Why are we always playing small ball when the game's on the line?

Because Yao Ming has retired.

 

Really? So you expect a PG in his first full year starting and coming back off knee surgery to be a top PG in the league as far as scoring and decision making in the clutch? You expect a C in his first year starting and who is obviously in the early stages of developing his offensive game to be prodcutive in the paint consistently? That's just 2 big glaring weaknesses of this young team right there. Not to mention Morris and G Smith in the rotation. Both guys new to the NBA. We just dont have the talent right now to win a lot of close games against decent teams.

Im just saying I didn't expect these guys to perform well in clutch games this year. I knew they were young and would lose close games. I dont blame coaching very often. I think he plays the guys that he feels gives us a chance to win. The guys who perform in practice and who have shown ability in games. We just dont have any bigs that we can lean on in close games. I think that issue will be addressed this summer. Right now these guys are as inconsistent as they come. That is expected.

 

The Rockets small balled under JVG and Adelman

 

I dont agree with that. Closing out a game is not the same as playing in that same game in the first 3 and half quarters. Defenses gear up and play harder later in close games, therefore if you don't have the game (skills) to finish in those situations, you will lose.

I get what you are saying about putting in big guys to rebound and play situational ball. DMo is still 'new' so I wonder if they trust him yet? And his rebounding (strength) has been a bit of a issue even though he is a 7 footer.

Yes, Harden is going to ISO. It's what the lead guys do on teams. They get to the basket and/or draw double teams to find a open player. Who else do you put the ball in their hands to create at the end of the game? Who else is proven to have the skill set to make that play? I know what you mean by ball movement and all of that, but facts are, late in the game with pressure, you dont give the ball to Asik, Delfino, Parsons, even Lin at this point to make the play. Sorry, they dont have that skillset.

We will continue to lose close games until our guys buy into playing better D and we get better defensive players.

 

mchale is not cerebral enough of a head coach and morey will fire him when we are ready to be serious contenders.

 

:grin::grin:

 

I really hope that this is true. Zero possession adjustments the entire season.

 

Let me get this straight OP, we have been overachieving this year and you think the small ball lineups are the problem?

 

The Rockets makeup of the team is pretty bad for crunch time play. Asik is our best defender by far, and he can't make FTs. Patterson WAS our 2nd best interior defender, and he's traded to open up PT for a rookie with mediocre defense. Our best perimeter defender in Parsons plays gazillion minutes and gassed by the end of 4th. Our most experienced player is Delfino, who was never known for lock down defense.

It's a flawed, flawed roster. No matter who McHale put out there, our opponent can always find a weakness to exploit. There's a reason why Morey keeps making trades and making moves. It's also why there's a Josh Smith fetish by many here for our offseason pick up. These problems have a lot less to do with coaches, and much more to do with our roster.