236). Step 6 - Enduring a rebuild: In 2021-23, the Rockets post two more .300 seasons and another losing season. Step 7 - Return to winning: In 2024 the Rockets returned to a winning record, which would continue for 7+ years, seeing them make the finals 3 times, winning 1+ titles. Closing arguments: CALM DOWN. There is NO guarantee that any of this will happen but one thing is for sure: The Astros are a very positive template and it took 3-6 seasons to climb the mountain back to contender status. This can happen faster in the NBA but it won't happen in 3 weeks.
Now all we need is Sports Illustrated with Alpe (yes, I said Alpe not Green) on the cover crowning us 2028 champions!
I will not calm down the only reason the Astros rebuild is seen as successful is because they WON... AND because they are PERENNIAL contenders . that’s how you justify years of being last . furthermore the MLB draft gives more advantages to the worst teams with the slot $ if the rockets suck this year and next year and all we get out of it is a couple of first round exits ... we should be pissed . baseball and b-ball are completely different . You can’t tell if you drafted a bust in MLB for 3-4 years . Shiieet , sometimes guys look legit all throughout the minors and can’t produce at a high lvl in the mlb in the nba you know much quicker ... or the guy becomes a “change of scenery” guy. No one stays with the team for 7 years and suddenly breaks out in year 6 or 7 . timeline is mucho differente . but hey , I don’t mean to rain on your positive parade . I’m just sulking over here
Rockets made the playoffs just 5 times in 13 years before the Harden trade…wouldn’t be surprised at all if we got a repeat we’re even starting off with our new age Francis-Mobley backcourt
WARNING: Young Rockets fans You are in for a world of sh*t for the foreseeable future. Stop trying to rationalize it.
Hear me out here... this seems to be... an ideal way to measure success. True and true, yet, where did I say that I'm really happy with the team right now and not pissed? We are where we are because a cocksure fried food millionaire and his trustafarian son systematically dismantled one of the most successful franchises of the last 10 years. If it were up to me we would've packed Fertitta on his yacht and sent him to Vietnam the year that he bought the team. But that would be unfair to Vietnam. A better challenge to my metaphor here would be for you to pick an NBA team that completely rebuilt to contender status in less than 2 years after their last WCF appearance. I'll wait. Oh, now that you mention it, basketball and baseball ARE different. I retract my post, the primary point of which was to equivocate the two sports and say that they're exactly the same.
Not sure if this is intended for me, but I'm 12 and you seem to be rationalizing more than I am, as it seems you missed this key sentence in the OP: I think the team is pretty screwed under Tilman. He wouldn't even spend money when it was the exact right time to spend it. But I also love how positivity hurts you people. I'm not making crystal ball guesses, just showing you one template to success, and that it took time. I am not sorry. If there is a 1% chance for this team to pan out, there's a 1% chance. It's not 0%. I'm just not a fan of the threads after each game like people are just figuring out for the first time that this team will not contend this year.
I think many of you misremember how Astros fans felt in 2012. There was zero indiciation that future success would ever come, or that so many prospects would blossom to become silver sluggers and golden gloves. It took a lot of sweat and tears. We can b**** and complain and pontificate endlessly but it's going to take work and losses. lol dammit. Thanks. I even have a #17 jersey.
I'm pouring punch in the turd bowl. Just thought it was an interesting thought exercise. We can all go back to misery when the next game starts.
You need to get that sometimes a team is just bad and there isn’t a greater purpose they are working towards. I’m all for positivity, but where was this energy during the Harden era?
Except that the nba changed the draft so that the worst team is very unlikely to get the best pick (Also we picked Jalen)
sorry but with the worst owner in the league Tilman, they will never sniff anything close to what the stros organization currently is/was in the last 5 years
Don’t jsut warn the younger one, warn the older one like me who came aboard during the pippin season. Constant heartbreak year after year
(Hint: I'm not actually 12. That means I would've joined CFs the year I was born. Man that's weird how long CFs has been around now.) My energy was there. What straw man are you arguing with good sir?? Unfortunately for a brief moment I even had high energy after the Lawson trade. It wasn't until the 2018 offseason (Carter Williams, knight, Chriss, corpse of Shump, etc) that my enthusiasm turned to cynicism. Wait.... there's a lesson there. Things can change.
More like Step 1: Tank Step 2: Draft star player Step 3: Cant afford complimentary players Step 4: Window closes Step 5: Star asks for trade Step 6: Tank
