Houston is flying

[XxIronChainzxX]

The rockets were one of the best teams in NBA history the first year with CP3. It didn't just work, it was one of the best teams EVER.

what do you reckon? In 20 years some hipster producer is gonna make a 30 for 30 about the team that coulda been, but never was? History books are full of those stories already.

I don't know what you're going on about. They were an all time great team. They just ran into Curry and KD on possibly the best team ever assembled. If I were ranking the best nba teams of all time, that rockets team would be well ahead of half the eventual champions without even a second though. That's success by any reasonable measure.

They had a good run in the RS. They had strong wins in the postseason but not exactly against the elite. They had a tough series against the Warriors, but being up 3-2 is impressive but not even a guarantee of victory. The series came down to a couple of close games.

[LakerLegend]

Why doesn't everyone just relax and see how it goes.

It's not like Westbrook hasn't had team success before.

[Johnny Bball]

I guess this was the best move they could make for Chris Paul's contract. Compounded one mistake that was a sunk cost fallacy with another here. Good luck to them because I really would like to see them finally come out of the west, but I don't know that it's enough.

[BallerTalk]

Basketball has one ball. Not two balls

I mean seriously, you guys are repeating yourselves damn near verbatim now

[Jables]

You know after the signing I honestly forgot that Westbrook and Harden played together, back when Harden was coming off the bench. How grim from a Thunder perspective would it be if they actually won.

[5playersnot1]

Under the radar now. Cp3 was always hurt the last two years and the Rockets still remained as one of the top 2-3 teams without him, now they added Westbrook, he’s still an Uber talent just playing the game the wrong way. If Mike D Antonio can get Westbrook buyin to the system , defer to Harden a bit,and play game the right way, this Rockets team can very well win the whole thing next year .

Westbrook
Harden
Gordon
Tucker
Capela

Monster lineup, it gives Houston a different dimension on the offense end now that Westbrook can drive to the rim at will instead of a slow ass CP3.

Houston should be one of the best 3 teams in the west along with the two LA teams.

I have no idea how this latest Rockets experiment will turn out, but I think basing your premise of success on Westbrook deferring, buying in, or starting now to play the right way is a BIG unfounded assumption.

Westbrooks attitude and ego are basically along the same lines as Melo.
"Those are my 25 shots to take come hell or highwater. I can shoot 29% from 3, 42% from the field, and 65% from the line, but those are my shots. I get each and every one of those 25 shots regardless of how terrible they are, or how inefficiently I shoot them. I'm also going to put myself out of position to get a few extra rebounds. Buy hey, I'm an athletic freak, once every 5 games I'll put up 40 and the fans will love me. You don't agree? You a hater!"

Can't wait for the season to start, so many fun story lines to follow!

[dickfox]

Game 6 of the WC Semis in Houston
Lakers lead series 3-2
2 mins left, Lakers 110 Rockets 108

Rockets just gave up a 12-0 run on 6 Anthony Davis alley-oops from LeBron

There is no paint protection because Capela is benched because D'Antoni loves Tucker at center and small ball in the last 8 minutes of any game.

Russ brings up the ball. Harden asks for the ball and Russ doesn't give him the ball and instead pulls up for a 30 footer which clanks off the top of the backboard.

Cousins rebounds it. Outlets it to LeBron. LeBron throws an alley-oop pass to Davis and dunks it over Tucker, the 6'6" center. 112-108.

Gordon inbounds it to Russ because they're best friends now. Russ waves off Harden and D'Antoni who is screaming to pass the ball to James. Russ dribbles to the corner for a fadeaway three over 3 defenders and clanks it off the side of the backboard.

Out of bounds.

[Raps in 4]

Westbrook sucks and his limited skillset overlaps with Harden's.

To make this work:

1. Westbrook can't be allowed to shoot
2. Harden needs to play more off the ball

But that's not going to get you a ton of wins.

[Catchall]

Adding a high-volume, inefficient player is a bad idea for any playoff team. Houston took a step back, imo.

[dhsilv2]

what do you reckon? In 20 years some hipster producer is gonna make a 30 for 30 about the team that coulda been, but never was? History books are full of those stories already.

I don't know what you're going on about. They were an all time great team. They just ran into Curry and KD on possibly the best team ever assembled. If I were ranking the best nba teams of all time, that rockets team would be well ahead of half the eventual champions without even a second though. That's success by any reasonable measure.

They had a good run in the RS. They had strong wins in the postseason but not exactly against the elite. They had a tough series against the Warriors, but being up 3-2 is impressive but not even a guarantee of victory. The series came down to a couple of close games.

Taking that warrior team 7 games was all but considered impossible.

