People that think Kobe has has a better year than HArden have not watched much Laker basketball.. As if Kobe played ANY defense this year...lol.
Pretty much.... People are expected WAYYYY too much of this team. Start of the season people said they'd be happy with player development. Then it went along and said they'd be happy with playoffs. Then they said they'd be happy with the 6th seed. Then now they're talking about a 1st round upset? I like confidence, but people are forgetting how far we've outperformed expectations.
Can't believe we couldn't get one key stop or get over the -3 hump. You could see the Suns who are playing for nothing wanted it more than us. We are just an inconsistent young team with ups and downs. We have too many offensive guys that want the ball in their hands. Harden can be good but if he is pressured or double teamed, he's completely taken out of the game because he doesn't play defense. Jeremy, sometimes he doesn't play aggressive enough and demand to be THE PG. If Delfino wasn't hot tonight, it would have been a blowout. This loss is so disappointing considering we had so much to play for and FAILED!
Well you know people would criticize McHale for bringing back the starters after the bench got us back in the game.. The starters were sucking it up all game so why not see if the bench can close them out?
I think Harden is hurt and not 100% tonight and his game was off. Mchale should have rested him more and let Lin be the leader of the team.
The problem isn't falling out of the 6th seed, it's HOW you fall out of the 6th seed. Phoenix is pretty much a must win game, because IF we lose to the Lakers our record is TIED and they have the edge on Conference wins. In other words, win Pho, lose Lakers = 6/7, win Pho, win Lakers = 6, lose Pho, lose Lakers = guaranteed #8. So, with the Phoenix game being fully winnable overplaying Harden when his knee is banged up and he's playing like crap when other players were playing decently isn't the brightest idea. Sitting the #1 rebounder in Asik isn't the brightest idea. Asking the Starters to get you back in the game after sitting them when 8 points down with 4 minutes left isn't the brightest idea. Harden's poor play made winning tougher, McHale's poor substitutions basically made it impossible. We don't want Denver, but we certainly don't want OKC. Winning Phoenix puts us in the position to CHOOSE to tank. Losing Phoenix means that we MUST win in LA against the Lakers to even stay in 7th. Good luck with that with Home Cooking out in full force.
So what happened to just be happy with making the playoffs? I heard that plenty around here, but now everyone freaking out that we may have to play OKC. I agree that that would not be a good thing, but it is funny to see the flip flopping going on.
What a bunch of bull....you win by 21 pts last night against Sac and starters are resting...then you come out with no effort and stink the joint up and want to cry about b2b ? Wow, really ? We got punked by a team that cared about winning. And Asik and Lyn being in ? Asik looked like he didn't want to be there (last several games).
Honestly I am not sure about this one. If the bench got us close and the starters came in and widened the gap again, you know what would be the reaction. I am not defending the coach though.
If Grizzlies knock out Jazz earlier Wednesday, Lakers are already in. So maybe their intensity will be lessened, as they'll "only" be playing for seeding?
Look at the shooting of the backcourt. Lin 8-19 and Harden 5-18. That's appaling. That's 13 of 37 combine.
tell me you understand that we are doomed to face OKC as the 8th seed if we can't beat the Lakers on Wednesday.
Lin and the second unit brought up back in the game (with a lead). Why didn't Mchale take the risk and go with that line up instead of the bev/Parsons + second team lineup?
Here is unbiased analysis from a rockets only fan. Parsons is bull****ting. Something tells me he's not serious. Harden's knee is a major concern for me. Jones is the answer. I made a thread with that title I sure miss dragic and scola. Coaching found some energy early then Wat The Fack. When with the same bummed out crew. Delfino is what Brent Barry was to the spurs and more.
Most of the season bad games were rare from Harden but it seems like he's getting worse at the wrong time. Just in the last 10 games he's had shooting performances like 6-16, 6-24, 7-19, 2-10, 7-24, and tonight he's 5-18. He's having more terrible shooting games than good. Wonder if this is the mileage and long minutes finally catching up to him or something.
