I think this is correct. Morey & D’Antoni did Melo dirty without asking Harden & Paul, and we are getting some weird fallout from it all. Something is up...
EG, firsts, and seconds. We don’t need “stars” to put us back in contention. But those assets can at least get us a few nba players who can play. I would honestly be shocked if the Rockets don’t make trades that can improve the team. Can EG, a couple of firsts and seconds net us anyone? Can our poo platter fetch us at least a 8th or 9th player off the bench. I still believe so, because right now we have no one.
I've posted this in a couple of other threads......but besides the "health" and "roster depth" issues (which have been big factors) the one thing that concerns me is the "lack of resiliency" of this team. The lack of "grit." They had that mindset last year. They didn't get blown out. They had ugly games that they could grind out. This year, when things don't go their way, they slump and let go of the rope. Lack or urgency, not getting 50/50 rebounds and not staying in front of your man. I love ya Harden, but that reach around swipe for a steal isn't working and you are just matadoring your man to the basket. Stop gambling on the steal. Stay in front of your man. It is hard work and it is boring but it has to be done. The team as a whole has to do a better job of digging in and fighting. Morey has to make some shrewd roster moves to fix holes. It can make a difference. Like last year the Pelicans made a trade for Mirotic and that paid off big dividends in their playoff march.
We'll see if Morey can make any moves, but for now, yeah not getting Butler was a huge blow. I was all in to get Butler. Both for his ability to add a 3rd high star ceiling to the team and also for his "grit and work ethic." The "fight." And you look at the Rockets now, and that is exactly what they need. Not sure there is another "star" available on the market. So it is up to Morey to make calculated, shrewd, depth moves that might give the team a small jolt to get the core re-engaged again.
Here are some observations from last nights game: 1. Chris Paul is clearly not 100% right now. He could not drive to the basket at all last night, and his offensive game was only moderately successful while posting up the 6'8"Joe Ingles. We need a healthy Chris Paul along with Harden to make this offense work. Harden alone can't carry the load. 2. Tucker and Capela have been filling their roles as advertised, I would say Tucker has been the most consistent player so far this season with his stout defense and corner 3s. But we need more role players. We need at least one more solid 3/4 that does a lot of the dirty work on defense, rebounding and stretches the floor at the same time. Ennis has been OK, but his contribution is pretty limited. 3. Gordon has lost his mojo this season. He had stretches of extended shooting slump last season, but this season he's just off, and his drives have been ill-advised. He is best at finding an opening and bullying a defender one-on-one to the basket, but when he drives into a crowd it always results in a turnover. This has a lot to do with the team's inability to stretch the floor and keep defense scattered this season. 4. Nene looked done last night. Maybe he can play himself into game shape, but he was completely useless on defense against Jazz. Ideally I'd much rather see Tucker pick up the minutes at the 5 when Capela sits, but Tucker is already playing very heavy minutes as it is. Honestly we could use 3 Tuckers on this team so that we could have two of them on the court any given time. In summary, in order to right this ship, Morey needs to give CP3 some youth-restoring magic pill and to clone Tucker a couple of times. EG plus four 1st-rounders for Jimmy Butler would have been the second best thing, but that ship never entered the harbor.
I thought a Butler trade would have been significant enough and early enough in the season to possibly make a difference and turn things around. He would have brought both the skills and the attitude. It's hard to see anything comparable at this point.
Of glory ~~~~~ Man seriously its the first time I dont feel excited or waiting to watch my fav rockets play. Because I know they play to lose now and no heart. In 2008 season the season of luiscolandrybrooks, I know we werent gonna win the chip but they showed a lot of heart.
Bump. I used to be really look forward to Mavs games, we always destroy them in an extremely satisfying matter. Back to back losses to them with a healthy team. This. Is. Hell.
Rox aren't exactly the only ones sucking due to the new direction the league has taken. GSW, Boston, Utah, Spurs have all regressed as well. Apart from GSW these teams tend to have half court offense with isos just like Rockets. A lot of it has to do with the continuation rules since scoring is easier skill isn't as important as energy.
Tbh the MDA system still works, but Harden and Cp3 need to be less lazy. And Morey needs to get a starter caliber player we are missing one dude, Ennis is a bench player you can't have him start. Tbh Rox already the 2nd worst team in the West lets just tank. 1 year of tanking let Cp3 and Harden and Gordon get some RnR and come back refreshed and hungry next year. All in for Zion!
Look, aside from Harden's turnover-a-thon, our main three dudes were fine today. But Tucker looks worn down from all the minutes, and our lack of talent/bench and our predictable gameplan are killers. Morey screwed the pooch last summer. Yes, his hands were tied. He better have something cooking to fix this bulls**t, though.
Just curious, how many games we won without Trevor last season? Pretty sure someone posted something about this when Trevor signed with Phoenix and everyone was freaking out. Cause i remember seeing that by those numbers we were totally fine without him in terms of wins so, now suddenly we can't win cause Morey didn't replace him well, eh...
Last time I friend say that, I went out of town to work, came back and he was on the crack rock. So...OP, just don't do it.
Ah yes, the roster and bench anticipated upgrades.... we are given time frames like last Friday for example. The next one is 12/15 but, when nothing of significance occurs there is always tomorrow. Then if not tomorrow then the tomorrow after that etc... etc... etc. It's so darn frustrating that (apparently) nothing is being accomplished to right this ship! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot over! Sorry just frustrated!
