Unpopular Opinion: The Houston Rockets are the biggest let down in the NBA over the last 8 years

[ericd7633]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Do you know what their roster looked like prior to getting CP3?

Their 2nd best player:

In 2016-2017 it was either Eric Gordon or Clint Capela
In 2015-2016 it was either Dwight Howard(lol) or Clint Capela
In 2014-2015 it was Dwight Howard(lol)
In 2013-2014 it was Dwight Howard(last time he made an All-Star game).
In 2012-2013 it was either Chandler Parson or Patrick Patterson.

They weren't better than the Spurs in 2013 or 2014 and weren't better than the Warriors 2015-2019. Hell they were an 8 seed in two of these years. And there were certainly teams with more talent who also won nothing during this time.

I would agree to disagree, but your opinion doesn't make any sense.

 

[trojanfan12]

Give the Rockets at least some credit for trying to actually go after the Warriors when a ton of other teams just punted years off of their organizations. They shifted their whole roster and organization just to compete with the Warriors. I don't believe they were a let down. They're like the Pacers and Knicks back in the Jordan days. Very good teams that just couldn't get over the hump because of the level of competition they were going against.

Heck, you could probably include the Raptors in the East when Lebron was there. If not for their Lebron allergy, the Raptors may have gotten to the finals before last year.

 

[tlance]

If they don't win next year, Kawhi AND PG could be gone. That would cripple the Clippers for the next decade.

Totally agree.

But we are talking about the Clippers.

As soon as they signed Kawhi and dealt for PG13, I expected Mecca to be doing backflips. But instead, she said they would find a way to screw it up.

When the biggest Clipper fans out there are conditioned to anticipate the eventual let down, I think we should all probably take a step back and reevaluate our expectationsj

We'll have to agree to disagree.

honestly, I don’t know how you can say that the Rockets had the most talent in the West at any point in time.

KD Warriors had A LOT more talent. AD + Bron >>>>>> than Harden and Westbrook.

The Rockets did exactly what they were expected to do. If anything, they overachieved by getting to game 7 in 2018.

 

[Yo Tee]

Totally agree.

But we are talking about the Clippers.

As soon as they signed Kawhi and dealt for PG13, I expected Mecca to be doing backflips. But instead, she said they would find a way to screw it up.

When the biggest Clipper fans out there are conditioned to anticipate the eventual let down, I think we should all probably take a step back and reevaluate our expectationsj


honestly, I don’t know how you can say that the Rockets had the most talent in the West at any point in time.

KD Warriors had A LOT more talent. AD + Bron >>>>>> than Harden and Westbrook.

The Rockets did exactly what they were expected to do. If anything, they overachieved by getting to game 7 in 2018.

Where did I say the Rockets has the most talent in the West?

 

[Yo Tee]

Do you know what their roster looked like prior to getting CP3?

Their 2nd best player:

In 2016-2017 it was either Eric Gordon or Clint Capela
In 2015-2016 it was either Dwight Howard(lol) or Clint Capela
In 2014-2015 it was Dwight Howard(lol)
In 2013-2014 it was Dwight Howard(last time he made an All-Star game).
In 2012-2013 it was either Chandler Parson or Patrick Patterson.

They weren't better than the Spurs in 2013 or 2014 and weren't better than the Warriors 2015-2019. Hell they were an 8 seed in two of these years. And there were certainly teams with more talent who also won nothing during this time.

I would agree to disagree, but your opinion doesn't make any sense.

All I'm saying is, they spent all that money, had all that talent and have absolutely nothing to show for it. How many other teams spent that much money, had an MVP on their team, along with really good 2nd guys like Capela, CP3, Ariza and Westbrook and didn't even make it to the Finals? Can't think of any other team in the last 8 years that checks off those boxes other than Houston.

 

[trojanfan12]

As soon as they signed Kawhi and dealt for PG13, I expected Mecca to be doing backflips. But instead, she said they would find a way to screw it up.

When the biggest Clipper fans out there are conditioned to anticipate the eventual let down, I think we should all probably take a step back and reevaluate our expectationsj

If memory serves, she thought the load management was excessive as well and was concerned it could bite them in the ass.

 

[Shanemansj13]

All I'm saying is, they spent all that money, had all that talent and have absolutely nothing to show for it. How many other teams spent that much money, had an MVP on their team, along with really good 2nd guys like Capela, CP3, Ariza and Westbrook and didn't even make it to the Finals? Can't think of any other team in the last 8 years that checks off those boxes other than Houston.

