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

OP has a point. This team is missing a Madmax or Mario Elie, let alone the greatest of them all, Hakeem. Besides his bb skills, Hakeem was one tough sob.

 

I remember back in the days when you had D. Wilkens going against Jordan, Bird against Magic, Miller against Jordan, Dream against Shaq,,LOL yall get my drift. These Superstars didn't shy away from the spot light, they embraced it. Some of these Superstars of today are not cut from the same cloth.

OP I feel ya bro, I am a big fan of Harden but da** joker didn't want any against the Pacers and Thunder. When these players play each other I expect a good showing from them. I look forward to seeing these players battle it out. My thing is Harden is best friends with both Paul and Kevin so why are you playing scared.

 

This.

You do not measure toughness when things are going well. It is when your backs are against a wall that you find out if you have it in you to overcome whatever obstacles.

 

Should send him a message by giving him a nice hard foul and see how he reacts.

 

And yet the Rockets shoot a ton of free throws, which are usually created by running into or through people.

I cannot believe there is a big freak out just because they lost the fourth of 4-in-5 over Christmas to one of the best teams with clearly the second best player in the world.

Not to mention this team has a ton of new players and has not been at full strength for a single game this year. We know the Rockets will be in the playoffs, so no need for these Chicken Little threads until March at the earliest.

I wonder what the GARM would have been like for those games after the Drexler trade and Dream missing with an injury. Have patience people.

 

Would love to have Rondo on this team. He will bring that toughness that we lack. He will also run the offense like a PG should.

 

Patrick Beverley IS a junk yard dog...as much as any other player we have had on the team.

Honestly, I'd love if we had another gritty veteran player, especially in the front court -- but this team does not have a hole in that regard. Rather they were playing the 4th game in 5 nights, and have injuries -- in particular Beverley.

I mean, yeah, more tough minded players is always a welcome thing, and we definitely need to turn Asik into something to compete for a championship, but we DO have a junk yard dog, and this is not a particularly soft team -- just a tired one missing their toughest player due to injury.

 

I'm sorry your wrong, this is what someone who does not play or has never played basketball for a team thinks. Yes there is a such thing as soft, guys will push you around and bully you out there. The minute they smell fear or see it in your eyes. I don't know what kind of sheltered life you have lived but in this world but bullies don't only bully in high school, bullies will bully you anywhere they can.

If you are standing between Kevin Durant and a ring, Kevin Durant will do his best to knock you on your ass and send a message making sure you know, he has got your number. It is not just about making shots, on the court guys will talk about your wife your mother anything to get in your head. The moment you start making excuses and believing that they are better than you, you have already lost. That is the difference between potential and realization. Dmo would average 25 points in the D league but why not in the NBA. BECAUSE THE GUYS ARE TOUGHER IN THE NBA. We all know that Dmo can shoot but why is he missing open threes? Because right now he is mentally weak, like most of the the team, THAT IS WHY YOU NEED A GOOD COACH.

In order to be a man a real man, a mentally strong man you have to focus on your goal and stick to it and know no matter what no one is going to beat me. We don't have a team that is strong minded and passionate. They just want to throw up shots and laugh and joke but when it gets really tough, they will fold. That's is why weak teams don't make it in the playoffs you can have the best offensive game in the league but you will not win a ring if you are soft.

 

Indeed, Barkley call Blake Griffin soft all the time because he allows jokers to bully him. The game is mental, get under a joker skin and that's a wrap.

 

Damn...I completely forgot about Bev. He is our tough guy.

 

Melo is soft, lol.

 

I think Lin needs to get a technical or bark at the refs maybe they will notice how he gets hammer inside. Like Harden Parsons Lin n Jones none of them gets physical when the other team is playing physical. They are too soft in my opinion. Like when durant went for dunks harden didn't step in and he should have fouled him instead he didn't have a foul yet so why not just take a charge or foul. And parsons too he didn't give an attitude of I can do better no one drove in just Lin. And he got hammer w no call. He should have barked at the refs so he could stop the play and get a tech. He just whines like a kid. And jones too he should have fouled ibaka on one of those dunks. Or idk they look like they are sleeping when the other team gets pump up. I know it's just a game and we are very inconsistent w our effort especially harden but at least show something in the court.

 

We need kg to slap our players in the locker room.

