THE ROCKETS REPORT
Rockets show what they can be with a healthy lineup, but depth remains a concern
Dec 3, 2018, 6:46 am
A healthy Chris Paul makes a big difference. Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Week seven of the Houston Rockets season taught us two things. It taught us just how bad the Rockets can be when they are missing Chris Paul, and just how devastating they can be with a healthy squad. Houston split their four games this past week, losing in overtime to the Wizards on Monday and dropping what should have been a bounce back game against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday. Chris Paul returned to the lineup Friday after missing the previous three games and the Rockets shelled the San Antonio Spurs by 31. The momentum carried into the following night, and Houston dispatched the lowly Chicago Bulls by 16.
Houston is now 11-11, fourth in the Southwest Division, and tenth in the Western Conference.
Depth Issues
This past week was essentially a microcosm of the Rockets season as a whole so far. When healthy, they’ve proven that they can compete with any team in the league. The difference between this year and last is that when they weren’t completely healthy last year, they were still fully capable of competing at a championship caliber level. The Rockets have nowhere near that level of depth at the moment this year, and when a guy like Chris Paul or James Harden is out, Houston’s bench simply isn’t good enough to pick up the slack.
To put how much of a liability their bench is at the moment, consider this: when it was discovered that Gerald Green and Chris Paul would miss multiple games, the Rockets elected to promote journeyman Danuel House Jr. from the G-league rather than distribute those minutes to Michael Carter-Williams (who has all but replaced Bobby Brown as this year’s human victory cigar/white flag). House Jr. was fed 28 minutes in his first game as a Rocket on Monday and has since averaged 23.3.
Fortunately, the Rockets are as healthy as they’ve been all season, as not only did Green and Paul return, but Saturday marked the season debut of Nene, who’s return helps boost a woefully thin front court lineup outside of Clint Capela. Guard Brandon Knight also saw some action with a Rio Grande Valley assignment during the week, so there’s progression towards his debut as a Rocket as well.
Chris Paul’s Impact
Dropping Wednesday’s game to the Mavericks was an absolute heartbreaker. The loss dropped Houston to two games below .500 and left many wondering if the Rockets just simply weren’t a good team this year. When Paul’s return was announced on Friday, it was generally expected that the Rockets would play better, but hardly anyone predicted the absolute blowout that was handed out in San Antonio. Saturday’s game was more of the same, as Houston led by 10 or more throughout the contest.
We could do a deep dive into the numbers behind what the Rockets look like with Paul versus without, but the bottom line is that when Paul isn’t in the lineup, Houston is winless. When Paul plays, the Rockets are 11-6, and that win percentage (.647) would be good for 5th in the Western Conference.
Harden’s doing Harden things
So far the early season MVP discussions have centered around Stephen Curry and my basketball man crush, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Meanwhile, James Harden continues to play out of his mind, with or without a headband. Despite missing three games early in the season, Harden is sixth in the league in points with 582, and leads the league in points per game at 30.6. This past week saw Harden add a 50-point game and a triple-double to this season’s resume. For the week, Harden averaged 33 points, 11.8 assists, 8 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. Just another day in the office.
Up Next
The Rockets begin a winnable three-game road trip on Monday against the now Jimmy Butler-less Minnesota Timberwolves before travelling to Utah Thursday and Dallas Saturday. Houston will take on Minnesota for the first time since last year’s first round playoff matchup, and while the Timberwolves have won 4 out of their last 5, the competition has been poor, and Minnesota is still 11-12. Utah is in the midst of their own woes as well. So much so that Kyle Korver was dusted off and traded for in an attempt to jumpstart an offense that ranks 27th in the league. Saturday’s tilt against Dallas is the only game this week featuring a team that currently owns a winning record, even if they are only a game above .500.
The healthy Rockets are a night and day team compared to the injured Rockets, and right now they’re healthy. I’ll double-down on last week’s whiff of a prediction and call wins in each game as Houston slowly climbs back into contention.
