- 19 minutes ago
ITL debates whether Houston has done enough to call this season a win or if more is needed.
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00:00The Rockets, 49 victories with four more games to go.
00:03I think it's one of those, I think they finished off with Memphis at home.
00:07It just, it feels very evident that they will win 50 games this year.
00:10And it used to be, in the days of my youth, that a team won 50 games in the NBA.
00:14That was a pretty damn good season.
00:16Point blank period.
00:17No need to have further discussion.
00:19And it got me thinking, as I was scratching that itch of the thought,
00:23is this a good season for the Rockets?
00:25Is this a successful season for the Rockets as we stand right now
00:27without seeing what the remainder of the season is, the final four games,
00:30but more importantly, without seeing what the postseason is?
00:32As we stand right now, to me, it's a very easy answer.
00:35The answer is an absolute no.
00:37But there are qualifiers that you have to put on that.
00:40Okay.
00:40If they make some noise in the postseason, and you find noise however you want,
00:46but it's at minimum, you know, into the conference semifinals, I would guess,
00:50given what the expectation was.
00:53And also, I mentioned earlier, like, I kind of was like,
00:57all right, you know, when I was watching the Rockets yesterday.
00:59I thought it was kind of their best overall performance that I've seen in a while.
01:03I'd still put the Knicks game.
01:05Maybe.
01:05Above it.
01:06Again, that's in the mix.
01:07Sure.
01:07But just in a general sense, you know, my point is kind of playing okay,
01:12better than okay, got to make some noise.
01:15But right now, it's an absolute no.
01:17I mean, because it is still a small sample size of this six-game win streak
01:22after looking like a team that was ready to just go home.
01:26No, right now, it is an absolute no.
01:28This is not a successful season.
01:30Yeah.
01:30And I'll take it further than that because I was thinking about, all right,
01:35if you don't win in the playoffs, which, of course, we came into the season
01:37with the idea that you bring in Kevin Durant, you're going to be able to win
01:40in the playoffs.
01:41And it does not feel like they have a great path.
01:42Even if I can look at it and I go, hey, there's a path to win in the first
01:45round.
01:46The second round feels like a dead end.
01:48And sometimes it just be like that.
01:49Sometimes you run up against a really good team,
01:51which it feels like is going to be the probability,
01:53whether it's the Thunder or the Spurs.
01:55But even outside of that, there's other ways to measure success.
01:58And one of the things that I would look at is,
02:00are you finding an understanding of who you are as a team and what you do?
02:04And the answer to that is actually no, not really.
02:07Oh, I agree with that.
02:08I don't know that you have a repeatable year-over-year idea of what this team is.
02:16Hell, we're still lamenting what the offense is right now.
02:1970, how many games?
02:2178 games in the season, right?
02:22We're still lamenting that right now.
02:24The defense has actually fallen a decent amount from where it had once been
02:29to the point where I saw a statistic this weekend that I shared with you
02:32that was fascinating to me.
02:33The lineup that has become the starting lineup down the stretch here,
02:36outside of that Knicks game, where you have Reed Shepard,
02:40Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Shangoon.
02:46That is the second worst five-man lineup that we've had this year that qualifies.
02:52I had not thought that.
02:53Second worst in the league.
02:54With Reed on the floor, I go, all right, they're not as good of a defense.
02:57I can say that.
02:58I would have never said that that was one of the absolute worst lineups in the league.
03:02But it also speaks to it's not just Reed.
03:04Correct.
03:05Like, if you think, oh, look what Reed does.
03:06He drags him back.
03:07No, no, no.
03:08That's the entire lineup that has not been performing, you know, at a high enough level.
03:12Correct.
03:13And so that is a thing that's been wild to see is, yes, you're long and you have limbs.
03:17I think Reggie Miller was mentioning that on the broadcast yesterday for NBC.
03:20You have all those things.
03:22But I go, all right, as a defense, I'm still seeing, you talked about last night,
03:26I'm still seeing dudes with great effort in rotation,
03:29but they don't have the attachment of, I know how, we know how to work together to cover up.
03:34It's not just about rotating.
03:35It's about getting back to a stasis of our defense is solid.
03:38They don't do that enough.
03:39Offensively, there's not a great idea.
03:41Here's the question that I want to ask that is a little bit of a scary answer,
03:46at least when I answer it.
03:49Who's gotten good development this year?
