Houston Rockets Press Conference

[78#]

Hello everyone. I just want to wish everyone good luck this season. Our off-season started with a lot of question marks, but now we feel we have answered most of them. The only thing left is to get back to winning games and going back to the playoffs.

Last season expectations were high with many picking us to win the Southwest and some evening having us coming out of the West. Unfortunately neither of those predictions came through. We started out 22-11, but the wheels fell off from there eventually seeing us missing the playoffs. Probably the most disappointing season we've had.

The offseason started with the draft. We selected center Russell Gomez from the University of Houston. He entered the draft with B potential on inside scoring and shot-blocking as well as A potential on offensive rebounding. He had a +34 TC and will definitely be the backup center to Al Horford and could potentially start at PF throughout his rookie contract.

There wasn't much to do in restricted FA so we waited for real free agency and re-signed Thaddeus Young to a 4-year deal with a team option. Thaddeus brings a lot to the table with his scoring and excellent. Signing him was the biggest goal of the off-season and we're glad to have him back thru his prime years.

The rest of free agency brought in veteran minimum contracts including Glen Davis, Norris Cole, D.J. Augustin, James Anderson, and Elliot Williams who each will get minutes with the second unit.

Training camp went very well. Only one person took a hit and he is off the team while everyone else maintained or improved so we couldn't have asked for a better camp.

We did make one quick trade before TC which was unloading Kenneth Faried's contract with a 2019 first to the Celtics. That trade saves us at least 53 points in tax penalties making it easier to pay off our bill and try to re-sign Lance Stephenson and Ty Lawson this upcoming off-season. We liked Faried when we signed him, but we just couldn't afford his contract if we wanted to bring back both Lawson and Stephenson. His TC makes the trade even more difficult, but in the long-run we will be better for it.

DEPTH CHART

C - Al Horford is the best center in the league and our best all-around performer. He maintained during TC so we're expecting another 20/10 season from him. Rookie Russell Gomez will be the backup.

PF - D.J. White was arguably the best 6th man in the league last season and now he gets a chance to start again where we like his scoring and defense. Glen "Big Baby" Davis will be the backup, but Russell Gomez could also get minutes here.

SF - Thaddeus Young returns and we expect him to be the glue to the team with his all around game, especially defensively. Elliot Williams, James Anderson, and Wesley Johnson will split backup minutes.

SG - Lance Stephenson returns and he brings scoring, rebounding, and play-making skills. We're hoping he can become a more consistent scorer from the field. Norris Cole will be the backup, but look for Elliot Williams to get minutes here as well.

PG - Ty Lawson. I think Ty will have his best season yet. We envision him as a 20/10 guy from the PG spot. We really need him to do big things if we want to achieve our goals. D.J. Augustin will be the backup, but look for Norris Cole to potentially get minutes here as a combo guard.

Also in order to be more consistent during the season, we're gonna start to keep our game-planning simple by primarily playng man defense and limiting the trapping, zoning, and pressing we have tended to do in past seasons. Also offensively we're gonna limit our pacing to not compromise our defense or our offense until we can prove to be strong in both units. We hope some of these changes will bring more consistency throughout the season instead of the fluctuations that have plagued us the last two seasons.

We will answer questions now.

[IamQuailman]

Bump

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[fearthebrow]

Random Dallas reporter:

Do you see yourself making the playoffs this year? Any plans to rebuild if things don't go well to start the season?

[78#]

Random Dallas reporter:

Do you see yourself making the playoffs this year? Any plans to rebuild if things don't go well to start the season?

Well, we should have made it last season and we should definitely make it this season and much more. No chance of rebuilding. We're looking at this core for at least 2-3 more seasons assuming we can re-sign Stephenson and Lawson.

[Inner_GI]

You paid someone to take Faried, when you recently signed him. What was the thinking behind signing Faried to that contract and then becoming disgruntled with the value?

[ballsohard]

Lance has said he sees the end in Houston looming and wants out.. will you be listening to offers for him?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You talked about the Rockets' hot starts and disappointing dropoffs the last two seasons. Have you been able to diagnose what caused those dropoffs so that perhaps you can combat them better this year?

[WigNosy]

Where do you see bench points coming from this season?

[78#]

You paid someone to take Faried, when you recently signed him. What was the thinking behind signing Faried to that contract and then becoming disgruntled with the value?

We liked Faried in RFA before we signed him, but then he took a big hit in TC right after we signed him so his value dropped drastically. Plus we saw a 92 point tax bill coming this season and weren't sure whether we could pay it off in time to try to re-sign both Lance Stephenson and Ty Lawson so we decided we needed to move him. We shaved about 53 points off the tax bill with this trade and still have a strong starting five.

[78#]

Lance has said he sees the end in Houston looming and wants out.. will you be listening to offers for him?

We haven't heard anything from Lance so it's just fake news and no we're not listening to offers at this point.

[78#]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You talked about the Rockets' hot starts and disappointing dropoffs the last two seasons. Have you been able to diagnose what caused those dropoffs so that perhaps you can combat them better this year?

It's a gameplan issue. Too much overthinking with zone and trap defenses instead of just letting our guys defend. We're gonna give them a simpler gameplan and hopefully this will lead to success throughout the season.

[78#]

Where do you see bench points coming from this season?

Two guys to watch for are our rookie Russell Gomez at backup center. He's inside scoring is already at 69 so he can provide some points in the paint and also look for Norris Cole is a potential combo guard scorer off the bench.

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: How important was it to bring back Thaddeus Young? What were Al Horford and Ty Lawson's thoughts to just narrowly missing the playoffs last year? Do you think that made them work harder in the off season to assure that mistake wouldn't happen again?

[78#]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: How important was it to bring back Thaddeus Young? What were Al Horford and Ty Lawson's thoughts to just narrowly missing the playoffs last year? Do you think that made them work harder in the off season to assure that mistake wouldn't happen again?

We really needed Thaddeus back. He's the glue to the team at his SF position with his scoring and defense.

Horford and Lawson weren't happy at all with missing the playoffs and they met with us to give ideas on what we can do differently. Stephenson and Thaddeus were part of that same conversation. I think all of us, front office, coaches, and start players are motivated for the season to show what we're really capable of.

[NOLa.]

During the last two seasons it feels like your team was in the mix of the playoffs race until we got closer to the end of the season, where the Rockets fell out from the race. What's different this season or what will you do differently to prevent a third straight season of the dreaded fall-off.


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