so instead of going for Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Love you want to go for Luis Scola and a potentially ailing Rondo and hope that we can magically pull more rabbits out of the hat and have some 500k 4 year contract Morey pickup perform like a potential 6MOTY which is basically what Patty Mills did in the finals. I support the idea of Rondo but no freaking way over Anthony or Love.
I see your view, getting Howard was cool but he still failed to surround them with the correct players. Casspi was the stretch 4 going into the season. OMEI CASSPI, Casspi even went as far as saying morey & mchale called him a few times to recruit him to play that role. And we're high on him Record - morey himself said if we rolled out our same team as 2012-2013 he expected them to win 5 more games just based off experience playing together. Am I wrong or right ? This is why I measured the season based off playoff success. 2012-2013 rockets arguably use to play better offense than 2013-2014 teams out with morey ball, they use to blow teams out. Knicks, nets, bulls etc didn't stand a chance against us "for example" This season with the post ups etc bulls blew us out, both Knicks games came down to the last play "with a horrible team compared to the year before" we caught the spurs slippen when they were banged up, and still can't win ONE game vs the clippers. all I'm saying is if u want to get stars make sure you surround them with players that compliment them. Not jones at PF when you know Howard and harden need the lane... Ryan Anderson as a example would've made this team a WCF team just based off the fit with Howard & moreyball Get melo I'm ok with it, but I'm willing to bet anything if we don't get a D first 3 int the starring lineup, a coach that can put a system into place with that big 3 and buy in to team ball, we will not have much playoff success, but we will be a very popular team.
No. Instead of gutting half our team for Carmelo and not having the $$$ or resources to sign any quality role players, how about NOT sign Carmelo, trade for a Zach Randolph, David West type PF, THEN actually have enough $$$ and resources to sign Rondo WITH some extra quality bench players. Get it now?
Whats so good to have the best engine, the best brakes, the best chassis but u only have an incompetent driver steering the wheel? U may win saloon competition, gets u laid (maybe) but it doesnt win u championship. They all are important pieces n it display to the league that u are just there just for the show.
Besides all these talk about acquiring the third star I would go as far as to question whether both of the Rockets' statistical "superstars" really belong to that rare group of basketball players who have the mentality and fortitude to overcome challenges and adversity in order to win. There have been questions, over the years, about Howard's maturity and mind-set, and whether he had it in him to be willing and able to carry his team to greater heights. Harden has shown to have a shaky reputation during the playoffs and he did not do well enough to reverse that reputation during the past playoffs. So, statisticians can look up all the numbers and statistics that they want but the basic question of whether the two stars with the Rockets are mentally tough enough to lead the team to a championship or they are just great with personal statistics. There is also the question of whether Howard and Harden have the right chemistry which could be the foundation of a team chemistry. So, the more pressing question is not whether the addition of another max or "superstar" would make any difference to the Rockets as a team. The more basic question, really, is whether the current resident stars are what the Rockets need to get to the next level. The issue of the GM and the coach are a whole other topic that needs to be looked into.
I agree completely that changes need to be made to the coaching staff, however it's not mutually exclusive with acquiring a player like Melo
The premise of this thread is silly. The Spurs are an excellent team, but it took them a long time to have the polished, movement-heavy offense they have now. In the past, they totally relied on dumping the ball into Duncan (e.g. ISO ball). The Rockets, as presently constructed, have only been together for a year. Its takes time to get everybody on the same page. The Rockets this past season essentially moved back and forth between isolation between Harden and Howard. I expect that next season, we'll see more pick and roll, and more give and go in the post and the offense will be more efficient. I also expect gains on the defensive end. The Spurs have been together for more than a decade. A championship offense and defense don't come overnight. Be patient.
Can't believe after Spurs won the championship, fans still holds this view. Some fans just don't know basketball at all. Good coaching does tend to add a few wins - in playoff!!!
