On February 15, Beijing time, in the last game before the All-Star break, the Houston Rockets ended in defeat on the road, and they lost to the Western underdog Grizzlies in an embarrassing loss. The loss left the Rockets with a record of just 24 wins and 30 losses, with a win percentage of just 444%, ranking 12th in the West. was beaten back to its original form by the weak Grizzlies, perhaps this is the true strength of the Rockets.
Compared to last season's Silas-led Rockets, the Rockets don't seem to have improved much, with only one win in their last six games, and that victory over the Knicks was due to a referee's misjudgment. It's fair to say that the Rockets' performance in this game was disappointing, and they couldn't even show enough competitiveness against a weaker Grizzlies.
The loss in this game once again exposed the problems that exist for the Rockets. Although they were able to perform well in some games, more often than not, they didn't seem to be able to perform at their best. The starting lineup was messy and didn't have very good offensive tactics. The defensive end is even more chaotic, the partnership of Shen Jing and Smith on the inside, although they can sometimes grab high scores, but the defensive problem on the inside has not been solved until now more than 50 games have passed. Even the Rockets didn't bring in a defensive center. This begs the question, do the Rockets really have the potential to be a strong team? Or are they destined to be nothing more than a mediocre team?
Looking at the history of the Rockets, they have had glorious moments and have gone far in the playoffs. But this season, the Rockets can indeed beat some strong teams, such as the Lakers, Nuggets, Kings, Bucks, etc., but the Rockets seem to lose more often than the weaker teams. No matter what kind of weak team it is, they are extremely confident in the face of the Rockets. Being able to beat a strong team is the progress of the Rockets, but the frequent losses to weak teams directly prove that the hard power of the Rockets is still insufficient.
For Rockets fans, the loss was undoubtedly a heavy blow. They want to see their team show more fighting spirit and quality in the game. Playoffs or something, really don't think about it, although the Rockets spent tens of millions of dollars to bring in reinforcements last summer, but unfortunately, the effect is not good now, and VanVleet and Dillon are just role players. However, as things stand, it seems that the Rockets are not yet able to meet the expectations of their fans. They need to prove their quality in the next games and prove that they have what it takes to be a real powerhouse.
This loss once again proves that the Rockets need to make some changes. They need to find a way to improve their win rate and boost their rankings. Compared to last season's Silas-led Rockets, the Rockets seem to be stuck in a dead loop again — not learning from the experience after losing, and then playing and losing the same way in the next game. Udoka doesn't seem to be magical, compared with the wise coach who emphasized defense and team offense after the start of the game, Udoka is now slow to adjust, slow to react, and very stubborn, using a few fixed rotation players, which is the reason for the failure of the Rockets.