The effort reminds me the last year of Howard and Harden after that awesome comeback to the Clippers.
We need better game management in late 4th quarters. It's like D'Antoni disappears as well. Maybe a few plays? Running out the clock for a long 3 isn't a good play.
I don't see it as a fluke. Simply the function of being one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Defense is stable and you get consistent results from it. When all your effort is dependent on the offense, you're bound to get inconsistent results.
Agree with OP, terrible losses like that didn’t happen last year. I believe we had one against LAC when Harden was out and maybe one against the Hawks. Chemistry is underrated. We don’t have bad chemistry, but we definitely don’t have what we had last year. This team took a healthy Warriors team to 7 based on sheer will (because we weren’t a better team man per man than them). That’s because it felt everyone on the team last year believed, it felt like every player would die for one one another. We don’t have anything close to that anymore I truly believe that when/if this roster becomes healthy, we’ll be good, but we won’t be “last year” good, a lot of that is due to chemistry, a lot is due to defense and rebounding, a lot is due to the fact that CP3 went from a top 10 player last year, to a top 30-40 player this year for whatever the reason may be. Shumpert right now (at his peak in Cle, probably) isn’t a starting 3 on a championship team, neither is House.... not in todays NBA. We have major question marks at the 3 and 4, and minimal question mark at the 1. The only position that have produced consistenly well for our team is the 2 and the 5 (Harden and Capela). The gap between us and the Warriors is immense with or without a fully healthy roster, everyone getting healthy and hitting their stride come playoffs to dethrone an insane Warriors team is highly unlikely, that’s not how things work. I’m not saying we should give up, fight until you’re out, but it’s also important for us to be realistic. We struck out in the offseason, we struck out at the trade deadline, and we’ll probably strike out with the remaining buyout market, because of that, this is our reality.
We win We win or lose with our “Big 3” . With Paul and Capela missing so many games it’s only because of the Harden miracle we have a decent record. If we are healthy come playoffs I think we will do well.
They were down by 17 against the Warriors at the half. They were losing to Orlando 34-18 after the first and came back and won, outscoring them by 13 in the 4th. They were down by 18 to the Lakers at the half, and down by 9 with under 2 minutes remaining. Won in OT. The issue is when you have players in and out - be it for health, contract issues, because they suck, whatever - this is what you're going to get. Bear in mind they started the season with Melo, MCW, Hartenstein all playing, Ennis starting, Melo starting occasionally. Eric Gordon has sucked. CP3 has only played 34 games (max would be 59 if he plays ALL remaining games, more likely he'll finish under 58 which would be worse than last year). Clint has only played 42 games. House came... and went. Ennis came, started, got injured, went to the bench, got injured again, back to the bench, and moved for nothing. And Faried, who was playing ZERO, and shows up and is our starting center getting 25-35 mpg, and couldn't play a lick of perimeter defense if he tried. My point?? These aren't illogical losses. They are rather completely logical. Just like the wins. You're not going to get consistent results when your roster and lineup composition is so inconsistent.
Great take . I think so much depends on how a team progresses through the year . Sure you can allow for a boost in intensity come playoff time , but rarely does a team that is inconsistent "come together" to find its best form in the playoffs . Last years squad was so great because it had built up a mental toughness that came from trying to lock in and focus every game . For whatever reason , that has not happened this season . Some of it may have even been intentional (coming into the season with a more relaxed mindset "we didn't need to prove ourselves" ) but , that approach hasn't worked yet because the team is losing winnable games . We have really struggled to gain any sort of continuity and although some blame can be placed on injuries , not all of it can . We had injuries last year . To me some of the worst decisions this year have surrounded that idea . For example , house was playing well . We decided to prioritize extracting max value from his contract situation over establishing continuity. Clark was a major player for us in the early season and he has ridden the pine and been shuffled up and down from the g league . Meanwhile guys like PJ tucker log 40 minutes a night and get worn down . Ennis was a guy who I thought was carving a defined role as a bench player in our rotation and we traded him for nothing . Sure he had his flaws ... but he was getting into a little groove and playing better . It's just been a frustrating year
I just looked back a few weeks or so. The thing is, the brain doesn't as easily remember the "should have lost" type games. I forgot the Magic were dominating us so much in the first quarter for example.
I don't think you can fully explain our inconsistency just with roster inconsistency Some of that is self inflicted . We could have been playing hartenstein and Clark steadily . A lot of these losses have come when we've had our A- / B+ squad so to speak . It's intensity and focus within game
Well, roster inconsistency combined with roster quality. If one of either Clint or CP3 is out, this roster is horrible. If folks really want to look at what Harden is doing, the amazing thing isn't that stats that are outputted, but rather the simple fact that they've been as good as they have despite a roster that is just "meh". Russell Westbrook is playing next to a dude that is up there with Harden in the MVP race. The Nuggets have Jokic and then 10 guys who are young, fast, can shoot, athletic, etc. The Warriors are the Warriors. Not that the Rockets were loaded with tons of assets before, but I absolutely think if DM knew/thought that NBA would so quickly evolve into a league where there is SO MUCH movement of star and near-star players EVERY YEAR and OFFSEASON, that he would have used assets differently 3 and 4 years ago.
Absolutely. He probably would have never gone for Howard lol . But that's besides the point , I think harden has already done this before . In 14-15 he carried us to the 2 seed . So harden has proven he can do this before . We really have been behind on the player development front IMO .
For reference: (.549) = 45 win pace, (.610) = 50 win pace, (.671) = 55 win pace, (.732) = 60 win pace, (.793) = 65 win pace, (.854) = 70 win pace Record against teams above .500 Nuggets 17-11 (.607) Thunder 15-10 (.600) 3rd Warriors 17-13 (.567) 3rd Rockets 17-13 (.567) Blazers 16-14 (.533) --- Everyone else is below .500 *Kings 8-20 (.286) Record against teams below .500 Warriors 24-3 (.889) Nuggets 28-5 (.848) *Kings 22-7 (.759) Jazz 18-7 (.720) Thunder 22-9 (.710) Blazers 18-9 (.667) Spurs 20-10 (.667) Clippers 18-11 (.621) Lakers 16-10 (.615) 10th Rockets 16-11 (.593) 10th Wolves 16-11 (.593) Pelicans 15-12 (.556) Mavericks 14-12 (.538) --- Grizzlies and Suns are below .500 In the OP, only 2 of those 9 teams are above .500. Houston: Remaining teams above .500: 12 Remaining teams below .500: 13 Thunder: Remaining teams above .500: 17 Remaining teams below .500: 9 Nuggets: Remaining teams above .500: 15 Remaining teams below .500: 10 Blazers: Remaining teams above .500: 12 Remaining teams below .500: 13 Jazz: Remaining teams above .500: 9 Remaining teams below .500: 16 Scenerio: .584 against .500+ teams .693 against .500- teams = the Rockets finish with 49 wins.
we can't beat warriors, okc nuggets with existing players in playoff. Morey should sign house at least
Did we have as many injuries and inconsistencies last year? Harden was out CP3 was out Capela was out We have no one worth anything beyond capela that is over 6'7 Rocket River
All those close games we lost, we could've won with House...Front office penny pinching cost Harden the MVP!!