03:52I thought about this the other day, too.
03:55Where are they getting better individually?
03:57You can erase Kevin Durant.
03:59We know he is what he is, and he's just going to be great, you know,
04:03until he decides to hang it up.
04:05Who's improved?
04:07I think my one answer is Jabari Smith, Jr.
04:09I don't even know about that one.
04:11I think Jabari has become a more confident shot maker.
04:16I don't say, oh, you're wrong, because I get the point, but I'm like,
04:20ah, is he good enough to be, was he third overall pick, fourth?
04:24I think that that's a litigation that I don't really want to get into,
04:27because I think that that's probably not the framework.
04:29That framework's probably dead, in my opinion.
04:31So you're resetting the standard.
04:33Yeah, I think the idea is, okay, but for this year,
04:35have we seen progress and growth from him?
04:37And I can say yes, but that's the one that I feel good about.
04:40Yeah, I think, I kind of agree with Reggie a little bit.
04:43It is, I feel like he is playing better than he did last year,
04:47but if you want to throw in the number three overall pick,
04:51I think that's kind of tough to say,
04:53because, of course, he's not playing like a number three overall pick,
04:58but he has improved.
04:59I was thinking Reed Shepard, maybe because he was.
05:02He would be one.
05:03Maybe because he'd get more playing time.
05:05Yeah.
05:05But to me, it's saying, like, now he's improved.
05:08Hell, I feel like he improved over the years.
05:10My only answer would be Reed Shepard, probably.
05:12And that's fair.
05:13I think that that's also there.
05:14I think maybe my frustration, which is funny,
05:16you'll get a laugh out of me saying this,
05:19is that development happened once you got to a place
05:22where you were absolutely hamstrung.
05:24You kind of just had to.
05:25It was almost by accident?
05:26Yes.
05:26Or almost, yeah.
05:28It's like he had to prove himself.
05:30Hey, you know, at least keep me in at the end of games.
05:34Now, you did get there,
05:35so maybe I shouldn't count it against him.
05:37But, okay, let's put that one and a possible
05:39depending on how you view that.
05:40Mm-hmm.
05:40Right?
05:41That's still not as much development,
05:43especially if this is going to,
05:44because I can easily see us getting to a point
05:46where at the end of the year,
05:48Raphael Stone, Emeo Doak,
05:49even if they don't say it explicitly in this way,
05:52considering what we've heard from them,
05:53kind of chalk this up as,
05:55well, you know, it happens sometimes
05:57because of the circumstances that arrived.
05:58Oh, it just wasn't our year?
05:59It just wasn't our year.
06:00God, that drove me nuts.
06:01Let's get back to the drawing board.
06:02And even if you were wanting to accept that,
06:05I feel like there should be some other things
06:06that you take away from that.
06:07And it feels like just going,
06:08hey, well, Reed Shepard has started to look more
06:10like a dude that we can utilize
06:11as opposed to a dude that we couldn't play.
06:13Yeah.
06:13That's not enough for this to be like,
06:15hey, this is a success at this point, right?
06:17No, I agree.
06:18That was, what was that,
06:19more than a month left in the season, right,
06:21when he said that?
06:23But I get where you're,
06:23I'm not going there again.
06:24I was just trying to think of it.
06:26But I feel like when you're talking about improvement
06:30year to year,
06:31the individual improvement,
06:32maybe two guys, as you mentioned.
06:35Fred Van Vliet isn't going to fix that.
06:37He's going to fix the team playing better,
06:39but the improvement is never going to get,
06:41you're never going to get this year back
06:42is how I would say it.
06:44Yes.
06:44You know, you're never going to get this year back,
06:46including Kevin Durant.
06:47Right, and the reason why,
06:48because I do think the two guys
06:49that we're talking about,
06:50Jabari and Reed matter
06:53because they're helping you along.
06:55I kind of gave the game away here.
06:57I think the big issue is,
06:59you didn't,
06:59I don't think that you've seen
07:00the right amount of development from a man,
07:02and that's because he's been put in a role
07:03where he's had to try and make up
07:05for some other deficiencies
07:06rather than becoming a better version of who he is.
07:09And maybe it's not wholly on you
07:10because it was maybe worth a try,
07:12but it didn't work.
07:14And I hate to use this term so casually,
07:17but I think it's kind of a wasted year
07:18in terms of individual development.
07:20And that stacks up.
