The Houston rockets are in need of change
Courtesy: Quanera Bert photos
After another devastating lost to the Grizzlies Sunday, the Rockets are now 18-54 and are 15th in the Western conference division. The addition of so many new players has taken the team to a downsize the last two seasons. In the 2019-2020 season, the Rockets were 4th in the division but the team also had James Harden, Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, Gerald Green, P.J. Tucker, and Russell Westbrook. So what can the Rockets do in the offseason to make them a contender in the West again?
Watching the game on Sunday was an eye opener to what the Rockets are missing. First they are not good on defense. When they decide to shoot their shot, many of the players are already headed the other way and no one is left under the basket for rebounds. They can use Christian Woods for that because he is 6’9 but he is also a perimeter shooter. Many of the big men from previous Rockets team like Hakeem Olajuwon, Yao Ming, Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Matumbo and others catapulted their way to success because they understood the role they had.
Photo cred: Hispanos NBA
The second objective for the Rockets would be for the younger players to establish a rhythm. The game seem to be a contest for the best slam dunk rather than actually winning. Jalen Green was off his game and he sat most of the fourth quarter out. Kenyon Martin Jr. is another star on the roster and his father Kenyon Martin was a star on the Nuggets and a few other teams. He is smaller then his dad but he can make his shots. He needs to work on defense as well but he had a pretty good game with 15 pts, 4 rebounds, and 1 block. His overall game needs some veteran work on it. Jalen Green reminds me of Allen Iverson and considering he is only 20, he has a lot to offer this team.
Photo by: Quanera Bert
The last approach to making this team better is possibly finding an already made superstar and having him to mold the team. In the past we’ve had Chris Paul who left for the Suns, James Harden who left for the Nets and is now a Sixer, John Wall was also a Rocket and everyone sees how that turned out. Of course we had Westbrook as I said before and he went to the Lakers. There has been some amazing talent in Houston including Tracy McGrady, Scottie Pippen, and Charles Barkley.
The problem that has come to light is the owners get the big names but not a supportive cast. It’s like making a movie, you can have the main character but they need supporting people around them to keep the story moving. It is the same with a team. This next season coming up is what I’m hoping will be a change for the Rockets because the fans deserve some real basketball after all that we have endured the last two years.