[Stephen A. Smith] The Rockets' upper management are throwing games.

I don't really think they tanked last night--they just flat-out gave up. Watch the last three minutes of the game and you'll see the most listless, apathetic, and indifferent going through the motions that we've ever seen from this squad. Tanking implies a strategy and an end goal. Giving up is closer to a mass panic except there's no panic, just a sudden and collective loss of will to continue. I agree that the Dallas game really was this team's "last stand." I don't think they can recover from it.

 

Dallas was the straw that broke the tank's tracks

 

Real talk, ESPN reporters will say just about anything sensational to get clicks/conversation. That's all this is.

 

Like I said in the game thread, it was either the players quitting or the organization tanking. There were definitely signs of the former. Those intentional fouls late when they were in the penalty. No players trying to mount a comeback would just hand the other team 2 easy points. The refusal to box out for rebounds was also just a lack of effort.

I'm fine with management tanking if that's in fact what's going on. My only gripe is it should've started sooner. Just 4 or 5 more losses could've had us flirting with a Top 10 pick(and more ping pong balls for the lottery obviously).

 

Rockets: "Try your best JB."

Stephen A: "THA ROCKETS ARE THROWING GAMES!"

 

I think the stuff on DH is legit. The organization doesn't want him back, so they're doing what they can to make his remaining time here as miserable as possible.

In the HR world we call that a Constructive Discharge.

 

So we're tanking games to get the 14th pick? Man, we're more stupider than I thinkded.

 

Here's the clip(don't know how to embed):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmUQWX9U0bo

 

When I was 16 and was a s***ty employee at the Kemah Boardwalk they did this to me. They suddenly always forgot to give me restroom breaks and to fill up my water cooler.

But I showed them. I stayed for several months after that happened. Don't test my spite; you will fail.

 

I don't know about previous games but last night was a tank

To me the Dallas loss was the dagger.

Rockets had hopes of finishing 6th and having a chance to make noise in the playoffs. Now that we can't finish 6th, no point playing GSW or SAS only to be embarrassed on national TV

Just get the pick

Those are my thoughts and I think that's what upper management is thinking too

 

Do they even need to make him miserable? Assuming he opts out, just don't resign him. And if he doesn't opt out, well, he'll be costing himself a lot of money long-term unless he has a great season next year.

Either way, I just hope this is true that the Rockets are prepared to move on. Dwight looks like he's on the precipice of a steep decline. At this point, I don't even want him back for half of what he earns right now.

 

thanks for the link!!

 

its all on Murray

he tried his best and failed miserably

goodbye sweet prince

 

Wouldn't they want to showcase him / increase his value to allow for a potential sign & trade? It's clear that he and the rockets area both wanting to part ways.

 

[youtube]vmUQWX9U0bo[/youtube]

 

I saw Dwight Howard get the ball in the pain last night with what, just under a minute left and the team down I think 3. We all saw what happened. He air-balled a jump hook.

 

SA, Morey did not fire that coach, it was the Les decision. All your speculation is baseless.

 

I honestly think Morey tries to limit minutes to devalue players before trades and off season

 

Obviously, there is something internal going on with this team.

Personally, I think its a mixture. All parts of this organization is jumbled up.

I think Morey and the higher ups want to make the playoffs because they know that free agents look at that, and Hinkie even said in the most recent Lowe Post that Morey and the Rockets pride themselves on showing free agents their percentage of playoff berths.

BUT I think they are at the point now where they don't mind if they don't get into the playoffs because that would mean that we would get our draft pick back. Evidence of this can be seen by the trade deadline. I think the Rockets really like Dmo and were prepared into offering him a big contract had he been healthy this offseason but they jumped at the opportunity to get a draft pick back, even though signs pointed the Dmo would be back to full healthy after the trade deadline. Our pool of tradable assets are very shallow right now with only KJ McDaniels, Clint Capela and maybe Harrell (though probably not now with the suspension) as the only young players that could probably get back a good player back. We don't have any extra draft picks to sweeten deals so getting a 1st for DMO (maybe another if DMo was traded, making us inherently worst) would have been huge for this team, moving forward. Now the only way we can get a 1st back is by miss the playoffs so I don't think Morey and the higher ups are sweating these recent losses.

For them, its almost a win-win. Make the playoffs and they can show that to free agents. Miss the playoffs, get back a draft pick and use it to possibly swing a draft day deal for a disgruntled good player on a team that is rebuilding. Honestly, they might even prefer not making the playoffs now since the 6th seed is out of reach.

Coaching-wise, I think JBB is trying to win games but he is only willing to trust players he "knows" and not the players that can help us most. I think this can explain why he has been playing Brewer and JET way more than necessary, as opposed to playing KJ, Beasle, etc. He is more comfortable with Brewer and JET than KJ and Beasley. Furthermore, he is desperate. I think he knows that Brewer and JET are inferior to KJ and Beasely but if they aren't getting it done right away, he hanks them in favor of Brewer and JET. Start KJ in the Dallas game and to start the 2nd half yet pull him when he makes 1 or 2 mistakes in favor of Brewer. Beasley makes a defensive mistake and he gets pulled for Brewer almost immediately. Plays JET the whole 4th quarter in the Suns game because he is more comfortable with him than playing Beasley or KJ even though those 2 would have helped way more.

For the players, I think Dwight has packed it in the past couple of weeks. He is done being a Rockets player. He just isn't competing as hard lately, letting the lack of touches and calls really effect his play on the court. Its hard to win when your highest paid player is sulking it up big time every time he is on the floor. I've tried to defend Dwight this season but he has been very hypocritical lately. He preaches that we should "be there for each other" and not let "anything else affect your play on the court", but he is doing exactly that.

Obviously the other players are frustrated. The whole season they believed that they could turn it around and now they are basically done. I think Harden has lost faith in most of his teammates, and I don't blame him. Too many times this season he has been spectacular yet we lost or struggle to pull out a game, and no one is even close to stepping up to help him. Past Beasley, who can he trust to help out? Ariza and Bev are so inconsistent with their shots and no one else can shoot or provide any type of offense.

This is a mess.

 

I'm sure Morey played a role. What they omitted in that entire conversation was that the Rockets have incentive to miss the playoffs because of the Lawson trade and the conditional first rounder. It's still tanking if they're trying to lose games, but it's not just because they're trying to avoid the Warriors or chase Dwight out of town.