D'Antoni probably believed in their instincts initially. But then he saw the lackluster effort against the Pistons, Suns, Spurs, Blazers, and Thunder and figured a final dress rehearsal was in the cards. I honestly don't blame him. The Rockets have been coasting far too much since that win at Portland.
I am bummed out. At full strength, the Rockets just don't lose. Sacrificing a chicken at the corner street and lots of prayers. Get well Prince!
Judging by how the injury occurred, it was inevitably going to happen. If I had to pick the lesser of two evils, I prefer Luc being injured now and dealing with it properly than something happening to him during like the first or second round of the playoffs and missing the WCF or Finals. That would be way worse.
Luc has dunked a few times since his first dislocation. I wonder if this more of the result of the defender slapping down on his shoulder while he was still hanging on the rim?
Would rather have him even at 80-90%. He will need surgery at some point but I hope he can delay it. He is such a huge part of our defensive identity.
My sentiments exactly. It looked like the defender certainly contributed to Luc's should dislocation.
According to my experience with nba injury analysis. My best prediction: Luc will return at May 11, Game 6 of 2nd round. Rockets will be okay.
We have to make it to Game 6 of the 2nd round first... If we play inspired basketball, we might be sweeping both rounds...
i'm not trying to say the sky is falling ...but this is really really bad. I think mbah a moute is the most underrated part of our team. we have no one on the roster that can defend 4's as well as him. If he is not able to play in the playoffs, we are in trouble. Again, not trying to be over-dramatic, but i'm not sure folks understand how valuable he's been this year. He's our best front court defender and he's been 36/37% from 3. Rare to have that combo. you usually get a good defender who can't shoot or a great shooter that can't defend. Mbah a moute's skill set is very valuable and i just don't know how we are gonna replace that. Damn......................
Gerald can make up for it on offense. We will need it when the games are grinding and instant offense can win the game for you.
LMFAO at the bold. He DOES when D'ANTONI is the coach. Luc an ELITE man defender. I cannot stress how RARE it is to have genuinely elite man guy. A Roberson, a Tony Allen, a Kawhi. He is on THEIR level due to his ability to contain penetration while yielding minimal space. He's also very strong, and lately he was getting his hands on everything. Steals everything from everyone. Early in the year, his closeouts were insane, in the midpoint, his slashing containment blew me away, and then the past months his activity as a help defender in passing lanes and getting deflections increased. The guy showed flashes of being elite in every facet of perimeter defense for long stretches. And the RESULTS(the most important thing) showed it. Luc has one of the highest DRPM's in the league and his on/off splits show a clear defensive boost.
i dont think this is a good assessment of LMM at all. it doesn't matter how many minutes he plays. its those minutes that allow him to be most effective. thats why his role on this team has been a great for him. probably the most effective and best contributions to actual winning basketball hes had in his career. he most certainly does experience closing out games. the rockets love closing out games with combos of him/tucker and him/ariza in the frontcourt when they go small and switch everything.
If he has dislocated it twice in just a few months, it's definitely not going to get better any time soon.
Mbah A Moute was my favorite player on the squad this year, I have another thread to prove it. I say that because if there is any chance that he returns by the 2nd round, no panic is warranted. We can and should be able to handle any first round (and second round) opponent without him. The real war starts later. If (by some awful catastrophe) we lose in the first two rounds, I'm going to be blaming a few people aside from LMAM.
Ariza is going to have to step up. Honestly, he has been shooting really poorly since his return, and we need him to return to his early season form. Luc is better maneuvering in the lane, and has been a better spot up shooter as well. Ariza is capable of being a strong spot up shooter, and we'll need that from him. Going 0-6, 1-5, etc. from 3 is not going to cut it.
