I still think between the Blazers and the Rockets, the Rockets were the better team. They led in every 4th quarter and had it not been for their mental lapses at the end of each of those games, probably would have won the series. Blazer's strengths are PF and PG, which are the Rockets weakest positions. Against the Spurs, Harden almost always plays with intensity and effort, on both offense and defense. Not to mention, the Rockets in general always play the Spurs hard. I don't doubt the Spurs would have won the series against the Rockets, but they at least would have given them a fight.
Anyone who said rockets could beat spurs in this year playoffs is either naive or dont know about team basketball. Matchups only look good on papers or video games, so matchups have less impact with good execution on both offence n defence. Did anyone really watch the spurs game in the PLAYOFFS? How they schooled the blazers n thunder recently? Dont believe what morey said about the coin flips thing. There are reasons RC buford n coach Pop can keep their jobs for a loooooonnngg time in a volatile market like NBA, where mark jackson lost his job even though he lost his starting centre. Ohhh btw dont blame mchale because he already constantly tell the players to PLAY HARDERRRRRR.......
a string of p.r. hits jackson embarrased the team/co. that ultimately cost him his job. there was a scandal with a stripper, went weirdsville with his assistant coaches, and he even banned the Logo from attending practices.
Lol, it was Hakeem who talked about match ups, what would he know about playoff basketball They're driving the ball endlessly into the Thunder defense because Ibaka isn't there..... Umm, Jackson lost his job because he had an awful relationship with their front office. btw, you do realise that video of time outs is delayed to only show the motivational side of the time out right and that any adjustments are kept off camera on purpose? For some reason, people seem to focus on Mchale doing that, and not notice that what they show of time outs is the same for everyone...
the fans here that think rockets would have beaten spurs are completely deluded! nets beat the heat in the regular season and got their business handed to them in the playoffs.... spurs are on crazy level now, especially with that mavs series...that series was dope!! I can't see the heat beating the spurs to be honest....
hakeem's wrong. playoffs vs regular season differences. the spurs have proven to play better in the post season with their superior coaching. he's also wrong about the lin/howard combo calling it "deadly' way back when the season started. but homers will be homers
Thanks for the content. Can we get links too? The first thing Yao said does not blame the coach but the GM, I guess. I wonder what he meant about McHale's indecision. TT, or something smaller? I'm inclined to agree with Hakeem. The series was so close . . . even if Beverley had not been sick, we might have won the series. There were two critical blown calls acknowledged by the NBA. Those too could have tipped the series. A lot of things were less than ideal for the Rockets, and it was still so close, I have a hard time discrediting the team. Incidentally, Steve Kerr commented in one of the first round series like GSW that he thought coaches should not make changes in game 2 but in game 3, so as not to give the team a sense of uncertainty or panic. For those who say McHale should have made adjustments sooner in the series, Yao's critique kind of runs opposite to that idea. . . .
The Rockets couldnt even win one game against OKC even with WB out.... not one game against the Clippers, although they did win 4 against the Spurs so its kind of a strange situation but i would say Rockets had a chance against old Spurs preDallas game 4 no chance against new Spurs.
If a million guys are running in one direction, it is right directin. I don't care what your goal is, you need to run with the herd or get crushed by it. That said, I agree with Hakeem. About Rockets matching up better with Spurs. But I also agree with Yao about the coaching, not everyone bought into the coach - team was not on same page.
spurs know the rockets are an up/down tempo team so they rested guys during the regular season. our coach runs guys down until they don't want to play defense to save energy (harden). that's the difference between superior coaching and just winging it
I think the Spurs would be a good matchup. Close games like with Portland. Things Spurs can and Rox don't: Passing game, Good Defense and turn it on when it MATTERS MOST.
Spurs would have raped us. Some of you don't realize that Yao is just being objective here, he apparently knows more about basketball than Hakeem or is less of a homer. Have to say it in so many threads these days: Saying something real and maintaining an objective view doesn't mean that someone is a hater, this bs is one of the most annoying things of this Internet generation and shows people can't accept criticism or opposing views anymore.
Exactly. Some people here just can't handle the truth that we weren't good enough to compete. Even the blazers have been stated the difference between playing the spurs and playing us.
