So the Rockets were in a huge hole and came roaring back in the third quarter and the start of the fourth. They were killing OKC until we managed to tie the game. We then let off of the accelerator for some reason. We started trading buckets / misses with OKC. I know we are young but this team needs to develop a killer instinct. When we are outplaying a team as bad as we were OKC in the second half, we need to keep it up until the end of the game. Had we kept up the intensity we had when coming back to tie the game until the end we would have won. In game two we did the same thing. A dose of killer instinct would serve this team well and we would probably be leading the series 2 - 1 right now.
2 playoff series in a row harden choked in epic fashion 2 seasons in a row mchale's teams choked the final weeks with completely different rosters they are what they are.
Give them time. Some people just need the experience to overcome their nerve, e.g. LeChoke but that doesn't mean they aren't good.
Maybe too much instinct on this team haha, everyone was trying to force game-changing plays in the clutch and it probably cost us the game. Just look at the last play, when Delfino had the ball stuck in the corner, there was enough time for him to pas it to Parsons and, if necessary, for Parsons to swing it again to an open Harden or Garcia. Plays like this along with our "defense" was & have been our undoing this whole season. I can relate however to Harden sucking down the stretch, it goes 3 ways every time: waste the shot clock and chuck a three, drive and pass (a lot of turnovers), or , my personal favorite, attack the rim and flop which takes control out of your hands and puts it into the *gulp* ref's hands!
You were probably saying the exact same thing about lebron after his first couple of trips to the playoffs.
Maybe we should trade for ed reed. Hey, sometimes, other teams are just better. Any team with KD on it is just gonna be tough to beat. he's a beast. that being said, it seemed like when we had a chance to take the lead, the team would stand around waiting for harden to do something. Reminded me of the LA game--it's like we don't want to take it by the throat. fear of failure. fear of success.
The only instinct that is fostered this team is to shoot 3 point shots and not attempt to get into position for rebounds. It appears Asik has finally gone into the company line and stopped trying to get into good position to get rebounds as well.
I'd love to see your basketball resume there buddy... Talk about an indignant ass hole who is so pretentious that they must denigrate people on their own team of which they are a fan and active member of their online forum. Stop ****ing watching then.
It seems like it but the whole team needs to have a Killer instinct. I just felt going into this game like the young Rockets would care about what the media is commenting on the Westbrook injury and that they would feel bad to what happened and come out soft. Veteran teams would come out ready to attack and put the Thunder out early.
Really? How about the fact that he got some key boards down the stretch and the fact that he had 4 blocks from providing help side defense (leaving the reb's for the backside rotation)? He was constantly getting out of position because he was helping on someone who got beat off the dribble.... You and Pippendagimp should have your own little piss party on another website.. Perhaps Iwanttokillmyselfandmy****tylife.com would be better for you two.
Put your big boy pants on, criticizing a team with obvious flaws or a player with room to grow isn't the same as slamming him. I really like Asik, heck I consider him the most consistent player in his contributions this season. And as nice as him getting 4 blocks in a game are, he still wound up getting out rebounded and bullied underneath the basket. Granted it isn't all on him and usually he is battle 2 or 3 guys down there but we have not seen Asik's best either offensively or defensively this series. Part of it is like how you said, him stepping out to help but part of it is him running down the court after a shot just like the rest of them or half hearted attempt to get it especially early in the last game. Maybe he has an injury, I don't know but I know in this thread about "Killer Instinct" the reality is that most of players don't have it yet and Asik is no exception.
Put your Sherlock Holmes pants on and actually watch the game with a critical eye instead of slamming a player for something that is entirely 100% not true. He literally had the best box outs on our entire team throughout that whole 3rd and 4th quarter when he was playing. I just don't abide by the philosophy that he wasn't "in position" for rebounds. He was simply executing a game plan of providing help side. If we had 5 Omer Asik's on defense, we would be one Hell of a team. He's one of the only guys who actually consistently executes his assignment and follows game plans.
I like how so many people are expecting this young team to play like veterans that have been together for the last decade. This is their first year together and they will make mistakes. They are far more advanced as a team then they should be at this stage. Be happy that they made it this far and developed this kind of chemistry. At this point, you can only hope that they learn from their mistakes as it is always a learning process. Is it disappointing that the team will be ousted in the first round? Sure. Look at the bright side they shouldn't have even crack .500 when meeting each other less than a year ago. For all of you terrible fans out there, the Thunder, when they were still the Sonics, had an ending record of 20-62 the year they drafted Durant and 23-59 the year after before cracking .500 in their third year. If we can get some consistency and iron out some of the wrinkles, we WILL be the DOMINANT force in the West. Eat your heart out, LeBron!
