This has HUGE implications for the Rockets... | Houston Rockets News

Major update in terms of what the Houston Rockets' strategy may look like going forward heading into these last few games of the NBA regular season. And this can have major implications on what the Rockets will look like and the momentum going forward heading into this postseason. Hello, everybody. I am Donovan Ragondo. Welcome to another episode of Rocket Style. Just, it's great to be here. Make sure to hit that subscribe button if you have not already. This is going to be a great place for all Rockets fans to get their latest news, updates, and rumors regarding their H-Town team. Now, without further ado, let's get into today's main story. We have a new report by Houston Chronicle's Danielle Lerner, and she says this, she tweeted out this a few days ago. She said, Ime Udoka said the Rockets have talked about strategically resting players and hiding tactics from teams they might play in the playoffs in the last 11 games, but stressed that the top priority is winning. Again, that is Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. Now, one quick note to make of this report. This is, as you can see, from March 23rd and has since been about a week since this tweet. And so that 11 games is now down to eight. There are eight more games in the Houston Rockets season. And the talk of a strategy as such as this has got a lot of Rockets fans talking. There's a lot to discuss about it, because I want to break it down this way. There are, or there is currently a very, very tight race for the second seed in the Western Conference. As we all know, as we have known since for the past two months, the Rockets have been in this very competitive tight race between them, the Nuggets, the Lakers, and the Grizzlies. They've all been competing of trying to get that second seed. That first is going to OKC. They've earned it. But the second seed is under tight, tight races. And so we've seen the Rockets go on in a tremendous, tremendous winning streak, winning about nine games in a row, have won 10 of their last 11. They've played phenomenal. They're currently playing their best basketball of the entire season. I know Ahmed Thompson just came off of injury. He didn't miss a game. He was a late scratch against the Hawks. He didn't play against Jeff. And so him coming back, you know, not exactly 100%, but, you know, near there, has put this team in a spot to play the best ball they have been playing all year. And there's a lot of momentum with that. Heading into the postseason is a tremendous advantage to have playing as well as they currently are right now. I guess these guys who, quite frankly, do not have a lot of postseason experience, but because they're playing like this, it should give them all the confidence they need heading into the first round. And so this is how tight the race is. We're currently a game and a half in front of the Nuggets. And then there's a little bit more separation when you talk about the Lakers and talk about the Grizzlies. So that right there is good news if you're a Houston Rockets fan. But I do want to point something else out. This is our schedule for the rest of the season. This is by no means an easy schedule. These are all tough, caliber teams that are potential playoff teams as well, except for the Jets. But nonetheless, you have the Suns. Tonight, you have the Lakers. You have the Jazz, the Thunder, the Warriors, the Clippers, the Lakers again, and the Nuggets. This is a crazy way to end your regular season against all these very, very high-caliber teams. And with the Warriors and the Clippers, these are teams you can possibly face in the first round. I did a video just a few days ago about the Clippers currently being our number one projected team that we're going to face in that first round. Currently, they sit at 6th, but anything can change in this Western Conference in these last few games. And so, when I hear a report saying that, you know, Coach Emil Belka is considering resting players, I understand hiding tactics. I completely get it. But resting players, when you are playing some of the best basketball you already are, you have incredible momentum, but also with a tight race in the Western Conference where you can lose any one of these games. You could end the season on a losing streak for all that matter. It's certainly possible. I just want to be as real as I possibly can be. That is a certain possibility that has a high chance of happening. Will I think it happens? I don't know. I don't think so. I think we will stretch out or pull out some of those wins. But you're playing some really good teams. And if you decide to rest guys like Jalen Green, or Alperen Shengu, or Aman Thompson with his ankle injury, then a lot of bad things can go wrong. A lot of things can go wrong. And so, I just want to bring that up. Tough teams to close out the season. If you rest players, you can lose these games. Before you know it, that last game on April 13th could be for the second season. And the Rockets might lose that. Maybe. We'll see. But I just hope you all follow me here in terms of, you know, not wanting to take our foot off the gas pedal, I guess is another way of putting it. And I understand what Coach Emeo Udoka is saying here. The top priority is winning, and I give him all credit for that. He's a phenomenal coach who I have the utmost respect for. But this is certainly a thought when it comes to the Houston Rockets community in terms of, well, where are these games going to possibly look? Because we do still want to win, and we still want to make that second seed. So, I do also want to go on the flip side of this. I know I've been kind of a Debbie Downer for a second, but it's not like we have the hardest schedule. We have, like, the toughest schedule in the NBA. All these other teams, like the Grizzlies, the Nuggets, the Lakers, they all have tough schedules heading out of the regular season. You see the Memphis and Lakers, the fifth and fourth hardest schedules left in the NBA. Denver has the 11th hardest. We are currently at nine, so we're kind of in the middle of the path there in terms of all those teams vying for that second seed. So, that is some good news when it comes to this, is that, you know, just because we lose or could lose because we're resting players or hiding tactics, it doesn't necessarily mean that these other teams are going to win or, you know, surpass us. They all have tough schedules. And so, that's kind of the other side of all this that I just wanted to point out there. But, yes. So, although we have a tough schedule, it's hard to fathom that with the race so tight and with so many facets in play that you would want to take that chance because it's not only getting that first-round home field or home court advantage. If you want to win the first round, you want to have that home court advantage in the second. That's what we're playing for. In these last eight game stretch, we are playing, or this is the way they should think about it, we are playing for a second-round home court advantage, which for a team this young with the lack of experience they have in the postseason, is huge. It's tremendous to have that home court advantage over a team maybe like the Nuggets or the Lakers in the second round is a huge deal. Because we know if they play in Houston, they're going to have a lot of crowd noise, they're going to feed off the energy, they're going to love it. That's what they live and play the game for. And that's going to be our version of a 12th man or a 6th man with our stands. And so, to have that is a great thing to have if you are a Houston Rockets fan. I understand if you want to rest people like Ahmed Thompson, by all means, go ahead and do so. I understand you want him to be at 100%, but if he's not, then we have to make sure that these games aren't just games that we're throwing gold to the wayside. We have to make sure there are things that we have and maintain so we don't lose any team chemistry that we have going into the postseason. That wraps it up for this video. Go ahead and let me know what you think. Do you think this is a good strategy? Do you think this is a bad strategy? Let me know, and we'll see you next time on Rockets Digest.