Mike: (Need Gordon's scoring starting?) We need a lot of things. Wouldn't stop there. They jumped on us. Out ran us, out hustled us, outplayed us. First Q, they smacked us and we took it. (Good to have a B2B to leave this one behind?) If it turns out well. If you get another night like tonight, no. At a certain point, you gotta fight. Little bit like last year, we're not playing as hard as we should be, especially on the defensive end. No reason for it. (Lack of energy?) Yeah.Then we tried to overdo it. You try to compensate for it, start talking & pointing fingers and it goes south real quick. They played well, they're athletic & got great shooters. Gotta be on our game & weren't. (Long season, do you see Eric snapping out of it eventually?) Yeah, no reason not to. Started slow last year. More concerned for everyone, not just him. It's everyone. (How difficult not to panic but knowing it's not right?) You can't panic. That doesn't help anything. Look at the tape, get back, we know how to play basketball, up our intensity and be ready from the get go. We're not in trouble but if we think we're not in trouble, we're in trouble. You gotta have the appropriate fear & it's a new year. We don't start with any games & gotta work our way back. (Chemistry between Harden & Westbrook) Chemistry is fine. Nothing to do with how we're playing. Russell didn't have a great game tonight but that's the first one. It all comes down to we didn't play as hard as we should or weren't as aware or weren't on top of things. We're soft. They're playing well & knew they would. With Butler and shooters around him, they found Nunn, they're a good team. (What about that chemistry between Russell & James gives you confidence it's going alright so far) It just is. I know them. They'll make it work. Tonight was the first night we didn't play well with those two guys. It happens.
Morey kept trying to find an four, god knows how many 6'8 PFs he cycled through in between Yao and Harden. But he got his heart broken too many times and is now scared of the position.
Colin Cowherd had said we wouldnt make the playoffs awhile back and thought that was crazy like he usually is but he may be right with this one, If defense dont pick up then it will happen
MDA can do all the adjustment he wants but the players have to be ready to engage on defense which does not seem to be the case. I rather trade for a PF or sign Dmo from China(LOL) at least he can offer enough for opponents to worry about. And bench tucker allowing him to play more productive mins
Here’s the problem with Westbrook’s fit here, despite the fact he’s really tried to adjust his shot selection and play to make this work, so far. James Harden is not an off-ball scorer, and Russell Westbrook is a terrible spot up shooter. So, when you put the ball in Harden’s hands to create, Westbrook’s poor shooting ability is amplified. You saw it Friday night against Brooklyn. They sagged off Westbrook and dared him to beat them from three, knowing he can’t. For this to really work, Westbrook needs to be the primary facilitator and Harden becomes a great off-ball scorer. On defense, the Rockets are getting exposed in part because they went from being one of the slowest offensive teams in the league to one of the fastest in order to maximize Westbrook’s open court abilities. Also, Clint Capela has regressed as a rim protector since he got his big extension prior to last season. He’s not playing with nearly the same energy level he did before he got paid.
I was just thinking of that since posting it. We have been through so many PFs...I wish we signed one of the Markieff Morris, would be the perfect guy for this team. Gritty, can hit the three, play average defense, plays hard most nights, not too tall so MDA should play him... He's not even making that much too, 3 mil per for two years.
I disagree that we have no plan. Threes, layups and free throws is our offense. If we aren't hitting threes, we are going to have a hard time generating layups. The offense has continued to generate open looks, the problem is that we aren't hitting. As much as it is painful to watch us offensively, offense isn't our problem. Defense is our major issue. Our communication is poor and our execution is poor. I am not even sure if it is always an effort issue.
For all of you who love stats, Russ was - 46 in 26 mins of play. That has to be an all time record right? Rockets doing history guys.
I don't know how Dmo would look now but if we were to sign him this year I wouldn't be mad. I think MDA thinks Tucker is this teams Marion but Tuck isn't half as good as Marion was, we ask way too much of him.
Mike’s presser really seems like he’s ambivalent, going through the motions. I don’t be think he was all that thrilled about the CP3/Westbrook swap and it looks like he’s just as bewildered as the rest of us. This defense may end up being historically bad, it sure feels that way watching it the last 5.5 games.
We do this dance every year. In the playoffs, when it matters, EG will show up on both ends. I promise you.
But what is the point of only "showing up" in playoffs. I mean at the rate we are playing the chemistry will take a dip and we might not even get into the playoffs. But lets just hope we give them a few more games to wake up their idea
