NBA Betting Preview: The Houston Rockets have to be quietly but greatly disappointed right now. They had so much promise late in the 2013-2014 season, and now they have very few components in place for a title run.
What Went Wrong Last Season?
The Rockets watched everything fall apart in the playoffs last season, after showing the same kinds of bad habits that dogged them in the regular season. The biggest problem with Houston last season, perhaps surprisingly, was not Dwight Howard. It was felt by many that Howard, after sulking through his final seasons in Orlando with the Magic and then being a bitter, uncooperative, sniping cancer in the locker room in his ill-fated season with the Los Angeles Lakers, would similarly destroy the Rockets’ chemistry and balance. Since Houston, under general manager Daryl Morey, likes to spread the floor and shoot corner threes as part of its offensive philosophy, Howard seemed to be an odd fit on the team, someone who would not blend in as a personality and someone who would also restrict the team’s ball movement while possibly hurting the Rockets’ floor spacing as well. Yet, in the season and especially in the first round of the playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, Howard was superb. He provided consistent low-post offense and solid defense in the paint. He hustled, he kept his head down, he performed, he put up really good numbers and was a dependable player. He defied the narrative and really lifted the Rockets as much as he reasonably could. With Howard playing well, you would have thought that the Rockets would have a great season and would go deep into the Western Conference playoffs.
What went wrong, though, was that James Harden, this team’s other star player, could not and would not play defense. Harden remained a lethal scorer, but he just didn’t try very hard on defense, and head coach Kevin McHale could not get through to him on that point. Houston became a terrible wing and perimeter defensive team, and that deficiency kept rearing its ugly head. Portland was able to score at will against Houston in the playoffs, and when Chandler Parsons committed a defensive lapse that enabled Damian Lillard to get open for a three-point shot to win Game 6, Houston’s season ended far sooner than the team hoped. This was just the beginning of what has gone wrong for the franchise, though, as you’ll see in the next section:
Offseason Changes
The Rockets felt they were set to land Chris Bosh, which would in turn keep Chandler Parsons on the roster. The Rockets and Morey thought they were going to have a starting five of Howard, Harden, Bosh, Parsons, and Patrick Beverley. Four of those five players would have been so good that Beverley could have been tolerated. Houston would have been a title contender. Bosh, however, stayed with the Miami Heat, and Parsons then chose to leave for Dallas. Everything fell apart. Houston is now a low-end team with a poorer roster. It’s a nightmare for the organization.
Projected Finish
The Rockets would do well to simply make the playoffs. If Harden can play just a little defense, Houston can be the eighth seed in the West. If Harden doesn’t improve his defense, this team could be left out of the playoffs.
Pick: Eighth In The Western Conference, First Round Of The Playoffs
