Championship Aspirations
5 reasons why the Houston Rockets can win the NBA Title
Oct 23, 2019, 11:52 am
Championship Aspirations
The drama the NBA off season brings us every year leads fans to newfound optimism; some with a demented expectation because of fandom, others justified.
When the final buzzer sounded crowning the Toronto Raptors the NBA Champions, a few players such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were now being painted to different teams, while others like Kawhi Leonard had the keys to how things would play out in free agency and where the dominoes would fall.
After the blocks fell and the dust settled, the Houston Rockets jumped in the chaos and made a move that will change the direction of this franchise for the foreseeable future. The Rocket's acquisition of Russell Westbrook while being able to unload an aging Chris Paul and keeping most of their roster intact puts Daryl Morey's experiment as a top 5 contender.
Now we look for answers that can only be found once we see this team hits the court, Thursday brings us the first opportunity to take that look.
Here are 5 Reasons why the Houston Rockets can win the NBA Title.
When you add a player with this type of resume, it automatically leads you to believe the roster is improved. The mystery now remains how can coach Mike D'Antoni make the puzzle fit. The familiarity of the two superstars going back to growing up and then playing at OKC and with team USA could lead to on-court success. The roster undoubtedly improved on paper, now housing two bonafide talents that finished top 10 in MVP voting in each of the past five seasons, and both placed in the top-five in the same season three times over that span.
Over the years rumors have come out about other NBA players aspiring to play with James Harden and whether it was becoming a problem with his style of play. Bringing in someone Harden has a close relationship with and someone the beard pressed for will do wonders for the locker room this season. We think back at the rumors of a feud between Chris Paul and James Harden during the playoffs last year, is that something you want to worry about coming into this season? Now I use the word rumor, because thats all it was, nothing was ever confirmed, but where there is smoke, there is fire.
Trust is essential here as we saw players like Austin Rivers and Clint Capela come out and back the Rockets statements saying things weren't true and how much they trust in Harden's game and style of play. Was the quarrel between Paul and Harden over the way the superstar played in closing quarters and in big moments in playoff games? That's something Harden has been noted for time after time. We all know that even the best of friends can argue, so how will this all play out in late-game situations or when the team struggles? The question going into this season is can Westbrook bring the best out of Harden in situations where some say he's checked out in the past.
Last season the Rockets finished the regular season 27th in pace (98.39). During the playoffs, they were 10th (97.26) playing at an even slower pace. Rostering two players like Paul and Harden that slow the game down can sometimes work against you in situations or matchups where you need to speed up the game. Russell Westbrook plays a completely different game and when on the court the Thunder played at a pace of 104.34.
In Westbrook's 2016-17 MVP season, the Thunder were fifth in pace leading him to his career-high in PPG at 31.6. The downfall is it also was his career-high in turnovers per game at 5.4. The following season his points dipped to 25.4 PPG, as did the Thunder's pace, finishing 20th. Last season Westbrook's team once again moved into the top 10 in pace (9th) but he had his lowest points per game output since 2013-2014.
I see a change of pace as a good thing that the Rockets will perfect as the season progresses. At times last season the offense seemed stagnant, this will give Houston the ability to attack in a different fashion. Over the years we've seen plenty of Westbrook's ability to rebound turn and get up court resulting in fast break points and open shots.
When looking at this Rockets team you see a ton of experience and that will be focal to keeping this team improving.
Russell Westbrook-12th season
Eric Gordon-12th season
James Harden-11th season
PJ Tucker-9th season
Austin Rivers-8th Season
Clint Capela-6th season
Honorable mention- Nene-18th (although now on the court much, mentally in a locker room he helps not to mention the practice he gives the younger guys)
Notably, Houston went out and added a few more players who will add to the team's overall experience
Tyson Chandler-19th season
Thabo Sefolosha-14th season
Ryan Anderson-12th season (He's back)
Ben McLemore-7th season
Houston enters the season with the most experience with an average of 8.9 years. There is one issue with this as it also makes the Rockets the oldest team in the NBA with an average age of 29.7. The time is now for a team with a small window to experiment.
