Stop, just stop. We're talking about a guy with a HISTORY of quitting. This wasnt one time. So again, what were his excuses game 6 of the Clippers series? Or any other time he appeared to quit? What other superstar besides James has quit on his team in the playoffs? Your excuses for Harden seem desperate & out of touch
I wasn't under the impression D'Antoni was getting a pass. He took a lot of heat after Game 5 for the 7-man rotation. And clearly it got to him since he quickly subbed in Dekker in Game 6. Granted, that was likely just as much due to most of the starters looking lethargic out there, but either way, he took that criticism to heart. If we're talking heat for the season overall, I don't think he deserves too much. I mean, the overall season was a success. He led the team to a record that far exceeded expectations. They won their first round series with OKC fairly easily considering their 3's weren't falling. And through 4 games of the Spurs series, he was doing a pretty solid job by all accounts. It's really Game 5 where he royally f'ed up. That was for him what Game 6 was for Harden(although Harden's no show was far more damaging). The key for D'Antoni is how does he respond going forward. Will he drop this aversion to playing a deeper rotation? Will he put his trust in younger players in playoff games? Will he be willing to hold veterans and star players more accountable when they halfass it out there, especially at the defensive end which he's never prioritized? He can absolutely improve in certain areas next season. And I think he will because he knows he can't afford another ending to a playoff run like the one the Rockets just endured.
Yea I'm not sure you understand the reasoning behind these adjustments, which is why your assessment is incorrect. Nene was our best physical low post presence. But the lineup that gave the Spurs the most problems was with Anderson playing center. Once Nene went down we really had no option but to go small. Playing Trez at that point would've allowed Aldridge to go off with the luxury of not worrying about Trez as a scoring threat. They could've sagged off Trez and forced him to shoot jumpers, the same with Dekker. MDA ultimately decided if the Spurs want to shoot 2's, we'll shoot 3's and take our chances. Sounds crazy but it worked all the way up to Harden quitting. Once Harden quit in OT of game 5, and eventually game 6, everything crumbled. Keep in mind game 5 was VERY winnable had Harden not GAVE them the ball 3 times in OT. So how exactly is this on MDA? I call pure bs. Not ONE of you was crying about Harden's minutes until he mentally checked out the series. Once it was obvious Harden quit, his fans immediately came in shifting blame elsewhere other than Harden himself lol. This is on par with nutty LOF's protecting Jeremy Lin smh
Check my posts. I called out the proposed 7-man rotation BEFORE Game 5. D'Antoni told reporters he was planning to play only Anderson and Williams off the bench and I hated the idea. Dekker had gotten minutes in Game 4. Why was he suddenly unplayable? I'm not shifting blame from Harden. He was awful in the 4th quarter and OT of Game 5 and flat out didn't show up for Game 6. But that doesn't mean D'Antoni is free of blame. He chose to go with only 7 guys in Game 5. He chose to not immediately make major substitutions in Game 6 when it was clear something wasn't right. It is possible for a star player AND his coach to come up small in a playoff series(see Harden and McHale vs the Blazers in 2014).
But game 5 was WINNABLE. I'll take it further & say game 5 should've been won. We were actually in the drivers seat until James Harden's unnecessary turnovers. So how bad was MDA if we were in a position to win game 5? Any coach in the league besides Pop would probably look bad in a game 6 if their star player decided he didn't want to play anymore. The series was competitive until Harden stop competing
But D'Antoni deserves some heat for Game 5. And not just for the shortened rotation that led to fatigue. Why didn't he use his timeouts down the stretch in the 4th quarter? Why didn't he call one early in OT when it was clear Harden was settling for bad 3-pointers after running the clock down for 20 seconds? Basketball is a team sport. If one guy isn't playing well(and admittedly, Harden wasn't), you can draw up a play to set up another guy for an open shot. When they did do that in OT(the Bev and Anderson corner 3's), they scored every time.
This I do not see from MDA - if anything, I see him doubling down on what brung him because that's been his track record. He's 65 and hasn't adjusted his approach after all this time so what makes you believe he's going to change now? Because he just got done in by a Popovich coached team in the playoffs again? Sorry but this marks the fifth time that's happened and MDA didn't appear to have altered his approach after the other four times. Same thing with Morey & Les because this is exactly what Les wanted to see from his team when he reached out in left field to hire MDA while Morey just keeps keeping on. Watching the Rockets go through all of this (again) I have to keep reminding myself about the definition of insanity.
Have you not watched the Rockets this season? MDA is notorious for letting the game play out in late game situations and not calling a timeout. We had quite a few games this season down the stretch where MDA didn't call a timeout and was praised. Now it's his fault because we lose, while Harden held the ball for 12 seconds and then turned it over 3 times? Nope. What if Harden didn't turn the ball over? What if he actually ran the offense like he was supposed to, chances are we win. Bottom line, Harden's turnovers cost us those games. A combination of sloppy play, laziness & all out quitting on his teammates & coach. Nobody can't predict their star player doing that
I'm well aware of D'Antoni's habits in late game situations and I've been PO'd about them for a while now. He routinely played with fire in the OKC series and nearly got burned in Game 4 when he never called a timeout down the stretch.
His late game adjustments were never in question until Harden quit, then the blame quickly shifted. How many other games can you name where his judgment was questioned behind not calling a timeout?
It's honestly like a damn chicken/egg situation. What came first? Us having 5 injured players or dantoni only playing 5 players? Nobody knows.
MDA is a stat padder.... He cant win it all... but he can rack up some really good regular season records - by running his starting lineups into the ground... I would think most coaches could help their stats/record if they refuse to play a third of their roster and run their stars in pursuit of regular season acolades instead of striving to actually win it all... Just like players who pad their stats against trash teams and in garbage time.. MDA works his 'brand image' in the regular season... He knows only 1 coach can win a championship in any given year... but if you focus on short term victories (at the expense of possible post season success) you can get COY and be regarded as an 'offensive genius'. ...
funny thing is morey finally got MDA center depth this year in tarik black, but MDA won't play him either. soon as he makes a mistake MDA yanks him
