I think Harden would set up our young guys and put them in better positions. Would allow KPJ to either move off ball or to 6th man.

Man we are fun to watch sometimes

Looked like a basketball team tonihgt

Part of me wouldn't mind having Harden back. The Rockets have been irrelevant ever since he left. But he totally quit on the Rockets last time.

KPJ and JG shot the 3-ball really well last night, but the real monster was Sengun.

When he stays out of foul trouble and we play though him, we can put up some points.

When our guards start dribbling too much or forcing ill-advised passes is when the clown shoes come out.

We really need to consistently focus on making Sengun the offensive initiator. We shouldn't have a possession where he doesn't have an opportunity to make a play.

Max Power said:

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https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35318050/sources-james-harden-seriously-considering-return-rockets
So he wanted out of Houston, then out of Brooklyn, possibly out of Philly, not sure I'm big on bringing Harden back when this team is being rebuilt and is so young. If he truly wants to come back then let him sign as a true free agent so that Houston doesn't have to give any assets to Philly. If he did that I would believe that he really wants to come back.

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I can see Harden's sensitivities making him long for Houston, where he was always getting love as a local star rather than where he has probably gotten mostly cold shoulders and annoying fans heckling him for not living up to what was expected in Brooklyn and Philly.

Not sure how much his attitude has changed but I'm not totally against it if he was willing to take a discount contract.

Harden would be a bad presence around all our young guys. The very reasons he couldn't get along with Chris Paul are the reasons he would be a bad fit and he's not a leader. Special rules for him, hungover or missed practices, large amount of time at strip clubs, etc.

Solid Silas Tankball tonight.

Sengun barely touched the ball all night and was often found standing outside the 3pt line.

Luka with a 60- 21- 10 stat line. Pretty nuts.

We are incredibly, incredibly hard to watch most of the time. Tonight was no exception.

Luka also had an incredible put back off his own missed free throw to tie the game in regulation. His reaction after the tip-in was classic, like a little kid who just hit a trick shot for the first time.

Luka is really amazing player, but I think he has similar limitations as James Harden. They are both incredibly brilliant offensive players, but their teams become 1-dimensional and are easy to scheme against in the playoffs.

Also, while I'm on the subject, I would not be in favor of bring back Harden. I hope the next "contending" version of the Rockets actually plays team basketball and focuses on defense. Our current team actually has potential to play team basketball (post-Silas), but our perimeter defense is terrible. James would definitely compound our defensive problems and I'm certainly not going to bank on him being the catalyst to self-less team basketball. Worst of all, he would probably insist on starting Fernando over Sengun because he is a better lob-threat.

I'd honestly prefer a low-cost Pat Bev reunion over a big-contract Harden reunion

Agree re: Harden

HotardRat said:

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We are incredibly, incredibly hard to watch most of the time. Tonight was no exception.

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Slight disagreement: Midway through the 3rd quarter we were actually hanging in there. At the time, it was pretty impressive given that we were on the 2nd night of a back to back, playing the best team in the nba. I think they also didn't get into Boston until 4am. KPJ had another really good game (9 Assists v 0 TOs!), Tyty got some good run (20 mins, 5 Boards, 3 Assists, 1 steal and 0 TOs - led the team in +/-)

Wheels really fell off the bus midway through the 3rd quarter though....and yes...it was not watchable after that point. I bailed with 4 minutes left in the 4th...

HotardRat said:

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We are incredibly, incredibly hard to watch most of the time. Tonight was no exception.

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We have been unwatchable a lot this season but I wouldn't say tonight was one of those nights. We were competitive deep into the 3rd and then decided to execute the tank. There have been a lot of games we weren't competitive for a moment.

Tickets are dirt cheap tonight vs Jazz...if anyone is looking give me a holler and can help save on fees etc.

Went to TC last night in what felt like 2+ years. Rockets are bad - let some dude named Markkanen score 49 points, lol

cr0wbar said:

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Went to TC last night in what felt like 2+ years. Rockets are bad - let some dude named Markkanen score 49 points, lol

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Lauri Markkanen can ball! Dude was cold at AZ.

We show every sign of a young and not well-coached team. Some nights we look to be turning the corner and others we look like bottom feeders. I thought it was funny the minute the game started to slip in the 4th we were perfectly comfortable with a KPJ desperation heave-ho brickfest.

IMO this should be the last year with Silas at the helm, especially if we can work a little magic to get Wemby in the draft. You gotta get someone in there that can develop the young talent and get some consistency out of the team as a whole.

Silas seems like a genuinely good guy but I am worried he is going to ruin our young guys. Young teams are always inconsistent but these guys have taken that to a new level.

WES2006AG said:

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Silas seems like a genuinely good guy but I am worried he is going to ruin our young guys. Young teams are always inconsistent but these guys have taken that to a new level.

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Absolutely. It is hard not to like him. Perfect coach to have early on during the rebuild.

Time to move on from Silas.

Great dude, but want to give John Lucas a chance. Silas has shown he doesn't put out young guys in good positions.

Silas ceiling is that of a great assistant coach. I'm sure the players like him and he's easy to get along with and work with or whatever. But...running the team? Nah. No. This isn't for him.

Stephen Silas as Rockets head coach

47-148 (24.1% winning percentage)

For 195 games coached, this is the 2nd worst record of all time.

We know he is here to tank but wonder if he is let go after this year

Yep, 100%. Bad habits are being created.

Spoiler alert: They are going to wait until it is a mathematical certainty that we are in the bottom four before we fire him. At which point, they will promote John Lucas and let him finish the year (and we will look like a slightly better team).

KPJ is clearly not a point guard, but he isn't the real problem. The team usually competes well for 40 of the 48 minutes, but there is a point in every game where the wheels fall off the bus (turnovers, bad possessions, poor shooting, etc). In these moments we need someone who can generate a bucket 3 straight possessions while we are reeling. Back in the day Harden would go supernova, Tmac would go full tilt attack mode or Dream would demand the ball in the post. The offense had a reliable focal point to carry them in bad moments. A real PG could try to solve the problem by generating 3 good sets, but in the NBA it's usually a SG, F or C that lifts the offense through individual effort. In this current moment, we don't have a single player capable of stringing together 3 really good offensive sets. We could have CP3 setting up the team, but Green is still going to dribble the ball of someone's shoe, Sengun is going to miss a layup or Jabari is going to airball a 3. We simply don't have good enough talent to fix this problem with a good PG. We need a dependable offensive focal point for the team, and I'm not sure any of the puppies will fill that role any time soon.

Harry Dunne said:

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This team needs a true PG. KPJ is not it and is never going to be. He's a very talented player, but He's always going to be a 2 to masquerading as a 1.

The team needs to decide what it's going to do before they get in too deep.

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KPJ would be a good fit as a 6th man on a good team.


Would love to get Wemba in the next draft. But scoot Henderson would fit in perfectly.

That's a good analysis of what has typically happened down the stretch and while a crunch time go-to guy would certainly be huge, I do think several guys on the current roster can develop into that.

I would still put a PG and a big that can defend the rim above that as things stopping this team from getting better.

Houston’s Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate have been suspended one game for leaving bench area during altercation with Kings. https://t.co/aD4I0NiWSx

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 15, 2023

Our defense is awful