Hello again! Who’s ready for another wrap up after an extremely successful week for the Houston Rockets. Obviously not everything is clicking just yet, but their 3–1 week was better than my 2–2 prediction. It has been a productive week, so let’s jump into the breakdown for the week before we move on to next week! Btw, I’m typing this while watching the Texans Vs. Lions game, so hopefully Houston can beat Detroit twice in one day (Spoiler alert: they didn’t)! Welcome back to Houston Rockets Weekly Wraps: Week 3!
The Takeover the Breaks Over
So it’s the second week in a row that the Rockets finished with a winning record. Their only loss was against a team that could arguably be called the best in the west right now (before the Chet injury). Definitely would like to see a bit better performance against those top teams in the west, but they did come away with a signature win against a Knicks team that should be a factor in the east this year.
Up, Up, Uppity
I’m sure the team is feeling up this week after taking care of business against a few teams they were supposed to handle, and even taking a win against a pretty tough New York team.
Let’s start with that game since we got a classic Alperen Şengün performance against the defense of Karl-Anthony Towns. Alpi played bully in the paint, getting a tough double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds.
He put KAT in the mixer, cooking him in iso on the block where he’s just so comfortable. Plus his efficiency was so good inside the arc. Unfortunately, the outside-the-arc efficiency wasn’t very great, but if you take out his three missed three-pointers, he went an impressive 11–12. Nobody was guarding Alpi in that game.
Staying on Alpi, he had a great game against the Pistons to end the week as well. Another 25+ point double-double — finishing with 27 points and 10 rebounds. He was a huge part of the team’s success this week, and he deserves the recognition that he’ll get a little bit later in this blog.
Alpi wasn’t the only positive this week, as we got a little resurgence from FVV in some of the wins. He scored 19 and 21 points respectively in the first two games of the week. We needed to see him make some shots and he finally did. He couldn’t keep the performances up for the rest of the week, but Fred needed to see some shots fall. While it’s a good thing he’s taking a step back in the offense to help feature the young guys a little more, he needs to still provide what he’s been known for in his career: a strong shooter, willing passer and pesky defender.
I always group this next pair of positives together because they do such a good job holding down the bench squad (who knows how long till one of them is starting?) But Amen Thompson and Tari Eason once again showed this week how vital they are to the defensive gameplan, and how they can get involved with the offense as well. The duo combined for almost 23 points a game this week off the bench, featuring an 18-point pop by Tari against the Pistons. They also combined for 15 “stocks” this week, showing off their activity on defense.
I just want to focus on how good Tari was against Detroit for a second. That activity I talked about is more like hyperactivity with Tari. He outmuscles and outhustles dudes for rebounds and 50–50 balls. College hoops is getting revved up now (Go Coogs, bump Auburn), and I love seeing those hoopers dive after loose balls with reckless abandon.
Tari is that energy on steroids.
Some players say they’d run through a wall for their coach or to win: I feel like Tari would actually do it.
And Amen would be right behind him too.
Their effort was a big reason Houston was able to hold on to win in the last game of the week, even though that game probably shouldn’t have been so close.
I think on that note, it’s a good time to talk about some of the negatives from last week. One last positive though: Jalen absolutely *demolished* Cade Cunningham on a fastbreak, and I can tell he’s been wanting to do that for a while. I wonder how many technical fouls Jalen will pick up on Cade through their careers, because he always seems to have something extra to say.
What an explosive player for real. But that was one of his better moments from the week, so let’s talk a little about what’s got us feeling somewhat sour.
SMH
First off, the biggest negative of the week is the disgusting performance the Texans just put up in the second half of Sunday Night Football. I’m appalled.
Luckily the Rockets had a much better week, but there are definitely things to improve moving forward.
I won’t harp too much on the loss to OKC, but there are some glaring deficiencies from that performance.
It started off so promising, and it seemed like Houston would be able to keep up with the firepower the Thunder brought to the table. It didn’t take long for Oklahoma City to hit another gear with Chet Holmgren and SGA going off on offense.
I’ve always worried about Houston’s defense against the best players on opposing teams, and this game was a realization of my fears. There were also some clunky substitutions by Ime Udoka that stifled the offense a bit. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough offensive threats on the floor if one of your main guys aren’t out there. That may not be a trend all season, but it is right now. And until someone else can become a passing or scoring threat, the offense will continue to look kinda oof when JG and Alpi aren’t on the floor.
