Are The Houston Rockets Actually Good? Houston’s 3rd Seed Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
The Houston Rockets are sitting in 3rd place in the Western Conference — but if you watch them play, it doesn’t always feel like a contender.
On today’s show, the crew breaks down Houston’s recent struggles after a tough loss to the Denver Nuggets and debates whether the Rockets’ current record is misleading. Despite a strong 40-win season, Houston is locked in a tight playoff race with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver, where just a couple games separate the 3-seed from the play-in.
The conversation dives into the biggest questions surrounding the Rockets right now:
• Why does the offense look so inconsistent?
• Is Alperen Sengun regressing or just being misused?
• How much does Houston miss Fred VanVleet when he’s not at his best?
• Is head coach Ime Udoka starting to feel the pressure?
The guys also react to criticism from analysts and the growing debate around whether Houston’s roster — including Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, and Sengun — has what it takes to compete with the Western Conference’s elite teams like Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
With the playoffs approaching, the big question remains:
Are the Rockets contenders… or just a team benefiting from a tight Western Conference race?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Is Houston legit or are bigger problems starting to show
#NBA #HoustonRockets #KevinDurant #AlperenSengun #HoustonSports
19 Comments
The Rockets have had a number of black swan events this year: 1) Injuries to FVV and Adams and other misc injuries to key players throughout the year. Adams' rebounding was covering up a lot of offensive flaws. 2) KD is ball-dominant and it takes away from the younger player's progression, Plus, you have the KD files and Sengun hasn't been the same since then. I'm buying into the KD culture killer rap. 3) Ime is getting exposed, it looks like Brooks was the real defensive catalyst of this team. Also, giving the ball to KD and/or Sengun at the top of the key and asking them to go 1-4 flat is not a real offense……MAYBE in high school if you have LeBron on your team. Udoka has been consistently out-coached. I lost a lot of respect for Ime when Jabari had that bad game and Ime should have acted as the lighting rod but instead he threw Bari under the bus. 4) Ime has SERIOUSLY mis-managed Reed over the past two years. Reed should have been in the G-league ALL of last year and he would be thriving right now. Look at Pritchard on Boston: under Ime he only scored 6.2 pts a game, after Ime he surged and is now at 17.5 PPG and got sixth man of the year. Ime doesn't know how to develop young players. Or maybe he just doesn't know how to develop young white players??
People had rose colored eyes with Alpren Sengun, people now see it because Jalen is not here. He was the cause of a lot development growth because Alpi can’t do anything significant without the ball and yes he is a good passer, but his IQ is low and he can’t process the game fast enough… many players have covered is deficiencies… all star, both selection were warranted, this year he was a full in because of the all star game setup, last year just because the Rockets were the second seed and they needed some representation. For god sakes, he was bad in the playoffs like Amen and Bari but the blunt of the blame went to JG and people never saw how JG was being defended. The only reason they are this high was because of early season scheduling
The Houston Brokens
Sengun is trash. He complains every time he misses a shot. KD can’t do it all. Missing their starting point guard has caught up with them. They’ll go home in Round 1.
Rockets not having any idea what they're doing offensively is a problem that existed as far back as when D'antoni left.
This is nothing new.
it's just worse now, because drill sergeant Ime being robbed of FVV basically exposed this for all to see.
Trade Sengun away, get Giannis, I dunno, trade away everyone and get KD, Harden, Russ together again…
Nothing would change.
it's coaching. It's clear that Ime really only got any success due to likes of Splitter and Mazzulla. He f….g sucks. This current coaching staff sucks.
I KNOW for a fact, if Reed turned into Steph Curry white version, Ime would manage to fuck him over and keep him at 15 PPG or something. He Really really reeally cannot coach offense or offensive players, at. ALL.
I said this in Jackson's channel.
Blow this entire org up.
Houston fans are problematic for one thing. But since replacing fans or moving the team is not an option, blow everything else up. Trade away everyone for picks, fire everyone in the org from Stone to the team janitor, tank for a full 5 seasons and get someone with vision to FO, and a coach who KNOWS HOW TO FOSTER YOUNG PLAYERS.
Maybe Houston will get something. Otherwise, SA and Dallas getting Duncan-Nowitzki, Wemby-Flagg combos will continue. No one in the league wants a superstar with future to languish in this toxic org.
if nuggets losse tonight they will be 7e seed if suns win, the rockets team cant make open shoots
Also what do you guys fucking think of us?
Turkish basketball is one of the strongest basketball cultures in the world. You think Alperen isnt getting drawn and quartered in media and within fandom due to his last 3 months?
The entirety of basketball mechanics specific discussion you have in a 1 hour show, gets covered within 10 minutes and in much more detail in turkish NBA commentary channels. Kaan Kural alone spotted up the entire problem space of not just Rockets, but everyone from Raptors to Knicks to Lakers to Denver as far back as FIRST MONTH of season.
We call his BS faster than yall did. We've been calling his FT problems and inconsistency for 4 years now.
The problem is not dragging Alperen. He deserves it right now.
But ALLLLLLLL OF YOU american commentators defending Ime, after all his bullshit, is astounding.
This is a man that Celtics fans CELEBRATED getting rid of because he couldnt keep it in his pants. He's low morals, low BBIQ, low leadership, low everything MF.
And yall acting like Alperen alone made this team into what it is now. Jesus christ superstar.
7:40
The Rockets are just not a good team… they are good in certain aspects but all around they are not good and the player development obviously is not good either the front office has done a terrible job of assembling this team
Rockets need to play Lakers or twolves in the first round.. because okc spurs nuggets are going to dog walk them
rockets done there job, i know it’s ugly but with the injuries. they done what they supposed to do, and you can’t hate
Sengun is trash! Trade him for Giannis this summer
Ime will be fired at the end of the season. A new GM would be nice too. Rockets have no idenity on offense and the defense is not much better. Steven Adams covered up a mediocre team and without him that is what they are.
Ever since Chris Paul tore his hamstring in game 6 it's all been downhill. Even with this new squad, we're just pretenders. This team is a joke. I'll stick to the Texans and Astros over this joke of an organization
Alpi simply got visibly demoralized after KD dissed him in front of the game crowd for taking a shot at the clutch earlier in the season, and then the burner thing nailed the coffin. KD, unfortunately, is not a leader and harms team chemistry in pretty much every team he joins.
I just came by to say F KD, FREE PALESTINE
First time listening to this podcast and boy do y'all suck. Just a bunch of old haters, trying to be funny and failing miserably, like their cardiovascular system. ✌🏻 never again.
People are focusing on ridiculous things. The Rockets will get even worse than they are now because they always play with the same game plan. If you keep doing the same things, the opponent knows what you're going to do and stops you. Ime only has one game plan in mind, and everyone has figured it out. You have KD and Reed shooting 50%. When the opposing team plays a tight, crowded defense against KD and Reed, the remaining three Rockets players need to set screens against the opposing players trying to set screens. If they play like that, the opposing team's tight, crowded defense won't work. When the opposing team abandons its crowded defense, you switch to your normal game. You can't overcome an organized defense with individual skill alone. In my opinion, real defense is the defense you play while on offense.
We shouldn’t have traded for Durant! Dillon Brooks brought that energy every game, that’s what the team fed off from!! Sengun can’t make no free throws, Amen can’t shoot at all, Jabari is inconsistent! It’s doesn’t look like there’s a game plan! Idk what else to say!