Ibaka might sign here for cheap. Get rid of Gordon, Tucker, and House for Hartford. Thats 2 bigs who can stretch the floor and make things happen offensively and defensively. Sign some vets. Roberson? Tristan Thompson?
Yeah, after my post I realized that was the reason for the difference in numbers. I don't think we are on different pages here. I have just been seeing a lot of, "well its all WB's fault for ruining the offense" posts. They bother me, because I think they are an oversimplification. I totally agree that WB sucked in the lakers series and was a liability most of the time.
If you put Harden and WB aside and ask the rest of the team to win some games.... you know the outcome. If they could win you enough games, then you'd know the bench is a goldmine. Small ball or not.
Daryl Morey is one of the few things right with the Rockets. He went with micro ball only because it was the best way to hide Westbrook's [myriad] weaknesses. His hand was forced. Morey is not the problem. [And neither is Harden, to be clear]
Why do you keep associating Morey with smallball? The guy's first superstar signing was Dwight Howard....
they better bring shooting big or this **** will be unwatchable. Can you imagine 82 games of teams sacking off Westbrook and PJ covering 7footers?
I hate to break it to you. Our issue against the Lakers wasn't our small ball defense. It was the fact that our team didn't know what to do when Harden was double teamed and taken out of the games. Our players couldn't take advantage of the space. I put that squarely on Dantoni. They literally should have practiced playing 4 on 3.5, but didn't. Could you imagine if Dream got to play with a player with Harden's gravity and saw single coverage.
Glad the acclaimed NBA TV series, Moreyball , renewed.... Season 5 was epic... Hope season 6 picks up where it left off.... Gonna be funny watching it... And just as funny when it ends in tragic fashion again..
I want variance. Small ball can be our main package but I want god damn variety. Maybe have a big next season who can fit in a small ball line. But we absolutely need some bigs.
Because USA Today last week had Morey saying he wanted badly to keep MDA. He also recently said that small ball is here to stay no matter the coach (per ESPN). Just taking him at his word.
Double teams near the post causes a lot more mismatches and open looks than double teams out infront of the three point line. Defenses can cover the passing lanes much easier from where Harden walks into doubles. It wouldn't be as effective doubling Hakeem as often in the post area. Harden needs to try to avoid doubles and try to make it not so easy for him to get doubled.
Of course small-ball is here to stay. We're locked into Harden and Westbrook, and we have no draft picks. That doesn't mean Morey wants it. He simply recognizes that it's our only viable path to winning.
I'm fine with the continuation of small ball but for the love of God can we actually sign/acquire a legit 3 point shooter? You'd think a team that wants to shoot 40-50 3s a night would have employed a 3 pt specialist by now.
This isn’t exactly accurate. For the playoffs... % of Houston’s shots that were from 3 Westbrook ON : 48.2% Westbrook OFF : 59.7% Lakers series only Westbrook ON : 48.9% Westbrook OFF : 61.6% Clearly there is a difference in the shots we are getting. Offensive rating in the playoffs Westbrook ON : 100.5 Westbrook OFF : 111.3 Lakers series only Westbrook ON : 100.2 Westbrook OFF : 110.4 He had a profound negative effect on the offense.
Westbrook would’ve tanked the KD Warriors if he played big minutes. I really believe they’d have won zero titles if current Westbrick got 30 MPG.