irrespective of the reason, this should be a HUGE RED FLAG. This is a BIG BIG problem. even if it's just small sample size, and turns around a bit... 4th quarter in the regular season is closer to playoff basketball. And even if its just a 4th quarter thing and the Rockets don't have problems in Q1-Q3 in the playoffs, they will AGAIN have 4th quarter problems. This is NOT on Harden, even though he'll get associated with anything good and bad... so its not on him, but NOT good for him. Blazers Lillard shot, 4th quarter failure to get off a shot G2 against the Warriors five years back, 4th Q and OT against the Spurs, second half collapses two years ago and last year, etc. Right we're probably high on turnovers because of pace as well, but regardless of the reason, fewer is better, fewer in the 4th is way better. Classic fix one problem while others pop up... BUT, I'm personally glad they fixed this problem. I think rebounding is uber important in the playoffs. Obviously personnel need to improve, but to point to the 4th quarter issue again... that's more than just personnel. This is a common, recurring theme for this organization. The reasons are personnel, the reasons are Harden isn't going to lead by example defensively or from turnovers, the reasons are a 4 out system where the role players are required to just shoot results in role players that aren't capable of adjusting on the fly as much or keeping up the %s in clutch situations. I tend to think a legit near-all-star level PF that can board and d fixes a lot of this just because of the overall impact on the whole team rotation wise, etc. BUT I also think you can't get past the obvious - MDA struggles adjusting to runs, adjusting to playoff-like atmospheres, our leader is an MVP but also has clear defensive and rebounding holes, etc. I'm not a coach, but if there is a single change I'd focus on extensively over and over again it would be GETTING BACK and getting to three point shooters. As "ok" as Harden has been at times defensively this year, he is putting in ZERO effort in transition defense. Almost EVERY time he's attempting to steal a ball. It almost never works (I think Russ got a steal yesterday, but it almost never works). Frankly.... I think steals are a bit overrated because they lead to gambling too much.
I wanna ask a question though, have we in the Harden(or even MDA) era....ever lost to a team we werent favored to beat in the playoffs? Honestly any time weve ever lose, its because the people we face have more talent than we do. I'd like to see examples of less talented team winning playoff series, a lot of the time we are out matched. Maybe you could point to last year?....But even then, I dont think we had more talent on our roster....maybe MAYBE about equal.
In the playoffs, we've pretty much streamrolled every team that was lower ranked than us, and had close series vs. teams seeded above us. So objectively speaking, under the MDA era, we've almost certainly at least performed on par with our expectations in the postseason.
Spurs for sure. Should have won that after Leonard was out Also in a way GSW without Durant for 1.5 games. We couldn't defend the Green Curry PnR for like 15 possessions in a row.
Portland also, right? Have the Rockets beaten a team in the Harden era that they were not expected to beat? That’s the other side of this. Maybe the Clippers? I don’t remember who was favored in that series.
What do you mean Spurs for sure, they had a much better record than us that season. Lou Williams was not what he is in houston, he was terrible that series. They had a better roster than us and they were a higher seed. We had no other All Star and they had Kawhi and LA. One game is one game, everything leading up to that counts too. That doesnt mean we had the talent advantage, they had Curry,Klay,Draymon,Iggy and Looney. And even before Durant went down, if CP had played like he did in game 6 that he did in games1-2, we wouldnt have won. They literally had the same record as we did when we played them. If you want to count that...I guess? Yea the Clippers were one. But on the other hand, how many teams do that though? Most teams lose against teams they arent favored against, no matter the coaching.
Our offense is fine especially now with reps against the traps. It’s our pitiful defense that is losing the games. I couldn’t believe how easily Sacramento was ripping our defense apart
I like what I’ve seem from Russ past couple games. He’s been decisive and shooting efficiently in the paint and his little FT line or elbow shot. James has passed more to Russ out of traps quickly attacking the rim. I still dunno why we don’t play the middle more to bust these 2-3 or 1-2-2 zone traps.
Well he’s not stupid. If he’s stupid he wouldn’t be an elite level player. He tries to split a lot of traps or doubles which elite ballers can do. Kyrie, dame dolla, Steph have all done this time to time if they feel like they can split the trap. Sometimes it fails. Just part of the game.
Ego returning doesn't solve anything. Maybe two Egos.... Banking on volume three point shooting is like assuming playing 48 minutes will always match the per 48 min averages. Don't need a degree in stats to see it's not working at the end of games.
This season in the last 5 minutes of 5 point games. Or “clutch” situations... Houston is 7th in the league at 36.6% from 3. Better than our overall 3 point average. Houston is 4th in offensive rating and 3rd in net rating in the clutch. Houston is 4th in TS% and 10th in EFG in the clutch. Since the beginning of the Harden era the only real issue The Rockets have ever really had is on the defensive side of the ball. Well other than the 1 Magic CP3 season. And it’s really still our only real issue today. Our offense is all time level good. Has been for a while.
esp when the defense is allow to make any and all forms of contact and there will be no fouls called Rocket River
