Some say that complaining is pointless if you don\u2019t have solutions.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re being naive, and I don\u2019t know what to do about it.<\/p>\n
Pointing out a problem is its own benefit. If you had a suspicious lump on your throat, someone should point it out – even if they\u2019re not a otolaryngologist.<\/p>\n
Complaining can be good for society, but it\u2019s unequivocally bad for the complainer\u2019s soul. I\u2019ve been issuing complaints about the Houston Rockets on this page all season long. It\u2019s exhausting. \u201cToo many turnovers! Too much isolation, not enough motion! Get off my lawn!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rockets\u2019 16.2% Turnover Percentage is tied for second-worst in the NBA, a far cry from last year\u2019s 11th (14.0%) mark. They remain second in isolation frequency (12.8%) despite being in the 41.2nd percentile. They can\u2019t win in the clutch; the defense has slipped. In short: ugh. These are belabored points that seem worth repeating because, well, they have an annoying habit of remaining true.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve tried to provide solutions, but frankly, I don\u2019t have the solutions. Run the triangle? I don\u2019t know. Play faster? That\u2019s the basketball equivalent of a middle manager telling a room full of engineers to \u201cbe more innovative\u201d.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have the answers. Likely, neither do you. We\u2019re at the mercy of Ime Udoka. It\u2019s a fair complaint:<\/p>\n
But it could certainly be worse.<\/p>\n
Rockets\u2019 future remains bright<\/p>\n
Take a step back – no James Harden pun intended – and look at where the Rockets stand.<\/p>\n
Alperen Sengun isn\u2019t a future star – he\u2019s a star, full stop. The only remaining question is whether he\u2019s more of a top-20 guy or if he can creep into top-10 territory. That\u2019s an excellent place for a 23-year-old to be.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to say what Amen Thompson will become. He\u2019s an outlier athlete – perhaps literally one of one -, but he (still) can\u2019t shoot. Thompson is connecting on 20.0% of his three-point attempts. His midrange has actually regressed since last season, when he shot 49.3% between 10-16 feet as opposed to this year\u2019s 35.7% mark.<\/p>\n
The Rockets should not build around Thompson as a playmaker if that trend remains. They\u2019re not built to space the floor around him, and non-shooting perimeter players have a poor postseason record. Thompson may be a long-term off-ball guy: A highly valuable player, but not the franchise player some hoped for.<\/p>\n
In a deck full of wild cards, Reed Sheppard is the Uno Wild Draw 4. He probably shakes out as the best shooter in the NBA in more simulations than not, but he\u2019s short and laterally slow. That said, the last time this author diagnosed a heady player with chronic lateral slowness, they forced crow so far down his esophagus that he\u2019s been tasting it for two seasons.<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s the point: The future is hard to predict. Let\u2019s circle back to that.<\/p>\n
Tari Eason will be on the unofficial All-Role Player First Team for the rest of his career (though the Rockets need to secure his future). Jabari Smith Jr. has a solid baseline, even if he doesn\u2019t improve. Simply put, the Rockets have a lot going for them.<\/p>\n
The most depressing reality is the spectre of the Oklahoma City Thunder. It\u2019s easy to envision a lot of bright futures for the Rockets, but the one where they usurp The Sam Presti Singularity feels far-fetched. This feels like an appropriate time to find a joke about Victor Wembanyama being a collective hallucination, or a cyborg, or a celestial being.<\/p>\n
The competition is stiff, and getting stiffer. If you\u2019re a title-or-bust guy, bust feels like a probable outcome. Only\u2026<\/p>\n
The future is hard to predict.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the point after a rambling, meandering diatribe: The Rockets are set up to be highly competitive for a decade if they like. Sometimes, that\u2019s the best you can do. Keep yourself in the running. Injuries happen. Windows open unexpectedly. The Rockets have the future draft capital to substantiate what they already have as well. Superstars get selected in unexpected places. The Rockets will be OK:<\/p>\n
Please forward all complaints to the comment section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some say that complaining is pointless if you don\u2019t have solutions. They\u2019re being naive, and I don\u2019t know…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,35182],"class_list":{"0":"post-115834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news","11":"tag-rockets-analysis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}