Everything Just Changed For The Houston Rockets

Everything Just Changed For The Houston Rockets

Feel like the defense led to offense what impressed you the most about this win talk about from the start of season effort and competitiveness have been good um it’s not a bad thing to have these type of chippy games Rockets haveon four in a row straight road wins

For a Rockets team that had but eight Road wins all season coming in the immediate aftermath of the James Harden era the Houston Rockets were terrible after eight consecutive playoff appearances including two trips to the Western Conference Finals the rocket sank to the bottom of the West for three consecutive Seasons however those

Difficult years in the basement allowed Houston to undergo a proper rebuild and emerge as a vastly upgraded team this season a new coach two massive veteran free agents and the visible improvement from their young prospects have helped lift the Rockets to the edge of the play in tournament at least one of their

Young prospects has firmly solidified his status as a Cornerstone player with Center alaran shenon breaking out as one of the League’s best offensive bigs but a recent injury that forced him off of the court in a wheelchair threatens to end his season and potentially the Rockets as well however Houston has

Responded with one of the best stretches of the Season doing large part to Jaylen green the first draft pick of the Houston Rockets rebuild green has struggled this season with consistency efficiency and sometimes late game benchings now Green’s resurgent stretch has thrust the spotlight onto Houston’s big picture potential and his future

With the team so before we get to the content make sure you drop like subscribe and turn on our notifications to help the channel grow how do we get all that out of the way the Intro look right over here you’ll see all of these wonderful human beings that have been able to make some money by playing prize picks and I give away my picks for free each and every day on my Instagram at theflightmike and Snapchat at flightmike snap and right now they’re

Hooking up my subscribers fat when you use my promo code flight Mike when you sign up for prize picks and thank you prize picks for the sponsor mik check 1212 what’s going on everybody when the Houston Rockets traded James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets they signaled that their path back to sustainable success

Would be through the draft the Rockets have acquired the next s years of Brooklyn’s first round picks from 2021 through 2027 Houston received three unprotected picks and four pick swaps from the Nets plus a Milwaukee first round pick from the Cavaliers they tried to have it both ways by acquiring Victor

Oladipo as a started build around but he would make a horrific mistake rejecting a contract extension and then would get traded to the Miami Heat after just 20 games choosing to acquire Oladipo was a clear mistake and the rockets probably should have just held on to Jared Allen

And Caris lever anyways but this blunder didn’t seriously derail the rockets in the long run because their expensive draft C Capital incentivized being terrible and the rockets were really terrible Houston had the worst record in the league between 2000 to 2021 in 2022 to 2023 however along the way the

Rockets began drafting the core that they hoped would bring them back to relevance to begin the climb back Houston drafted guard Jaylen green with a number two overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft they’d end up with four first round players after acquiring the 16th overall pick Turkish center alarin

Shenon from OKC Houston began the 2022 draft by selecting forward Jabari Smith third overall as one of three first round picks which included tar een going 17th overall to begin the 2023 off season they hired em udoka as their new head coach after he was ultimately dismissed from the Boston Celtics for

Violating team policies they made two more first round selections alen Thompson fourth overall and cam Whitmore 20th overall to that point the Rockets hadn’t made much of an effort to acquire veteran players since trading James Harden referring to tank and let their young guys play through their mistakes

Without serious expectations to win but at a certain point the wins needed to come which is why Houston decided to finally bring in veteran help armed with nearly $60 million in cap space after the draft which was the most in the league the Rockets got aggressive Houston signed guard Fred Van vet a

Former All-Star and NBA champion forward Dylan Brooks an all defensive player and Elite agitator and Jeff Green who was fresh off of a championship with the Denver Nuggets Houston even came close to Landing Brook Lopez although he ultimately resigned with Milwaukee they continued filling out their roster with

Veteran players like Aaron holl Reggie Bullock and the affable Bon marjanovich as well as a large contract to Big Man jock landale suddenly the baby rockets seller dwellers for three consecutive Seasons had Champions and grizzled playoff vets as well as a head coach who had recently led a team to the NBA

Finals it was safe to say that the Houston Rockets had higher aspirations entering this season along with expectations to win a lot more but the Rockets would have a rough takeoff Houston began the season 0 and3 failing to reach 100 points twice but soon after their season turned around for the

Better the Rockets promptly rattled off six wins in a row and one player stood out immediately after making a substantial jump from year 1 to year two alaran shenon went up another level in year three as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder between his efficiency and crafty playmaking he quickly became one

Of the best offensive centers in the NBA van v and Brooks became Game Changer next to shenon giving the young big man consistent point guard play and viable three-point shooting to give him space yes the Rockets alternated between winning and losing streaks through the end of 2023 but they were winning much

