New Year’s resolutions for the Houston Rockets

New year, New Rockets?

Amen Thompson – Stay out of fights, and work on his three-point shot

Amen’s resolution is simple. Amen needs to stop picking fights, and work on his three-point shooting. I will say Amen’s shooting seems to have improved drastically from last season. Amen Thompson with even a somewhat viable three-point shot would be a surefire starter for Houston.

Tari Eason- Figure out the leg injury

Here we go again with Tari Eason and his leg injury. I was trying to stay optimistic, but after Tari missed his seventh straight game with “injury maintenance” I am officially concerned. To quote the amazing Taylor Allison Swift, “I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.”

Rockets fans all over remember the debacle of Tari Eason’s leg injury last season. Everything started all right besides the team being vague and then BAM Tari needed surgery and was out for the season. My deep, dark, intrusive, anxiety-fueled thoughts have me wondering if this is Tari Eason’s leg injury number two electric boogaloo. All jokes aside I hope Tari can feel better and return to the court soon even if the Rockets need to bubble-wrap him in the meantime.

Dillon Brooks- Stay the course, and don’t take dumb shots

To me, Dillon is doing his job well and playing his role. Dillon the Villan has honestly been a hero for this Houston team. He is Houston’s only main rotation player shooting above league average from three, as he is shooting 38.6 percent. Dillon’s job is to lock up key players on the opposing team, to hit timely shots, and to STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!

Alperen Sengun- Improved shooting around the rim

If Alperen Sengun was shooting at the same level around the rim as he had in prior seasons, he would likely be in the MVP conversation. Now this may sound crazy, but look at the numbers. Sengun would be averaging closer to 24 or 25 points instead of the 19 or so points per game he is averaging now. It is clear Sengun has worked on his defense and has gotten better at drawing fouls (although he always would like more calls). Sengun has been playing very well this season after a slow start, but with the West being so competitive and talented, I don’t think he makes an All-Star team off of fan voting without some improvements to his shooting around the rim.

Jalen Green – Increased consistency

After a fantastic month of March to close out last season, Jalen Green signed a $106 million extension this summer. This keeps him under contract for the next two seasons with a player option in the third. Many fans expected Jalen to step up after receiving his extension, and for the first five or six games, it looked like Jalen was getting there. For the month of October, he shot over 40 percent from three. However, Jalen only shot 27 percent from three during November which is a much larger sample size Jalen also shot 32.6 percent from three in December and is shooting 31.3 percent from three so far in January. Jalen has all the tools to be great and has shown fans he could be great, he just needs to pull it together and be consistent for a larger sample size of games.

Fred VanVleet- Know your role, and don’t be afraid to take a backseat

Fred was brought onto this team to be a leader. So far throughout about one and a half seasons, Fred has done a good enough job. However, often Fred has tried to do too much. This is not entirely on Fred, however, as Udoka has often leaned on Fred this season, and for Fred to be able to take a backseat, other Rockets need to be productive.

Ime Udoka- Be more creative with the offense/Don’t be afraid to give the younger guys opportunities

Something both myself and other fans have noticed is Ime Udoka’s tendency to favor veteran players over the younger guys. Udoka often has ridden the vets into the end of games despite players such as Cam Whitmore or Reed Shepard being avalaible. A prime example of this is playing Aaron Holiday over Reed Shepard. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not think Reed should be geting major minutes, it just seems odd that the number three overall pick from the 2024 NBA draft is buried on the bench. Same goes for Cam Whitmore who was feeling frusturated after Houston’s win vs Dallas.

Overall Team – BETTER THREE-POINT SHOOTING PLEASE

Perhaps the number one thing Houston’s players should work on is to become better three-point shooters. If your name is not Dillon Brooks, you are shooing below league average. Players are struggling to shoot from deep across the Rockets’ roster. As a team, the Houston Rockets are shooting just 32.7 percent from three. This is better than only the Orlando Magic, We saw firsthand how a poor three-point shooting night could cost the Rockets a game versus the Boston Celtics. Houston shot 10 of 36 from three (27 percent). Compare this to Boston who shot 19 of 39 (48 percent). Just going off of points from three-pointers alone Boston had 57 points from three compared to Houston’s 30. It appears so far that really only Dillion is finding his shots. If the whole team can continue to improve from deep, hopefully, this team can be shooting at least league average from deep.