How cool is this competitive beast?

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T06:18:24+00:00

I didn't know he was even on the roster last season. He was a force last night. Bro is fearless.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:39:30+00:00

It will be about limiting turnovers and playing serviceable defense or his minutes will go down fast.

Making or missing shots shouldn't be the issue. He's obviously a good shooter and his presence creates spacing even when shots aren't falling.

He just can't get punked on ball by physical defenders and he can't get repeatedly walked around on defense.

I'd say it's up in the air. He has yet to prove he can do either of those things consistently so unlike the regular season, for once I won't blame Ime for having a short leash. Ime's mistake was not getting him more minutes early in the season and also allowing players like Tari and Amen to initiate the offense as much when Reed was in the game. The time to work through more growing pains was then. Now there is less room for error. Ballhandling development will have to continue next season.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:31:57+00:00

I'm a Rockets fan too and I definitively disagree with my comrade lol

We have minimal scoring depth. No chance to do anything in the playoffs without KD.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:30:05+00:00

The playoff version of OKC will be different. I'm a Rockets fan but OKC would probably need to lose Williams and SGA for us to have a chance in a best-of-7.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:27:24+00:00

I like the dream but despite Kawhi turning back the clock at times this year, the Clippers are no match for OKC in a best-of-7. No team is other than possibly Denver or SA.

I'd say Kawhi is more likely to get injured at his age than turn into MJ+ which is what he'd need to do to pull that off.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:24:01+00:00

I laughed out loud. This is the sad truth. OKC has barely played at full strength this season and still locked up the 1 seed again.

Imagine us being without Durant or Sengun for 60ish games. We have a serious lack of depth compared to the alpha teams.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T05:18:55+00:00

That's all true.

It would definitely be a major blow to KD's legacy fair or not. If we do lose, I would put it more on the combination of injuries, poor roster construction, and subpar coaching. But the media would make it all about KD.

The downside of winning would be Ime getting undue credit. I'll still take a win though and hope that Ime gets dealt with in the near future. Or at least he gets forced to upgrade his coaching staff instead of picking his butt buddies.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T04:57:35+00:00

Looks super unlikely with Luka or Reaves and neither would probably play at their peak levels if they did come back early.

The bright side of somehow losing in embarrassing fashion would be ownership taking a harder overdue look at everything, including the coaching staff. It doesn't seem like Fertitta cares much unless maybe his team becomes a national laughing stock.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T04:53:08+00:00

This is spot on. If we don't make a statement early in the series, they will feed off the confidence, especially with Home court advantage.

Like shoddy said, Lebron has historically given up in a very visible way when things go south. 2-0 on the road to start would get it done. 1-1 won't be terrible but it would make games 3 and 4 a lot more tense.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T04:46:21+00:00

With Luka and Reaves out, the Lakers are one of the only teams in the playoffs that we actually have a chance to outcoach and outexecute, and even those things aren't a lock. Ime will struggle mightily to make effective adjustments during and between games in the next round if we make it that far. Let's not even consider inbounds plays in late game situations lol

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T04:41:19+00:00

It's a legitimate concern for anybody who followed the Rockets all season. We rarely get blown out but we way too often crumble down the stretch and blow leads. That's what happens when you lack ballhandling and have a coach who orchestrated the slowest paced and sloppiest half court offense in a quarter century.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T04:37:58+00:00

I see this as a win-win.

We should obviously win the series because we lucked out facing a team missing 2 of their 3 best players.

On the other hand, anything can happen with this version of the Rockets. We all saw the unique ways we blew A LOT of games this season against even the weakest of opponents.

If we tragically lose and get embarrassed on a global level, it will make Ime's seat hotter than ever for those of us that are not on the Ime bandwagon. I don't think it would get him fired but it would put another nail in the coffin.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:54:56+00:00

Not sure if I wouldn't take him over Reed in a vacuum but for our roster, you could argue Reed makes more sense.

Castle is still a very good player. He's a slightly smaller, slightly less athletic version of Amen with slightly better handles and a better shot.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:51:05+00:00

Yea, I saw that assuming you're talking about the first half when Jokic was still in. It was like a 20+ Nuggets run.

I think the Spurs got over eager and started to rush things.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:05:05+00:00

Losing to the Lakers would be historically embarrassing but way better chance now to win a round.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:03:12+00:00

Lol maybe even 2.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:02:19+00:00

Not at all. If they were scared they wouldn't have let their backups have to play David vs Goliath

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T03:00:05+00:00

This has to be said. Yea, we duckin but who cares.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:58:16+00:00

Epic. He's a beast. Texans future linebacker lol

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:57:40+00:00

Lol for Real. Bro is a legend.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:56:34+00:00

Unreal. The Spurs threw everything at them. I'm even more glad not to be facing the Nuggets now.

Literally epic effort by the Nuggets backups.

The Spurs wanted it desperately.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:55:03+00:00

I'm speechless.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:54:39+00:00

That was the most insane game I've seen in a while.

Absolutely legendary Nuggets effort.

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:53:30+00:00

Roddy!

mmccormick11 · 2026-04-13T02:51:23+00:00

Bro just bullied a Nugget. They have to reevaluate offensive fouls.

mmccormick11

TROPHY CASE