Rockets winning this game is the WORST thing that happened

lol. If you think a playoff game is meaningless, that means all of it is meaningless, so why feel any emotions about it at all?

Jeez such negative Nancies. Life is short. Chill out and try to enjoy the little things.

 

Hear hear, there are no expectations now, and the thing about sports is .....sometimes a miracle happens.....and it is in those times that magic is made, and fanaticism sets in. Let's see how this team does without KD, and watch to see.

No expectations, just watch.

DD

 

I completely disagree. If they push this to 7 games and then lose, then there are potential downsides to that.

But given that KD didn't play again, I'm actually glad the Rockets won Game 5 and did so in impressive fashion. All their young core played well and showed they had a lot of heart in bouncing back from that catastrophic close to Game 3. A lot of teams would've just laid down and quit.

My ideal offseason(assuming the series ends on Wednesday in LA or Friday in H-Town) is for Stone and Ime to get sh-tcanned and KD to be dealt for 2 or 3 solid role players while he still has a ton of value. That might actually happen now with the young core acquitting themselves well in Game 5 without KD in the lineup.

 

I get what you’re saying, but being swept to this limited Lakers team is pretty much a humiliation that our guys were not deserving of, not even Ime.
I still think that losing this series, even not by a sweep, still needs to be enough to shake things up. The losses in games 1 through 3 were enough to expose our obvious weaknesses, and winning one or two matches before elimination doesn’t need to effect the necessary actions, that would hopefully take place during this summer.

 

This I completely agree with. A gentleman's sweep should be grounds for major changes this offseason, starting with Stone and Ime. The absence of KD should not be a "get out of jail free" card for those two. The team showed in Game 4(and frankly through the first 47 1/2 minutes of Game 3) that they could beat this LA squad without him. The reason they're down 3-1 is because they were completely unprepared in Games 1 and 2 and at least in part because their idiot coach decided to play Jeff Green and Jae'Sean Tate extended minutes in a must win Game 3.

 

Wrong way to look at it. This young core needs something, anything, to hang their hats on. They were right there with the Lakers in Game 3 and a few blunders cost them the game. Then they blew them out in Game 4 when the Lakers finally turned back into pumpkins. All of this with 70 million dollars of dead weight cheering from the sidelines and using an underwater treadmill. Amen has looked fantastic, Jabari as well outside of that blunder. Sengun has been meh and Reed at least turned it on yesterday.

We need a coach who can go all in on the Reed/Jabari/Amen trio and surround them with players that actually accent their talents. Sengun actually set real picks yesterday and Reed miraculously had a good game. This trio works they just need an Alex Caruso/Jrue/Derrick white to accent them and a defensive center/rim deterrent who can do the same. Oh. And a coach and GM that can actually make it happen and function.

 

I think we can make it to the weekend. Sunday funday would be exciting.

 

Whatever.

I have a lot of respect for the effort and intensity from the younger players.

I think the intensity in games 5-6 will likely be too much -- but the Rockets did not roll over and get swept.

Personally would rather see them move their veterans for draft picks and keep rebuilding.

 

Yeah, take the pressure and the refs in the Lakers' home game and we're likely cooked.

One win in the playoffs is probably not what we had in mind when we traded for KD, so Stonedoka's fate won't be altered either way.

I'm glad for the win. No way we should be in this spot.

 

I think the series ends on Wednesday too, but it's worth noting that despite the youth and inexperience of this core, they're now 3-1 in elimination games over the past two postseasons. And that includes an impressive win in Game 6 at San Fran over the Warriors.

They seem to handle do-or-die situations pretty well. The hurdle going forward is avoiding falling into 3-1 or 3-0 holes to begin with. That's where a much better coach would be beneficial.

 

Character and grit are highlighted in the playoffs. You don’t want to get to the playoffs and lay an egg, especially on purpose!

I know it might be tempting to say, no team down 0-3 has ever won a series! But eventually one team will be the first to come back from an 0-3 deficit.

if anything the young players get the much needed experience of “do or die” basketball! When the whole basketball world is looking in on them.

 

Between games 3 and 4, the youth showed enough to have a glimmer of hope for them to meet their ceilings. I think Jalen's friend was right and they brought in a coach like Ime too soon. There is a good balance needed between development and winning games at all costs and Ime does not seem to have it. Its also abundantly clear that the depth on this team will not do.

Trading FVV/KD/DFS/CC seems imperative for the development on these guys. A step back is needed next year without a doubt. This team does not appear to have a transcendent superstar on their roster out of the youth, so they will need to build a true system with depth and cohesiveness to compete in the insanely talented West for the next five years. Its going to take luck to get to that level and a much better system from top down.

Maybe the KD trade can bring in an unheralded young player that surprises and becomes that guy.

 

The more experience our young guys like Reed, Amen, Sengun, and Jabari get in the playoffs, the better.

I'd love to see Ime/Stone out of here, but I doubt the result of one game is going to change that. Unfortunately, they already have a built-in excuse to run it back one more year with the injuries.

 

There are institutional issues with this organization, and until those problems are addressed - I think anything done is somewhat of a bandage.

I agree with you - there isn't a superstar hiding on this roster, but there are potentially a couple all stars.

The upside of this team is the WCF. I think this team is a lot like the Grizzlies Grit and Grind era.

Udoka is going to push to add MORE veterans and not less. Giannis is someone he is going to want here.

The player development - especially under Silas was bad.

I look at the roster and I do not see a SG on it, I would be a supporter of adding someone like Ayo Dosunmu to be the shooting guard. He is considered a very high level person that will fit well with guys like Sengun. He also has upside untapped. Same with Grimes.

If it were up to me, I would trade a lot of these guys and go back to the lottery trying to get a superstar, but that isn't something that TF will let happen.

 

I'm glad the young guys showed up. They've been playing hard and don't deserve to be humiliated by a sweep. If this ends up being a gentleman's sweep (which it very well may as we head back to LA) that should be a firing offense for Stone at a bare minimum anyway.

It feels like even with a humiliating sweep Ime would probably only get fired if he's completely lost the locker room, given the dumbass contract we handed him in the offseason. I think we'll have to pin our hopes on the players intervening with ownership to get him shown the door.

 

Tate already being in Offseason boxing mode.

 

There is no reason to go back to the lottery next season. They have a swap with Brooklyn along with owning the Phoenix pick outright. Granted, I have no idea what Silver's new anti-tanking rules will do to either of those picks, but I'd rather try to compete next year.

Now in 2027-28, the Rockets have no other team's first rounder and will control their own pick since the CP3 trade will have finally been completed. If next year is a disaster, I'm fine with maximizing ping pong balls heading into the 2028 draft in order to add more talent.

 

I disagree with all of this.

First, I don't think Stone/Ime were ever going to be fired after this year. The org praised them after the past 2 season turnaround and they were going to be given at least that amount of time in disappointing years before a shakeup.

Also, the "young core" playing well for a game or 2 is good all the way around. If you want to stick with them all at least they showed something. If you want to trade one or more of them they've increased their trade value from the first 3 games at least.

But, I think people are now well aware of this team's flaws and no one is viewing these guys as elite.

And, beyond that, it's just fun to see my team win.

 

Nah I always love to see the team win. Amen played like a true pg and Reed and Tari found their shot. Sengun stepped up as the leader of this team and Bari has been consistently good the entire series (not withstanding that 1 bad TO last game).

This young core isnt as bad as advertised. They arent as good as OKC or Spurs but def as good or better than others. Just need a better coach who can utilize them better other than scold them and ask for more energy on defense.