We would've gotten destroyed without Harden the way everyone else was shooting. With that said, defensively we just didn't look good. But that isnt all on Harden, Brooks in particular allowed too much penetration and Burk was just getting everywhere he wanted. Matador D from everyone
It's a disappointing loss, especially against the Jizzers but you have to be able to take things in stride. Sometimes I think people expect the team to have 100% record. How do you guys think teams end up with the kinds of records they do at the end of the season? They lose games they shouldn't. This happens to all teams. I'm not saying we don't need to work on stuff or there don't need to be improvements, but after a great win against the Spurs the 180 by some people after this loss is a little mind boggling.
You believe that without Lin, Parsons, AND Harden that we would have had anything close to a respectable offense?
Spot on....people around here saying concerns are a "knee-jerk reaction." There is no bigger knee-jerk reactor than Kevin McHale. "You had a bad first 5-7 minutes....you're pretty much done!! Casspi, hmm he made 2 jumpers in a row, I'll play him 30 minutes tonight!" Players are creature of habit and this inconsistency does not help.
LOL, that is the standard answer, why are people so surprised. "This guy was playing better, I like this guy's energy." I swear, almost every time I look at a Rocket box score for a game i've missed I almost always go "wow (insert player name) only played this many minutes? Did he get ejected/foul trouble/hurt?"
Guess what, Jones wasn't playing well, and Casspi was playing decent and seemed one of the very few on the court who gave energy and seemed to care. Next game, if TJones plays well, he'll play more minutes. And then someone will compalin that we don't play the bench enough... And if one game playing less minutes will irreparably hurt his confidence, then he'll have to learn to adjust or prepare for life outside the NBA. The defense was ****ty, which is always a team thing. But Harden and Howard were flat, Beverly and TJones so-so, and we dug a hole we could not climb out.
That's because Melo is a shot chunker and can take 30 shots to score 30 points... He doesn't know how to pass and get other players involved.
The Rockets played at altitude the third game in four nights with key guys missing against a team that they had already beat. There were plenty of good reasons for the team to under perform and lose. The problem is winning this game would have been a clear sign the Rockets were Championship metal and they lost. Very disappointing.
lol so you're basically ok with a guy playing 35 minutes one day, 17 the next, then 28, then 15, and 31. it's all good, if he isnt getting the job done early then he deserves that! It's not even about mental toughness, it's about getting into a consistent rhythm.
Jones looked like he was gassed out there... Maybe that Utah thin air..??? Just the same he didn't start off great... Guess that was enough for McHale not to stick with him.
If the guy is not playing well, shows no energy and can't hit anything, do you wait until he gets a consistent rhythm or do you go with someone who comes in and does play well? And isn't TJones supposed to be a garbage man, scoring primarily from putbacks and cuts to the bsket? What kind of rhythm does that require? If McHale had stuck with TJones and he would have continued to struggle, people would have complained that he left him in too long. TJones played bad, Casspi played better and McHale stuck with him. Simple. There are plenty of things to complain about with regard to this game, but this isn't one of them.
Jazz fans have zero respect for us lol. The worst team in the league sees a win against Harden and Howard as "meh." "We need Jabari more than we need these cute wins against overrated lame ass teams. Houston will never win a championship. Harden doesn't play defense (and is a ball hog) and Howard sucks."
Tjones played 18 minutes and Casspi 30 minutes. I don't see that there's a big difference one way or the other. I would consider this a non-issue.
Sure, anyone can accept a loss. Losing makes winning much more fun. But even the wife predicted a loss in the first quarter when she saw no extra effort beyond an individual's desire to score points. Is Lin & Parsons becoming the keys to our success? Or does H&H need to learn to play Rockets ball without them? Or maybe we're just so good as a whole we just fall apart when one wheel falls off? I was going to say "tuff loss" but I think most saw this one coming as the wife did.