We all know how much the Warriors have dominated the league the last couple of seasons, even without winning the Championship last year. But the powerhouse that was built in Golden State looks to be vulnerable with the departure of key players and a Klay Thompson injury that will put the weight on the shoulders of Steph Curry. Can he carry it? He has before but the shift of powers in the Western Conference points me to believe this will be a down season for the Warriors with Curry being less than 100% healthy over the past few seasons. One injury that causes Curry to miss extended time would plummet the Warriors season. Head Coach Steve Kerr said publicly this week that he didn't think Klay Thompson would be back this season, with that said if the team is struggling why would they risk it.
According to Vegas here are the top 5 favorites
Los Angeles Clippers 7/2
Los Angeles Lakers 4/1
Milwaukee Bucks 6-1
Philadelphia 76ers 8/1
Houston Rockets 8/1
The interesting thing here is how will these top teams deal with load management becoming somewhat of a ritual in the NBA?We know the Lakers will use it plenty with LeBron James, how many games with managing time and injuries will Anthony Davis be good for?In the last 3 years, Davis and James have missed a combined 75 games, and yes last season was somewhat of an outlier as the future of both players and their franchises had a lot to do with the games played but Davis has never played an 82 game season in his previous 7 years. LeBron had his eyes already set on this season, risking further injuries would have been pointless.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are another tandem the are known to miss games and as no surprise, we enter the season with George recovering from an injury. Last year Leonard only played 60 games and I look for the load management to continue as that was a big factor in him signing with LA.
Joel Embiid another Superstar on a top 5 contender that misses extended amounts of time often and is used with precaution at times during the season. In his first three seasons, Embiid has played 31, 63 and 64 games. That's not something that can be relied upon.
Now let's look at the Houston duo
Harden's games played last 4 seasons
82
81
72
78
Westbrook
80
81
80
73
Being on the court together will be essential in getting in-game adjustments right and will be crucial for seeding. Of the Western Conference favorites, I look for the Rockets to get the most on-court time out of their star players. Seeding and getting home court in an extremely competitive conference will be key for Houston's title aspirations.
Coming off the opening series win over the Mets, there's a lot for the Astros to be excited about. The starting pitching led the way in all three games, and Houston's high-leverage relievers delivered when it mattered most.
Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader closed the door on the Mets in games 1 and 3. Bryan King has also looked impressive, and it appears he'll be counted on in the seventh inning to hand the lead to Abreu and then Hader.
If Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski can deliver consistent performances similar to the other starters, the Astros will have one of the most feared rotations in baseball.
Plus, more help could be on the way with Lance McCullers making another step in his rehab pitching for Sugar Land over the weekend.
As good as the pitching has been, there are some legitimate concerns about the offense. Their struggles to hit with runners in scoring position in 2024 are still an issue through the first series of 2025.
Newcomers Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker have yet to do much with the bat, and the only extra-base hits this season (2) have come from Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez.
As far as the learning curve in the outfield, Jose Altuve and Cam Smith are off to a decent start. And despite the shakeup at second base, the team is still getting zero production from Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers.
It appears Joe Espada's plan in the Mets series was to get everyone some playing time, which seems like a smart strategy early in the season. However, the game plan didn't pay off on Saturday, with Zach Dezenzo, Victor Caratini, and Dubon combining for zero hits.
Polarizing bats
Finally, how are we feeling about the Torpedo bats sweeping the league?
While the Yankees aren't the only team with players sporting these new sticks, their results have been the talk of MLB with the Bronx Bombers mashing 15 dingers over just three games.
With the Astros sitting at one homer on the season, why not give them a try? One thing is for sure, don't be surprised if players opt to use these new bats to break out of a slump at some point this season.
We have so much more to cover. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday live right after the game. Click here to catch!
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