I realize Tucker has his limitations, but he's had this problem for a while with hot-potato-ing the ball because he seems nervous to do anything on offense except take a corner 3. It often puts his teammates in a tough position when he passes instead of trying something himself.
It was weird in winning time for Harden to defer to EG so many times. He even pointed at Clint to give the ball to CP3 on a play. I agree with others who say Rockets weren't holding back, but winning time was so weird.
Anybody explain to me your best guess for why Harden didn't want the ball after checking in in the 4th? No defensive adjustments. Just let Eric handle it. The game looked to be BOTH wanting the win and sorta wanting it. The 4th quarter came, and it felt like they were just fiddling with a basketball as opposed to actually attacking the basket - until the very end when Harden went to the line. I'm more or less inclined to think that they just wanted the game to be close and barely eek it out. For what reason, I don't know. Also, Tucker's closeout on PG's 3 was pathetically necessary. He should have been on his hip the entire way. He banked on Russ going to the hoop for the tie ala Texans. Instead, PG and Russ were on the same page: "let's win this". Coach Bz basically settled on not fouling them. Atrocious management. Was Coach Bz just being lazy? He could've taken advantage of that and given himself an opportunity for his defensive prowess to shine out of a timeout. Also, I always get nervous when Harden gets to 11 or 12 FTAs. He's bound for a miss. In that play, I was hoping for CP to demand the inbounds. All of these things can help bolster OP's case. They can also bolster the case that we're just poor at execution in high stakes games - coach down to the player.
All you can say if we see OKC in round 1, is that four of those games will be in Toyota Center. If you are up against OKC and you hear the announcers go, "the refs are really letting them play tonight!", that's codespeak for "the NBA wants OKC to win tonight." Same as when Jerry Sloan used to employ the foul-every-time tactics knowing that the refs would get whistle fatigue. OKC's brand of basketball requires physical play to be allowed.
I haven't minded him so much. Granted , the last couple games were blowouts ... AND I think rivers is better . But , I think that having him as depth and as an option to use when other guys aren't hot is great .
my god we were balling with him at the 4 i just hope the coaching staff is keeping him as a secret weapon or he isnt healthy 100% yet...
I think what I should have said is that the rockets were not locked in . I understand sometimes a good opponent can knock you off your rhythm , but you can still maintain mental focus and team unity . The point I guess I was trying to make is that I think the rockets have agency over their own preparation and focus . Even before we squandered the lead we weren't playing particularly great . I think the shooting variance was a bit in our favor. When that started falling off then it wasn't like our defense was shutting them down .
I'd like to see someone tell PJ Tucker it looked like they were holding back last night. It was obvious that the Rockets were all in. Faried didn't play, but I suspect his knee may have been a little sore, so they may have kept him out.