07:22You're never going to get it back.
07:23And what sucks is,
07:23if you're giving up,
07:24if you're giving up some of the,
07:27some of the runway on individual development,
07:29it needs to be for winning.
07:30And I don't think that that's in the car.
07:31Even as I see,
07:32I now see a path for you to win
07:34the first round series.
07:35So at the very least,
07:36maybe you could cobble together a argument
07:38that this is a successful season.
07:40Because I do think that
07:41that's the weird thing that I came to.
07:42I go 50 games,
07:43this should be a successful season.
07:45What does it take to get there?
07:46I think at this point,
07:47you just need to make sure
07:48that you win the first round series.
07:48Well, you didn't used to have
07:4914 teams tanking either.
07:51Right.
07:51I think I went back.
07:52Maybe I'm exaggerating,
07:53but maybe I'm not.
07:54No, I won't go to 14
07:56because it's only 30,
07:56but there's a lot of teams
07:57that are trying to be at the bottom.
07:59I looked at it 20 years ago
08:01in the 05-06 season,
08:02there were six teams
08:04that won 50 or more games.
08:06It was rarer.
08:07That's why it held up
08:08that kind of esteem.
08:09But all the teams on the bottom
08:10are just giving you games.
08:11Right.
08:12Now it looks like there is,
08:13and I'm not,
08:14I'm not making a stretch by any means.
08:15There's probably going to be 10 teams
08:17that win 50 games this year.
08:18Yeah.
08:18So that level,
08:19that barrier for,
08:20okay, this is a successful season
08:21a little bit higher,
08:22and I think that you need to go
08:23and win this first round series
08:25for any of this to feel worth it.
08:26So at least you took a step forward
08:27as a full team,
08:28not just going to the playoffs
08:30like you did last year
08:31and losing is the worst,
08:32but actually winning one.
08:33It has to happen.
08:34I think 56-57 is now the standard, right?
08:37You win 56 games.
08:38Okay.
08:38That's high.
08:39I don't think so.
08:40That's high.
08:41With the tanking that's going on,
08:43I think 56 might be the best.
08:44I was like,
08:44you might give me a couple more,
08:46six more games
08:47in order for you to feel like
08:48you had a good year.
08:49It feels like,
08:50let me see,
08:50how many teams this year
08:51do you think have won 56 games?
08:54Or could get to 56.
08:56Yeah.
08:56Or could get to 56.
08:57How many teams do you think there are?
08:58Just off the top.
08:59Without looking,
08:59I want to say five?
09:01Three.
09:02Three?
09:02Three.
09:03Oklahoma City Thunder have,
09:05sorry.
09:06Yeah, three.
09:06Oklahoma City Thunder have 62.
09:08San Antonio Spurs have 59.
09:09The Pistons have 57.
09:11Everybody else has 53 or less
09:14with the remaining games.
09:15Oh, 53.
09:15Celtics.
09:16Okay, so maybe you can get to the Celtics
09:17possibly doing that.
09:19Yeah, I think 56.
09:20I'm going to go with that.
09:21Yeah, I feel like that might be a little high.
09:23You could get me to 52,
09:25maybe 53.
09:26Yeah.
09:26But ultimately,
09:28the larger point being,
09:30they're still...
09:30Yeah, it's a different world.
09:32It's a different world,
09:32and that number that the Rockets
09:34are about to hit,
09:35it used to mean something.
09:36I think that they need to find
09:37a little bit of a different
09:38intrinsic value for success right now
09:40to make sure that they ring out
09:42the best out of these last four
09:44regular season games
09:45and what the playoffs will look like
09:46for them ahead.
09:46How many teams do you think
09:47are going to win fewer than 30 games
09:49this year?
09:50Oh, God.
09:51Fewer than 30?
09:52Fewer than 30.
09:54I'm going to say...
09:5512?
09:57Fewer than 30.
09:58I was going to...
09:59You finished with 20-something wins
10:01in an 82-game season.
10:04Ooh, I was shooting kind of low.
10:06I was going to say nine.
10:07You might be right.
10:09I might have been wild.
10:10How many are there?
10:10It's probably going to be eight or nine.
10:12Okay.
10:13That's still a lot, man.
10:15Nine...
10:16Eight or nine teams
10:16finished with 20-something wins.
10:19Or fewer.
10:21That's why 50 doesn't feel
10:22the same anymore.
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