[Shams] Rockets balance of styles and stars to mark this summer in Houston

What this series has shown, if anything, is that every single game could have gone either way/ They were all very close games. They favored the Rockets to win on the assumption that them losing Durant makes them much weaker. While it may have been true that they might be weaker, Warriors were still left with a core that has won championship. They assumption was rather simplistic

What I was also saying is that if CP had had a better series, some of the games could have swung the other way in out favor, which although not guaranteed, is generally a good assumption. Star players come to pay, team wins. For example, if CP was good throughout the series, we could have stolen one of the two games in Oakland. And if he has not been horrible in the 4th quarter of game 5, we could have won that game as well.

Yes, Harden could have played better in game 6, and we could have had a game 7 but my point being that if CP had played better, it might have not even come to that.

 

the reality is both of them need each other. all this wanting to pin everything on 1 person or another isn't doing anything. Neither of them is winning a ship without the other. that's just the reality of where we're at with this team.

not really interested in playing the assumption games because that logic can be applied in so many different ways.

 

This is why the *groundwork* for the team culture has to be established early. CP has mentioned this many times in the past. Communication is very important. Once there is the initial established *trust* then players can have heated arguments and be able to overcome them because of the underlying trust that is there initially.

Highly competitive people will get angry in the moment. But they know it is coming from the right place.

 

Yes, thats the reality but if I have to chose between the two players to criticize, I am going to lean towards the one that showed up for only 1 game of a series that was pretty much the title decider series.

And I am not going to blame CP for his heart/attitude because he is as big a competitor I have ever seen.

Which is concerning because this means its age/health related, something that he has no control over, and something that is only going to get worse.

 

I have issues with both players. both of them could have done things that would have given houston a better chance at winning game 5 and 6. that also goes for capela being horrible for 95% of the series. house/green giving houston next to nothing. so on and so forth

 

Good. There was much to debate about that game, and no right answer despite what every individual might believe.

 

With the amount of issues listed above, it should not be a surprise that they lost to a team like the Warriors then.

One could even say that given all of the above, they overachieved.

 

I don't believe in your team playing bad as overachieved. especially when they just beat them two times in a row days before.

playing below standards doesn't qualify as overachieved to me

 

If they smile, people will **** on them.

If they cry, people will **** on them.

If they hug, people will **** on them.

If they don't engage, people will **** on them.

If they take responsibility, people will **** on them.

If they point out others' mistakes, people will **** on them.

They argue about how they should have played, people **** on them.

It seems the only acceptable reaction is one where they climb on the table in the post game interview and yell "WHY GOD WHY, I'M SO STUPID, FANS ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"

Give it a break people. Harden had a stellar series. Paul had a very good series for a 34 year old in mediocre shape. Bzdelik choked at a critical juncture. We had great luck in this series, the kind of luck that every champion needs. We could not complete the herculean task of defeating a more talented, legendary team that trashed a top 4 seed in the WCF.

The media is always out for blood with us, they see us as the anti-Warriors, the perfect nemesis in a well constructed story. Don't be a puppet for this whole thing.

 

Winning Cures everything but they are not winning enough in the Playoffs.

 

This is a little silly. I mean, if you really think of yourself as someone who "actually follows the sports and the teams", and that makes you "more knowledgeable" than Vegas odds makers, you should move to Vegas and become a millionaire.

 

That’s fair. Being just inside halfcourt makes easy for the defense to help off him. At the very least he needs to get to a corner spot where we have designated players standing still. I mean, as beat up as he most certainly is at points....30 years old ...letting someone (like CP has no clout) set him up for an open 3 couple times a game should be a no brainer

 

Having said that, if there is a micro window where Harden will not be mad if we trade Paul, do it RIGHT NOW for anyone other than John Wall and never look back.

In reality though, I doubt this has significantly affected their relationship.

 

Bballref has him a tad over 50% probability to get in currently.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob.html

 

Injuries????? (In my soulja boy voice) Paul was butting heads with doc rivers too

 

He was the face of the franchise. Let's not act like dwight's Howard Is first ballot

 

blake was never the face of the franchise. cp3 was by far the player that brought the clippers to relevance.

dwight has his negatives but he's accomplished much more both individually and as a team than blake has

 

If true, the way things played out, I guess Paul won the argument.

 

Bro Blake was the face of the clippers. I don't care for either one actually