Our championships never get the credit they deserve. Everybody else gets a 30 film or something. The dream is under rated I want another one so they can disrespect us some more
So when a team gets a big lead, it's only because of the players but if they lose it, it's all on the coach?
Not quite that black and white. But the coach does hold some responsibility. When the offense stalled maybe your try prigs and see if he can get the ball moving? Granted I didn't watch the last quarter, maybe he did play prigioni. But, if he didn't then yes. McHale is part of the problem.
Can't blame all of our missed shots on the refs. Josh Smith let the crowd get in his head and tried to take over in the 4th. The crowd was booing him when he would handle the ball. He tried to 'hush' the crowd with a 3 that bounced around and went in. THAT shows you he's paying attention to them and letting them get to him. Then he seemed to be intent on trying to prove a point the rest of the game. Bad decisions, bad shots. He's not the one you want as primary ball handler at the end of a close game. Especially when he's intimidated by the fans. SMH....
The Rocks with 9 free throw attempts and 44% made of the few we attempted. Atlanta with 21 attempts and they hit over 88%. Golly, I wonder who we were missing? Still and all, a great effort by the guys against a very, very good team until crunch time, when we missed our MVP. Hopefully, he'll end up being the league's MVP, as well, because he deserves it. For the goofus who thought losing the game would illustrate just how valuable James Harden is to the Rockets, I hope he is satisfied. You got your wish, although you must have been frightened that we'd "blow it for Harden" by winning. Someone once said: "You can't always win what you want No, you can't always win what you want But if you try sometime You just might find You win what you need" Wise words. We'll see if we can win what we need come playoff time. My confidence grows by the day that we'll do just that. Yes, this was a loss, but it also said a lot about how good we are. We put a fright into the team with the best record in the East, with both superstars out, and even if guys like me believe the Cavs deserve the moniker of best Eastern team, the Hawks are damned close. I really like this Rockets team.
Our supporting cast did a hellavu job last night. The constant player rotation was a key to the success in the 1st half as everyone was giving their 110%. Not sure why they didn't continue that trend in the 2nd half. They could have thrown the youngins in there to continue with high energy. Jsmith did let the crowd get to him however i don't think that was the key to the loss. There was one point of the 2nd half where Tjones, Dmo, and Jsmith all looked tired. Some fresh energy would have been beneficial. Also during the game there was a point where bev and terry were tired and again i would have thrown one of the youngins in there. Yes the youngins would have made mistakes but so did our vets during the game and we wont know how that burst of energy would have translated on the outcome. At the end of the day I didnt expect them to win this one but they showed that this cast is capable of relieving minutes to Harden and that is something coach should consider doing more. Keep fresh legs in McHale.. it works!!!
Thank you. It was intended to be mildly amusing, with a kernel of truth parked in there. I hope Mick and Keith will forgive me.
When Loubron pushed Bev back to the floor and Muscov (sp) came in and got on top ....there was ONE Rockets player who rushed over to get them off Bev. Who was it ? Ariza...who also got involved with Muscov defending Harden after a rough foul. During that time, I saw Goober DMO and Smooove in position to protect Bev while Loubron is trying to crush him on the floor. Reminds me of a guy Charles Barkley commented on that let Garnett bump him around like he owned him. But I guess there is a big difference between being on the bench for with an injury that any 85 year old in a nursing home would have recovered from by now and actually showing some backbone.The biggest missing link is the one that's not part of the chain.
The Rockets proved they can play well without Harden. What they don't know how to do is close without Harden. If he had been out extended periods like Howard has, they might have figured out to some extent, how to win under pressure. If they had made just a few of the 3-pointers that didn't go in in the 4th, they might still have held on to win. The Hawks have had to figure out how to win without a "superstar." This is the main reason Harden was missed. The Rockets don't have an alternative closing "mode" without Harden. And they likely won't have one if they don't have to play without him enough to learn/develop one. It probably isn't a major consideration in San Antonio's plan, when sitting their stars some games, but the side benefit is learning to win without the big stars. One thing that should have happened but didn't is the Rockets didn't match the Hawks increased defensive intensity, with their own defensive effort in the 4th quarter. Considering the turnovers they helped force the Hawks into, earlier, that, too, might have spelled the difference in points to hold on enough to win. Both Jones and D-Mo are going to have to develop better finishing around the rim. Two-handed dunks need to be emphasized more. There seems to be something about European players in general not attempting dunks as much. Scola rarely dunked. (Did he ever?) D-Mo very seldom does. That's one thing Howard does that the other bigs don't bring to the party. Even Dorsey will go for dunks more than the other bigs. Stronger finishing around the basket (i.e., makes) compensate for poor FT shooting. Most observers noted that the Rockets had an inside advantage in this game. They just didn't utilize it enough in the last 10 minutes of the game.
After sleeping on the loss last night, I'm still mildly disappointed the Rockets didn't pull out the win. They dominated the whole game up until early in the fourth quarter when the wheels fell off. I guess what's disappointing is it felt like we gave the game away more so than they took it. Boneheaded mistakes, missed free throws, Smith playing hero ball cost the Rockets down the stretch. The refs certainly didn't help matters either. Like others have said, we were lacking our closer so maybe those mistakes should be expected, but man did we let one get away. Hoping for a better result tonight versus Memphis. We will get their best game coming off their loss to Utah. Hopefully a rested Harden will be the difference maker.
I agree I think the Refs will help them out of the first round but I seriously doubt they get out of the second round Rocket River
Proud of the boys for coming out gunning and focused until very late in the game. While it's still difficult to not be dissapointed in the L, I hope this game will motivate everyone not named Harden to play with more passion and energy down the stretch.
Based on what? I don't think you've watched many Hawks games this year....only team that can beat them in series is the Cavs. Raptors, Bulls and Wizards have no shot IMO.
