[Discussion] Things to take away from this series for next season...

1) Harden has a long way to go, but still fantastic.
2) Dwight's as good as advertised, though he doesn't have too many years left. Feels like we wasted a year of his prime.
3) I might be buying in to the idea Parsons and Harden might not be a good fit. Can't have two liabilities on the wings for defense.
4) For all the hate Lin gets, he's fine as a bench player. Overpaid, but he's no scrub.
5) Team won't go anywhere with McHale. Embarrassing how awful we were in 4th quarters this series.

Morey's got some work to do.

 

I don't think our roster needs any improvement . I wouldn't turn it down, but chemistry is valuable and a seasons worth of familiarity as well as 6 playoff games have been a learning experience for these guys . Standing pat won't make us the favorites but realistically only one team can claim that and by no means are they guaranteed the finals. I think some of our young guys : dmo, cov, Canaan, Daniels ... All can be solid role players next year . I think dmo and jones could break out further.

 

Trade terrible shooters (Lin, Parsons, Jones, Motiejunas, Casspi) for best shooters. Simple.

 

We need to make a major push for Chris Bosh this off season.

 

We are pretenders bottom line. Dwight is our best player.

 

-Beverley has been exposed as a defensive stopper. Jeremy Lin is too inconsistent. Both are not the answer at point guard.

-We need a physical wing that can shoot a jumper/3's to mask and/or backup Harden.

-Mchale needs to hold Harden for his defensive lapses.

 

Better bench is all we need. Lin and Asik were the only steadies off the bench (Troy Daniels was under-utilized).

Look at every great championship team- you have to have at least 3-4 good guys off the bench. Every one.

There's no reason why D-Mo and Garcia should have received zero playing time- or Canaan, for that matter. Even just for a few minutes. That's my major beef- starters are all fine (T-Jones will be better next year), and Asik and Lin are fine. Replace T-Jones with Anthony- there you go.

 

Lin should be the starter. Played very well at both ends and was key to their 2 wins + game 1. Did an excellent job of feeding the post and getting Howard and Asik involved in the offense as well as wing shooters like Daniels. Got into the lane at will and made stuff happen. Could've been on the list of heroes for Game 6 if Asik didn't called for an offensive foul on a made 3 or if he had been in to defend Lillard one more time after shutting him out in the 4th quarter up to that point. His stock went up in the eyes of NBA observers.

Jeremy Lin was the second best two-way player on the team in this series. He was underutilized and undervalued. Morey could sell while his value is high, or he could fire McHale and find a coach that will develop the Harden-Lin backcourt.

 

Lin played well to end the series. That is huge for Morey and the Rockets since it ups his trade value. Morey can easily point to other teams how well Lin played when Harden was either injured or on the bench.

 

I like how you and the rest of the Lin-zealots led by Chris Baldwin are being so presumptuous about Lin most certainly stopping Lillard at the end. It's as if Lillard has never made a three over Lin in the series

 

If we have a defense system, we can win the west champion at least this year
Bring Thibedeau to the Houston, he will push the Rockets rising to the top at once
Defense, defense and defense, no more

 

I think Dwight is proving the age old thing about Centers...that they get better with age.

Dwight's prime is NOW.

I expect this loss is going to drive this man to have a MVP caliber season next year.

Remember...big men's prime is right around now in this age range. Where his skill, experience, and athleticism are all at the same range.

Lets not waste these prime years with a terrible coach plz.

 

Overall team defense plus the team's bball iq had to improve.

 

I like your summary. I would add a couple things.

1) I'm super-upset about the officiating in this series. I remember how mad I was when the Rockets were knocked out by Dallas due to some isolated bad calls and a general disrespect for Yao, but this was a different level. I feel like the officials were just flat-out using different rules for each of the teams. Portland fans clearly felt like they were screwed by the officials as well. I never really considered the Portland crowd to be a bunch of homers like I do Utah and LA, but I truly believe they are delusional at this point. The officials handed them so many advantages throughout that I question if the overall outcome would have been different otherwise. If this is the uphill battle the Rockets will have to face every year in the playoffs, they will have to change their entire philosophy. What that philosophy is, I have no idea?

2) I don't think the question about our offensive system was really answered, but under the current conditions, I would call our offensive performance a failure. We either need to develop a more consistent and reliable half-court game, or we need to get deadly shooters that can close out a game reliably. By half-court, I mean - flawless pick-and-roll offense with our best players, a great 2-man game, Harden and/or Parsons in the post, better motion in the offense, etc. Howard in the post was better than I expected, but we lost the series. If we stick with the system we have, and go down bricking 3's next year again, I may have to abandon the NBA entirely.

3) I have generally supported McHale (**this is mostly in my head, since I don't post much any more). The reasoning was that I like the idea of a head coach that motivates, manages, and directs the team, leaving the X's and O's to assistants. On paper, this seamed to me like a more sustainable business plan to me. All the responsibility was not on the shoulders of one genius or mad-scientist. I think the end result was that McHale became "the decider" in the playoffs, due to multiple reasons, and decided what I believe to be the wrong things. In addition to that, I have no idea who was responsible for a lot of things that are typically attributed to bad coaching. Those things include - stupid out of bounds plays, poor clock mangement, turnovers (our achilles heel), lack of motivation, etc.

 

Troy Daniels is far from ready. He is an elite shooter and a very poor defender both 1-1 and team. But he's very raw, so yes, it's yet to see if he will get there. Definitely he should be developed next season as a bench sharp shooter and scorer.

In G6, there was a 7 pts swing due to Daniels Missed a wide open 3 and then fouling Lillard resulting in a 4 pts play. That was a huge turnaround to close the gap. That and the 3 that Batum made at the start of the 4th were to me what prevented the Rocket to push for a strong double digit leads.

 

What I learned

Our starting PG is really a backup, and is just an above avg defender

Our SG doesn't show up when he's needed most and doesn't have to play defense

Our SF thinks the game ends at halftime and is to Hollywood to play defense

Our former starting PF thinks he can look off players and iso, and also thinks playing defense and rebounding isn't part of basketball

Our back up PG is suppose to save us (in the fans minds) and failed miserable

Our coach thinks that saying "play basketball" is a form of motivation and how you design plays

 

I was very impressed with Dwight's post game. I am really
starting to see the Olajuwon and McHale influence in him.
Even Calvin Murphy if he's working on his free throws with
him.

Contrary to most on this board I like McHale. I believe
there is potential for growth there too. I am willing to
give him 1 more year. I don't know if anybody has had
more roster turnover and dealt with it as well as he has.
Have there been bumps, yes. However, he finds a way
to find chemistry to make the team successful.

I believe T Jones has lots of room for improvement.
Especially physically, he needs to hit the weight room.
Talent is there. Chandler steadily keeps improving as
as well as Dwight's post game.

The biggest improvement that can be made without
talking big roster changes is of course Harden. I don't
necessarily mean his game either, but his maturity.
I believe he can make this a championship team as
is if he were to be able to hear criticism and build
himself from it. He has to take responsibility and set
the example in every aspect of the game, even
defensively. Harden's maturity level and how he does
holds the Rockets key to success for the years to follow.

 

Take away McHale.

 

I don't think we should even discuss anything what to learn or what to take away from this series now, we have Mchale next year again, another first round exit