When Eric Gordon is on we seem to be nearly unbeatable. When he is off our 2nd unit struggles to score and we just aren't the same. In my opinion he is the biggest X factor on this team. If we can get him locked in right before the playoffs start I don't see anybody winning 4 out of 7 games against us. I know what to expect from Harden and CP3, but EG is sooo streaky he'll drive you to drink.
Gordon does not equal a ring, but he is the most potent scorer apart from our 2 stars. Gordon takes off pressure from the rest of the role players, and also makes things easier for JH13 and CP3.
When Gordon doesn't shoot well, he has been good at going to the hoop. I think if Anderson is shooting well, we are virtually unstoppable
Tucker hitting his threes seems to a barometer for our success. With Gordon, even when he's not hitting his shots, he's making the defense work.
Capella. He does one thing on this team that no one else can replicate or make up for if he is not doing it... ...which is guard the paint. When he is not effectively guarding the interior or when he is sitting out, our interior defense turns incredibly porous. Same goes for his rebounding and his finishing around the rim with the pick n roll plays. As for other role players, if one of them is not making a shot, there is a good chance that some one else can pick up the slack. We have option B. With Capella we don't really have a reliable option B.
Don't know about that, but I do believe the Warriors should be studying a way to stop him. He'll be instrumental in a potential series. If his 3 ball is falling, I like our chances. If not, atack the rim, play good D and Gordon is still by far the best sub between both teams. Heck, I'd pick LMM over Igoudala this year. I bet the Warriors will have to send help on his drives and not stay home with the shooters, forcing him to make the pass. CP3 and Harden are perfect in that department, Gordon will have to be prepared. No way they'll allow him to kill them on straight line drives. They do not have 3 perimeter defenders able to give a good effort staying in front of CP3, Harden and EGo simultaniously, no one does tbh. Bottom line: I do hope we meet in the WCF with healthy squads, for the sake of basketball. It's going to be a series for the ages! And the media won't like the way it will end.
There’s a reason this team struggles when Capela is out. If Capela is playing his best, he is making the biggest difference against the Warriors.
So, this is weird. I was all prepared to say "maybe there's something to this" - looking at Gordon's 10 best game this year using the Basketball Reference Game Score as an approximate metric of his contribution - the Rockets are 8-2. That's pretty good! As a sanity check, I looked at Gordon's 10 worst games by Game Score - the Rockets are...9-1. That's pretty great! Conclusion - the Rockets are pretty good to great! Sorry for the mindf-k, dudes. So, weirdly Gordon had one of his best games in the Warriors loss (no Beard) and was good in the 2nd Warriors win, and was brutally bad in the first Warriors win (0-9 from deep). They better study more!
apparently, it's simpler than that....as long as he just scores... Rockets are 32-1 when PJ scores more than 5 pts.
There’s not one but since defense wins we need PJ, either Ariza or Mbah (so 2 out of these 3) and Capela to do well.
It would seem that if everyone on the bench is playing well, the Rockets have a pretty good shot at winning.
Tucker & Capela are clearly the X-Factors. We're damn near unbeatable when PJ's hitting his threes & Capela isn't playing soft.
It’s crazy how much talent this team has yet we still have to worry about who needs to bring his A game to the playoffs. ****ing warriors ruined the league.