Houston Rockets - 11W in Last 12. They are legit.

[rapstarter]

Jalen Green 27/6/3 on 48/40/83 in the same period.

Granted they did face the Wizards and the Spurs twice each and the Blazers once, it still seems pretty damn good?

[Nyce_1]

Legit what?

It's good that they now have meaningful games to play this late, as they chase the play-in. If they finish strong, it'll give the young players a taste and hopefully carry over to next season.

[Frankie]

I knew this run would come. I looked at the schedule and knew we'd go on a run post ASB. I didn't anticipate beating the Suns twice but those were nice feel good wins as well as the Kings and Cavs.

I'm not sure if we can take any long term conclusions from this unless we continue this run and force our way into the play-in/playoffs. Right now it's just a nice winning streak. A lot of teams have those. Nothing particularly special about it. But if we chase down the Warriors and then beat them when we see them in a few weeks to steal that 10th spot from them? That would be something memorable for me as a fan and quite significant for the development and growth of this young team.

For now though, I'm enjoying the run and taking it one game at a time.

[One_and_Done]

It certainly makes Sengun look overrated.

[Rust_Cohle]

Not at all, all these years later and barely fighting for the play in. But still slowly getting better. They are still needing another couple players.

[jasonxxx102]

We already did this, can we not do it again?

The Rockets are not good.

5 wins against the 3 worst teams in the NBA who are actively trying to lose games.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Spurs twice and Wizards twice in there. So, no.

[shi-woo]

Yes, and people are being too pessimistic. This is a young developing team. Legit in this scense means that we can say with certainty now that they didn't draft trash players, didn't hire a trash coach, and look to be a team that is going to compete once the changing of the guard happens again.

When you yourself are a rebuilding team only 2 years in, scraping other bad teams is a good sign, especially when it's your young talent that is standing out in these games.

I've been completely surprised with the level of play the Rockets of gotten from Cam all year, who was a favorite of many on this site pre and post draft, and have been blown away with how good Tari and Sengun have been all year, and have enjoyed seeing the improvements of their other young players as well.

I would think the Rockets fans are feeling similar to Celtic fans in 2018 when we drafted Tatum and knew we had a solid young core for the future, and were still going to fighting for/in the PO every single year.

Rockets know they have their coach, and Ime has them playing great defensive basketball (for a team so young). They are top half in that category, and are also middle of the pact in pace as well. Two things you wouldn't expect to see from a team so green.

They know they have their front court of the future already secure in Sengun and Jabari. Both are huge versatile players, and I think they fit well together. A lot of this teams future will hinge on how good of a shooter JBJ becomes, but I think he gets there next year. Once he's hitting 40%+ from 3 consistently he's going to look real good.

They already have a glut of talented 3's in Cam/Tari/Amen. All provide something different, all come with ridiculous athletic gifts.

They already have a young 20ppg scorer at the 2. Green gets a lot of hate, but he's one of the main reasons they've went on this run averaging a solid 23/6 on good shooting since the ASB.

Right now they are a solid team that is young and still looking to improve their shooting. I can really see them breaking out in the next 2 yaers and winning 50 games on a consistent basis. The talent they have is that good, and they all seen to be developing properly

I even like the vets this team brought in Adams, Brooks, Fred, a Holiday brother, and Uncle Jeff? What a great collection of dudes to help these guys grow, as all had different experiences, and all are different cats. Adams, Fred, JEff, and Adams are all class acts

[doogie_hauser]

A season away from returning to the playoffs (at least a play in seeding).

Jalen Green is a fascinating young player..

Suspect the Rockets will hang on to him over summer unless they get an Gobert style too good to refuse offer.

[God Squad]

Jalen knocked up Draya and ever since he's been going crazy.

No, they're not legit. But I do wonder how Jalen and Sengun fit together.

[lambchop]

I agree with the posters mentioning Sengun and the fit, specifically. Green looks like a poor man's Monta Ellis type chucker alongside Sengun, but actually looks like a decent first option without him, given his age and room to grow of course.

[Harry Palmer]

8 W in last 9, no?

[Magicman125]

Glad to see Jalen Green turn it around efficiency wise. He's looked better since Sengun went down, maybe more space to work with? Or maybe just more confident now that it's on him to be their best scorer? Either way, very encouraging and gotta be nice for him to prove the people who were insistent they sell-low on him wrong.