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How Texans' health, pride, and playoff positioning now take center stage
Jan 2, 2025, 3:51 pm
The Texans used to market their matchups with the Titans as the "TnT" rivalry. There is nothing explosive or even interesting about Sunday’s meeting in the regular season finale. The number of people in Houston who are ex-Oilers fans has steadily diminished over the years. Those who remain will be hard-pressed to work up any bile for this game. Most Texans fans won’t be watching. The Texans are again champions of the garbage AFC South, but a season that opened with five wins in six games has devolved to the point where the Texans may be home underdogs against whichever Wild Card round opponent shows up here next weekend. Are you fired up?!? For their part, the Titans are a Titanic-esque 3-13, with one of those wins coming 32-27 at NRG Stadium. If you’d like to attend in Nashville Sunday (why you would I have no idea), a ticket can be had for eleven bucks, including the fees larded on by the resale sites.
Some would make the argument that the Texans need to play their starters in this game to try to rediscover some mojo after the Baltimore Ravens brutalized them on Christmas Day. C.J. Stroud hasn’t had a good game in over a month, and against the Ravens was plain awful. The all too often pathetic Texans’ pass blocking has done damage to Stroud. One wonders if Nick Caserio has modified his arrogant and/or ignorant position of several weeks ago that those critical of the offensive line were using a “lazy narrative.” The losses of Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and Tank Dell for huge chunks of the season have hurt as well. Still, Stroud deserves blame too for the offense’s overall mediocrity. He has been noticeably less accurate this season. After Stroud’s phenomenal rookie season, only acolytes would characterize this sophomore campaign as better than disappointing. Last season Stroud was named a Pro Bowler (granted, as a replacement for Patrick Mahomes who was occupied preparing to win another Super Bowl). This season if six AFC quarterbacks were named Pro Bowlers Stroud still wouldn’t make the cut. Within the conference among quarterbacks with enough playing time to qualify in the rate statistical categories, the only guys behind Stroud in QBR: largely washed-up Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew, and Will Levis.
Would Stroud benefit from a good game against a feeble opponent? He’s taken 52 sacks this season. Why expose him to injury risk in a game where the outcome means nothing. With 53-man gameday rosters in the NFL teams can’t sit all their starters, but the most important Texans should leave their helmets and shoulder pads in Houston this weekend: Stroud, Joe Mixon, Nico Collins, Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, and Derek Stingley Jr.. I’ll guess most play some. For instance, Mixon needs seven yards rushing for a 1000-yard season. 1000 yards over 17 games is not a big deal (59 yards per game does it), though Mixon missing three games to injury does mean he has been of the quality generally associated with 1000 yard running backs.
Danielle Hunter would like a word
On the subject of Pro Bowlers, the NFL named the squads Thursday. Thankfully there is no more hideous Pro Bowl game, but the recognition is still meaningful. Laremy Tunsil and Stingley got starting nods, with Mixon and Collins named backups. I imagine a few eyes rolled at reading Tunsil’s selection. Tunsil is a very good tackle who has mostly cleaned up his embarrassing early season false start problems. Should he be a Pro Bowler? It’s not absurd, though as one frame of reference Pro Football Focus ranks Tunsil the 18th best offensive tackle in the league heading into this weekend. Mixon’s selection is questionable but that guy runs hard and has pretty much been exactly what the Texans hoped for when they added him. This is the third consecutive season that Mixon has not fumbled. Collins missing five games makes his choice a non-no brainer (Jaguars rookie Brian Thomas had a strong case), but over the 11 games he has played Collins has been sensational. Stingley has been excellent in this his first healthy season, after missing eight games as a rookie and six last year.
The way the roster is constructed, no Texan was blatantly snubbed, though Danielle Hunter can rightfully ask "What about me?" relative to the Raiders' Maxx Crosby. Will Anderson cannot. A snub exists when a player is omitted for a clearly less deserving player. Attendance is part of the grade. Anderson has played a tick under 55 percent of the Texans’ defensive snaps. Hunter has played over 73 percent. That’s a difference of almost 200 plays. Defensive end selectees Crosby, Myles Garrett, and Trey Hendrickson are all outstanding, all have been on the field for more than 200 plays more than Anderson, and none of them benefit from having a Hunter-caliber d-line mate.
For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube
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