More frequently and they were seeing visible Improvement in their young guys shenon wasn’t the only one Jabari Smith’s development can be seen through his performance and his stats which have improved across the board after missing the star of the Season tar een fortified his Sterling reputation as a rebounder

And topped his rookie shooting numbers alond Thompson also took on a sizable rebounding role with efficient scoring in early limited action but aside from shun perhaps the most high stakes player on the Houston Rockets who will heavily affect the Houston Rockets future is Jaylen green green spent his first two

Seasons as a high volume low efficiency scorer on teams that didn’t even sniff relevancy one of the biggest questions entering this season was how greenw fair next to better players and a better culture the Rockets of yester year sent Kevin Porter Jr home during the game and suspended him and Christian wood for

Poor behavior in fact they’d eventually bar porter from the team after his DV arrest before trading him away ahead of the Season before that during the 2021 to 2022 season they couldn’t trade John Wall’s massive contract or agree on a role so they elected to sit him for the

Entire season in order to give green and younger guards more minutes during that time with wall still technically on the team he told green that he and the young core would be expected to do more in a different situation like I always wanted to teach them like don’t get used to

Not how the NBA is right just a bad organization right now like they got to fix some around but like I always talk to Jaylen green Kevin Porter K like yo don’t get adjusted to this losing it’s not how the league is yeah but at

The same time I had to tell him like y’all getting away with over here you go to any other team You’ be out to Le he wouldn’t play you’re not playing it wouldn’t play no facts so I’m trying to explain that to them because they think

It’s sweet and I’m like if you ever get traded and go somewhere else you going to be like this mother was right so this is the environment where green put up his number which included a lack of a another viable offensive option and often would result in blowout losses

While his talent was unquestioned his consistency and ability to impact winning were still unproven if the Rockets were really going to move on from the bad vibes and losing Jaylen green would need to be one of the causes of that change but through Houston’s up and down start his numbers looked worse

And his status as a late game closer remained insecure udoka begged green for the entire fourth quarter of a late December loss to Golden State saying he liked the lineup he already had on the floor during their late comeback after scoring just seven points Jaylen green was benched down the stretch in a

December win over San Antonio before getting benched again in a victory over Memphis in the next game where he just scored eight points his poor stretch raised questions about his status in the starting lineup and that was only the beginning of a particularly brutal 10 game stretch which featured a nine game

And a five game performance after his five-point outing Jaylen green posted this cryptic message on his Instagram story saying well this is it during the postgame press conference emay udoka explained the reasoning behind the decision to limit Jaylen Green’s fourth quarter minutes in both games and his

Sixth late game benching of the season I don’t know if he’s getting the best looks um but second guessing for sure you can see that um you don’t want to be aggressive initially but you have to be able to do both and I think it’s time struggling to read what they’re doing

You know pass up some looks and you know Force some others and so um just kind of continue to improve in that area read the game and take what it gives you times you know if if you have the open shot the first look you get is is a lot

Of times the best one and so um it was something he’ll grow into and get better at but um teams are putting one of the better Defenders on him and paying attention to him and as the calendar flipped to January the Rockets continued regularly alternating between wins and

Losses as shenon continued to be Houston’s best player he won the Western Conference player of the week in early January as the Rockets hovered around 500 the rookie showed signs of blossoming as well alond Thompson saw his minutes increase as he earned more playing time cam Whitmore began playing

More consistently and quickly proved himself to Be an Effective scorer off of the bench after surprisingly sliding in the draft he already looks like a steal meanwhile questions still remained about Jaylen Green’s consistency during one five-game stretch he averaged nearly 30 points per game during which he would also post three consecutive double

Doubles but in February Jaylen green had games with scoring nights of 8 7 and 4 ahead of the All-Star break still the Houston Rockets seemed committed to work things out and keep him ahead of the trade deadline probably because he still dropped the occasional 30-point game for

His first career triple double plus they wanted to keep their starting lineup as is in fact the only inseason trade that they’ve made has minimal impact on winning right now bod’s well for the next season the Houston Rockets acquired Steven Adams from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for three second round picks

And Victor oladipo’s reacquired contract Victor you really should have signed that original contract extension with Houston man but that was to give more front Court help to their best player shenon if the Rockets had an All-Star snub it was most definitely him not Jaylen green and he continued to perform

Like a start in early March he scored a career-high 45 points and a victory over the Spurs adding 16 rebounds three assists five Steals and one block as he dominated his matchup against rookie Phenom Victor weany shenon became just the fifth player ever with 45 points 15

Rebounds and five steals in a game he followed that up a night later with a monster triple double in a loss vers of the Clippers 23 points 19 rebounds and 14 assists but just as the Rockets appeared to be rounding the corner in March they got hit with the injury bug

