The problem with this team is much bigger than Harden

So our problem is too many tweeners?

 

The problem with this team...is the culmination of years of coddling and treating grown men like kids. McHale and Morey fostered a culture of a lack of responsibility and discipline. This team, especially James Harden, was held in check by Westbrook and Durant in OKC...Once he came to Houston, he solely relied on his personal skills to make the Rockets a playoff contender. Once he achieved that, he failed to take the next step...MAKE his teammates better. The truly great ones make it happen. Perhaps Mchale and Morey expected something different by pairing a once dominant superstar center along side a young pup in Harden.

But that in itself, and basically is the entire problem with this offense. While the P&R is supposed to be an upstopable play if run correctly, the Rockets found it be a crutch...and relied on it as the only source of offense. The league finally caught up with such a rudimentary offense, and NOW we are suffering for it. While GSW have a system that allows them to take 3's and shots at the rim...they do it with a smooth form of an offense...ONE that everyone bought into. Harden and Howard, never built their OWN chemistry...hence why they still cant execute a simple alley oop even after year 3.

The Rockets need a change in culture and it has to start with the players on the roster. When Harden decides to grow up and take the next step in leadership the Rockets will evolve. The Rockets need to hope that a strong minded coach is willing to take on this challenge.

 

Not quitters but why bust your behind when that other person is not doing the same thing. Winning plays and playing to win. Two different things and our coach would usually pull that guy and then we would go on a run. My coach didn't play that stuff.

 

I noticed the Warriors ALWAYS have someone back on defense. I saw very few fast break opportunities as there was always a body sitting in the paint just waiting. The Rockets on the other hand are told to crash the boards but are godawful at it and thus seem to give up a ton of easy transition buckets.

 

They put it together defensively as well oh yeah that ball was moving at the time as well. Draymon green is not a great 3 point shooter but when he makes them they are usually swinging that ball around. A half court shot is luck dwight howar x hitting a three that's luck as well. I guy that shoots below 30 percent but gets in a good rhythm because the balls moving and they are getting defensive stops. That's not luck.

 

The Rockets just got exposed by the Warriors on defense. The GSW rarely runs any ISO, their players are constantly in motion, set screens, cut, etc, no individual player can defend that, it takes a team effort with discipline.

The Spurs realized that, they switched every time they saw a screen. That did cause a lot mismatches, but comparing giving up open 3s, that's a better option.

The Rockets have three really good defenders, but they cannot defender GSW by themselves. They need all five guys committed, be alert & discipline at all time, not just 3 guys.

 

Did this already get posted? Ouch.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:15271928

 

The problem with this team is almost everything except Harden. Morey has a huge task this offseason. Luckily we are in a great position to upgrade almost everything.

 

If you want overrated players that do not live up to their name...look no further than Harden and Dwight. These guys were the core of this team, and the team fashioned itself off the identities of its best players.

Well...this is what we got. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of this year is not the record or the embarrassing exit. It is realizing the legacy of Dwight and James to be less than we had all hoped. Now definitively this year has shown us that neither of them has what it takes to be the centerpiece of an NBA champion. Yes, I have said it. James Harden in no way can be the best player on a team that wins the championship. He just doesn't have it in him to lead. We saw that this summer, when Steph Curry went home and redoubled his efforts to get better, while James partied and got fat with the Kardashians all offseason in celebration of his Western conference finals cup of tea.

What's done is done. Move on, understand that Harden is a valuable piece but that he cannot be the core of championship. It's heartbreaking to say it but it's true. Just like in 2007 when all the pieces came together for us, and we STILL couldn't get past the Jazz. Tracy went to the stage and cried because he knew he gave it his all, and it was still not good enough. They would never again be so healthy after that, and we knew, no matter how much we poopoo-ed the supporting cast that year. That was not the centerpiece of a championship team. The era had peaked. Tracy cried, and so did we a little bit.

Now it's happened all over again, except our peak happened one year ago and none of us realized it.

 

You bust your behind because you want to win. Anybody that has played sports has had to deal with selfish teammates. That doesn't mean you fall in line and stop trying too. But I don't think Harden fits in that category. He's playing more minutes than anybody in the league and carrying the entire offense. People act like there are other legitimate scoring options on this team right now. If harden doesn't perform the Rockets lose 90% of the time. When Harden sits the offense falls apart. He's a flawed player but his positives greatly outweigh the negatives. It's the other Rockets that are not performing at a higher level.

 

Coaching isn't that hard to upgrade. Only thing that impedes it is the owner's willingness to pony up the money. There's almost no better talent assembled into this team than what the Rockets currently have given what's available and the circumstances.

 

QFT, repped, agreed.

Nobody saw this coming. And the problems were apparently fundamental enough that they couldn't be fixed in-season. The question is what Morey does over the summer.

 

If it were only possible to get Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside on this team.

 

Yeah everything you said is true, but because you play a lot of minutes does not give you an excuse to not play d. Fact of the meter is maybe harden can change, but it also starts with him. Micheal jordan teams were great. Olajuwon was great if those two guys had a bad game they were doing their job on the defensive end no matter what. Stars effect a game in other ways and trust their teammates. I watch the whole perimeter players not just Harden look at dwight when he has his man sealed and go the other way. I'm pretty sure you've played pick up ball before where you got picked up by a team with 4 friends and they didn't know you. Then you are wide open and they put up some bs. This is what I think is going on with dwight. Yeah dwight should not be a cry baby about it but I understand where he is coming from.

 

Have you been watching Dwight on offense? He has been terrible with and without getting touches. Harden doesn't always bring the ball up. If the coach thought Howard should be getting more touches on offense he would be. Contrary to popular belief, Harden is not the person that designs the offense. If Howard isn't being utilized properly it starts with the coaching staff. It's their job to find ways to get him good looks.

Howard was great in previous playoff series with Harden but now that Howard isn't playing well it's suddenly James's fault? Why is it that everything that goes wrong has to stem from Harden? Maybe we should be blaming the guy whose teams fell apart the exact same way in Orlando and LA before he left.

 

We got the Beta version of "Shaq and Kobe" without the rings on this team on the negative side..hopefully Howard will be gone this offseason along with the rest not wanted including JB

 

Ariza is in a slump or has quit on the season. D12 quit when DM told him we are not giving you the max and as a matter of fact we are trying to trade you pimp!

Why do we suck on D, because James is playing 1 man zone and allows his man to get by him at will. Watch, when any team needs a bucket they put James in the PnR and watch him cover nobody. The defensive concepts draw up by JBB n crew cannot overcome him willing letting his man into the lane. James please stay in front of your man and force them to shot a 2 point jump shot.