So far the Rockets under Morey have faced the Warriors 19 times in the playoffs only winning 5 times against them. Each time we've faced them its a brand new starting 5. How is Morey gonna improve this team to finally get over the hump and beat this team 4 out of 7 times in a playoff series?
Luxury tax savings was a no-show the first 2 games. Gonna have to really show up the rest of the series TBH.
Round up those Red Rowdies, Hakeem, Clyde, Tilman, Thaddeus, Chris & James in the Toyota Tundra/Sequoia! Better hit on those minimum signings! Can't have another offseason disaster where he misses on everything. "Who else was he supposed to sign?" @J Sizzle As for possible trades, Gordon, Tucker & Capela as possible assets. (Sorry, no one likes to part with fan favorites but you're gonna have to give to get.)
Eric Gordon is still signed for next year so that is a good to keep the core together for one more year. We need to find good 3 and d player who can rebound and has good wing span. Bring back Ariza for a year?
I would trade anyone but Harden for that All-Star in New Orleans. No, not that one. The OTHER All-Star.
Idk if I believe this anymore, which is what makes the current situation so frustrating. I do not believe the Warriors are appreciably better than we are -- like, I really don't. Game 1 was there for the taking and we lost last night by single digits, despite playing some of the worst basketball we've played in some time. I used to view the Warriors as insurmountable because of what seemed like a crazy talent gap, but they are definitely mortal. The Rockets had a legit shot at them and came out with insufficient focus/effort. Most of the mistakes last night were self-imposed, rather than a byproduct of something the Warriors were doing really well. Sucks.
I mostly agree, especially about the Warriors being vulnerable. While I think the talent gap is still there this year, their arrogance has made them sloppy, and that's why a Rockets team, playing well, should be able to take them down. Now if we can just get that "playing well" thing going.
At this point there isn't much that you can other than re-sign Rivers. If you want to make changes to the roster than you need to make a major trade. Capela and Gordon probably net the most. If you can't trade them for a star, then you need to trade them for lesser players who can fit the system a bit better or add depth. Otherwise, you just have to hope that Houston doesn't regress much next season while Golden State gets worse and other teams don't get better. (OKC(new coach)----Portland(Be healthy)----Denver(more experience)----Utah(trade for new PG)) But hard to see us trading Capela or Gordon if it's not for a better player. So I'd say that the best thing to do is to go all in on the luxury tax. Fill out bench with low ceiling/high floor guys. (Basically more players like Rivers) Don't go after guys who you think can outplay their contract. Go for guys that you know what you're getting. Go for vets who have been in the league for a while. Not guys still trying to find their place in the league. People who know what they're good at, and that stick to it. Develop House/Clark/Hartenstein for regular season depth. Hope that one can make the playoff rotation. Play them 20 minutes. Lower Chris and Harden's minutes to keep them fresh. I don't care if it drops you to the 4th seed. Try your best to help Harden by reducing his workload. His usage should be around 30% in the regular season, and shot attempts around 20 FGA per game, with about 9 3PA game. It's going to be hard because Harden doesn't have a true second option that can create for himself constantly. Gordon is streaky. CP3 can't do it anymore. Everyone else relies on Harden to create shots for them. Find a way to acquire a guy who can score 22 points a night next to Harden's 28+. Realistically, against most teams you don't need two 20+ ppg scorers. That's typically a luxury. But against the Warriors you do. They have three players who score 20+. We have one. If we find a way to get another one then that helps our chances extremely.
This is true, but the thing is: Houston has had insufficient focus/effort all season. What if this is just the make-up of the team? If the Rockets didn't have that problem then Houston would have won 57+ games, and would probably be playing some other team in the 2nd round. It really is a head scratcher, but I'm not there on the court so I can't explain why the Rockets let their opponents get so many rebounds and ect. I think that's just what the team is at this point, and it is self-imposed. It does suck. Both game 1 and 2 were there for the taking. Three straight turnovers to start game 2. Just awful. I will say that there are some talent differences. For example, the Warriors don't seem to have any players who are complete liabilities that also play a lot of minutes. We have Capela who needs to be played at least 24 minutes (half the game), and he will hurt us for almost all of those minutes. Who hurts the Warriors? Looney is their lead guy off the bench, and he plays about 14 minutes. The Warriors can live with Looney being a negative for 14 minutes if Capela is a negative for 27 minutes.