We might be able to squeak out of this series, but we're not going past the next round without him that's for sure.
I'll just say that if the Rockets don't beat the Thunder, it's not because Westbrook wasn't able to play. This team has to make shots. They can beat anyone if they make their wide open shots. Anyone.
That is true. But the Rockets have built their offense around three pointers and layups. So it applies to the Rockets more so than any other team. This team shouldn't be going 0 for 10-20+ from 3 when that's what this offense is supposed to excel at.
It's gotten to the point where I'm fatigued of asking the question. I know we should, so we will, but it's pretty clear that we're not getting the real story. At this point, he plays when he plays.
they lost by three despite being outshot from the free throw line by 18 and despite having a 3-23 or whatever stretch from three. they lost the prior game by blowing it. They couldn’t inbound the ball. They gave up a 3 wide open when it was the one shot they should t have given up. They went 1-2 from the free throw line. And their best player fouled out at the beginning of OT. all that said... the above randomness is likely to continue cause they have these problems regularly. Dumb mistakes. Inability to protect leads. Lack of real inbound plays. And likely to continue to be outshot from FT line ... whether fair or not. so that being the case... yeah they need to hit their threes lol. If Russ comes back that changes. Also I think they have less of those dumb problems against the Lakers as the Lakers don’t have the same “Helter Skelter” esque style the Thunder have adopted. That “underdog” style that the Celtics seem to okay with as well. It’s part of the reason I’m not sold on the Lakers.
I’ll repeat my mantra....until MDA and Morey are gone, we will never win a championship. Once gone, we can get Harden the coaching he needs and the players needed (w/out Morey). One of his greatest talents was the relentless alley-oops to Capela. We hopefully get to see more of that (with tall players again) and less passing up open layups for Tucker bricks at crucial moments of the game. What a poorly run team with such a rare talent in Harden.
If they play the same way without having the common sense to attempt easier shots then we will lose. Schroder out they looking like prime Sleepy Floyd.
lol. This is so spot on. does ANY Rocket fan at this point feel good or n any way when any of Tucker, Covington it EG launch a three?
It has to be serious because if we all know Brodie if he can play he would play there would be no keeping him out. Believe that.
it's so frustrating. If it's that serious why is he running around shooting and doing 2 on 2 drills in the pre-game.
I agree about MDA. Not Morey. If you look at this team, there are a collection of players that no one (or few people) wanted playing key roles. PJ Tucker. Jeff Green. Danuel House. Ben McLemore. We are not the Clippers or Lakers where big name free agents want to come to play here and are willing to take pay cuts. And with our committed money to our top three (harden, russ, ego), that is all we will ever be able to surround them with: low cost players. I'm not sure many GMs in this league do as good a job at finding bona fide talent, especially with the financial constraints he's working under. MDA on the other hand is fine in the regular season, but in the postseason is incapable of making adjustments. He sticks to lineups that are regular season and does not budge when people have a hot hand. He calls no plays when the ship is sinking and will sit idly by when the team misses 3 after 3. The only way he ever wins a championship will be if the players are so talented that they overcome his inability to make in-game adjustments or adjust his roster decisions.
This is how they have handled it for years. They are evasive, they often under play the severity of injuries or lie about whether a player is injured. James Harden played for a month injured this season and it wasn’t even discussed or acknowledged. All I was told is the concern coming into the series was that his structural mobility was the big issue because it could cause a serious injury.
Get guys easy shots Harden has to work twice as hard and waste twice as much energy just to get a shot off smh.
That is the point. He shouldn’t have played the Spurs game. We sat him out back to backs this year but he AND Harden and Tucker are not young players anymore. If they are going to play 35-40 minutes, then they need rest games and don’t need to play in meaningless games. This is something that should have been addressed years ago but wasn’t and hasn’t. I do not understand how the Rockets can have such an intelligent GM and front office and still not fix this. MDA is brighter than 80% of the coaches in the league, he needs to be told to sit them.
