You guys both totally missed the point. The point is there are many, many other faults on this team other than the minor weaknesses the Rockets have in the big man rotation that consists of 2 elite defensive anchors, and a 2nd year budding young player. So sure... put Harden's lackluster play in game 1 on that list if you want. I dont care. All I'm trying to point out, is Terrence Jones is not the 1 and only weakness of this team.
I don't know what the hell 4/20 but I tell you this dude picked up 3 quick fouls period. And the 1st time LMA scored on Asik was a sweet move going to the rim. Then he hit those J's in his face. It doesn't matter when he got rolling and who he got rolling on dude wasn't to be denied on that night. Yes those tick tack fouls killed us and I posted that on the actually thread. ( Don't understand why the refs don't like the Rockets). The foul on Howard with old buddy draped all over him was hilarious. But this don't happen if Howard hits his freethrows when they went Hack-A-Howard and if Harden would have shot a better percentage and attacked the rim in crunch time. And stop speculating, LMA killed everybody that guarded him period.
Both Jones, Lin and Parsons all had good games. Need Howard and Harden to step up and Harden needs to start moving the ball around for christs sakes (heaving up 14 3s is ridiculous). Maybe McHale needs to switch up Harden on Batum and have Parsons check Mathews to take some of the heat off Harden on the defensive end.
That is not the freaking reason why we lost dude. Dwight make at least 4 of his freethrows and if Harden doesn't settle for contested jumpers and attack the rim in crunch time we win. And that is the bottom line. I really thought you were a basketball minded person.
So Harden and Howard are the reason we lost. Our 2 best players. We're not going to change Dwight's free throw shooting at this stage. And we're not going to change Harden's place as the engine of the team. He will blow hot and cold. But they're the reason we lost the game. Howard and Harden's performance is not something McHale has direct control of. But Mchale does have control of what goes on around Harden and Howard, the rotations, the lineups, the matchups, and the type of defense we run. And by the way those things makes a huge difference in how well Howard and Harden perform.
Yes they are the reason why we lost the 1st game. Dwight went 2-8 from the freethrow line when they went Hack-A-Howard. We were up 13 points at that time. In crunch time meaning when the game was on the line Harden decide to take jumpers instead of attacking the rim. It was very clear that his shot wasn't on, he shot 8 for 28 shooting a whooping 28%. So again HE&& yeah it's our Superstars fault for us losing this game.
Howard could go 2 for 8 for every game in this series. You have to expect that as a given. He's not a good free throw shooter. Harden is going to be facing a series of good defenders for as long as we play in these playoffs. You have to expect that his offensive efficiency will be watered down somewhat. You have to expect that some game they are going to get him to throw up an 8 for 28. That's not something that we're going to be able to change. We're not going to be able to get Harden to change his shot selection unless we as an offensive unit get to a situation where there are better shots to be had. That means an adjustment on McHale's strategy and matchups and the players around Harden and Howard. Harden isn't all of a sudden taking bad shots. And he hasn't all of a sudden lost his stroke. I'm interested in winning the series not just sitting here and pointing the finger at Dwight on how bad a free-throw shooter he is or at harden because he laid an egg in the playoffs. Everything is tougher in the playoffs. Harden and Dwight won't be the reason we lose this series if we lose it. They are every bit (in my opinion better) the 2 man combo that Aldridge and Lillard are. You could make a case that Aldridge is a better player than Dwight. (I don't think he is but I can see some people who devalue defense making that case.) But on the other hand Harden is the superior player to Lillard by far. Portland's 3rd and 4th best players? Batum and Matthews I suppose. Perhaps you make Lopez one of those. And at the very least 3-5 on the Blazers is Batum, Matthews, and Lopez. We counter with Asik, Harden, and Beverley. Our 3-5 is way superior to their 3-5. So, realistically on paper, there is no way Portland should win this series. So, if they do win this seies....where does the blame fall? Harden and Howard out late at the strip clubs picking up big booty chicks and coming up flat for all the games????????? Let's get real here. If we lose this series it's either because of a significant injury or it's on McHale for not getting the right matchups on the floor. That's why we lost Game 1. Too often too many wrong matchups.
Dude you are not the only one wanting the Rockets to win this series or winning a championship this season. There are many reasons why we lost this game and hopefully learned from their many mistakes. In order to win this series both Harden and Howard will have to put this team on their backs. They have to match the intensity of the Blazers Stars. We have seen a many of times when Harden wants it he can not be stopped. Matthews or Batum can not guard him period. Since you are in love with stats go look it up, he shots a very high percentage against the both of them. Harden stopped himself in that 1st game. Yes I know that Howard is a terrible free throw shooter. BUT if the Rockets want to advance past the 1st round or even better, make it to the Finals, dude will have to make his free throws period. Every team in the playoff's will employ the Hack-A-Howard if their team is down by a certain amount. Some will employ that tactic just to slow the Rockets down if we are making a comeback. Now everybody else on this team will have to step up from time to time, especially when our big two are not feeling it. Parson did a great job at that in the 1st half. Lin even stepped his game up a bit, still made a few mistakes but he showed up. Beverley and Jones played their hearts out.
