Dekker has been just as awol as Ariza, Bev and EGo. Dekker is not even rebounding anymore, at least the other 3 are contributing elsewhere when their shot disappears.
I and anyone with two eyes can see this team has major rebounding issues. Second chance points were a killer. Plus Turner was bullying people down low on defense. He was just pushing people and using his size and we lack that right now.
In the first video Antonio was really close to saying "we don't have that" talking about heart but corrected himself and said we haven't shown that lately.
I question coach's ability to coach and don't like a coach calling out the team during press conference like this, especially because I doubt they will change anything behind closed doors.
HOUSTON -- Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was honest about his team’s 117-108 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. He used words like “soft” and phrases like “not enough fight” after a game in which the Rockets held a 17-point advantage only to see it vanish. Houston started the game leading 20-4 and at one point held a 43-26 second-quarter advantage. It all fell apart late in the second quarter as the Rockets watched the Pacers go on a 24-8 run to cut a 17-point deficit to just one. The Rockets were outrebounded 17-4 in the frame. “It was like five or six straight plays of being soft,” D’Antoni said. “Soft on getting back on defense, soft on rebounding and getting an outlet pass, just soft. Now that we let them get back in the game, they missed a lot of shots on their own in the very first [quarter] and that wasn’t going to last the whole game, you knew that. But again, we’ve just got to have a little bit more fight. There’s just not enough fight out there. There’s just not enough.” For the game, the Rockets were outrebounded 55-39 as they shot a terrible 10-of-45 from 3-point range. Missed shots led to the Rockets not getting back in transition and failing to protect the paint. The Pacers scored 50 points in the paint. In the past four games, the Rockets have allowed 218 points inside. A lack of height is part of the reason for Houston's inability to grab rebounds. The Rockets been outrebounded in three of the past four games, during which they’ve gone 2-2. The only team the Rockets outrebounded in that span was New Orleans, and that team featured DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. Was a lack of height the reason for the rebounding issues on Monday night? “No. Heart,” James Harden said. The front office and coaching staff know that adding a wing defender or big man who protects the rim will solve some of these issues. Center Andrew Bogut is a possibility but it's unclear what type of shape he's in, per the reports Houston has received. According to a source, the Rockets don't appear to have a serious interest in him. Last week, Sacramento reached a buyout agreement with wing defender Matt Barnes, and there is little interest on the part of the Rockets. Those close to Harden say he would like to see Barnes on the team, which is a surprise in itself given the history between the two. Two years ago, Barnes made an obscene gesture toward Harden’s mother during the Western Conference semifinals. Barnes apologized and Harden has moved on from the incident. Harden has said he likes the current makeup of this team. Like many of his teammates, Harden knows how close this team is to achieving something good. Offensively, the Rockets are elite, and that was before they added Lou Williams in a trade with the Lakers last week. Yet when the offense struggles -- as was the case Monday when the Rockets shot 36.4 percent from the floor -- they need another means to win games. That’s where hard physical defense could take over, something the Rockets didn’t have over the full 48-minute game Monday. “We’re going to have to battle and fight and be a little more tenacious for those boards,” Harden said. Several players agreed with D’Antoni’s assessment that the Rockets didn’t do enough to get stops on the defensive end. “That’s pretty accurate,” Williams said when asked about the lack of fight. “I think early on we made some shots, got a big lead and probably felt like the game was coming to a squeeze, and we kind of got lax and they picked up their intensity and I don’t think we matched it after that.” D’Antoni said if the Rockets want to surpass the other elite teams in the Western Conference, they can’t afford losses such as this one to the Pacers. “Every guy has got to examine himself,” D’Antoni said. “You’ve got to get it. ... You’ve just got to fight. I told them they don’t give championships up there for guys who just show up. You’ve got to go get it. “A champion has a heart. Big heart, big heart and we haven’t shown that lately.”
Totally agreed. I wasn't banging my head on the wall about execution or makes and misses last night. It was all the wide open shots and uncontested rebounds that were being given up without the appropriate effort to contest them. The team looked complacent, like they were hoping to coast through on their shooting instead of earn the win with sweat.
