I'm so tired of losing games that we hold big leads in. Championship teams don't do this. Yeah there are times when teams get hot and a big lead can be lost but we do it consistently. Is it shot selection alone or is there more to this issue? If not corrected (which I have no faith that it will be because it's plagued us all season) this could be our downfall.
Gordon was the reason. Also the fact that you take out Green who was the best shooter last night and placed Gordon who shot and missed 4 open shots and then threw it away. And then was blown by twice really messed up the team's lead.
But in all seriousness... someone once said the following: We weren’t a regular-season team. Honestly, we used to give games away in the regular season. Mentally, it’d be like, Oh, we’re going to lose today. And then we’re like, We’re going to win five or six in a row to stay where we need to be. We had that ability because we were a veteran team, but at the same time we were an aging team, so we couldn’t play out for 82 games. That player's name was Kenny Smith. In 1995. Guess who won the championship that year... http://grantland.com/1990s-orlando-magic-oral-history/
When the opposing team cranks it up on defense and the Rockets don't get wide open threes we really struggle.
Doesn't bode well does it? Combined with a very likely matchup with OKC, it could be a horrible post season. Will see soon.
Foul when? They were up only 2 when Harden missed the 2nd free throw, so they couldn't foul. Had he made it and given them a 3-point lead, they almost certainly foul Westbrook before he dishes it to George in the corner. As for the Rockets blowing leads, that's part of the NBA. Even the championship Rockets teams(especially the 1994 one) were notorious for building huge leads and squandering them. Where do you think "Choke City" came from? Remember that game we won at Golden State earlier in the season when Harden hit that insane 3 and the team was missing CP3 and EG? The Warriors were up 20 that night. I think the real concern is that the Rockets can't seem to hold a lead against the Thunder. This is the 2nd game in a row they blew a massive lead to them. Maybe this is just a case where they're a bad matchup and we're better off avoiding them like the plague in the postseason.
Gordon was A reason. Our MVP 36 ppg scorer scoring 0 pts in the fourth was another reason. Harden in the fourth needs to find more unique ways to score. His fourth quarter efficiency for the season is **** and that worries me for the playoffs. He needs to call for more picks instead of straight isos to get better looks than step back threes. Also there were at least three times this game where Harden got an open look from a teammate and passed it up by letting the defense recover. Why?
Stop jacking up so many 3's with double digit 4th quarter leads. They live an die by the 3 and they will die by the 3 just like games 6 and 7 against GS. You don't see football teams airing it out with a late lead. Run a more conservative offense; higher percentage midrange shots and shots in the paint are just fine when protecting a lead.
Honesty I didn't see him passing as a negative. They were wide open looks that we will need when the double team everything Harden does in the playoffs. I can't be mad at someone when they almost scored 40 and was still looking for the best shot. And the Gordon not passing it to wide open Tucker at the last second because he said he wanted to play it safe was a big reason. Gordon needs to play on 15 points average for us to win a championship.
The Rockets offense is like the old Run and Shoot offense, at some point it is going to fail, you just hope those games are not as prevalent as the ones in which you are hot. It is not like a Popovich team where they are mentally tough, it is the opposite, more of a statistical dice role than a solid plan. DD
Last year was the only year I can remember where we consistently dominated teams all year. It's like that for every H-Town team for as long as I can remember. It's in the Houston DNA. You take the good with the bad.
do you guys realize that just about every team's fanbase feels this way ? its not easy to hold leads in the NBA, especially on the road. teams make runs. I'm disappointed they didnt execute better down the stretch of such an important game, but losing a double digit lead literally happens just about every game from every team. sometimes multiple times a game.
