This was the perfect opening game to prove this concept will work against anyone, anytime. You had the Lakers’ bigs looking like the Monstars in Space Jam; Avery Bradley, Danny Green, LeBron, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope playing inspired perimeter defense; James Harden being frequently doubled and taken out of the offense. Yet, despite all of that, the Rockets beat the team with the second-best record in the NBA on their home court. Just wait until Covington gets more chemistry with the rest of the group, and Morey adds some more depth via the buyout market.
Not trying to hate. But IHart really doesn’t have it. I don’t understand when people keep insisting on giving him more of a chance. He’s not an enforcer. He can give you games where he gets a high number of rebounds but do you really see him outmuscling Dwight for a board? He’s not a strong finisher. He CAN finish. But he’s not gonna overpower it through a defense and throw it down. And he’s not a shooter or spacing big man. He can shoot better than Capela, but it’s still not his thing. There is no reason to be playing him.
Broussard: (Is this gonna work?) What's work? Work is a championship. Daryl Morey is a good GM but he didn't go to Memphis, Sacramento or Charlotte. The Rockets have always been a good franchise. Just being relevant & winning 50 and going out in the 2nd round isn't enough. They won't win a championship playing like this. They'll be fun to watch, they'll be sexy. I get it. They opened the lane for Westbrook for the first time in his career. ... They are what they are. The Lakers let them off the hook. ... The Rockets shoot a lot of threes but aren't great(21st 3p%). They'll get into battles with teams who shoot the three better. They'll be fun. Maybe slightly better? but about the same in a different way. No they won't win it. ... They're Don Nelson's Bucks/Mavericks.
Think this is exactly what we want teams to do. Force them into “exploiting” the mismatch. But if they can’t score 2s at an extremely high rate it’s not going to beat us. And most teams don’t have a Davis type big that can punish you efficiently in the paint.
I was at Staples Center last night and here were my observations: - There were far fewer Rockets fans than other Lakers/Clippers/Warriors games that I've attended. Maybe it's cuz the Lebron premium makes tickets so damn expensive now? - Russell Westbrook was the MVP hands down. Anthony Davis was impressive but Russ was doing it all and taking over the game. Without him, the Rox would have been slaughtered. - Harden was garbage for most of the game. I give him credit for some solid D in the last few minutes but he really looked like he didn't give af. Sure he was doubled on many possessions but he had some open looks from outside that he'd normally take (and make) but he would just defer and pass the ball. Even when he drove, it was like he was hoping to get bailed out by the whistle and didn't make any real effort to make the shot. I don't know if he is hurt or if LA strip clubs got to him but he looked like he lost his mojo. It helped that Lebron was underwhelming for most of the game as well too. - To a large extent, the Lakers lost this game. They are the better team but they made mistakes and missed their shots down the stretch (I'm looking at you Kuzma and Rondo) but they play better than the Rox as of now. When they scored, it was way easier and with less effort than the Rox. You can bet they'll be better prepared on how to take advantage of their size advantage the next time they play the Rox. - The Rox looked better with Harden on the bench. The offense flowed much smoother and we weren't always dribbling the clock out and throwing up desperation shots. With Harden in the game, it was mostly ISO ball with Harden or Russ penetrating with 5-10 seconds left, throwing it back out, and some rushed shot. - Thabo was playing some solid D and is one of the few big bodies we have left. He looked taller than 6'6 to me but it's not like I was courtside. It's a good thing we didn't trade him. - RoCo was great. I don't think there's any more praise I can add. I can't wait to see how much more he improves once he integrates with the team. - And yeah, there were 2-3 terrible foul calls against Houston (and I think 1 against LA) but overall the refs were letting the players be physical in the paint and I didn't think the officiating was THAT bad.
Lot of shots outside the lane, despite only 2 3s, but he hit half of them. I'm not sure how repeatable that is. Still, 10-14 inside the lane by my count. Just a great, high energy performance from Westbrook that they absolutely needed. If he only would play tonight as well, but still the team is much better for him being there.
That is a great question. It wont be easy for any buy out candidate to see minutes. They have to fit our system which has basically become everyone not named Westbrook has to be able to make 3's. I don't think Morey will become complacent at all. He will keep trying to tweak or add pieces as long as Tilman will allow him to. Another 3 and D player at the 4/5 would be ideal, but i have no idea who that may be. I'm extremely interested in seeing how Bruno fits in. He actually fits what we are trying to do on both ends. I'm pretty excited about the possibilities moving forward.
Why is there such a double standard with Harden fouls? Somebody should lead the league in free throw shots and considering the amount of ball handling and basket attacking that Harden is involved in, it makes complete sense that he’s that guy. Everyone groans and complains when he gets free throws like he doesn’t deserve them.
He compares them to Don Nelson teams who played in an era when basketball was played completely differently.
We wouldn't shoot 45% with Capela in the game. We shot 45% because small ball generates so many more open 3s.
I am curious and you surely follow the Lake show. Do you think the players are still grieving Kobe's death? I guess they lost 2 or 3 games since then.
I can't comment on what the players are feeling as they all had their own personal relationships/connections to Kobe. You see Kobe's jerseys eerily hanging in the corner of Staples all by themselves, and in the 4th quarter there was a brief "Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!" chant that lasted like 20 seconds. All the Kobe memorial stuff is cleared out around Staples Center so it does feel like things are moving back to normalcy on the outside. Internally, you just never know with people.
The reasons you gave were always my complaints with CC - getting out muscled and stripped of the ball... Helooked impressive with the throw down - but everything prior was shaky at best... lol I believe you gotta play guys like IHart and try to develop them... if it doesnt happen then kick em to the curb... If it means we lose a few games along the way - so be it... but maybe you find a diamond that develops... Additionally, I think running less than an 9 man rotation is detrimental to the long term goals of winning a championship... You cant run yer guys into the ground (as MDA typically likes to do...) and then on top of that you gotta have guys that can come in in the event of an injury. This tendency of cutting the rotation and running shorthanded is stupid... You gotta be developing guys so they can step in - at least on a limited temporary basis... and very few are gonna do that well if they dont even see the floor for weeks or even months at a time... One of my main complaints with MDA is regular season glory stats vs long term goals such as winning a championship...