How silly. Getting Melo doesn't preclude us from making a coaching change. All the decisions the organization makes is based on far more information than you've presented here. There is absolutely no reason to think a more ball dominant PG would improve this team, or that we need a PF who can post up. A PF who can hit the mid range is great, and Melo can do that with ease all the way out to the 3pt line. Nevermind the fact that every dollar spent on players after acquiring Melo gets more value, because people are more likely to want to sign for us for less money if we have that star trio. I'm honestly so hungry to read some informed opinions and arguments about why we shouldn't get Melo. All we seem to be getting in that regard is "IT'S JUST NOT GOOD" and "WE NEED DEFENSE" both of which don't have legs. Yes we need defense, but putting Melo at PF doesn't worsen our defense. It's not about scoring a lot of points, or defending really well. It's about the difference between how much you score and how much you can concede. As long as you can widen the gap between the two, you are winning more. I love Rajon Rondo, and I would love to see a contender with Rondo at the helm locking people up and setting up a great offense. But he doesn't fit on this team and so my Rondo dream takes a backseat to winning. One thing this team has shown is that it's sole purpose is to win more and more. Getting Harden and Howard in consecutive seasons and now a finalist to get Melo? These guys know what they're doing. If we want to fix our defense, we get a defensive 3. We don't avoid getting an offensive 4. Bev can defend small guards. Howard can focus more on defending big men if he doesn't need to score as much. All we're lacking in terms of INDIVIDUALS is a guy to defend G/F's. The rest is on the coaching staff and they've recognized that they need to plug that hole by pursuing TOP NOTCH defensive assistants this offseason. I'm not worried at all because we saw a Charlotte team fielding Jefferson, McRobertson and Henderson apply a defense more than good enough to take us to the promise land. That's about coaching and team commitment. Moreover, we still have assets and avenues to add defensive players to the bench. Let's go Melo.
Pop isn't just a coach. He is in charge of the entire operation, including most significantly, assembling the roster. So if we want someone to play the Popovich role for this team, you need to put him in a position to oversee Morey. They won it all not because Pop called some nice plays out of timeouts, or even because he made some significant lineup changes (starting Bonner and later Diaw mid-series). The important work started when Pop, RC Buford and their staff, decided on a philosophy of bringing in high IQ, high effort guys and then actually finding these guys even when operating without high picks-- from Parker and Ginobili years ago to the more recent additions of Kawhi, Splitter, Green, etc.-- and then making use of them. In Houston, much of the "front-end" work of setting team philosophy and acquiring players is done by Morey and his staff rather than the coaches. I am sure McHale has a voice-- he certainly wanted Dwight before we got him-- but his voice, and that of many NBA coaches, is much more limited than Pop's in these matters.
Take a step back OP and watch everything crumble again. the dodoo rollers will come back and try to assemble this pile of crap and tell you it's a statue.
Comparing one of the best coaches of all time to McHale or anyone we could likely get to replace him seems kind of pointless. I'd be fine with replacing McHale, but expecting Popovich level success from any potential replacement is asking for disappointment. It's rare that you get a team that has 3 "stars" who are willing to take significantly less than max money, and willing to give up the touches, stats and glory for the good of the team like the Spurs big 3. Without that you literally can't run the Spurs system. McHale already complains about the same thing we do when the ball get's "sticky". And Pop blamed the game 2 loss on it, and Spoelstra complained about it, and most coaches in the league complain about it. It comes down to not just the coach, but also the players in changing that. Maybe the Spurs win will help other coaches convince their players. If you want to say RC Buford is better than Morey, that's fine too, but we aren't getting him as a replacement GM any more than we are getting Popovich as our next coach. Media discussions are starting about how Miami's big 3 should opt out and resign for less, but I'm not really buying that they all will. Only Lebron would have another chance to make max level money after this contract. Nobody is giving Wade another max deal, and Bosh is not getting likely to get one. If the Heat strictly were focused on making the team as good as they could, I don't know that they would offer Wade a contract that wouldn't be insulting to him if he opted out. I don't see Lebron, Wade and Bosh taking equal contracts seeing where Lebron is compared to the other "big 2". Lebron has already left his home town team, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he left the Heat. If he really wanted help, what team could he join next year that would be better than a Lebron, Dwight, Harden big 3? I would have said no way prior to the finals, now it's only unlikely instead of impossible. Probably more likely than the Heat keeping the big 3 and adding Carmelo and quality depth. But I would be fine with getting Carmelo too; finding talent in the later rounds of the draft and in free agency has generally been Morey's strength, and if Carmelo came to Houston it would be because he wants to win, meaning I would expect him to score a bunch off the ball like he does in all star games and the Olympics, more than focusing on winning scoring titles. Not that any of our opinions for or against have any effect on what the team is going to do anyway.
Did you miss the part where he mentioned we were unusually lucky on the injury front? Players missing games helps increase the loss count, shocking i know. Except we won't have enough money....Rondo is going to demand a max contract, he's not going to sign for another $12m deal.
No. They won it all because they play HQ basketball that makes up their lack of elite talent, and they do that thanks to a very good coaching. Because those plays with multiple screens off the ball, re-picks, that transition game, that's not about good findings by Buford. That's named coaching. Popovich is the architect of a unique basketball in which players like Mills, Green, Diaw, who would look mediocre under McHale, look really good together in San Antonio. They neither have elite athleticism, but play very solid defense. And if they looked that fresh in June it is cause no player on the roster averaged even 30 minutes at the RS. All that is not about player personnel, it is about coaching my friend.