IMO, there were a ton of blown calls last night - most seemed to have gone in favor of Indy. Almost always difficult to win when it's 8 on 5. The offensive rebound and put back attempt by Ariza after the Lou FT miss - the no call that could have tied the game was atrocious! Aside from that, agree that they still seemed to have played half a step slower than Indy. They seemed to capitalize on most of the loose balls.
J Sizzle questions the team's shooting 26th in the NBA since 1/1/2017? I thought you were supposed to actually be good at something you build the entire roster around. Not terrible.
The shooting woes are baffling really, but a big part of them is that harden is shooting 10 plus threes a game at an atrocious rate
I think I used to be baffled and now I just accept that it's been 2 months and I don't expect consistent shooting to return. A few hot nights here and there, of course, but November/December-like consistency is unfortunately probably not in the cards.
Ariza is an offensive nightmare. That's the problem with him. Nene is just old. He hustles, but there's only so much he can do. I get what D'Antoni's saying though. There were numerous instances last night where the Rockets were simply outhustled. The Pacers would miss a shot and the Rockets players would either get the rebound yanked from them or they wouldn't even bother to go after the ball(that inexcusably happened late in the 4th). Also, he's right that the players repeatedly didn't run back down the court and gave up easy layups and dunks. And I lost count of how many times the Rockets were beat off the dribble and allowed the Pacers to easily get into the paint anytime they wanted. The T'Wolves game was somewhat understandable since the Rockets were shooting the ball so well that they gave into human nature and slacked off at the defensive end. But last night after the first quarter, it was clear they were not sharp at all offensively. When that happens, you have to pick it up at the other end of the floor in order to keep yourself in the game and spark your offense. They didn't do that against the Pacers or prior to the All-Star Break against the Heat. Last night's loss isn't cause for panic, but it is cause for concern. I don't think fatigue is the overriding factor. It's a lack of desire or effort that's plaguing them lately and it's costing them games in the standings. We can forget about the 2nd seed now. But even 3rd place is no lock. The Clippers are healthy again and the Jazz are winning road games against quality opponents, so we can't simply count on both teams fading down the stretch.
One thing that can kill your will to "fight" is getting pounded on the glass. It's demoralizing to play great defense late into the shot clock only to give the opponent a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance. And not getting your own 2nd chances is another energy killer. Nate McMillan game-planned for us last night, something we don't see often in the regular season. IMO that was a preview of what things will look like for us in the playoffs if we don't find a way to rebound.
KJ had fight. The focus seems to be on when the team goes on offensive lulls, but coaching needs to pay more attention to our defensive lulls. Guys with length who play with energy resolve that.
A long rebound off a missed 3-pointer that you can't secure can be demoralizing. But the Rockets weren't really trying that hard to begin with. If you're playing a small lineup, you have to rebound as a team. One example was late in the 4th when the team had to secure a rebound, Nene tipped it to Harden. That's what you need to do. Don't rely on one or two guys to grab the board. Do it collectively. And on the other end of the court, if you're going small, take advantage of it by DRIVING TO THE HOOP!!! Stop settling for 3-pointers and bailing out the opposing defense.
Missing 35 of 45 3s is the main problem to me. At what point do you say, damn, we not making our 3s tonight lets drive in and attack for a little while? I mean c'mon. I mean somebody, ANYBODY, should say something on those nights. I get we wanna shoot 3s and layups, but damn man. That was just horrible. It's really a bail out for the whole team to just come down and jack up a 3. Knowing damn well, they not feeling it and it's not going in. Mix it up a little bit would yah. I HATE watching that. It's just not real bball to me. Ok im done ranting. On to the next game and lets see if we can get some help in the paint soon.
Sometimes I wish we had a true PG running the point. Haren looks like a true PG at times; when he doesn't, he'd better be putting up a triple-double to overcome his TOs, clock-wasting dribbling, and utter lack of defense. I'm hoping he improves with fewer minutes. MDa needs to stop Haren worrying about getting Haren an MVP, and start Harden playing the game the right way. Every time I think this, Haren busts loose with another trip-dub, and we're making threes, and everything feels all right-- but last night makes that resiliency feel like so much cold comfort.
