Gary Payton says Rockets 'won't be good in playoffs because they don't play defense'

Man... this is SUCH a hot take. It's like I haven't heard this a bunch of times since the season has started. Oh wait...

 

Whys everyone worried? Harden himself said he knows what need to be done! And our beloved coach said we will figure it out! Surely they know what they are talking about and we will win the championship this year...right?

 

I actually like this plan. It harkens back to MDA's first year with us, when we went nuts with the "Only 3s & Layups" concept. Now that half the league is doing that, we need to take the next step and once more lead the world into the future of basketball.

 

Even when hakeem was younger and came in out of shape he could afford to do it because he was thaaat athletic. Harden isn't. he needs to be in NBA shape, not have a stomach.

Harden has gotten more skilled but still does the same stupid ass turnovers...i guess we've gotten used to it...how many times do we need to see him dribble into double teams and make a risky pass with nowhere to go....turnover, easy two on the other end.

Harden is 31 years old? gets blown by on defense on the perimeter...walks up the court...has the worst transition defense.....i guess everyone else has to make up for his ass? His shooting percentage at 3 is 25 percent. i don't care how much skill you have. we barely beat the thunder and even this game was close. For all he does on offense he gives away on defense, turnovers, and shitty transition defense.

 

James Harden was fine defensively the prior two seasons when the Rockets ran their defense properly. In fact he was above average for long periods of time. The Rockets don't "have to switch" because of James Harden. The Rockets ran a switching defense because it fit with a high octane offense and also fit the personnel the Rockets had at the time (Ariza/Moute).

You can keep believing the simple narrative that it is James Harden's fault (or any single player) or you can choose to look deeper and realize that there is a lot going on.

Also, James Harden has improved every single season in the NBA.... I am not worried about his conditioning, he has earned that trust based on track record.

Hakeem Olajuwon is the greatest overall Rocket and possibly the greatest defensive player of all time........ but he had warts like everyone else. He was accused of a lot of the same crap Harden is.

 

Doesn't matter what this guy has to say. Even when we had good defense in the 2nd half last year, people refused to acknowledge it for the most part due to our reputation.

 

Pretty obvious, that is why MDA may be out as coach possibly even during the season. The issues over the years have been the exact same and has not been addressed on a yearly basis. Defensive issues, no in game adjustments, bad use of timeouts, no coaching discipline to name a few. MDA is a good coach, but he will not win a championship without holding players accountable for lack of discipline.

 

Care to pull some quotes? I read the hell out of this message board and I can’t say that I have ever come across someone saying defense doesn’t matter anymore.

Especially since the only time we had a real shot at beating the Warriors was when our defense matched our offense. Which was because our personnel allowed it, not because 1 year during all of this run MDA said were gonna try defense this year.

 

Do they do these type of stories about any other teams? Like do they cover let's say the Timberwolves and make claims like this? What's with all the focus on Houston?

 

#1 problem on defense is the lack of effort,small ball which causes mismatches and lack of defensive depth at the 4 position.

 

The Rockets lack the personnel at the 3/4 and 4/5... they don’t need big plodding players. They need mobile players with long wingspans and they don’t have that.

That is what MDA and Morey would like to have. Being tall or thick means very little if you cannot switch in a Rockets scheme.

The effort would magically look better with the right personnel.

 

I tend to agree with your points throughout this thread, but with our current ”assets” who can they realistically go after in December ? The only real tradable players that some teams might be willing to make deals for are Capella and Gordon (both of which really aren’t playing that well, especially Gordon). There just aren’t that many desirable pieces on the team currently (Harden and Russ aren’t going anywhere soon) that might net us really solid/lengthy 3 & D guys .

 

It's rarely said nowadays... bc of the point you made... but it was all the rage when Harden was scoring - and not playing any defense...

but I had the argument when we first signed EGo and Ryno... and was like wth howabout something on the defensive end?

Had the argument when we signed MDA...

I've had to constantly argue that better defense was an easier way to move the point of differential - moreso than improving upon an already upper level offense...

Granted after we actually performed defensively - then the rhetoric died down... but I spent a couple years getting shouted down when I would push the defensive angle....I kept being told by snotty individuals that defense doesnt matter in todays NBA - and the only way to beat GSW was outmatch their offensive production bc nobody had any chance of slowing them down...

Just like all the people that cried last year bc GSW was unbeatable - and lo and behold - they didnt get the trophy...

Next, all the people that declared that big men were obsolete 'in todays NBA' are gonna find out to the contrary...

People view things as an evolution - rather than a pendulum....


and no, I'm not going to go scour the board for exchanges which have taken place over the years... smh...

 

Dont these ex-players know that we’re just coasting our way into the postseason?
No worriers to worry about, lebrons body is literally falling apart and all we have standing in our way are the Clips.

Life is good.

 

The world are talking how bad our defense is, and Morey is still thinking why his scrub shooters can’t make every 3pt shots.

 

This take was so hot that I can no longer read my melted monitor.

 

Did you know that we are the only team in the Western Conference that is undefeated against the Western Conference so far

 

When this is your leader. But we have championship aspirations.......