Houston Rockets Daily – Pundits Continue to Dissect the Inconsistency

It’s been an interesting week for the Houston Rockets with lots of fodder for the Daily Rocket Science column. At week launch the Rockets were still licking the wounds accumulated from a 4-game losing streak that saw them suffer repeated fourth quarter collapses and culminated with a beat down in San Antonio.

That losing streak specifically called into question the consistently inconsistently identity the Rockets had established to that point as they became notorious for winning games they should lose and vice versa. And each time it appeared the team had finally learned their lesson by stringing together a streak of wins they would regress, especially defensively.

Now with a third of the season gone, Houston once again posted two significant victories versus the team who began the week one rung ahead (Utah Jazz). The next phase becomes stringing more victories together and climbing higher up the ladder as placing in the 7th or 8th seed offers a first round series against one of the 2 best teams in the Association – -not exactly an ideal goal.

Further, for the most part the team had avoided injury, but suddenly find themselves reeling in that regard, especially in the front court where both Donatas Motiejunas and Dwight Howard are both sidelined with back issues.

And with that I offer you the Daily Rocket Science….

Darren Yuvan of the Dream Shake offers his take on whether the second consecutive win over Utah will amount to continued growth in: Did the Rockets reach a turning point with their win over Utah?

". One of the most maddening aspects of the Rockets this year — and there’s been no shortage to this point — is that their overall game, though full of talent and expectations, appeared bereft of heart and soul. When the going gets tough, these Rockets, up to this point, have had neither the chemistry nor the intestinal fortitude to scrape out a win against adversity"

For those actively involved in Fantasy Adam Wexler of Draft Kings serves up his take on the Houston Rockets January games isolating which players to select and who to keep an eye on in: DraftKings Fantasy Outlook: January 2016

As a side note let’s not forget “the kick” from last season that became the reason James Harden missed ANY games thanks to LeBron James crying “the League will take care of it” which of course they did.

"Paul George has been a big time stat sheet stuffer this season, particularly during his last four games. From Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, George scored 29 points per game while grabbing 8.5 boards a night. Both Houston and Indiana are in the top ten in the league in pace, so there’s a good chance both teams will get up and down the floor quickly. It should be noted that the Pacers will be in the final game of a four-game road trip."

Taking a stab at what exactly needs to change for the Houston Rockets to fix whats ailing them Duncan Smith of Hoops Habit offers an excellent 5 part column: Houston Rockets: 5 Keys To Saving The Season

"The Houston Rockets circa 2015-16 have led me to question that belief. No team looks more disinterested for longer stretches than this squad, and no team looks as allergic to its own sweat. Again, I can’t emphasize enough that I’m skeptical about the lack of caring, but nobody has ever looked less interested than these Rockets do for long stretches of time."

More from Space City Scoop

And not to be outdone Space City Scoop’s own Joshua Van Horn offered a break down that showcases exactly how much the Rockets have fallen off defensively (though their numbers are eerily similar) this season in his article – Houston Rockets Defensive Decline

". While rebounding is definitely about size, it also has a lot to do with effort. Outside of Howard and , the Rockets big men struggle to pull down boards. Harden, who is allegedly at the root of Houston’s effort problems, pulls down the third most rebounds of anyone on the team, and the second most of any of the league’s shooting guards Clint Capela"

And just in case you missed what had all the Rockets laughing on the side lines here’s something sure to make the short list for Shaqtin a Fool courtesy of Jason Terry:

Next up for the Rockets they’ll play the Indiana Pacers in Houston on Sunday January 10th at 7:00 EST, check back in the morning for our pregame analysis and afterwards for the player grades. That’s it for today’s Daily Rocket Science, enjoy your Saturday.

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