Rockets getting this experience playing meaningful end of season games is good for their young core, regardless of whether they make the play-in this year or not.

[scrabbarista]

Glad to see Jalen Green turn it around efficiency wise. He's looked better since Sengun went down, maybe more space to work with? Or maybe just more confident now that it's on him to be their best scorer? Either way, very encouraging and gotta be nice for him to prove the people who were insistent they sell-low on him wrong.

Rockets getting this experience playing meaningful end of season games is good for their young core, regardless of whether they make the play-in this year or not.

Yeah, the competition has been weak, but I've been watching the games, and Green has been great. I think he changed his approach in the last month or so. He started by going to the hole more and locking in more on defense. Then he caught a rhythm from the outside, and the numbers speak for themselves. You have to do it against the weaker competition before you can do it against the best, so I like the progress.

EDIT: There is the possibility that Sengun being out has opened up the floor more for Green's drives, but Green being more aggressive is also a factor. They can definitely play together if they both develop in the right direction (Sengun needs to learn to shoot; Green should learn to run a pick and roll with Sengun), especially with all of the other defenders on the roster.

[Harry Palmer]

I agree with the posters mentioning Sengun and the fit, specifically. Green looks like a poor man's Monta Ellis type chucker alongside Sengun, but actually looks like a decent first option without him, given his age and room to grow of course.

Nah, they play well off each other. He was already playing like this before Sengun got hurt, he just has more shot opps now, but the first thing he changed was his effort in rebounding and playmaking followed by his defence. Can’t stress enough what a change the latter is. He used to be one of the worst defenders in the league. He has been a defensive plus guy for a while now, even according to Udoka who gives out defensive praise like a miser. And then his scoring came, though it’s more he isn’t having the terrible games. He’s always had the big games (this was his 6th 40/+ game and he just turned 22 a week and a half ago). And lastly to emphasize that last point, age…there will be people older than him drafted this year. He’s 1/2 a year younger than Scottie who is given a lot of wiggle room for his age, for example. In fact the Rockets pretty repeatedly took the youngest top lottery pick with almost every high pick they had. They are starting to see the results.

The other big change is their significantly upping the pace, and that too happened before Sengun got hurt. Yes, it changes the spacing, but otoh Green is seeing a lot more doubling, and the spacing itself is double edged.

Edit: as to whether they’re legit, I guess it depends on what you mean. Without Sengun they have a kind of obvious lack of post play and top teams will adjust to how they’re compensating for that, but they are also missing Cam and Tari, so I don’t know how this will look when they are all back together (with another lottery pick added) next year, but talent is certainly not going to be lacking and they now have a great coach so…the future looks bright. They don’t have a Wemby, sadly, but they have extreme young talent/athleticism everywhere that can come at you in waves.

[Chuck Everett]

Thompson moving into the starting lineup next to Jabari has also made them interesting defensively. I do not think Amen is a point guard. I think he is a point forward type. Dillon Brooks may have to come off the bench next season.

Udoka is doing a fantastic job. The Nets pick looks juicy and they will get Eason, Sengun and Whitmore (and Steven Adams) back for next year. Rockets will be in the play-in at worst next year. And if they only are a 43-47 win team, I hope people realize that it is hard to level up in the Western Conference. They are on the path and have a runway to contention with some internal development after the 2024-25 season.

[Edrees]

This might be the first time I was intrigued by the OP's topic title and premise then they themselved convinced me nope, nope it's not true in the message of their own post.

I was like 8/10? Sounds like hot team on the rise, maybe
then i saw the schedule you posted and I changed my mind

[KokoKaizer]

It certainly makes Sengun look overrated.

Except Lebron, who's not overrated to you ?

[xb3at band1tx]

They are fine in terms of development track but uh yeah, that schedule doesn't mean they are that good or anything.

[jkvonny]

TBH, They are still in the play in race. Heating up and can catch the Warriors for the 10th spot. Will be hard to do, as the season is gettin shorter. about 3 games behind the GSW.

But, if GSW continues to struggle , the Rockets do have a game or 2 left to play GSW head to head. Never know. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Rockets are a young team for the most part. Def improved this season, having some vets helped them a lot. Need to fix their road game struggles tho.
Good future ahead, might start becoming a playoff again soon. But the division (Southwest Division) is tuff tho. Pelicans, Grizz (when they get healthy again), Mavs. Also Spurs may be on the rise again soon.