A short team with no All-Stars (and nobody remotely close other than Alpi). We’re currently only a few notches above the Pistons and Blazers talent wise and the only reason we are as good as 20-23 is because of a fantastic coach and his staff. I hate Morey to death, but he was right in saying teams needed 3 stars to be a “real” contender and 2 stars to make the playoffs. Just be happy we have Udoka or the mask would be off and at best we’d be 10-33 with the talent we have.
You’re right. It was amazing a 23yr old Harden got us to the 2013 playoffs with a Turkish center and Milkhair as HC.
I agree with your overall point here though I disagree with some of the details. I think people have unrealistic expectations for this team. Seriously think about it, pretend it’s not the rockets, if I asked yall how many games a team would win that has 1 low end borderline all star with no other players that are even close, mediocre shooting, and a ton of really young players, what’s the answer? Nobody in their right mind hears that and says “yeah that’s a 45 win team I’d expect them to make the play in.” Our roster and talent level puts our win total in the 30s and if we can get to the high 30s or even make it to 40 I’d be thrilled.
I do not think the fans have unrealistic expectations but Udoker set himself unrealistic goals.....Playoffs is actually attainable.....with Defense..... You reach for the stars once you are closer to them and Udoka achieved a lot.
Well Parsons was very good on his rookie contract. And the role players were vets and very good that year. Problem with yall is y’all don’t taut what you see. I said even back during the beginning of the season that this wasn’t a very great defensive team. We it a good rebounding team and I will pound that to the ground and Jalen and Alpi are a step behind everybody in defensive rotation. Our defense gives up a lot of good open looks. That’s the only reason I’m down on Jalen. It’s not his offense, it’s his defense. I’m down on Şengün defense too but at least he balances it out with consistent offense
I think missing Tari most of the season is a big reason why we aren’t a 500 team or better right now. Another reason is that we don’t have a reliable guard who can shoot and handle the ball in the backcourt to keep Fred from burning out. I think we are already starting to see a decline in Fred because of all the minutes he’s playing. And lastly we don’t have any real defensive big depth behind Sengun. Also until Sengun develops a decent outside shot he wont be able to slide over to the 4 and allow us to utilize a Brook Lopez or Claxton type player that could really elevate us defensively. To that point, we don’t have good enough perimeter defenders either. so we’ve got some big holes, but some of it is due to injury, some due to roster personnel, some due to work in progress development. I do think we need to make some moves at the deadline to get us to the playoffs. My concern continues to be that we don’t have a very good GM who hasn’t proven that he can make savvy trades to improve the team, or build a balanced roster. It was always gonna take more than this past offseason to build a really good roster. But you won’t hear me say it’s good enough or that Stone is the guy to get that done. Whatever happens, we can’t go into the 2nd half of the season with Fred as our only starting caliber guard in our back court. We solve that problem (and get Tari back) and we should make the playoffs.
I agree that the team probably isn't ready to compete for the playoffs. A run of bad injury luck has the team looking a lottery team - and the West is stacked with only the Spurs really tanking. The team is still too young. Mainly the team needs another year or two to look like a real playoff team. I am just happy that they look like a real NBA team that is trying to win every time they hit the court. It looks like they will exceed my expectation of mid 30s wins. I disagree that the team has "no All-Stars." Alpi is playing like an All-Star, but he still has a ways to go before he can carry a team like a Jokic, Embiid, or other All-NBA player. Injuries and the lack of offensive efficiency from our wings have really held us back from outperforming like the 2023 Thunder (made play in). We are a year or two away from having enough quality depth to ride out rough patches and injuries to rotation players. I think that depth will happen naturally by players like Amen, Cam, and hopefully a young backup big from the 2024 Brooklyn draft pick (whether draft or a trade) getting more time under their belts. I expect a playoff team next year. I just hope the front office doesn't panic and make trades that help in the short term but hamper the building of a championship caliber roster for 3-4 years from now when Alpi, Jabari, Tari, Amen, and Cam are in their prime and still affordable.
it’s worse than that . . . we still haven’t had Severo do a halftime show. Just pom poms and hula hoops
A lot of people say this, but keep in mind, CLE plays Mobley at the 4 with Jarrett Allen, and won 51 games last year doing so. Now, I wouldn’t want to necessarily start another non-shooting center with Sengun, but I do think you can for 10 minutes. That means someone like Capela could get 26 mpg with us. 16 minutes without Sengun and 10 with.
We are usually competitive on most nights. It won’t take much for us to be a solid playoff team. Young players mature. A couple of trades or acquisitions to shore up weak positions and we are there. This is how it works with rebuilding teams. I think we are in a pretty good spot right now.
Agreed. The guard problem is worse than not having depth in the front court. We will be on a treadmill until we are more shooting/guard play.
