“New And Improved” Houston Rockets Are Title Contenders!

“New And Improved” Houston Rockets Are Title Contenders!

Houston Rockets made noise this off seasonason adding Kevin Durant and Dorian and Finny Smith. Immediately they go from look at this young new team in the playoffs. They have so much potential a so cute to championship robust expectations. I want to know below in the comment section. Do you believe in this team meeting the pressure or will they be a letdown? Debate that in the comment section immediately. Also leave a like. Thank you very much. So, we know they are built to be one of the best defenses in the league. Just like last season, a men Thompson by basketball index was graded A+ in perimeter isolation defense, ranking 18th out of 569 players. Tari E, one of the best screen navigators in the league. He was graded A+ in that category, ranking 29th out of 563 qualified players. Shangon took a major leap last season on that. And turns out he was one of the best bigs defending the pick and roll, A+ in screener mobile defense and rim defense. Ranked second in the first category and fourth for rim defense. And the additions I mentioned earlier will help on the other end, but also they are positive defenders as well. The additions also add to the size of this team. They are a large, long, tall team every position besides the point guard. They still have the double big option that was terrorizing teams in the second half of the season, aka Shangon and Steven Adams. But now you add Kevin Durant and Dorian Finny Smith to the mix. They will once again be one of the best rebounding teams in the league. In 162 minutes last season, the double big pairing of Shingun and Adams had a plus 31.6 net rating. The trio of Shingun, Adams, and Jabari Smith had a net rating of plus 43.6 six and 87 minutes. Now, imagine replacing Jabari Smith with Kevin freaking Durant. And on offense, he’s going to be a huge addition. Last year during the regular season, the Rockets were in the bottom half of the league in three-point percentage. 21st to be exact, shot 35% as a team. What KD brings to the table is high volume shooting from three, but also reliable in terms of consistency and efficiency. Over the last three years in Phoenix, he shot 5.73 pointers per game, 42.7% from three. Keep in mind, the Rockets were relying on Fred and Jaylen Green to carry them in this aspect all season. High volume shooters, but extremely streaky ones. Fred 37.8% and Jaylen 35.4% from three last season. Kevin Durant will just make the offense a whole lot easier in a playoff setting because you can just give him the rock and he’s either going to create a shot for himself or he’s going to cause a double team and kick it out and then naturally you get some ball movement. It turns out the Rockets were in the bottom half of the league, one of the worst in terms of isolation scoring, only averaging. 84 points per possession in that scenario. Guess what? Number one team in the league, the Phoenix Suns. mostly because of Kevin Durant. The Suns average 1.05 points per possession in isolation. Kevin Durant himself averaged 1.6 points per possession during the regular season. To put that in perspective, that’s higher than Sheay, who averaged 1.10 points per possession in isolation. Now, Sheay had a higher frequency percentage, 25% to KD’s, 18.9%. So Shay was more impressive considering he ISOed a lot more. KD is still one of the best ISO scorers in the league, mainly because of a deadly mid-range game. And guess what? The Rockets were one of the worst mid-range shooting teams in the league last year. 39.6% as a team, 24th percentile. That is horrendous. Kevin Durant himself shot 53.1% in the mid-range, 91st percentile, and 4.6 6 mid-range jumpers attempted per game, 99th percentile. Having to rant just raises the potential of this team. The Suns were very, very bad last year. Everyone knows that. But in the 2,265 minutes that KD was on the court, they only lost those minutes by -39. The reason I say that’s impressive is because in the 1,71 minutes without him, they were a -27. And the year before that when they made the playoffs, they actually had a positive net rating with him on the court. He’s still a very impactful player when it comes to winning. Phoenix just has not done a good job surrounding him with enough talent. It’s truly a shame. Their two main additions are two guys that usually just win their minutes, but can also make three-pointers and help the spacing offensively. Enough with KD. On to Dorian Finny Smith. though in the regular season with the Lakers he was a plus 268. Meanwhile when he was off the court 75 good for a + 10.9 net rating compared to a -2.8 without him. If you remember early in the season the Lakers were kind of playing 500 basketball and it was a real possibility that their season would just go downhill. But I’m telling you, once the Lakers added Finny Smith, they started to turn the corner. And that was before the Luca edition. Even in the playoffs where they got destroyed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was still impactful. 170 minutes, just a -10, -4.9 rating, 116.3 defensive rating with him on the court. Meanwhile, in the 70 minutes he was resting, -5.4 four net rating, 123.9 defensive rating. Last season, Finny Smith was one of the best connective pieces as a role player in the league, and he was so impactful for the Lakers, especially on the defensive side of the floor. Now, I keep seeing Amen Thompson being mentioned as a front runner for most improved player. I agree. He’s set to have a breakout season, but I believe Shenon will be the talk of the town. Last season he was an all-star, but his efficiency was down across the board. I think the amount of effort he put on defense affected him offensively. That was the first time during his NBA career he was so focused on defense like that to that degree. He will be more adjusted to that role to start the season compared to last year. Plus, Kevin Durant will take major pressure off of him. Last season, defenses were heavily focused on ShenGun while his team was one of the worst shooting teams in the league and there was no better ISO player outside of him on the team consistently. Kevin Durant works well with his bigs as well. In the 2324 season, he had 88 assists to Yousef Nerkage, which easily led his teammates. Last season, Devin Booker led that category overall. But if you look at the points per game instead of totals, you see Nick Richards and Nerkish right up there for per game. Also, he experienced the playoffs against the Warriors and Draymond Green, a physical battle tested group. Failing in the playoffs allows players to understand what they need to work on to take that next step. Because in the regular season, not every game is detailed oriented due to backtobacks, injuries, all that stuff. But in the playoffs, if you have a weakness, it will be focused on. I expect a career year from Shenon. 25 points per game. You heard it here first. I also think Jabari Smith will have his best season. and his playoff performance should be a confidence booster in a limited role. He was pretty much perfect against Golden State. Learning from Kevin Durant as well should help his growth a ton. I expect him to have a career year shooting the ball 38 to 40% from three. That’s my prediction. His best year he shot 36.3% from three. And basically having KD, Finny Smith, and Jabari Smith playing high minutes. That right there should solve the spacing issue or at least make it better than last season. Lastly, it’s going to be very interesting to see what Reed Shepard has in store. He had success as a starter, very small sample size. The question remains, can he find a role defensively or is he just too small? Because we know he can shoot the rock. That is not a question. He does have very quick hands, plays the passing lanes very well. So maybe that can be his role on that side of the floor. We will have to wait and see. But being a reliable option outside of Fred would be huge for the Rockets because bench scoring at that spot was minimal last season. Main thing I want to see is him just getting a chance so we can actually judge him fairly. But heading into the season, I’m a huge fan of the Rockets and I think they’re right there with OKC. Obviously, the Thunder belong at the top. They won the championship, but Houston is definitely right there. Do you agree with that? Let me know your thoughts below immediately.

The rockets adding Kevin Durant changes everything

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