First it was tar een who had to have season ending leg surgery after playing in only 22 games but soon after getting that news Houston would suffer an injury so scary that it threatened to destabilize the rest of their season late in the fourth quarter against Sacramento shenon got back on defense to

Defend a deat sabonis fast break layup however he landed awkwardly and immediately crumpled to the ground in pain in fact he was in so much pain that he had to leave the court in a wheelchair the Rockets won the game but at the cost of their best player who

They’d find out suffered a severely sprained ankle and bruised knee luckily for the Rockets he didn’t require surgery and there’s still a chance for him to return this season however significant healing would have to occur in the next few weeks in order for him to play again this season making the

Playoffs would help his chances but playing without him een and the recently injured cam Whitmore will make that tough task even more difficult the Rockets have spent most of their 2024 sporting a losing record and unless something changes significantly it’s going to stay that way and as a matter

Of fact something did change in the immediate aftermath of shanon’s injury Jaylen green took over Fred Van vet and green helped Edge the Spurs in a close win before green really exploded over the following two games he dropped a season High 37 points including a jaw-dropping crossover in a double digit

Victory over the Washington Wizards he followed that up with a 26. double double as The Rock took down the Cleveland Cavaliers that led to Green winning the Western Conference player of the week before having one of the best scoring nights of his entire career Jaylen green tied a career-high with 42

Points and added 10 rebounds in an Uber efficient game leading to another comfortable victory over the Wizards he became the third rocket ever with 40 points 10 rebounds and five threes in a game after the game udoka praised the growth he’d seen in Jaylen Green’s shot selection while stating how important

His offensive decision- making is to the team that’s the main thing regardless of whatever reads or whatever you have to be confident to knock down those shots or take them if you make or miss a few and he’s done that and so we always stress taking the right shot regardless

Of the result and um when he’s taking those shots without thinking about it you know reading the defenses and being aggressive especially the pace that we’ve picked up and played with that faster Pace I think it that gets him in the open court he sees some easy ones go

Down and then the basket kind of opens up for him and so uh yeah we’ll live with the results if he takes the right ones and that’s across the board but he’s really um been aggressive and you can see a confidence Skyrocket wining one or two goes down since the beginning

Of March the Rockets are 8- one and have not slowed down without shenon suddenly the Houston Rockets can’t stop winning Green is an essential part of that but so are the other players who have stepped up all season van Ved has had a strong first season in Houston posting a

Career-high in assists while owning one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the league Dylan Brooks is having his best three-point shooting season across a full season of his career he and eeme udoka have helped bring a true defensive identity to htown with the team boasting

A top 10 defensive rating and a borderline top 10 scoring defense something that seemed unimaginable a season prior alond Thompson has continued to improve with more playing time each month and now serves as the new Cog and Houston starting lineup and while Green’s scoring numbers and efficiency have waned or remained

Similar overall he’s improving those numbers with his recent play and analytically speaking is having the best defensive season of his career the Houston Rockets still have a losing record and the playoffs are still unlikely but they appear to have found an identity the starting five of Van vet

Green Brooks Smith and shenon have been a little over 500 this season in 45 games in fact Denver’s starting lineup is the only fiveman lineup that’s seen the floor together for longer than that group yes the Rockets spent big and free agency for some significant win now

Transactions but they haven’t got all in on the present like the teams ahead of them have the Maverick Suns Lakers and Warriors have made trades involving first round picks star bars and massive salary commitments just to be a few games ahead of the Houston Rockets that

Might say more about those teams but it could also mean that the Houston Rockets aren’t as far away from relevancy as many might think plus they still control four more years of Brooklyn’s first round picks a huge Factor considering the Net’s rapid descent down the standings this season Shang gun’s

Evolution will continue to propel the team forward as well as their improving stable of young prospects but their unlikely race to the play in could inform their decision on what to do with Jaylen green while not their best player when shenon is healthy the Rockets have

Leaned on him heavily with their Trio of significant injuries depleting their depth so far the results have been pretty good the ceiling of what green can be on any given night isn’t who he has shown to be on a night in Night Out basis however if this consistency

Continues improving and the rockets keep winning it will make a somewhat complex decision way way easier if the Rockets were to trade Jaylen green this would be the off season to do it they could get a sizable return as he becomes eligible for a contra ra extension while still

Maintaining a sizable young Talent base along with a likely All-Star and changon but it can be hard to move on from someone who can explode as a scorer and make ridiculous highlight worthy plays on a regular basis the Rockets organization took a tangible step in the right direction this season and even if

They miss the playoffs or the playin they’ll have a lot to build on if Shang gun returns next to the latest version of Jaylen green either next month or next season we could be witnessing Houston’s return to truly contending once again let me know in the comment section down below what the Houston

Rockets decide aside from that I’m your boy Mike and I’m dropping our mic until our next upload

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