There was a report that pretty much the entire Rockets roster was available in the trade market. Then there was the public and somewhat messy negotiation among Morey, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, D’Antoni, and D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie. First, there was the fallout from the purging of Mike D’Antoni’s assistant coaching staff (including the departure of defensive guru Jeff Bzdelik and Harden whisperer Irv Roland). This past Houston season has spawned more anonymously sourced autopsies than a failed presidential bid. Tucker, and 21st-century big Clint Capela.Īnd yet. He has a complementary supporting cast around him, including a surefire Hall of Famer in Paul, the sharpshooting Eric Gordon, the demolitions expert P.J. Statistically, he is comparable to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Even his detractors admit that he is his own weather system on the court, controlling the pace of play and scoring at will while bearing an unbelievable offensive usage load. On Monday, at the annual NBA awards show, Harden finished second in league MVP voting-his fourth top-five finish in the past five years, including his win in the 2017-18 season. The Rockets have been one of the best teams in the league since acquiring Paul from Los Angeles, and after two seasons of alllllllmost there postseasons that buckled at the Golden State line, they are well positioned to seriously contend for a Finals berth next season. Imitation is flattery, and Morey should be feeling good about himself. But now a lot of other teams are running stuff from his playbook. The core of this Rockets team was formed by a guy who knew when to exploit weaknesses in other teams. In 2017, they offered a Lob City escape plan to Chris Paul. In 2012, they gave James Harden the route to go from third-billed star on the Thunder to league icon in Houston. They capitalized on the cost-cutting, complacency, or antsiness that often develops in good-but-not-great franchises. House thrives off the catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, shooting 36.5 percent behind the arc last season off the catch and shoot, so playing alongside Harden and Wall, who are excellent passers and have a knack for finding the open man, works well.The Rockets, and I mean this as a compliment, were partially built on the discontent of other franchises. Silas’ reasoning makes sense, considering that House is not a ball-dominant player like Gordon is which makes it easier for him to gel with Harden and Wall, both of whom love to have the ball in their hands. Then having Eric’s veteran scoring and defending punch off the bench in a more featured role, that makes sense to me.” He can kind of live off of what James, John, and C-Wood do. “I like House because he can guard the best player on the floor,” Silas said to the media. While House and Gordon are both capable NBA starters, Silas decided to go with the 6’7″ Houston native in House because of how he fits in with the other four starters. Wall, Harden, Tucker, and Wood were all locks to be starters, but it came as a surprise to some that House was given a starting role over Eric Gordon. Coach Silas says Wednesday's #Rockets starters vs OKC:
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