Not a surprise for a team that doesn't practice much. MDA expects from his players a finished product that does not need actual coaching.
Look Golden sate has talent but you have to compete harder. I cant say we are competing on the Level the Clippers did in the last series against Golden State. We are way better than the Clippers
DD. Your argument basically would require the team fire the coach, and miraculously get out from Paul's contrast, but then what? Your questioning if Harden has a championship mentality at No. 1 star, but if he doesn't that means the Rockets have to get that player. Which means tank during the rest of Harden's prime or convince one of the big names to come here. I doubt Tilman would be okay tanking, much less Harden. I would be stunned if any of the big name FA's sniff Houston this or next off season. Plus it would be difficult to pay any of them due to the cap.
Clutchfans are whinest fans of all. So what they have talent? It meant we should play like ****? Clippers pushed them. Last year they were better and we pushed them. First its the refs now its they too good, it never is rockets gm/players/coaches(i put it last because they are not allowed to coach and are forced to some bullshit iso offense instead) fault
Hustle is the main problem. If you get a mismatch of 8 offensive rebounds, it says one team is hustling more than the other. The Warriors were a lot quicker than the Rockets. Their bench got 15 rebounds, we only got 6. We got 40 plus rebounds, a lot of them near end of the game rebounds. No will, no win.
“Is Da Sky Falling”??? The Rockets have a very,very tough task ahead of them! Being down 2-0 in a 7 games series to the Warchicks is daunting to even think of, but it’s reality! We can cry over being ripped off in the first game and we can point fingers and bash our team, BUT we still have a chance! Don’t be weak minded and give up before the “Fat Lady-Gaga” sings!! At this point in the series, all Golden State has done is hold home court advantage, nothing more, nothing less!!....AND they needed the refs to do it!! I still have hope!! (P.S.) Only if it’s officiated fairly. Go Rockets !!! ....... ....... .......
I’m not sure how you thought my post was “whining”. Pointing out that they have two of the best shooters in history, one being an mvp, and then also adding the best basketball player in the league right now. It’s not whining, it’s truth. Could we have played better? Sure. What I’m saying is more for the people calling for MDA’s head for not making quick adjustments, or people saying we just didn’t play good defense. Sure some of those things are true, but when you’re playing a dynasty like GS, and they are a dynasty, it’s not so simple.
They are just humans, of course its not easy but we arent even trying. Rn it looks like team is in comfort zone with just passing to Harden and let him Carey all of the burden while they relax. But once he sits all of a sudden our team can play. Thats on leadership and thats on coaching. James needs a strong coach that will put him in his place, not let him play injuried, and put trust in team as a whole. Mike did his best job here last year and unfortunately it might be time for change. Everybody already know what and how we do it and we make NO adjustments. I will gladly eat a crow but thats how it seems
At the trade deadline the team's #1 priority became obvious: Get below the Luxury Tax line. And we did. Any accomplishments beyond that are a bonus. We did not prioritize beating GSW (or MIL/TOR). We did not prioritize the future (we traded away a first to lessen Tillman's expenses). So this is where we are. And it wasn't so unpredictable, given we're relying on a past-his-prime, injury-prone guy and did not prioritize winning the championship. I think we should have set our expectations accordingly when the team showed us what their priority was.
Good post, but as others have suggested, it also has something to do with who we’re going up against. To play solid team defense just to watch Kevin Durant sink a contested 20 footer near the end of the shot clock is brutal.
You can point at everything being a problem when the Rockets ONLY play is Harden dribbling the ball for 20 seconds and then rushing the most difficult 3-point shot. Do we get points by how many dribbles he takes?
We're not playing as well as last years bunch. That's the reality of it - Ariza does not explain the shift. It seems to me that this team took much longer to "click" and the failure of the offseason in not enhancing the teams depth is really coming back to bite us.
I am just going to throw it out there. We freaked out and signed Capela and gave him way too much money. This is like an Ryan Anderson contract again. I'm not saying he doesn't have room to get better, but he is overpaid. Also, CP3 has been really spotty as of late. Also not living up to his contract. He's getting old but he still makes key shots and plays when needed. Still, really overpaid for what he's bringing to the team and it won't get better. Also, our team can't move the ball. Our passing stinks. I would take a non athletic passing big over Capela any day. Our bench is pretty shotty as well. Gordon knows how to light it up when nobody else is scoring but he tries to do too much and loses control sometimes. Pick and roll and Harden iso will get exposed quickly by the Warriors and we are seeing that right now. It's like the Rockets are playing a pickup game. No real offensive strategy. I think the Nuggets will be an interesting matchup with the Warriors if they get passed Portland.
Rockets haven't played their best game yet but they were in it all the way to the end in GS in both games, including one where the refs missed all the calls and one where Harden couldn't see (no matter how much DD wants to make light of his injury-SMH). In last night's game we got in a hole early and won the next three quarters by 3 points against a dynasty with KD playing out of his mind. GS held homecourt through those two games. That's all. In DD's world the Rockets suck no matter what they do. Not to mention DD's boy House has been a no-show. The sky isn't falling because the Rockets lost twice in tough games on the road. This stuff is so tired.
