Houston Rockets
The 2021-22 Houston Rockets can be defined by having the worst record in the NBA, but also by Jalen Green’s strong finish to his rookie season and landing the #3 pick in the draft.
What did we learn?
The Rockets did not win very many games — 20 wins to be exact — but this season was always going to be more about developing the talent.
Jalen Green, the #2 pick in the 2021 draft, had a slow start as he struggled to gain his NBA footing, and he was mocked for having an egregious plus-minus. (Green finished with a league-worst mark of -519.)
Houston began the season with a dismal record of 1-16, which included a wretched 15-game losing streak.
The Rockets followed that up by winning 7 games in a row, the longest winning streak in major sports history for a team coming off 15 straight losses. All of that winning happened to coincide with Jalen Green’s absence from the lineup (hammy). But Christian Wood started balling out, Stephen Silas improved his rotations and the Rockets finally started making some 3s.
The Rockets’ winning ways fizzled out (that 7-game winning streak was 35 percent of their entire total wins this season), and they would endure three different losing streaks of 8, 12 and 7 games the rest of the way.
However, after the All-Star break, Jalen Green showed the world (read: Rockets fans and League Pass enthusiasts) precisely why he was the #2 pick. Green’s biggest strength is his quickness, and he started to use his elite speed to his grand advantage by way of another virtue: patience.
Knowing when and where to turn on the jets is such an underrated aspect of the game. Green exuded much better patience in the pick-and-roll and was fluid in getting to his spots. He flipped the script from his beginning of the season, becoming an efficient scorer from all over the court, whether it be off-the-dribble and step-back 3s, pull-ups in the midrange, or flying to the rim with reckless abandon. Jalen Green is an electrifying player with superb bounce and magnificent speed. Fast as lightning, bruh.
Green’s backcourt mate, Kevin Porter Jr., had some difficulties running the Rockets offense at times. And there was the incident where he left that Jan. 1 game against Denver at halftime (he literally left the arena and went home). But it speaks volumes that he and the Rockets were able to move past it and keep progressing. And it was ultimate redemption when he hit the game-winning 3 against the Wizards in his next game. (It’s always the Wizards.)
Porter Jr. and Green definitely have an on-court and off-court chemistry together, filled with their contagiously bright smiles. The duo continued to improve and learn how to play alongside each other. From March until the end of the regular season, KPJ had seven games of 8+ assists and seven games of 25+ points, while Green averaged 39.5 percent from 3 on high-volume 7.8 attempts per game, and had seven games of 30+ points, including 41 in the season-finale against Atlanta.
It wouldn’t be a Rockets Season Review without exclaiming how much of a blast it was to watch Alperen Sengun this season. Talking to himself at the free throw line. A bevy of hilarious and unique plays. Behind the back passes on the regular.
Sengun was an unpredictable risk taker with a high IQ and lots of finesse. Sometimes he reminded us of… Jokic. Sengun’s jump shot and speed could use some work, but he was capable of holding his own on defense.
Checking in on Houston’s vets:
Christian Wood was consistently inconsistent. He looked incredible at times when he played at his best. The pinnacle came against the Wizards when Wood hit 8-of-9 on 3s en route to a career-high 39 points, leading the Rockets to a huge comeback. (It’s always the Wizards.)
The Rockets did not trade Eric Gordon to a contender at the deadline for reasons that we did not understand until reading this from The Athletic’s Kelly Iko: “Head coach Stephen Silas never missed an opportunity to rave about his influence, work ethic and on-court production. Gordon is a good model for young players to follow if they want to stick around the NBA for a long time.”
Last year in our Rockets Season Review, we sang the praises of Jae’Sean Tate, who once again was a supreme versatile defender despite being undersized at 6-foot-4, reminiscent of another former Houston Rocket, P.J. Tucker. Now if only we can get Tate a jump shot.
It might have been 39 years since the Houston Rockets lost this many games, but there is reason for optimism one year after trading the franchise superstar. Green might become an ultimate scoring machine, Sengun is always a good time, and there are tradable pieces here that could help other teams if the Rockets decide to move on.
And let’s not forget about all those first-round draft picks from Brooklyn which sound better by the day!
Besides, one thing about being at the bottom is that there is nowhere to go but up.
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Additional Notes
Garrison Mathews bet on himself and transformed into Garry Bird, a long-range assassin.
Josh Christopher has some zip and bounce to his game. We didn’t see as much from the Rockets other first-round pick, Usman Garuba. Garuba played in just 24 games compared to Christopher’s 74, Sengun’s 72 and Green’s 67.
And if we are talking about the Rockets and bounce then we also have to also mention Kenyon Martin Jr! KJ was the most durable Rocket this season, playing in 79 games. He can soar with the best of them, and he’s got quite the style and flare.
We didn’t hear from Tilman Fertitta this season. Definitely a no news is good news type situation.
The genuine enthusiasm between Craig Ackerman and Ryan Hollins on the call was palpable.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
The Rockets will be fired up on League Pass often, and should be a really fun time, but it’s hard to trust them to pile up many W’s yet. Under 25.5 wins.
Rockets 2021-22 record: (20-62)
Yes! This one hit pretty easily.
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What’s Next?
The #3 pick in the 2022 draft. In a top-heavy 3-player draft, it would seem like the Rockets will get the leftovers of Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero or Jabari Smith Jr. — whoever the Magic and Thunder leave on the board.
Continue to focus on player development and molding the talent here together for the future.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, John Wall picked up his $47 million player option. Trading that thang is still going to be a challenge of the highest degree. But at least now it’s expiring!
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Favorite Rockets Highlights of the 2021-22 Season:
Not only were the Rockets the team with the most dunks in the NBA this season, but they had two of the top 10 power dunks of the 2021-22 season.
#7
#4
