Always a great listen from the Lowe Post. I think mentally, they were so close last year and haven't gotten over it plus they may know the last year was their best shot.
if the players don't believe they can do it, how can the fans believe in this team? This is what happens when the team is lead by mentally weak players, look at the Spurs when Tim Duncan made that huge blunder and lost to the Heat. They came back next year and dominated everyone.
Interesting things being said. . . .concerning things The Conditioning is lacking. The Spacing is another issue. Rocket River
Warriors team is like 3 better than that Heat team. Last years Rockets like 2 times better than that Heat team. Spurs dominated because that Heat team was overrated.
But the Spurs could dominate western conference 2 seasons in a row. We cant make it. You have to show respect.
2 interesting things stood out for me. 1 is where they say cp3 is the biggest reason for the season so far. I actually agree with that. Yes, there are many factors that led to the terrible start (melo not working out, eric gordon shooting terrible, lack of depth, vet min newcomers not working out, harden defense and turnovers, etc) but the biggest factor for me is easily CP3 just not playing as well. He's just begun his decline. Happens to everyone and it just happens to be happening to him now. The other thing is where they say they miss Ryan Anderson. This is probably blasphemous to many of us but I think there is a point - during the season last year (not playoffs of course), Ryno was pretty serviceable - stretched the floor, shot the 3's pretty well (a lot better than many shooters this year) and was a big body. PJ Tucker guarding the bigs every night, while admirable, can't do the job. On a side note, Tim MacMahon is so annoying to listen to
I agree. I think we leaning too much on Tuck and I think CP3 *AND* EGO have failed this team so far Here is the thing .. . I don't need CP3 scoring .. . I need him assisting and running the team JAson Kidd did that for like a decade after he was no longer and effective scorer That of course means others have to hit shots Rocket River
Yes CP and EG's failures have been one of the biggest problems. Lowe's podcast with MacMahon I thought was very good. Worth a listen. Yes and no on this. In the "micro" the DO need CP's scoring. While CP is "1B" next to Harden they need his scoring. However......in the "marcro" in year's 2-3-4 of CP's contract AND after the Rockets improve bench depth and/or find a 3rd star to be the "1B" to Harden.....THEN CP can slide into that "assist run the team Kidd mode." CP is destined to be a "1C" 3rd guy on the Rockets. Feeding the role players and feeding Harden and {Player-X 1B}.
I can see that. This is why I am not *AS* bothered by his contract as others I have no expectation of CP3 being a 20pt guy in 3 yrs I do expect a 10 assist guy . . maybe with Harden taking on a more traditional SG role BUT THIS YEAR - we need all the scoring we can get. CP3 has to supplement what we not getting from others. . .that is the expectation of stars Rocket River
Yeah, that is where I am at as well with CP and his contract. So it isn't as big an issue for me. It is possible I could be more upset if I knew opportunity cost misses because of it, but we'll never know. On the other hand maybe he will be a magnet for some key role players. All of this is still playing out. I am not going to get ahead of myself like some other posters are.
Me either. I much prefer CP3 to say . .. John Wall I think if CP3 plays the rest of his career here with high assist to turn over ratio we will be ok CP3 + Harden + Capela is a big three but IMO a bit flawed in some places Mainly Capela needs more condidtioning and some more development CP3 is not what he use to be . . . .. . . Rocket River
CP3 played game 1 last year, then missed the next 14. The Rockets were 11-4. Obviously we need CP3 in top shape and playing form in the playoffs, but one has to assume part of the gamble on him, and on $40 million, was that the team could still be really good with him missing regular season games. Is him missing games better than him playing but not being prior year CP3s? Absolutely not. A 75% CP3 is still better than not having him. Point in case, they're 0-5 this year without him, with losses to the Cavs and Wizards in that group, lol. so.... Well, they certainly miss depth. Part of the benefit of depth, is guys that might otherwise start now get to come off the bench. Like EG winning 6th man of the year. PJ Tucker (or Anderson) off the bench. These are pseudo or even potentially solid starters now coming off the bench, and often playing against the other team's bench player. But as last season wore on, certain Ryan Anderson got worse and worse and injured and then couldn't shoot and didn't play, etc. The Rockets got better. They were better post Feb. 1st than before. Why weren't they missing Ryno then?? --------------------- What do I think the problem is? For one, I think all of the above are problems. They all added together. Melo, MCW, Hartenstein, conditioning, Ennis instead of Ariza, CP3 not being as good, Harden reverting to TO and bad defense Harden, losing Jeff B. then getting him back. Those are all Rocket specific. Outside the Rockets, the rest of the league has changed. More teams have mimic'd their offensive style (with in some cases better shooters) while alternatively have figured out how to attack their defensive style - getting the bigs on an island much more. While finally recognizing the Rockets offense isn't as quite as good. -------------------- What do I think the solution is? That's a tough one, but Iv'e been saying for a year plus now... this teams forwards SUCK. Tucker is a GREAT role playing, switching defending, thug-like player, that when everything else is clicking... GREAT, start him. When everything else isn't clicking... he becomes less valuable. Trevor Ariza was declining and barely average... Ennis is worse. There's not a single bench forward worth anything. Maybe some interesting growth guys - like Gary Clark, but nothing special, at the moment. DM's made some overtures to improve at forward over the years - like trying to get Bosh, like overspending for Ryno... but nothing that has worked out. He's always wanted that small-ball Draymond Green-esque 4, and the chase for that has perhaps blinded him to just getting better at that spot. PJ might be the best move he's made at that position in a while... I think, perhaps, they've viewed the forward spots as they've viewed the mid-range. Kind of in the "middle" and not as important. So they've focused on guards, guards, guards and Clint. One has to wonder if a balanced roster would be better than the 96 minutes of backcourt attack.
Interesting thing that i got from the podcast was the comments Eric Gordon made to the athletic has caused some discussion in the locker room
Unfortunately our team seems to have a bad system for pass first (can't score) players, since we are one of the teams that move around less. No cuts or screens make it hard for a guy who is too slow to drive and kick. Cp3 is probably regressing to becoming that, with ocassional scoring bursts. Can dantoni adapt?
Stop switching with Clint up top, and I'm good. CP3 is fine. He'll find his way. He was like this last year. Every other good/great game followed by a dud. The inconsistency in the regular season for him isn't concerning because he was consistent and stepped it up in the playoffs. That Mavs game was really good for them because they showed a lot of focus on the defensive side of the ball. I really think the root of our defensive issues is our switching scheme which just needs a bit of tweaking. Offensively, it'll figure itself out so long as our defense keeps us in it. When our defense fails us, you can see it on the players' faces that they don't believe in their gameplan - so we go into desperation mode or "who cares" attitude leading to turnovers in large spurts.
when he says things you don't wanna hear that's called hard truths. Don't run from facts into a safe space.