So the reason we lost is because Harden and Howard weren't intense enough? They weren't as intense as Lamarcus/Lillard were? So..do you think harden and howard are partying around and just jacking off out there? What did you see about their intensity level in game 1 that makes you say they need to ratchet up their intensity and basically play harder???
Hey you are right, its only Jones and Coach McHale's fault we lost the 1st game. Harden shooting jumpers instead of attacking the rim when he was clearly ice cold didn't play a part of losing. Howard can miss every free throw he takes and it won't be a factor in a win or lose by your definition.
I asked you a specific question about the intensity level of Harden and Howard, Htownballer. Now you are redirecting without answering. Makes me think you have no evidence to present your case that "they just need to match Aldridge and Lillard's intensity level".
Basketballholic you know exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned the intensity level. I am pretty sure you played organized sports before. So I am not going to go into what intensity means. LMA and Lillard wanted that victory more than Harden and Howard plain and simple. They made the plays and our two stars didn't.
Umm... how about we look at the reasons why the Rockets blew a 10 point lead with I think 5 minutes to go if you want to dissect why the Rockets loss. I can't see anything more glaring than that obvious collapse at the end of the game. All of the Rockets weaknesses were thrown in our face during that stretch. Lets look at the last 5 minutes by possession- -Harden let Lillard blow by him on the fast break -Jones goes one-on-one in a LMA iso that LMA has to make a tough shot to score. (McHale should have had a late double come over, or switched Howard on LMA in that type of scenario) -Howard guards LMA & then gets switched onto Lillard (shouldn't be switching everything in that scenario but Lin's defense makes this hard not to do) -Hack a Dwight works -Lin gets caught with Lillard and Lillard makes a potential 4 point play -Hack a Dwight Works -Harden blows a possession by taking a bad shot -Howard matched up with LMA, loses him on a Lillard drive by and gets an open layup against Dwight -Blown call by Foster leading to fast break from Lillard (where Lin & Jones dont stop the ball well enough) -Lin turnover -LMA and 1 against Jones (Harden didn't double or even help like he was supposed to) & why are Dwight and Asik not on the floor? Sure they were hacking Dwight but you could have at least tried to put Asik on the floor to see if they would even notice and hack Asik. -Harden hits tough shot -under 2 minutes - McHale could have called a time out but instead lets Jones go one-on-one with LMA who fouls him. Again... where is the double team or at least late help? -Harden jacks up long 3 with clock running down and no direction on floor -Bad double team on LMA leading to open 3. Luckily miss but get offensive rebound -LMA posts up Jones but loses ball -Harden hits bit shot -Howard finally comes back in game and guards LMA who doesn't even get a look. -Bad call on Dwight -Lillard nails a clutch 3 on an out of bounds play. Beverley gets lost in a screen doesn't recover, and Jones mis-times his block attempt. -last second attempt by Portland out of bounds play- (Jones out of game) Harden doesn't close out on Matthews quick enough, but still misses shot, Lillard gets funky rebound where Dwight mis-times his jump. *Game tied and Portland eventually wins in OT So with over 20 possessions to account for, Jones accounts for 4 crucial mistakes that eventually contribute to the Rockets giving up a game they had handily won up to that mark. However to ONLY blame Jones without giving context to- A. Any coaching decisions which could have led to Jones being in an unnecessary disposition and B. the other 16 or so deficiencies that contributed to the majority of plays that led to the collapse is irresponsible shows that you just simply "have it out" for Jones and shouldn't be taken that seriously in any rational argument about the Rockets deficiencies. Jones' size against a match-up like Aldridge, Griffin, Dirk, Z-Bo, is one of those weaknesses. However if THIS is your one sole argument against why the Rockets can't compete for a championship when there are SOOO many other glaring weaknesses to account for, you have you head so far up your A$% I dont even know what else to tell you.
The Blazers won game 1 because of two reasons- 1. The Blazers (players on floor & coaches) executed & made better decisions 2. The Blazers made more shots without as many errors counter-acting those shots made You can blame or reward just about everyone on the team on both sides if you want. I don't really see where anyone should get more blame than anyone else, but its natural that the guys with the ball in their hands most of the game are going to get the majority of the negative tally marks. Higher volume responsibility = higher volume criticism However- Everyone holds their own responsibility, and if the Rockets execute just as well, and make just as few errors as the Blazers do in playoff game, the Rockets should win 4 out of 7 games all day every day, and should still be able to win vs. almost every team in the league except maybe the Clippers, Heat, and the Thunder due to a greater depth in talent.
No I do not know what you are talking about. I don't know what you saw that makes you believe Aldridge and Lillard wanted it more than Howard and Harden. I don't believe that at all. That's why I'm asking you for some sort of evidence.
Basketballholic if you watched the game you would have seen LMA n Lillard wanted that game more. LMA had a career night isn't proof enough I don't know what is. Lillard hitting clutch three's and hitting a clutch layup in over time isn't proof then I don't know what to tell you. Lillard also got a big time rebound in crunch time. Come on pimp stop tripping.
