Is the loss of Sampson going to cost the Rockets in the Play offs?

I have notice this as well and am very disturbed by this. It seems like a real failing.

 

Exactly this. Once playoffs come, I'm pretty confident we'll perform better. You don't lose 2 of your best defensive players and not suffer on that end (though I wish we looked at least a little better the last couple of games).

 

Harden isn't any better. One jab step one pump fake or just a simple first step and his guy blows right past him.

 

I think we should all do our best to turn this into a Jeremy Lin thread.

 

Since he left houston's defense has become trash

 

I think it's coincidence. With Howard and Beverley out, Houston's poor team defense is getting exposed.

 

Really, not even one mention from you of the obvious reason for our defensive collapse (i.e. no Beverley and Dwight)?

 

It was sarcasm at it's stupidest. Interjecting Lin in a post not about Lin is more than stupid. You know that and did it anyway. Stupid move.

 

Some of this has been luck of the draw. Do not get me wrong the defensive effort has been terrible and maybe some of that is related to Sampson not being there to push the right buttons. But no Beverley or Howard is biggest factor, plus teams we've played lately like to push the ball like us.

The T-Wolves Loss- Brewer was just sold his soul to the basketball gods. 51 and a half-court shot. we gave up 112, the real problems was turnovers we had 20. Defensively they shot 43%

The Nuggets Loss- Back to back in altitude. Starters were spent, it was the Viper subs that made it a game. Denvers bigs destroyed us with hustle early.

The Lakers Win- we killed them thru 3 115-90, then the fourth quarter we let the entire bench play and The Lakers rushed up and down the court jacking up shots as fast as they could. No big deal to me that we gave up 130.

The Nuggets OT win- We played great defense when it mattered most plus they were RED HOT thru first 3 hitting shot after shot, Nuggets finally came back to earth. Ge gave up 125 in OT to a fastbreaking team, not that suprised since 2 best defenders were out.

The OKC win- Defense was good, could have been great if the refs would have made 7 calls correct, 2 out of bounds on KD's sweep throught it out of bounds play. 3 blocking calls were we didn't get the call. 2 lose balls out on Nuggets called out on Rockets. We won anyhow.

The loss in Toronto- I missed this game but it was a back to back and for whatever reason we never win there. Stats look like we lost because of shooting, defense was average giving up 107 on 45. But we controled the boards.

The loss in Brooklyn- This game we had NO LIFE with 3 starters out and those crappy early ticky tack and phatmon calls on D-MO put us at a big man disadavatage. Nets killed us inside.

So to answer the play-off part of your question, I think it could make a slight difference. But the biggest factor is the numbers show Beverley is a demon with his on the ball pressure. The teams points per possesion when he is in the game is near the top of the league. Add Howard and you have a good defensive unit despite Harden and Lin rarely stopping anyone.

 

I can't stop wondering how we allowed Corey Brewer to score 51 points last night.

 

It was Lin. I think Terremce was supposed to drop back.

 

Sarcasm at it's stupidest? Why are you so bitter?

The vast majority of torocan's posts are about Lin so I made a Lin joke. He joined clutchfans to discuss Lin. 5 or so posters had already brought Lin up so technically I wasn't interjecting anything.

 

I like Calvin Murphy's post game comment last night, he put that on the team
"don't tell me you should have done this done that, at this stage of season, tell me why didn't you!"

 

this is some excuse-riddled perspective you got there. we probably have a lot of players who share your beta mentality, which is why they've been playing like crap. always looking for the easy way out. brewer sold his soul to the basketball gods? really? he made one fluke half-court 3 pointer - everything else was an uncontested dunk/layup with a couple uncontested J's mixed in for good measure. that's not a god-mode performance from brewer- that's a weak-ass defensive effort from a team that thinks it's better than it is.

All the talk about having our 2 best defensive players out as the reason we turned into the houston rockbottoms is some true beta stuff. Asik is an absolute defensive beast, who plays more fundamentally sound than Dwight and clears the glass much more consistently. The loss of Beverly certainly hurts, but if the rest of this roster isn't able to stop Corey F'in Brewer from scoring the easiest 51 points in NBA history, there are no logical explanations other than this team just isn't ready to do it what it takes to win.

 

It's important that McHale has a supporting cast around him in order to help the Rockets, just like Rudy T. did. But last time I checked, Sampson is not Tom Thibodeau...and for that, I wish Kevin the best of luck.

Go Rockets!

 

Lets lighten up with a joke:

Whats the difference between a cheerleader and Kevin McHale?

Spoiler

-McHale sucks for all 4 quarters and cheerleaders suck after the game
-One motivates James Harden and the other does not

 

Spoiler

 

lol nice.

I never thought I'd say it...but I think Sampson leaving will affect us a bit.

 

If head coaches only make +/- 5 games difference at the max, according to Morey, then how much difference do ASSISTANT coaches make? This is a dumb thread.

I remember when JVG left and Adelman came in and people were worried about the defense. Lo and behold, the Rockets were actually BETTER defensively in Rick's first year than in ANY year under Van Gundy. This despite the ignorant conventional wisdom that Rick is an offense-only coach. Predictably, people said it was only because of JVG's influence wearing off on the team. I'm sure if Sampson really meant that much to the team, then his wisdom will similarly wear off on the Rockets and his departure won't mean that much at all.

It's also funny how OP has railed on McHale for playing guys too many minutes in other threads. When Sampson was HC while McHale was out, how many minutes did he play the main guys? Suddenly Sampson is indispensable, when he's likely more an extension of McHale than people think.

 

Well, no defense again.

Who is our defensive coach again?

I guess no one since we aren't DEFENDing!