We had a chance up until the final minute and a half. Mental mistakes at the end (bad fouls, missed rebounds) coupled with Miami's strong defense and our 1-dimensional iso plays = a Miami victory. We fought through being lethargic and were in it right up until the end. Would have liked to see more ball movement in the last two minutes of the game. Seemed like Miami got a lot of calls but they played aggressive D Noticed that Anderson is a pretty good defender. Pat was back to his old ways, not physical enough, not aggressive enough on the boards. TD took some bad shots. Asik continues to be our 2nd most valuable player (can you imagine how many more losses we'd have without him?). We need more out of the rest of our guys, Harden had to do too much. Morris better learn how to do more than just camp out at the 3pt line; its getting old.
my only concern is when playoffs start and rockets make it every game will be ball pressure like tonight. either mchale will have to come up with ways to help jlin or we'll be in for a short playoff series.
Guys know what the cause of the loss is for tonight's game? No, it's not Lin. It's the damn TOs again...that 6 difference in TOs was big in close games like this. Rockets edge Miami in rebounds, fast break points, and points in the paint. Anytime when you have 6 players registering the same or more TOs then Lin (or you primary guard)....it's a bad sign. The loss was due to other players trying to be the point guard....
Miami coach had figured way to kill Linsanity and he used the same method to contaminated Lin again. They deliberately double team at Lin and then stop him at the close-rim range by forcing him to dish out or foul. By doing so they actually stopped flow of Rockets (and Knicks too) has. This is why when TD was at the court, Heat was actually losing, because they did not do double on TD, there are much more open space for offense. I really think McHail will figure this out and have Lin take few fake shots and get the ball to someone who is open. However I can honestly say our coach team is not that intelligent nor are they quick to act.
yes but you need to be picky about who this superstar is and how they fit with Harden. With the new CBA you can really only sustain two max contracts.
Listen, Rockets did great. You know this is an unfair game. Rockets B2B, Heats well rested. I am surprised the Heats only won by 1 shot. Just take of it if today's game was fair, both west rested or b2b, then the outcome will be different.
To tell you the truth, I don't think anyone can stop our offense. Except of course , the back end of a b2b, and flying 2 hours on the back end of a b2b, that can definetely slow our offense.
This is something Lin has to over come. Probably he will figure out something during the summer. He still have plenty of room to improve.
I thought we did great fighting back, BUT I still & always DISAGREE when Mchale has harden running the offense more than Lin in ANY GAME...It seemed as soon as the game started, Harden would be the focus in running the offense NOT so much for Lin. Harden can score BUT relying on a harden offense wont be NEARLY as effective in WINNINGS as oppose to Lin running it...The ball moves amazingly when Lin is the focal point. When Harden is in control of the ball players stand around and watch harden...thats not going to cut it. Now lets face it, the Heat are a bad mup bc of Lebron and wade, parsons has no chance in guarding Wade and Harden wont stop Lebron. Also, the Heat seem to get so many calls its ridiculous. 25+ fouls called on the Rox, 16 were called against the Heat??
True. Only the team can stop itself....could of won game but on to the next as the Portland game is going to be critical.
I don't think Lin/Harden have quite figured out how to play off each other in close games. They do really well when we're killing teams but our offense doesn't know what to do in close games, besides overly relying on Harden.
Parson's didn't contribute much beyond the 13 pts. He was 6/9 shoot which was great, but had 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 TO, and 5 PF. Factor all that in, it's a bit below average. McHale only used a 7 man rotation tonight. I don't count Aldrich who only played 5 mins. Harden was spectacular. Omer had his usual double double type night. Lin was a focus of Miami's D which partly explains his quiet night - he was far from horrible, however. Patterson had 3 REB in 35 mins. Morris, TD, and Anderson was 6-21 collectively. I think our lack of bench production (or bench usage) was what did us in.
This is just ridiculous. This is the guy who dropped 38 on Kobe and the Lakers and went basket for basket with him all while gloating on the court last season. He had a below average game tonight but he wasn't "scared" the Heat just stifled him enough with pressure defense to where he couldn't get comfortable or find a rhythm.
McHale will get this team in shape for a huge run after all star break I;m sure we will make the playoffs and make a statement
Is it really effective for our point to run up the court and hand it to parsons? Because I think i saw that same setup the entire game. Talk about predictable offense tonight.
I'll say it again, Lin needs to play PG/ be the primary playmaker once they trapped Harden in crucial possession of the game..
Honestly, it's not a major issue. The number of teams that can defend the PnR like the Heat is really short. Let's see... there's OKC... and OKC... and uh, OKC. Care to name another? It sure isn't the Clippers, SAS, Memphis, NYK, Brooklyn, Chicago, etc, etc. And that defensive advantage disappears when you have another top end scorer that can punish them for double teams. Unfortunately, right now the Heat have the quickness and length to double Harden and Lin and still be okay because the only players that can generate their own shot are Harden, Lin and Parsons. Add another piece in the off season and the balance becomes very different.