[WarriorGM]

Harden and Westbrook will be great. I don't get the skepticism just like I didn't with Harden and CP3. Worst comes to worst just stagger their minutes. We'll be seeing Westbrook with a significantly different coaching approach under D'Antoni. That alone should be interesting and will probably say a lot about how OKC used or misused Westbrook.

[XxIronChainzxX]

I don't know what you're going on about. They were an all time great team. They just ran into Curry and KD on possibly the best team ever assembled. If I were ranking the best nba teams of all time, that rockets team would be well ahead of half the eventual champions without even a second though. That's success by any reasonable measure.

They had a good run in the RS. They had strong wins in the postseason but not exactly against the elite. They had a tough series against the Warriors, but being up 3-2 is impressive but not even a guarantee of victory. The series came down to a couple of close games.

Taking that warrior team 7 games was all but considered impossible.

Yes. And it's always a reflection of the quality of a team when that happens. It's why that legendary 35-win Atlanta team that took the Big 3 Celtics to 7 games is lauded as being superior to the Finalist Lakers. 7>6.

There are a lot of things that went right for those Rockets. That doesn't mean they're a GOAT team.

[dhsilv2]

They had a good run in the RS. They had strong wins in the postseason but not exactly against the elite. They had a tough series against the Warriors, but being up 3-2 is impressive but not even a guarantee of victory. The series came down to a couple of close games.

Taking that warrior team 7 games was all but considered impossible.

Yes. And it's always a reflection of the quality of a team when that happens. It's why that legendary 35-win Atlanta team that took the Big 3 Celtics to 7 games is lauded as being superior to the Finalist Lakers. 7>6.

There are a lot of things that went right for those Rockets. That doesn't mean they're a GOAT team.

They are one of the best teams to ever play is WHY they are a "goat" level team. The warriors series is a good illustration of that but is certainly too simplistic to be the entire reason we think that. The full season of play combined with their playoff performance however is more than enough to tell us that they are an all time great team.

[gmoney411]

I guess this was the best move they could make for Chris Paul's contract. Compounded one mistake that was a sunk cost fallacy with another here. Good luck to them because I really would like to see them finally come out of the west, but I don't know that it's enough.

There was no sunk cost going on with the Rockets. They traded for CP3 on the agreement that they would make him whole for opting in. And the Russ move is like you said. This is the best they could get for Paul's contract while becoming more competitive and extending their window at the same time.

[Official]

The narrative around Westbrook at the moment is low. But he is still a vastly better player than Paul last year.

[XxIronChainzxX]

Taking that warrior team 7 games was all but considered impossible.

Yes. And it's always a reflection of the quality of a team when that happens. It's why that legendary 35-win Atlanta team that took the Big 3 Celtics to 7 games is lauded as being superior to the Finalist Lakers. 7>6.

There are a lot of things that went right for those Rockets. That doesn't mean they're a GOAT team.

They are one of the best teams to ever play is WHY they are a "goat" level team. The warriors series is a good illustration of that but is certainly too simplistic to be the entire reason we think that. The full season of play combined with their playoff performance however is more than enough to tell us that they are an all time great team.

They had a close series with the Warriors but nowhere near the body of work to qualify as a GOAT team. It's why frankly I'm hesitant to say that the Warriors are a GOAT team - they've never played anyone worthwhile outside of Houston. Teams like the Bulls or the old 76ers have a far more substantial body of work or body count of historically great teams.

[DBCJUN]

It did almost work with CP3, they were a win away from possibly stunning GS until he got hurt......

Why not run it back then?

Because Paul wanted out, he's also getting older.

Also because it was one year ago, they already ran it back.... Not the outcome we wanted

[reignfire]

Harden and Westbrook will be great. I don't get the skepticism just like I didn't with Harden and CP3. Worst comes to worst just stagger their minutes. We'll be seeing Westbrook with a significantly different coaching approach under D'Antoni. That alone should be interesting and will probably say a lot about how OKC used or misused Westbrook.

Staggering is great in the regular season.

In the playoffs you're playing your best guys almost the whole game.

Westbrook will look very uncomfortable off ball. He will just be standing around waiting for his shot every 3rd possession. Harden gets 2 possessions in a row because its his team lol.

And they both won't be playing defense because they're both looking to impact on offense.

[ZB9]

Harden and Westbrook have played on the floor together before with good results.

[Ugly Duckling]

Westbrook's game has been deteriorating steadily. His shooting and TO's are atrocious. He's still a good athlete and at 30, gives the Rockets more security and firepower than CP3, but this doesn't put them over the hump in the most stacked Western Conference of all time. I've always been a advocate of Morey's, but I'm afraid he just exchanged one bad contract for another and gave away first rd picks