Random thought Paul is on the team, too. He ,IMO, should close out close games by an asset or clutch shot both of which he is more than capable of. Every player has strengths and weaknesses lets play to the TEAM’S strengths.
Harden hit a floater on a drive to make it possible for us to win the game. A 2 pt shot. Then what happened happened. So...he succeeded with your plan but we still lost.
I see all we can focus on is 3 point shooting again. How about our shitty defence? You know, the one that is 5th worst in the league? We had the last shot of the game when they got an easy bucket after the timeout with 30 seconds left. Russ literally just drove all the way to the basket uninterrupted. It was piss poor. But let's focus on 3 point shots again...
Did u watch last nights close out? Based on that, I think they have to change the setup asap or we wont be seeing them deep in may.
Up by 26 points, in a national televised game, and lose. At home. OKC, Denver, Portland, Golden State, Toronto, Boston, Milwaukee.Indiana.All are laughing at the Rockets. No one cares if Harden scores 40 points a game. They all know when the game is on the line, the Rockets will CHOKE.
That's not what this thread is about, at least not what the OP intended. I don't think the overall offensive strategy is bad, given the personnel we have. But we could do better in situational offense during crunch time when one possession is the difference between a W and a L. This is especially important in the playoffs.
ESPECIALLY when those shots become really critical, and you start to tighten up. You would think games 6 and 7 of last year's WCF would drive this point home, but this has been Rocket's problem going back into the Olajuwon year's...where there clearly WAS another option. And the title has it right...it isn't threes, it is stupid threes. It is one thing to move the ball around, drive to the basket, and then kick out to an open three. It is quite another to jog down the court and jack up a shot when you come in sight of the three point line.
Youre correct, but that’s a reflection on coaching. D’Antoni is clueless in the 4th if Harden isn’t saving us, and frankly....it’s not like our 4th quarter defense is worth a damn, either.
I don't think so. I think it's just the case that defenses get tighter at the end of close games. If our offense suffers there, other types of shots will suffer worse. We have the 10th best record and we are 10th in win% in the clutch. What this team can do far better in the clutch is play better defense. Nitpicking at the offense is not the answer to winning more, it's just the answer to what's most aesthetically pleasing I guess.
No, it is not about aesthetic. It's about winning games. No need to dichotomize. It's not either-or. It's both-and. There are a hundred reasons we lost. I'd be the first to say that letting Westbrook go to the basket unmolested was a more damaging play than Harden's running out the clock and jacking up the contested 3 when we were down one. But that doesn't mean the latter wasn't a crucial play. Why do you have to dismiss the important of situational offense? It's like saying if you could score well enough from 20 yards out, you don't have to worry about goal line offense. A professional team should know what they are supposed to do with 30 second left when: a. leading by a point b. tied c. down by a point d. down by 2 poiints e. down by 3 points They should have different plays that deal with each of those situations. You can say that if they played well enough defensively, the game would not have to be decided by that last couple of plays. That is of course true, but playing good defense does not preclude the possibility of facing crucial situational offensive play and does not preclude being good at it. It's not about choosing one or the other. It's about being good at both.
If Morey/MDA never win a championship this will be why. I get so sick of watching Harden ISO for a terrible 3 to closeout games. This team is dumb at finishing games.
