Why are we such a soft team in losses? Where is our JYD?

SOFT. S-O-F-T

Yeah, we need a champion, a tru warrior!




Instead, we got these soft-jump-shooting-three-pointers-no-defense-no-toughness-players who roll over like dogs when adversity hits. Weak.

 

This mentally weak team went into San Antonio and swept them. I just really think it was fatigue. Combined wit the fact that Kevin Durant is unstoppable, He has a demonaer this year that I havent seen before.

 

But in San Antonio, things were going well for them. They were playing well.

You can only measure toughness when things start going wrong.

 

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

-MLK Jr.

 

Yeah I'm not saying play angry talk smack the whole game, but Durant & Paul G. Tried to prove a point against the rockets, they wanted to show people what a real SUPERSTAR looks like.

when George did that backwards dunk after ripping harden he didn't have to do that, but he did it to make a statement just how Durant told mchale " harden can't hold me" embarrassed him to his coach even though they're friends off the court.

Perkins probably was in Howard ear also, he hasn't shot a jumper early in the shot clock since pacers preseason game.

 

Didn't this team go 3-1 on 4 games in 5 nights and pull out 2 of those games in the 4th quarter? They are allowed to stink in a game. All teams have breakdowns of some type, even the good teams.

I think basketball is about hustle and grit, it's not football or hockey where you hit guys to send a message. And too much trash talking doesn't make for good basketball. Go out there, make plays, get steals, get rebounds, get the 50/50 balls. It's a physical game with a lot of contact but not a collision game. Hustle and play hard, but this idea that guys have to be tough guys is a load of garbage to me. The Spurs were a bunch of relative gentlemen and won championships though you could argue that Pops was their tough guy.

 

Kind of funny. Previously we had a bunch of effort and hustle guys that never gave in but we lacked talent. Now our team is as talented as any but lack effort.

 

Good observation. This team is not mentally tough and is soft. You can't take it lightly when the Clips, Pacers and OKC last night took a huge dump on you. People keep saying "Well they beat the Spurs twice". The more I look at the Spurs, maybe they aren't the contender people think they are. Spurs have yet to beat a "contender" themselves this year (have lost against the Clips, Rox twice, Portland, Pacers and OKC). The best players on this team Howard and Harden don't possess the nasty streak that a lot of the great ones do. Not saying they need to be ass holes but dammit, the teams are taking a huge dumb on you and insulting you in your face and they are just cowarding away like punks. Very frustrating to see and hard to have faith in a team getting over the championship hump when their best players have that type of mentality.

 

The Spurs are mentally tough. They never get frustrated and play out of control. They are disciplined. They put their head down and go to work.

Often times, a "player's coach" has an undisciplined team.

 

Did Lin quit after playing ineffectively for 3 quarters in 2 games or did he come back and make big plays and help the team win? Didn't Harden come back in the 4th quarter and make big shots? I think Lin is as tough as Beverley, he bangs with the big men and plays bloody a lot of the time, he just has a different style about him. I've seen Harden talk trash with Kobe when he was on OKC and take a nasty hit to the head from MWP. I don't see Harden backing down to anyone, he just needs a better effort on defense. But offensively, he doesn't back down. Parsons getting those offensive rebounds and showing determination banging with those guys was also showing grit and determination. The guys ran out of gas and just didn't have anything in the tank. I'd throw out the last game for that reason. But they've been resilient and pretty determined and at times gritty throughout this season.

 

Bev is 6'1 - 6'0 without shoes. But overall, I agree with the OP.

 

They're much more experienced and the discipline may just flat out come from Pop and his coaching staff.

 

Continuing to play hard while only down a few points late in the game and pulling out a win is a lot different than if you hit a stretch where you are getting your ass totally kicked.

So far, the Rockets have thrown in the towel if they start getting hit hard.

 

I thought Melo was soft?

 

The first game looked like a classic loss. Yes, they played great most of the first half. They stunk up the 3rd quarter and got behind in the 4th.
See gameflow here.