Plenty of teams spent more and were worse. Portland, OKC, Boston, Washington (they had two all-star caliber players until Wall kept getting hurt).

Houston isn't the biggest disappointment. The Cavs and Warriors were favored over them every year and then the Warriors were favored easily over anyone and Houston took them to 7 games.

This Clippers team and the way they went out, is more disappointing than anything Houston did since Harden has been in Houston.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Preseason odds - last 8 seasons

19-20 - Houston was +700 - 4th (Lost to the Lakers in WCS)
18-19 - Houston was +1000 - 3rd but GS was -168 (Lost to GS in WCS- 6 games)
17-18 - Houston was +2150 - 6th (Lost to GS in WCF - 7 games)
16-17 - Houston was +16,000 - 19th (lost to Spurs in WCS)
15-16 - Houston was +1500 - 6th (lost to GS in WC 1st round)
14-15 - Houston was +2200 - 6th (lost to GS in WCF's)
13-14 - Houston was +1200 - 5th (lost to Portland in WC 1st round)
12-13 - Houston was +6600 - 15th (lost to OKC in WC 1st round)

So every year they lost to either the favorite to win it all or top 3 favorite (except in 13-14)

 

[tlance]

Where did I say the Rockets has the most talent in the West?

You said they are the biggest let down in the West over the last 8 years.

But they have never been the best team in the West, so they shouldn’t be expected to make the NBA Finals.

They have met expectations. Nothing more, nothing less.

That can’t be considered the biggest disappointment in the West.

To me, that is either current LAC or OKC from the Russ/KD era.

 

[ericd7633]

All I'm saying is, they spent all that money, had all that talent and have absolutely nothing to show for it. How many other teams spent that much money, had an MVP on their team, along with really good 2nd guys like Capela, CP3, Ariza and Westbrook and didn't even make it to the Finals? Can't think of any other team in the last 8 years that checks off those boxes other than Houston.

Alot of teams spent alot of money. It's hard to compare salaries because of the cap spike. OKC had KD, RW, Ibaka, Adams just for starters. LAC had Blake, CP3, Jordan, Redick, Jamal Crawford.

Also, maybe you don't know, CP3 and RW never played together.

 

[Yo Tee]

Preseason odds - last 8 seasons

19-20 - Houston was +700 - 4th (Lost to the Lakers in WCS)
18-19 - Houston was +1000 - 3rd but GS was -168 (Lost to GS in WCS- 6 games)
17-18 - Houston was +2150 - 6th (Lost to GS in WCF - 7 games)
16-17 - Houston was +16,000 - 19th (lost to Spurs in WCS)
15-16 - Houston was +1500 - 6th (lost to GS in WC 1st round)
14-15 - Houston was +2200 - 6th (lost to GS in WCF's)
13-14 - Houston was +1200 - 5th (lost to Portland in WC 1st round)
12-13 - Houston was +6600 - 15th (lost to OKC in WC 1st round)

So every year they lost to either the favorite to win it all or top 3 favorite (except in 13-14)

So as I said to someone else, is it just bad luck? Or did they perform the way they were supposed to?

 

[tlance]

So as I said to someone else, is it just bad luck? Or did they perform the way they were supposed to?

They performed the way they were supposed to

In other words, they were not a disappointment.

 

[Shanemansj13]

So as I said to someone else, is it just bad luck? Or did they perform the way they were supposed to?

Yeah that’s pretty much it. Perform sometimes better than expected but usually what we thought they were. The CP3 is bad luck

 

[Stakesarehigh]

If memory serves, she thought the load management was excessive as well and was concerned it could bite them in the ass.

Which it did

 

[Wamu]

Heck, you could probably include the Raptors in the East when Lebron was there. If not for their Lebron allergy, the Raptors may have gotten to the finals before last year.

I don't remember what year this happened. But the Cavs & Raptors were in a playoff series. When the series went to Toronto the Cavs weren't allowed off the plane for several hours. Something with customs. Those tricky fuckin' Canadians! Cavs won anyway.

 

[shopson67]

Yeah that’s pretty much it. Perform sometimes better than expected but usually what we thought they were. The CP3 is bad luck

They should bring in the new CP3, he should come pretty cheap.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Technically, the Rockets have been a disappointment since Jordan came back with the bulls.

Yao, TMac, Harden, Paul, Westbrook it’s all the same.