Rockets Pre-Season Presser

[78#]

Hello everyone. Before I move onto this season, I want to remember the great Al Horford who retired right before the draft. 18 out of his 19 seasons in this league were with the Houston Rockets and he cannot be replaced as a leader, an All-Star, and a Hall of Famer. We want to think him all he did not only for this franchise, but what he continues to do as a leader in this community. Thank you Al. You will not be forgotten!

Last season was a disappointing season for the most part. Yes, we did win 53 games and make the playoffs, but we dropped off from the previous season where we won 57 games and made it to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. We just couldn't find the right chemistry. Our cohesion was average most of the season until right before we made the big trade for Keith Pfeffer which again dropped our cohesion and then in the midst of a 10 game winning streak, we lost Desus Mero to a severe concussion for the rest of the season. That put a dent into our postseason plans and we really didn't recover.

Onto the season, we didn't have a 1st round pick from the Pfeffer trade so we selected PF Clemente Torres in the second round from Fresno State who we like after a great TC.

Next was restricted free agency where we made several bids and landed James Christner from the Heat and Nathaniel Anderson from the Thunder. The Heat matched Christner right away, and though we did have some talks with the Thunder, nothing really serious materialized so they ended up matching Anderson as well.

In unrestricted free agency we wanted to sign starting frontcourt players and we landed future Hall of Famer Kevin Love and brought back James McCormick to fill the void left by Horford and now Aaron Gordon who we hoped to bring back as well, but he chose more salary with Dallas. In the next round we focused on filling our salary cap with a quality player and we ended up bringing back SG Jason Fisher on a one year deal. In the final round we wanted to fill the rest of the roster and signed guys like Jonathan Treat, Delmar Lillard, Joseph Sims, Ted Adams, and Timothy Kilmer.

After free agency ended, we had training camp, where nothing really substantial happened except Love taking a little hit of 45 points, and Clement Torres gained 40 points with increase in potentials. Our other main guys maintained.

With the waiver wire we brought back PG Linwood Yamamato who filled in admirably for Mero last season and also found athletic SF/SG James Pratt who can give us quality minutes.

Our depth chart looks like this:

At center, we're gonna start James McCormick who gives us inside scoring, rebounding and shot blocking, but Kevin Love will play the majority of minutes coming off the bench keeping him fresh during the season.

At power forward, we're gonna start Frank Garden where we think he will thrive after starting the previous seasons at SG and SF. McCormick will also get minutes as well when Love comes in at center.

At small forward we will start Keith Pfeffer who can also play SG and PG. We want to get quicker and more explosive offensively. Garden and James Pratt will get minutes as well at this position.

At shooting guard, we're going with explosive Jonathan Treat to start the game with his scoring at a very efficient level, but also will see Pfeffer and veteran Jason Fisher.

At point guard, Desus Mero is back healthy and will get the majority of minutes, and backup Linwood Yamamato will clean up the rest of the minutes.

Thank you everyone, we're now taking questions.

[digiskunk]

Do you feel as if you can ride Kevin Love to the finals? (No sexual innuendos intended)

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: How does having all-star veteran Kevin Love change the team from one captained by Al Horford?

[78#]

Do you feel as if you can ride Kevin Love to the finals? (No sexual innuendos intended)

No which is why we're bringing him off the bench, but I think making the Finals will be very tough with the Nuggets and Spurs as well as the rest of the improving West. But we could all use some Lovin along the way.

[78#]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: How does having all-star veteran Kevin Love change the team from one captained by Al Horford?

He brings a lot of leadership to the team as well as championship experience as well as the ability to score, defend and rebound. It's hard to replace a guy like Horford, but we feel Love is as close as we can get though we also hope guys like Keith Pfeffer, Desus Mero and Frank Garden can fill some of the void.

[false9]

You said you wanted to be quicker and more explosive offensively, but in the preseason the Rockets were in the lower third in pace. Can we expect that to be different come the regular season?

[Xist2Inspire]

You've been the class of your division for quite some time now. Are there any teams that you feel that you need to watch out for, or is your focus soley on getting past one (or both) of the Nuggets and Spurs in the playoffs?

[78#]

You said you wanted to be quicker and more explosive offensively, but in the preseason the Rockets were in the lower third in pace. Can we expect that to be different come the regular season?

The preseason roster had Love starting, but we're gonna start 5 guys with quickness of 60 and above especially with Pfeffer at SF joining Treat and Mero in the backcourt.

[78#]

You've been the class of your division for quite some time now. Are there any teams that you feel that you need to watch out for, or is your focus soley on getting past one (or both) of the Nuggets and Spurs in the playoffs?

The West has improved and now we're seeing like the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Suns, joining the Kings and Nuggets among the very good to great teams in the West. So it's an uphill battle to win the division and get home court.

[WigNosy]

How strange will opening day feel without Al Horford?

[78#]

How strange will opening day feel without Al Horford?

Really strange. Usually he’s there to start at center, but this season we were going back and forth between Love and McCormick before sticking with McCormick. But there is a sense of excitement with a new era for this franchise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IamQuailman]

Who is the de facto team leader of this team post-Al? Aka... who will be the person to wipe your tears away when you are bounced in the 1st round again?

[78#]

There’s no leaders on this team but Pfeffer will be the best player.

Unfortunately I don’t get to face the Bucks in the playoffs where I would win more first round series assuming they’re not tanking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eazy P]

When will you guys put Al's jersey in the rafters? Hopefully not Christmas day vs the Spurs

[78#]

When will you guys put Al's jersey in the rafters? Hopefully not Christmas day vs the Spurs

Definitely on Christmas Day or maybe against the Bobcats since that GM traded him to us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Soundwave]

Juicy fruit or Big League chew?

[78#]

Juicy fruit or Big League chew?

Easily Big League Chew.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk