I think you're giving the Rockets too much credit. The Warriors and Spurs are locks for the top 2 seeds. I think most will agree on that. Right now, OKC looks poised to solidify the 3rd seed. The Clippers and Grizzlies are underperforming, but should be able to make the playoffs. Dallas is overachieving, but there's no reason they can't win 45-50 games with their current roster which should be good enough for a postseason berth. The Jazz are a big question mark thanks to injuries, but if they can overcome those, they absolutely can make the playoffs based on how they finished down the stretch last season. So that leaves the Rockets along with the Suns and T'Wolves fighting for the final playoff spot. And right now, I'm more inclined to give those other teams the edge. Phoenix is a bad defensive team(105.2 PPG allowed) but a very good offensive one(105.5 PPG). Minnesota is a mediocre offensive team(101.1 PPG) but a far better defensive one than the Rockets(101.9 vs 107.4 for us!). The Rockets are not that good offensive and horrific defensively and they're about to start facing very good ballclubs for the duration of the season.
Feigen taking shots at Dwight should be checked. Not that he's wrong, but he's got to remain objective when given the beat.
yep and if Howard and/or Harden would've showed up tonight and made a few layups/shots near the rim instead of weak misses tonight we would've won anyways
That's not Feigen talking about Dwight. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen">@Jonathan_Feigen</a> not bad for a guy who makes only $1M. Unlike the $23M "superstar" Howard that was schooled again by Lopez <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/weak?src=hash">#weak</a></p>— Goran Petrusevski (@goran1974) <a href="https://twitter.com/goran1974/status/674425673839042561">December 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I think it's telling that we have problems with teams with good big men. If you look at the teams we've lost too...I mean tonight the Nets were just more physical in the paint. Dwight has his nights, I mean I guess that goes for the entire team. They all have their nights. Right now no one is just consistently there. For as good as Thornton was tonight, that may not be there tomorrow. Tomorrow night Brewer may lose control of his body once again, and Harden may go off for 40 and what do you know? Everyone else will suck. This team just can't be on all at the same time.
Rockets didn't merely "lost" to the Nets... they "lost twice" to the Nets. Warriors have earned the right to have subpar games. They won that OT game by 8, then beat Brooklyn by 16 the next time around. Golden State is also 2-0 vs DEN, winning those games by 14+ points each. Some of this is on Dwight, but most is on Harden. His line tonight might the worst among Top 10 NBA players all season. And the line doesn't fully show his crap defense. Who cares if Thornton might not be there tomorrow. He was there tonight and we still lost to a crap team.
Because there's no cohesive offensive system. Way too much standing around and ISO ball. Which means players can never get into a rhythm. It's basically a crapshoot. Either they're making their 3's and layups or they're not. And most nights, they're not.
I am not shocked the Rockets lost this game either but not for the same reason as you. The Rockets aren't very good, they do not play hard or smart and do not have any real pride. They are not especially well coached and have shooting and defensive short comings.
I agree. It would be great to have 1 player that's CONSISTENT night in and night out around the paint
There is no earning the right to have subpar games or not. People have to accept this is what the Rockets are right now. A team battling to get better. Warriors have subpar games but find a way to win because they are a great team. Rockets have subpar games because they are right now an average team. Average teams look a lot like this right now. They are not a dominant team where we should be counting wins based on the schedule. It really is a crapshoot, the entire team is one. You never know what you'll get from one night to the next. One thing is that Ariza was our most consistent player. Not that he was consistently good but he was consistently average. Everyone else just kind of swings from bad to great from night to night.
