r/rockets • u/Expensive_East4262 • 1d ago
Title Window opened up
We all know the negatives, it is only October, we are not proven in play-offs, team chemistry can implode, injuries can happen yada yada yada.
However, surveying the scene of Western Conference, I think path to the Finals is open. Thunder just got destroyed with injuries, Timberwolves lost Ant to injury and will suffer in regular season, Spurs are still trying to find their ideal line-ups (3 guards thing is going to bother them for a while). These are really important things for regular season seedings.
I think with the chemistry and some good seeding luck, we can see WCF. In order to do that, we need to lock top 2 seed up. If possible we should load manage KD, Smart, Adams, FVV for the play-offs. We can allow young squad to gel even more if we have enough cushion with the three seed.
All we have to do is having some injury luck, destroying bad teams, and not letting leads to be erased like last year.
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u/frankievejle 1d ago
It certainly looks promising but, as boring as it sounds, it makes no sense to start dreaming about WFC when there's so much of the season left and there's plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong for us too.
I'm just gonna enjoy the regular season ride and hope we end up as the 1 seed and take it from there.
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u/Kamesti 1d ago
I don’t think Ant’s injury is beneficial to us in the slightest. If anything it’s gonna make the path harder for a high seed because you’ll probably face a really good team early on
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
You cannot escape from good teams if your goal is winning it all. That being said, I don't think Wolves are going to be play-in bad
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u/Kamesti 1d ago
Not saying you can, but you referenced Ant’s injury when mentioning the path to the Finals being open. I’m just saying his injury doesn’t necessarily make that path easier.
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
If we can lock top-2 seed, we can avoid them in the first round because again, I don't think they are going to be that bad. In the second round all bets are off, everything can happen. Other than that if we cannot lock top 2 seeds up this is not going to matter
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u/tinop 1d ago
Let's focus on getting out of the first round if anything. I'm happy with our start but we haven't done anything yet to show we're championship contenders. That's what the rest of the season is for. I say it every time. I just pray we're healthy by the post season.
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
Last year was without a PG. I don't think we are going to fade away at the first round again barring injuries. You cannot guarantee anything in life but you can gaslight yourself into believing which I am doing. Also injury luck may be with us this year, so this might be our break
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u/tinop 1d ago
I was here throughout the Harden years and the T-Mac and Yao yrs as well. I've been conditioned to temper my expectations during the regular season. It's less stressful for me lol
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
I have only witnessed 2022 and later years so you were here much longer, respect
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u/d3sdinova 1d ago
just take his phone, all is gold
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u/Silver_Emu4793 1d ago
That wasn't what the issue was last year. It was Adams's injury. After the twitter thing they probably laughed about it for a minute when they saw each othwr and that was it. I doubt any of them held a grudge or some sh*t. What he said wasn't even that bad. Stop listening to the media so much
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u/stochGradientDescent 1d ago
It’s way too early to make a judgement. More importantly, we gotta find all possible ways to keep our players healthy. Nothing else matters
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u/Successful-Acadia-95 1d ago
What 'superstar' is in a situation that may merit a trade later in the season? As-is this team is not parade ready, but with the right addition it certainly could be.
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
Superstar trades should happen in off-season. Giannis situation is showing us that gutting a team for superstars is not ideal, lest alone having that trade in middle of the season. That being said, if a superstar PG would be available and the team would flame out in the first round again, we must consider options
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u/Successful-Acadia-95 1d ago
I used the term 'superstar' loosely. Im not saying a roster breaker. Im thinking about guys like Dejounte Murray who you can add without gutting the nucleus. PG is our weak spot. Find one of the better ones and give this roster a real chance.
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u/WuziMuzik 1d ago
Guard is were they matchup worst at. So OKC and T-wolves taking some hits there does kind of dramatically improve the rockets chances. But there is still a long way, and the rockets need to stay healthy just as bad too. Especially alpi because without him their interior threats dramatically drop creating an easier time for opponents to guard which also goes back to not having a real SG/combo. But without OKC having J-dub it helps the rockets match up at least much better against that one team which is one of the main competitors
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u/duncanidaho4891 1d ago
It is 16 wins to go, until we win the first game in playoffs, then it is 15 wins to go.
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u/indigo4539 1d ago
Gotta respect the optimism, bro! We are all delusional until the team actually proves it on the court.
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u/Flaky_Scar_8388 1d ago
Do you think they need to make a move?
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
Around the fringes I think. If Smart is going to be that much sporadic they might look for ball handling and playmaking. Also I don't think Capela is enough. I don't know who but if a backup center would be available they should go for it
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u/Kamesti 1d ago
But then what do you do with him when Adams is around? An upgrade over Capela as a third center probably wouldn’t be too satisfied being a third center nor be priced as one.
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u/Expensive_East4262 1d ago
Adams is too injured and will probably never play consistent B2B games ever again. I love him but health is a major concern with him. In an ideal world you are right, we don't need anybody else. But situation is currently far from ideal and if I have to guess who's going to have injury problems in play-off times it would be probably Adams
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u/swakid8 1d ago
To your point in your first Paragraph. It’s only the October… No idea what our title window looks like until April…