yes, you're absolutely right. i have never been sold on morey ball. i've always had doubts. but i think if he insists, he needs to get good shooters like those we see on the gsw team or some equivalent. as it is right now, we're not even experimenting real morey ball since we dont have enough good shooters.
I know. I find myself agreeing with him. Basketballholic, I just wanted to say I'm s- s- s.... (ahem) I'm so very, very s- s- F*** YOU!!!! (Otto, "A Fish Called Wanda") Anyway, yes, 0-3 is a pretty got-damn big deal in the West. Harden playing like the guy "who took the summer off"---to bang Khloe. I'm not going for the "jinx" thing, just saying, let me borrow/change dialogue from "Bull Durham", since I'm on an 80's movie quote mood: "I don't know what this boy is thinking of, 'cause it sure ain't (basket)ball." And as Harden goes, so goes the team: "Hey, we've won" they all said after the first half, INCLUDING the coach, who suddenly wasn't playing the better, look-like-they-care guys. "Time to relax because we have a big game against Oklahoma City tomorrow." I half-wonder if what little joy McHale derived from his job is just not there after his good friend/colleague Flip Saunders passed. I was never a McHale fan anyway, but he reeeeaaally doesn't look into this at all yet. The only reason he was cordial with reporters after the game is he probably knows for a change that even puppets can get fired.
Guys I found the root cause for the bad start. It isn't Mcfail and his lack of being any kind of a real coach. It isn't Jones alter ego that thinks he can dribble like Iverson It isn't that harden was partying with meek. It isn't that Ty is hesitant to take the lead at times. It isn't that Harden is in a slump. It isn't that Ariza lost his groove. IT IS that i have not hanged the Rockets flag outside of the house. Its not that i'm a bad fan guys its just that the mounting rings broke. I fly flags here in DFW for my Htown teams all year long and when i took down the astors flag before the first Rockets game the mounting ring broke. Have no fear though i just received my new ring so all will be good. If we dont win tonight its on me.
Cavs lost their first game, won 1 game, lost 2 more, rattled off 4 wins, then lost another 4 in a row to start the season 5-7. From there they went on to post a record of 48-22 to finish at 53-29. There was a couple long winning streaks in there. And they were decimated by injuries and chemistry issues throughout the year. But still made it to the Finals with 2 of their 3 best players out. There's no doubt in my mind that they would have beat the Warriors if they had been healthy. And that would have made these percentages slightly more favorable. But then you have to ask yourself...is Harden really on Lebron's level????? I just went through the championship teams and pointed out to you that the 91 Bulls went 0-3 before winning 4 in a row and finally getting on a big roll after their first 12 games. I went back through the Finals losers and ran the same test. Here's those numbers: Of the 36 teams to lose the Finals in the 3-point shot era (1980-present) 1) only 8 teams made it to the Finals after losing their first game. (same as the Finals winners) They are: 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron) 2011 Miami Heat (Lebron) 1999 New York Knicks (Ewing) 1998 Utah Jazz (Stockton/Malone) 1996 Seattle Supersonics (Payton/Kemp) 1995 Orlando Magic (Shaq/Penny) 1991 Los Angeles Lakers (Magic/Vlade) 1981 Houston Rockets (Malone) 2) 7 teams had a losing record through their first 3 regular season games. (2 more than the championship teams) They are: 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron) 2014 Miami Heat (Lebron) 2009 Orlando Magic (Dwight) 1999 New York Knicks (Ewing) 1998 Utah Jazz (Stockton/Malone) 1992 Portland Trailblazers (Drexler) 1991 Los Angeles Lakers (Magic/Divac) 3) None of the Finals losers were winless through their first 3 games of the regular season Putting the Finals winners and losers together from OP: Of the 72 teams that have been in the Finals since 1980 1) only 16 of them started the season with a loss in their first regular season game. 22.2% 2) only 12 of them had a losing record after their first 3 regular season games. 16.7% 3) only 1 team made it to the Finals after losing their first 3 regular season games. 1.4% 4) only 1 team won a championship after losing their first 3 regular games. 1.4% 5) no team has even made it to the Finals after losing their first 4 regular season games.
Thanx for your contribution bballholic. Also in the last 5 years only 6 teams made it not in the finals but just to the playoffs after a 0-3 start and half of them were in the east. Most of them lost in the first round.
