I know we are all upset at the way the Rockets are playing, but we can't forget we are missing two starters, and those two compliment both Howard and Harden in ways their replacements can not. First, Bev and Dmo are the best positional defenders on the team, and by that I mean they are always in the right spot, making the right read and covering for the other guys. As Harden expends so much energy on offense he tends to rest on D, it is CRUCIAL to have a complimentary 3 and D player next to him, and with Bev out, we don't have that - and we get exposed by the likes of Austin Rivers. And one of the things we are desperately missing is a stretch PF, and that is DMo he ended up this year around 37% from 3pt range, imagine forcing Jordan to guard DMo at the 3pt line when Howard rests - which opens up the lane. Or as a starter, it takes Griffin out of the paint as a weakside defender as well. Those two guys make a WORLD of difference on this team - and the fact that they are two of the smartest positional defenders has never been more evident than now. While I am not sure they would make up ALL of the difference between us and the Clippers, I do think they would make us a LOT more competitive. DD
Let's not make any excuses. We won against Dallas and no one made any excuses because we won. They're important to our team no doubt. But stars are suppose to carry our team while our role players support them.
I agree with DMo...Not sure if Beverley's inconsistent shooting wouldve change much at the PG spot. But atleast he competes... Who wouldve thought that DMo was really an essential cog in this year's team.
Gross. Not even worth reading past the title. This type of thinking/excuse-making will have us right back in the same position next year. Beverly and Dmo would not even put a dent in the travesty we've witnessed. It's a offense designed to launch 3's with nobody who can shoot em, and an inept defense. It's a poorly-structured roster with an unsustainable system. Nothing more, nothing less. But hey, cool regular season and we won a first round series, right?
It is no an excuse. Beverly is a great perimeter defender and Dmo with his long shot range helps a lot and is another big body there. It is crucial come healty to the playoff, maybe this is te lesson for the next seasson.
We are just getting destroyed.... No excuses.. Bev may have slowed down rivers and dmo would not have been a big impact offensively. Rockets still have no understanding of ball movement and offense with or without those guys. Bev is not the answer at pg and DMO is not good enough right now to have taken over. Been watching The Rockets since the Francis era and this is by far the best team we have had in the past decade..... This is also the most disappointing. As a Rockets fan I always had these excuses to back me up. We don't have a superstar Our stars are injured Cant use them anymore. Where do we even go from here? Is Harden even the answer? Is Howard going to stay? They need help but who? They have a lot of talent already and cant win. Might be another 10 years before Rockets see another 2nd round. No excuses, we had our team. Cherry picked by Morey himself. Cant win...
Guess the OP also missed the part where the clock struck midnight on Bev this season and he got cooked by every half-decent pg in the league. Beverly is a nobody. Is he a small defensive upgrade over Paul and Prigioni? Sure. Would that have any significant impact on these games? Nada.
This post is ridiculous. We keep getting blown out because we have no heart and determination. We are not the better team so I don't expect us to win but for Fs sake have some pride.
Everytime down the court, the Clippers' point guard streaks past Prigioni or Terry, forces Dwight to guard them at the rim, and that leaves Deandre Jordan open under the basket most of the time since our power forwards are always way too late to rotate. This creates a very easy scoring situation for the Clips, so yes I do believe this series would be much closer with Beverley in there to defend Chris Paul and Austin Rivers. Terry and Prigioni are just too old, and Nick Johnson has no clue how to shoot. Don't even get me started on what D-Mo would mean to this team right now! One of the best post scorers in the NBA and a perfect complement to Dwight. He's also a good team defender even though his rebounding leaves a lot to be desired. The Clips are currently clogging Harden's driving lanes by playing off Smith and Jones, because they know how poor of a shooter those two are, and that couldn't happen if D-Mo and his automatic post game was out there. D-Mo also had a legitimate 3 point shot the last half of the year, and that would really help space the floor for Harden.
If bev played austin rivers wouldnt be scoring bc terry and prigioni aint near as close in the athelticism austin rivers has.
I was just thinking last night how Dmo would force their front court to rotate between himself and Dwight by being a versatile offensive threat. And Austin rivers'entire career changes if Beverley is playing. Possibly Matt Barnes'as well. Not the reason we're getting torched, but interesting to think about. Such is Rockets life.
Bev would give us the edge barnes gives the clippers. The one where he gets in your head. Barnes had gotten to hardens head. And jj reddick has found a way to defend with out fouling. And the refs have been unevenly calling fouls on rockets side of ball bc were hacking too much. So they only calling when we foul clips. When they clips give us a hard foul it aint a flagarant its just a hard foul... We need to like just play our game. Forget we down 3-1 just play the game
Last year the Blazers attacked Harden on defense. This year the Clippers attacked Harden on defense. I don't see how that would have changed with Beverley and Dmo in the line up.
Having them would also make our bench that much better. I still dont know if we would win the series with the way we are playing but It might have been enough to help us pull out game one in H Town. There is no excuse with our intensity level though. I cant of agree with both points everyone is making.