 

WE ARE NOT SOFT!!!!!!! WE PLAYED 4 GAME IN 5 NIGHTZ AND IT HAPPENED TO END AT OKC HOME COURT!!!! WE WILL GET OUR REVENGE AT TOYOTA CENTER. HARDIN WILL GET 40PTS, LIN 30PTS,DWIGHT 30 PTS 20 REB, PARSONS 25PTS, TJONES 25 PTS. WE WILL SHUT DOWN IBAKA AND PERKINS AND JEREMY LAMB WILL NOT SCORE A SINGLE POINT, I PROMISE YOU CLUTCHFANS, JUST GIVE "CHANCE" A CHANCE???

 

It's not a matter of Harden not wanting any or shying away.

It is a matter of how they defend him well, and how he needs to figure out a way around that. So it is mental... but not that he's shying away but rather in the chess sense... his move, if you will.

You'll note, this was the case last year as well against the Thunder. He had two games - one in regular season and one in the playoffs - where he just dominated. But on the rest he struggled. When he was good against them last year, it was because his 3 was hitting great. Whereas lesser teams and defenders might bite a little harder when James is just so-so on his three, the Thunder don't and seem more content to let him shoot his way into a "bad" night. This works double for the Thunder or Pacers because they put solid, long defenders on him, and then have great backup paint defense. But if James is hitting that three, then they're screwed, because now he's feeling it. And he either goes off from there (7-8 one game, 7-9 the other from 3 in the games he went off against OKC last year), or that long-pesky defender comes up, and James can then get by him with a much more open middle of the floor to do his thing.

In any case, his 3 has been off all year, and short of adding a "third" halfcourt offensive wrinkle to his game that is effective - post-ups, off-screens, whatever... he's going to really need to work on that three. He's 27.7% from three in December, and just barely over 30% overall. Back to time management... this is now his second season at 38+ mpg... 2nd in league per game currently.

I really think James wanted his post game to be his next option if you will. And he's tried it a bit. But (1) it still needs work, and (2) with Dwight, I don't think he's had the ability to work on it as much, since if they're going to go to the post, might as well feed Dwight.

What I think James could benefit at least a little bit from is a couple of Kevin Martin-esque plays. Coming around a couple of picks, that sort of thing. This isn't necessarily to get him an open shot to hit, as he isn't a catch and shoot guy, but it would nonetheless be much easier to then run a play off that, where his defender at this point has either switched so he has a different guy on him, or spent the last 5 seconds running around picks and is mentally thinking "what next". Take the Harden-Dwight pick and roll. Instead of just going into it from scratch, why not run Harden off a double baseline backscreen, with Dwight as the second screener, so Harden catches the ball near a wing three spot, and then have Dwight immediately come out for a pick and roll off that. Who will be guarding Harden? Who will be on Dwight? It should create some defensive confusion.

I know McHale can run those sets... he did them quite well with Martin. Less clear if he's even attempted to try it with Harden.

 

Exactly, Charles Barkley may not be the smartest man, but when you are his size and you can average 30 ppg by posting up and lead your team to the WCF, you are tough. Dwight Howard hits a high percentage of free throws in practice but not during the game why?? Because he is thinking to much. Mental weakness will get you every time. They are playing soft and that is on the coach.

 

McHale has to open up the offense like that 4 sho. Run him through screens so these teams can't shut him down like.

 

The team appears "soft" to some people in losses largely as a matter of fan fiction. People like to attribute game results to profound inherent personal traits when they are often a matter of luck, schedule, fatigue, physical injuries, etc.

When a team wins, fans talk about how guys have positive traits (clutch, tough, calm, feisty). When a team loses, fans talk about how guys have negative traits (soft, crazy, whiny, headcase).

People love those "JYD" types but there is only so much this type of guys can do. You mostly need guys who can play basketball really well, no matter the personality.

Just look at the current landscape of the NBA, some of the guys with the biggest "JYD" reputations are not doing much to help their teams stop losing and looking horrible with some frequency while doing so: Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans, Kevin Garnett just among guys in one city. Chicago Bulls, probably the ultimate JYD team with a JYD coach, has has their share of ugly losses in which they had a hard time looking tough, too.

 

AB didn't give up.

 

Care to explain why Dwight shoots really good in practice and not in game. If it's not mental toughness then what is it.