No team before Houston has lost 3 games in a row by a 20 point margin before as well. If you want to make weak sauce arguments by bringing up historical references I can too. It's great to look back, but there is a reason why we play the game. Stats tell you everything and nothing all at the same time.
I'm not as concerned about the actual 0-3 record as I am about what I've seen (and not seen) during the 3 losses themselves. I think we have bigger problems than whether or not it's mathematically possible to win a championship after starting 0-3.
Didn't his daughter die while he was coaching here? Pretty sure if anything would have taken him away from the game, it would have been that.
Ding, ding, ding! Lawson doesn't fit, Harden is lost, the back up singers are off-key, and McHale is slow to adjust. Don't even get me started on Dwight and the injurettes on this team. This team has to dig deep and find a way to win. Honestly, not to pile onto McHale, but if in the next 5 games he can't go 3-2 I think the Rockets should just let him go.
It didn't work with lin. It won't work with lawson. Two ball dominant guards cannot coexist. One must be bench for the other to start. Come on don't yall watch spongebob?
They can still make the play-offs, but anyone having title aspirations for this team, including myself, should throw that out the window. And it's a shame since I expected better. Getting D-Mo back isn't gonna magically put a band aid on all their issues, something's up with this team unless they turn it around somehow. Like tonight. Please.
No, No NO! What's definitely NOT needed is a head case who walks out on his team when they need him the most. This team appears to lack drive and determination - qualities that it would normally get from the two so-called "core" players around whom this team of "role players" is constructed. So far, Harden appears to locked on cruise control while Howard is, well Howard so there you go.
This is nothing new, remember the Clippers series? We showed zero competitive spirit, pride and did not play any defense and QUIT in game 3 & 4. We also did not compete in game 6 until Josh started to go nuts. That was a troubling sign and even me finally forgot after we won the series and competed in the Warriors series, but this group is prone to self-doubt, losing confidence, quitting and no leadership.
That's 6 out of 80 teams made the playoffs after losing first 3 games. 7.5%. Would be interesting to see how those numbers hold up going backwards. But really the last 5 years is most relevant anyways. And when you consider the West............ I said it last year and I'm saying it again this year. We are one injury away from the lottery. (See 2014-15 OKC Thunder).
You may choose not to accept the facts that maxwell and smith are rockets playoff heroes. There's evidence
This isn't about whether it's mathematically possible to win a championship after starting 0-3. Of course it's mathematically possible. This is about our odds going down, down, down....with the more losses we put up here at the beginning of the season. And it's about understanding this team is going to have to make a major correction. Which I believe is a personnel correction. It's easy to make that statement you made about being more concerned about what you see than our actual record when we're losing games. Two seasons ago I made a statement about Terrence Jones when we were winning and Terrence was doing good. I said, "Terrence cannot be a rotation player on a championship team." I was right. He can't. And time has proven I was right. But it was not convenient to say it because Terrence (and the team) sure looked good with the naked eye. And I got ragged on incessantly after every insane box score line Terrence put up. So.....try making the statement you made when we're whipping up on teams. And while yes, they have looked terrible...there will be stretches this season where they will look great. Wonder if you'll change your tune then or will you continue to maintain this team has serious issues even when they rattle off 8 or 10 wins in a row? I'm going on record now. We ain't winning a championship without a major adjustment this season. I think we've got to make a major trade. We just don't have the right parts. We don't space the floor well enough with our shooters. Our perimeter D isn't as good as last year. And Beverley has lost something. And our big man rotation is not good enough nor big enough. If something doesn't change big time on this team we will not reach the heights we reached last season. I can see it on the floor. And the record at this point supports what I am seeing. This group, as currently constructed, without any personnel changes, is, at best, 5th seed in the West and in danger of getting bit on the behind and winding up 6-8.
538 has us 5th in the West. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Despite the 0-3 start, we're projecting 52 wins for this season's <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets">@HoustonRockets</a> <a href="https://t.co/oLDKBUcpYU">https://t.co/oLDKBUcpYU</a> <a href="https://t.co/zekQkOs6Ds">pic.twitter.com/zekQkOs6Ds</a></p>— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) <a href="https://twitter.com/FiveThirtyEight/status/661320896976580608">November 2, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