Speaking of someone who is not a passing or scoring threat, Jabari Smith Jr. has generally been a net negative this week, and honestly for the past several games. His best performance was against the Spurs with 12 points and a plus/minus of +15. I take that stat with a grain of salt though. It was a blowout, so every player with any significant minutes had a positive plus/minus. That doesn’t mean he’s a plus player.
He really struggled to shoot this week or provide anything reflective of offensive contribution. He didn’t threaten to reach double-digit scoring in any of his other games last week, and he doesn’t provide enough on defense to say that he’s better than Tari or Amen right now.
Especially with Tari’s shot falling at a little bit of a higher clip now, it’s so hard to justify Jabari’s spot in the starting line up at the moment.
While I’m not selling my stock just yet on Jabari’s potential to become a super role player like Michael Porter Jr. in Denver, he’s just not there. And this team has to win, like right now. He’s not the player that’s best equipped to help them do that.
That’s really my biggest gripe of the week so far. Obviously, not too much to complain about that wouldn’t seem nitpicky at this point for a team firmly entrenched amongst other strong teams in the west.
What I will say, is that Houston has got to do a better job with putting teams like the Pistons away. Detroit is much improved this year, with the return of Tobias Harris, the leap by Cade Cunningham and the addition of vets like Tim Hardaway Jr. But there’s really no excuse to take your foot off the neck of the team that you have down by double-digits in the fourth.
It made for some exciting basketball at the end, and we got to see how some of the players perform in a high stakes clutch moment. However, Detroit’s comeback bid came on the shoulders of some open threes. If a team is going to come back, you want them to have to make some tough shots. If they win: you take it on the chin, tip your cap, and move on to the next one.
But you don’t want to just straight up hand them opportunities. There’s few teams in the league that won’t take advantage of a situation like that. These are all professional basketball players. They made it to the league by hitting tougher shots than the open looks Houston gave up to allow the game to be close by the end.
Alright, this Texans loss is starting to make my stomach turn, so let’s move on because I’m feeling negative enough already.
Big Picture
This team is right in the mix of things this season. And it seems to be on track to be right about where I thought they would be: not one of the best teams in the league, but definitely good enough to be in the playoff picture.
I’d say their first 10 games of the season showed that. And I believe that could be reflective of what we see for the rest of the season. Obviously, there are some things that could take the team to the next level this season, but this is a breath of fresh air for an organization that desperately wants these players to be the ones that create a winning team here.
One player that has a high probability of playing a leading role on a winning Rockets team is also this week’s —
Player of the Week
Alperen Şengün. He’s so tough man. He’s hitting those bunnies that he missed to start this season, and he’s hitting some tough shots on some of those nice one handed jumper/floaters that look like a bona fide weapon in his game.
I’ve loved his activity so far this season, and his defense has been much improved. No more cheapie fouls that lead to trouble or sitting out late in games. Now whether Udoka sits him late in games or not is a different story. But he’s starting to look like the borderline all-star that he was last year.
All the team needs, is for Jalen and Alpi to perform at the same time.
Alright before I get out of here, let’s talk about —
Next Week
Another 4-game week for the Rockets, including the start of the NBA Cup. A game against a pretty bad Wizards team, two straight against a mid-level Clippers team before finishing the week against a gutted Bulls team should make out to be a pretty strong week for the Rockets.
I’m feeling pretty optimistic for the week. At least one Houston team is giving me reason for optimism. *Sigh* I digress.
Predictions
Briefly on last week: I was pleasantly incorrect about the New York Game at home, and my player of the week guess was off as well. Everything else was on point though so right now I’m 4–3 on the season. I’m no fortune-teller though. I’ll keep up with the record, but I bet I’d probably be a lottery team by the end of the season. Still gotta try though! That’s why we play.
Next Week’s Record: 4–0
Vs Washington Wizards (W)
Vs Los Angeles Clippers (W)
Vs Los Angeles Clippers (W)
Vs Chicago Bulls (W)
Tune back in next week for Houston Rockets Weekly Wraps!
