As much as these two losses have hurt we must remain positive and hope that the coaching staff has the double team ready whenever LMA touches the ball for the rest of the series. I'd rather let Lillard, Matthews and Batum try to beat us. LMA has proven that he can beat us but we just gotta hope that this Rockets team that has given us our fair share of exciting moments throughout the season digs deep down and find a way to get back in this thing.
It's hard to be positive right now, when there's only been one silver lining: Dwight Howard. Parsons can't back up his talk. Swirl gets killed on D. Twin Towers strategy isn't working. McHale and Harden are on a whole new level of suck. The bench has been bad. Game 2 is the game to make adjustments. And what happened? An essential replay of game 1, where Harden was inefficient, Howard was good, and Aldridge went off for 40+ again. And worst of all? Lillard was inefficient too, and POR beat us by a bigger margin in game 2. That doesn't bode well for positivity.
I agree on the premise but it is tough to stay positive with such an incompetent head coach. I mean LMA has troched us ALL season, not just these two games but yet I don't see any adjustments to put him off. What makes you think suddenly a light bulb turn on for this clueless coach?
Dwight is healthy and the Wolverine is still in. problem is... there is so much negative happening on the rockets...
Positive is that Aldridge has activated god mode, and its only a matter of time before the league bans him for cheating.
With the way Aldridge and company is playing, it's a credit to the Rockets they were even in the same vicinity scoring-wise especially since a lot of players just aren't contributing much or contributing enough to win. You don't give up 40+ points to one player and expect to win those games. I thought I would be mad but I'm not. I slept pretty well last night. The Rockets have been exposed. I will say I think I like the Rockets chances better on the road than at home. I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves at home that makes them play more tense and sloppy. Howard is a good player but he's not a dominant player. I no longer believe he is key to winning a championship say...like...Dream was. He's a good player but we need a full compliment of good players performing at a high level to win a championship. And, we just don't have that currently. We've got too many inconsistent players who we never know what we will get from them on a nightly basis. In the end, it's just a game and I'm going to treat it as such. It's okay to be emotional but, at the same time, you just have to know when to pull back that emotion and say the best team is winning or won. That said...the Rockets could still surprise us. They haven't put together a really good game yet. I think they are about due...kind of like the Mavs were due to beat the Spurs. We are a good team. It just doesn't look like we are there yet. It's amazing what the playoffs can expose as weaknesses in your team and they become glaring...compared to the regular season. I think we knew a lot of the inconsistency and lack of defense in the regular season would show up in the playoffs. And, it has. I wasn't expecting Harden to struggle so much and that is disappointing.
Ok see...i heard Webber say...."he was the best guard in the series" so i figured he was talking about Harden Webber has good insight but, he talks sooooooooooooooooo much
I would say really good but not ridiculous. Only because Howard needs to not force the shot when double teamed. That's my only criticism, but loved his play. Positives: It was still a close game. Bev is the most consistent guy out there to me. Defense, hustle plays, hitting the 3. Negatives: read game thread. Wishful thinking: Harden plays in desperation mode - smartens up, grows some balls to make better plays and shots. Adjustments made to guard LA. Lin has a better aggressive game (because he might not be feeling 100% well last night) Entire team stops playing hero ball and shooting contested 3s. I think that bothers me the most is the random contest 3's...
Saying this in vein because we all know McHale won't do it but he should start the game with Bev-Harden-Parsons-Dmo-Howard, then bring in Tjones, Asik, Lin and Daniels off the bench. I still need to be believe that this Rockets team isn't going to lay down and get swept.
This is all just a setup, masterminded by Les Alexander. Les wants to witness a rebirth of Clutch City. He has carefully plotted with James Harden to get this done, and the plan has worked. Now, with backs against the wall, the Rockets will travel to Portland, seemingly dead in the water. It was tough on Harden, to lay in the weeds the first two games, but now its on. Starting Friday night in Rip City, James Harden will start lighting up the scoreboard, carrying the Rockets to victories in games 3 and 4. We will witness the rebirth of glory. On Monday morning, April 28th, the headlines will read "Clutch City Reborn!!".
