They are pros. The show should be interested in how a defense is turning the best offense maybe ever, that is constructed around movement, into an ISO team. This is a fascinating story. But they are too worried about their narratives, so are resorting to largely claiming GSW just needs to wake up, and the Rockets need to be worried about which Rockets team shows up, that the Show is letting an entire 6 or 7 game playoff series get away from them and the history that might be happening. If we beat the Worriers, make no mistake, history will tell a different story, and it will be about what this defense did to them. Because Coaches are watching, and they will copy this defense. I also guarantee you, should the Worriers advance, and Brad Stevens takes them out of movement and into ISO like Bzdelic is doing, they will fawn over it (even if they get swept), and say they've never seen this before...and the whole Finals will be about Stevens great defense given them the good 'ole college try, but falling short due to all their injuries, but they are an up and coming young team. And this is a year after watching probably the most boring trouncing of the NBA by a team in awhile, which led to record losses in NBA playoff revenue. The TNT crew's JOB is to talk about what is making this a great series, and treat it like NFL playoffs, that there is a defense rolling right now, and the opposing offense is in disarray and needs to find an answer....and ideally, show us what is happening. Can they even try to prepare for Game 6 and talk basketball during the 30-minute, pre-game show like football does? Instead, we get continued narratives of what should happen when Worriers play their way, and pondering which Rockets team will show up. /rant over
Inside the NBA came around before social media took off, and over the period of about 10 years anyone who has actually studied basketball has learned that the best analysis comes from social media rather than from the major media platforms. These types of shows are not catered toward people who are interested in "the truth" of basketball so they make it about continuous drama and stubborn narratives based on very little substance.
Kenny's animosity started around the time we interviewed him for the HC spot, then didn't hire him. Doesn't matter. He's dead to me now.
Yup, after game 1 the talking point was that the Rockets would need to play a perfect game WITH BALL MOVEMENT to have ANY chance at beating Golden State. But, in their view it was highly unlikely because it was looking like a sweep and they waited all year for this matchup for nothing. Game 2 was all about Curry still being injured and questions as to whether the Rockets could "get away with their physical play" the rest of the series. They also had a circle jerk about being right that we needed to move the ball to win. After game 3 the narrative shifted to Harden and Paul having to be perfect, while GSW could simply lean on 2 of 4 all stars to blow out Houston. Also, why would the Rockets regress to ISO ball? Blah, blah, blah... Well games 2, 4 and especially 5 effectively proved them all to be fools. (1) We don't have to move the ball like GSW to beat GSW. (2) Curry isn't hurt. He's just a gifted shooter who struggles in the postseason when perimeter defense turns up and driving lanes disappear. Because we switch everything, he can no longer rely on Draymond's moving screens to get open looks. On top of that, he's been repeatedly exposed on the defensive end because he CANNOT HIDE from Harden & CP3's ISOs. (3) Neither Harden nor Chris Paul need to be perfect for the Rockets to beat the Hampton 5. We have a deep collection of solid contributors who've been getting it done all year and it starts on DEFENSE. This statistical fact flies in the face of their lazy narrative on Mike D'Antoni and it pissed them off. (4) We can beat the Warriors playing any style we choose because Darryl Morey is the nerd who's figured out math works while Chuck and Shaq were getting all the girls in high school. (5) CP3 has been battling a hamstring injury ALL SERIES but still digs deep within and wills his team to improbable victory proving he's got the heart of a champion. Of course, there's NO MENTION of his injury prior to game 5 -- only commentary on Iggy and Curry. Despite the tired narrative, Chris Paul's playoff track record proves he's one of the greatest postseason performers in NBA history. Again, our GM understands math which is why he traded away 17 players for him. TNT sucks and they're getting crossed over, spun around, put on skates and embarrassed as badly as Wardell Curry.
Shaq seems to talk ball more lately. Barkley always talks ball. The rest.. not so much. It may be time to move on. I think Shaq got the message.. Kenny didn't.
They make all about themselfs, how cool they're, how cool they've been as players and so on. Their analysis SUCK. They dont like this defensive style games, and at same time they hate this "soft" era, like wtf make up your mind, is it defensive ugly style and "soft" at same time? These dudes make no sense most of the time, but i dont watch them anymore, nothing to see there. I just go get some food during half time, time spend much better.
That's the thing...Kenny never gambled anything by repping HTown before unlike Van Gundy, who had clear reasons to hate the Rockets because of Les. Those Yao/Tmac years...never gave them a chance or second look. He even admitted it later on. The HC spot is a convenient answer, but doesn't sound realistic either considering he's done jack squat with coaching. **** that guy.
I have only two thing to say to Kenny. You were never "the jet" and Cassell was always better than you were.
Look at their playing experience that they’re pulling from: - Barkley was a talented, but flawed superstar who tended to wilt when it mattered most. - Kenny was a role player who won titles even though he mostly sat on the bench in crunch times (Orlando Game 1 being the exception to the rule). - Shaq was an Uber-talented superstar whose laziness kept him from being in the talk of greatest ever. There’s a reason these guys aren’t coaches in the league and their analysis is cringe-worthy. They used to be fairly entertaining to watch when they mostly kept it light and tried to be funny, but at some point, probably when they started getting pulled to do NCAA analysis,they started trying to be more serious. That’s hurt the entertainment quality of the show and they mostly look like buffoons to anyone that knows basketball. Problem now is that casual fans actually think they know what they are talking about and that drives the narrative. Unfortunately, they all make too much money now so you can’t put the cork back in the bottle.
Yep, pretty neat that nobody credits the ROCKETS players or switch heavy defense when we win. They seem very motivated in blaming the Warriors for losing the game over the Rockets earning the win. No one credited Harden for actually playing decent defense, but the MVP's for the Rockets in this team was definitely Gordon (for his timely close outs) and Paul for leading the charge on defense while actually directing a somewhat more effective offense when Harden was clearly having issues on his end. Who needs a good defensive coach when you have CP3? I have a feeling the Rockets are going to need a huge game from their role players if Paul ends up being held out of the game. From the looks of it, all the Rockets have released are that this injury is questionable. Paul didn't appear as disgruntled or dejected as Rose did when he tore his ACL/MCL. It sounded like Paul was "receiving treatment" and the staff were going to reevaluate him sometime Friday. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rockets kept CP3's status as questionable until tip off Saturday night. Keep the hate and doubts coming NBA, it's slightly better than weight of expectations to succeed. CP3 clearly takes Curry/Green's antics personally and I tip my hat off to him. If he's out though, we'll have to hope someone in the rotation contributes enough to lead us to a W.
If we are the defending champs, they would stick with us next year, at least talk about it without a condescending undertone.
I would like to add to this: Kenny wanted to coach the Rockets after mcfail got fired. Les said **** off.
If we do get through it'll be "Steph was injured" ""Iggy missed big games" "Fully Healthy Rockets Defeat Injury Ridden Warriors" They only hate you when you become relevant
I watched the post-game show and didn't think they disparaged the Rockets win at all. Why are people so freakin sensitive? Do you realize that they are saying what most people think? Are they wrong? YES! But that's because the Rockets are doing something very unexpected. How many people thought the Rockets would be us 3-2 by holding the warriors to under 100 points twice playing a bruising physical defense that hasn't really been seen in the modern basketball era???
