Thoughts! Rockets better than Pels? How exactly?

[Tinman]

Rockets rotation- Harden-CP3-Capela-Chriss-Knight-Gordon-Melo
Pels. Rotation- Jrue-EP-AD-Twaun-Jules-Nico-Miller

And as far as 8-12, I certainly don't see Houston's splinter collectors as being better than Pels.
What, according to those rosters screams- Houston's the better team?

[Mythrol]

Harden can simply take over. As amazing as AD is, he doesn't play with the ball in his hands so he is always relying on another player to initiate the offense.

When everything else breaks down the Rockets have two players who can take over.

Are the Rockets better on paper? No, I don't think so. But my concern will always be we have to rely on other guys to initiate the offense and get the ball to AD.

Until this team proves it can operate in that manner, I can't take them over the Rockets. Even if I do think on paper our team is deeper.

[Silver Nail]

If, and I want to emphasize IF, Jules is as good at sliding to the right in the post to stop Harden from getting to the line 10 times per, and Jrue gets a little help on D from Elfrin or whomever, than absolutely no. They are not the better team.

[Pelicanidae]

Rockets get about 5 FTAs per game more than us, Harden is allowed to travel as much as he likes, and Jrue gets no respect from the refs. That's about what makes Houston the better team.

[Tinman]

Harden can simply take over. As amazing as AD is, he doesn't play with the ball in his hands so he is always relying on another player to initiate the offense.

When everything else breaks down the Rockets have two players who can take over.

Are the Rockets better on paper? No, I don't think so. But my concern will always be we have to rely on other guys to initiate the offense and get the ball to AD.

Until this team proves it can operate in that manner, I can't take them over the Rockets. Even if I do think on paper our team is deeper.

If the PELS walk onto the court w/ AD-Jules-Niko-Jrue & EP ---> How is Houston capable of matching up? Put Jrue On Harden-- CP3 is good, but aging w/injuries. Not sure he can keep up with EP's pace! So, how would Houston match-up with our front court?

[DefensiveMind]

Our talent compares favorably, but unevenly. CP and Harden dominate the ball and make so many good things happen. We would need another creator/ball handler or for the Jrue/AD combo to to take yet another step toward defensively. To the point where they can take over the game from that end and pull this team into the top 5ish


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[boardtown]

My projected top four in the west are:

San Francisco
Salt Lake City
Houston
New Orleans

I have the Jazz slotted above the Rockets because I believe that SLC can continue to gel with another off season of Rubio and Mitchell while I question CP III's legs at all times.

I have the Rockets above the Pelicans for now because, although I believe in Jrue Holiday, I feel like he takes a minute to adjust to lineup/role changes. If he starts the season out strong and Elfrid can just be solid I think the Pels can supersede the Rockets. We've seen sub-par point guards play beyond themselves with Davis - i.e. Roberts or Frasier. I'm hoping something similar happens with Elfrid.

I think Julius Randle can continue to improve as well. If so, the front court will be devastating. The Pels have a lot of what ifs but I'm excited to see what happens.

[wnelson]

I think our next 5 is decent too not just our starters. E Moore leading the bench means great things.

[Mythrol]

If the PELS walk onto the court w/ AD-Jules-Niko-Jrue & EP ---> How is Houston capable of matching up? Put Jrue On Harden-- CP3 is good, but aging w/injuries. Not sure he can keep up with EP's pace! So, how would Houston match-up with our front court?

The hope is that we run them out of the gym. It's a good plan since you look at most teams right now and not many have a roster full of guys that can keep pace. A roster with CP3 and Melo isn't going to keep up.

Still, it's just paper right now. The truth is we have no idea how Payton and Randle will actually meld with the team. We are banking on them coming into training camp and everything clicking and it all working out. I'd probably say that there is a higher than 50% chance it works exactly how we think. However I wouldn't say it's 100% guaranteed. There is a world that exists where Payton doesn't quite work out in this system and we struggle.

The hope is the fast pace attacking an unset defense will cover over those flaws. But in the playoffs everything gets exposed. Just look at our Portland series.

If we happen to hit on Frank Jackson like Utah did on Mitchell that would be huge for us. He would be the 2nd guard next to Jrue that can attack and create. Long term I actually have more hope for him than Payton. If it works out, we'd be a really good team.

[DaPelFromHell]

I think our young guards are gonna surprise people. Both Elfrid Payton and Frank Jackson will be key to our success. Jrue Holiday will be the player we saw in the playoffs. I would like to see Etwaun Moore coming off the bench, but either way he gives us a nice 3 & D player from the guard spot. Then I hope to see a nice competition for the 3 spot, with Solomon Hill, Darius Miller, & Troy Williams battling it out. I would love if Troy Williams comes in and surprises some people. Our big 3 big man rotation will be outstanding with AD, Randle, & Niko. I think we will add another to that cause Jahlil Okafor is gonna be a huge asset for us going forward as well. Then having Cheick Diallo as a 5th big man will leave us with one of the best front courts in the game.

C: AD, J Okafor, (E Okafor), (Ajinca)
PF: Randle, Niko, Diallo
SF: Williams, Hill, Miller
SG: Jrue, Moore, (Blueitt), (Green)
PG: Payton, Jackson, Clark, (Morris)

I would love to see Williams come in and win that starting spot. That way Moore could come off the bench with Hill & Miller getting minutes off the bench as well. Hopefully the 13 not in parentheses will be guys active most nights. I hope that ends up being our 2nd team with the other 3 rotating as the other 2 on the active roster most nights.

[da ThRONe]

You are forgetting about PJ Tucker who is big for Houston.

[Mythrol]

You are forgetting about PJ Tucker who is big for Houston.

He is. He's also 33 and a thick guy so I think our offense should be able to run him out of the gym.

[6warddude]

For the last 3 seasons, houston has proved majority of the posters on this site wrong about how good they would be..this year im ready to say that we can be the houston of last year if we are a healthy team...i just need payton to be a general and run the offense to where everyone around him can ball out with ease....i need randall to be aggressive in the paint and just play his game...and if the Williams guy can play defense and can cut to the rim and finish like his scouting report says then thats a big plus for us....

I believe if both teams are healthy by the trade deadline, it will be a handful of games that separate the two before the shakeup trade come that will make us or break us....

On paper i do believe that we are a top 4 team

pelicans
GS
OKC
utah

in no particular order....

[da ThRONe]

He is. He's also 33 and a thick guy so I think our offense should be able to run him out of the gym.

They played him mostly at the 4 so his girth isn't as much of a disadvantage. He'd catch hell guarding Davis(like most 4's), but he'd do well enough and he creates space on the other side. Also I didn't think this was about a head to head matchup as much as season projection.

[Mythrol]

They played him mostly at the 4 so his girth isn't as much of a disadvantage. He'd catch hell guarding Davis(like most 4's), but he'd do well enough and he creates space on the other side. Also I didn't think this was about a head to head matchup as much as season projection.

They could afford to play him at the 4 because they had Ariza. Without him either Melo or Tucker will be at the 3. Neither one is going to be able to run all game with our team.

I thought it was about a head to head match-up because it said "Rockets better than Pels?" . So I assumed we'd be comparing them straight up. Maybe not though, maybe it's about a season projection.