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Houston Rockets: The Current State Of The Team

By Brian K. Patterson

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It’s almost time for the All-Star Break Houston Rockets fans.

Not to mention it’s time to gauge how the Rockets are doing as a team at the midpoint of the season.

So how would I characterize how this 27-26 team doing at this point in the schedule?

In my heart, I’d like to say that the state of this team couldn’t be more weaker but I think that’s honestly too extreme as far as my opinion.

To give just one word to describe how this Rockets season as gone and how they’re playing at this point is this:

Characterless.

Yes, I mean that too!

What happened to the soul of this team?

What happened to the heart, the hustle, to do whatever it takes to win basketball games?

I’m not seeing that anymore and it seems this team doesn’t give a damn about any of what I mentioned.

Is it really all about collecting a paycheck?

Because all-in-all, there are many fans that pay good money to come see them play night-in and night-out at Toyota Center.

I sometimes wonder if the Kevin McHale firing was a bit premature but it actually was the right thing to do.

You know why?

He DESERVES better and shouldn’t have to put up with trying to appease so many egos on a team that should be doing so much more out of the basketball court.

When he was told that he was relieved of his duties, I’m sure he couldn’t have been happier!

I’m positive that he wants to go out and coach again but he can take his time.

McHale just packed up his stuff, chunked the deuce along with $12 million in guaranteed money out the back door of the arena.

Now J.B. Bickerstaff has to deal with this unfairly and I think he’s doing the best he can considering the circumstances.

But quite honestly, the only way Bickerstaff keeps the Rockets job is if this team repeats the same level of success in the playoffs that they had last season.

And that’s not likely.

I have to ask, if they’re not going to get it together now, when are they going to do it?

It may not happen.

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Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey has a tough assignment on his hands and he’s handcuffed to this team because of some moves he made in the off season that could trigger a hard cap of approximately $88.7 million, he’s very close to that figure currently.

So with any move the Rockets make, they cannot add much salary to the move, so he’d have to deal with a team that has gobs of cap space to take on.

We’re currently cap-poor.

And for those who think that James Harden should be traded, that’s the most asinine idea I’ve ever heard of!

Just who in the hell are you going to get for him?

Unless you’re getting LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or Russell Westbrook in exchange, there’s no way we’d get better with a trade.

He’s too valuable of a player and he’s currently second in the league in scoring averaging 27.8 points per game.

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And it also doesn’t make sense to trade Dwight Howard at this point unless it’s a deal that we can’t refuse and it makes this team extremely better.

It’s just best to keep him for the season and have him decide where he wants to play.

It’s highly-likely that he’ll opt-out to test the new market of a raised salary cap next season.

It’s up to him if he wants to collect the $23.2 million that’s on the table in the last year of his four-year, $88 million deal.

The team still lacks consistency at the point guard position with Patrick Beverley in-and-out with injuries, Ty Lawson underachieving and Jason Terry playing to the best of his ability but is kind of limited at age 38.

The Rockets know how to score — they’re 7th in the league in offensive efficiency, averaging 104.2 points per 100 possessions.

But it’s the defense that’s killing them, they’ve hovered among the bottom of the pack for most of the season and they’re currently 25th, giving up 106 points per 100 possessions.

This was a far cry from a team that was in the top 10 for most of last season.

These guys have to understand that if you’re going to have success at this level, a commitment to defense is necessary.

Harden must lead these guys and convince them that it’s necessary, just like last season or else this team will rack up the individual accolades but not the most important one — an NBA championship.

That’s why Tom Thibodeau needs to be coaching this team, he’s not necessarily a guy the players will like but he’s what they need and they’ll respect him for that.

Thibs is a drill sergeant and knows how to win basketball games with an incredible penchant for defense.

He’ll straighten the Beard out just like he did when he coached him during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The Rockets must make a run at him in the off season.

But where do they go from here?

Next: Dwight Howard Addresses Trade Rumors

They’re likely to finish just as they started and likely back their way into the playoffs with an abrupt first-round exit which would be utter disappointment.

I certainly hope that they prove me wrong but I have no evidence that they will.

So this team needs to SACK UP and PLAY SOME DAMN DEFENSE!

I’m done — go Rockets!

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