Again, it would br nice to have more toughness on this team, but it's such an arbitrary thing to complain about. Toughness correlation to winning is currently non-measurable, and as a casual fan, I don't see a huge correlation. Yes, it's nice to point to a tough player on some successful teams... but that type of analysis easily ignores all the crappy teams that have tough players. If Demarcus Cousins was on a winning team, you could point to his attitude and say its toughness. On the Kings, it's just kind of crazy.

If I have take-aways from losses like this, it is almost universally about: (1) style... what does the team do if it isn't hitting it's 3s. (usually pound the post, but Dwight and Jones both were horrible too), (2) coaching... principally with regards to lineups, use of timeouts, and plays - especially out of timeout plays, (3) schedule... did the Rockets get out-scheduled (definitely a factor here)... and if so, back to coaching, anything coaches could do to gradually factor tired legs into their coaching over the long-term *why did Harden and Parsons both play 30+ minutes last night, whereas Dwight was taken out midway through the 3rd not to see the floor again... would have done the same with James just from a rest standpoint.. and Parsons from a back standpoint)

The Rockets play the Thunder again on the 16th. But be realistic. It's a home game which helps.. but it is ALSO the second game of a back to back, with the first game against the Pelicans in NO. The Thunder, once again, will not be on a back to back. Oh, and the 3rd time they play the Thunder, though not in a back to back, it will be the third game in a string against the Pacers and Blazers (and having just played the Clippers and Heat as well). It'd be great to be the 72-10 Bulls and not have schedule impact the team at all... but take schedule, injuries, and some legitimate lineup issues, and you get what happened.

A back to back, on the road, 4th game in 5 nights, and absolutely NO ONE showed up.

 

There should be a system when a team loses by over 20 points they get 0.5W deducted and 1W for over 30 points. The fans doesn't deserve to watch teams play like that especially when you paid to watch it.

 

Shout out to the reasonable one.

And not turn this into a different topic, but playing style and adjusting to the schedule both fall under coaching. You can be an elite athlete, but playing 40 mins a night for 4 out of 5 nights in this system is effing tiring. Something McHale doesn't seem to agree with based on his "logging" statement and the fact that our rotation seems to consist of 8 players.

 

Physical teams like the Pacers and Thunder killed us on effort alone.

I'll give them a pass in the last game. Tired legs.

 

Yes, my complaints are usually more about coaching than anything... though that said, I am more positive on Mchale than most on this board. I actually like him better then Adelman and JVG. He seems to have a great repoir with his players, focuses equally on both sides of the court, and is willing to try things out. He's been as quick / quicker to use rookies/young players as JVG (or Adelman). he seems more likely to stick with what's working then to go back to the starters, as he's done a couple of times this season to success. But I do absolutely HATE the heavy minutes our starters get, and do think the play-calling is lackluster, which manifest itself in out of timeout situations, which are so-so.

Last night in particular, though I would have been much quicker to make a sub in the first quarter. As in, the first 3 minutes. This factors in the 4th game in 5 nights. And since the Thabo-Harden matchup seems to get Thabo off, I would have subbed Jones/Harden fairly quickly for Casspi/Brooks. This would have created a pretty small lineup, definitely susceptible to rebound problems...but the Rockets couldn't get a stop anyway. Brooks-Lin-Parsons-Casspi-Howard as a quick way to mix up the offense and throw a bit of caution to the wind defensively.

As a general rule, I'd like to see just a little bit more smallball, really... principally with more of it at the 1/2 spots. I'm not as concerned about Casspi at the 4.. it just doesn't seem like we get as much of that 2 PG lineup we've seen in the past, which can be very successful (as a team like Phoenix is demonstrating). I'd love to see more Lin/Brooks/Harden action.

 

stylistically, a team that needs a "stretch" power forward, shoots a lot of 3s, and runs a lot just doesn't fit the "badass" mold.