He also played more minutes plus several overtime games in the playoffs... So yes, it's a big difference. Compare that to last year when Harden actually averaged MORE free throw attempts in the playoffs compared to the regular season. The refs were not giving Harden calls this year in the playoffs.
"[The ball] is not going to stick in anybody's hands." fire mchale!!! oh that was matthews, nm. =( things are not going to change anytime soon.
Surprise surprise the Spurs has a core that's been together for the majority of their careers, one of the best coaches in the league (if not the best), and team chemistry the Rockets would be lucky to match if we kept the core of our players together for the next few years.
Spurs core has also been together for years and years, and this was Houston's 1st year. Not making excuses , but of course it would be easier to defend us than the Spurs. To me it just sounds like the Blazers are trying to find and excuse to feel better about being down 3-0.
Man, you run the offense through James and Dwight. While Matthews was super effective against James, they had no answer for Dwight later in the series. Truth, we just couldn't overcome starting the series down 0-2 at home, thanks to two transcendent performances by LMA. The more Slowpez keeps bringing up the Rockets series, the more I'm hoping for a sweep.
Spurs not only run more offensive schemes, but they have more talented players. Look at Duncan, Manu, Parker, Mills, Belinelli, Diaw, and Leonard. All SEVEN of these players can score in multiple ways - shoot 3s, midrange jumper, slash & cut, and layups. Then you have the role players - Green, Bonner, Splitter - who are great at what they do which is post-ups or shoot 3s. Not only do Rockets run less offensive schemes, but our players are very limited in their ability. In my opinion, Harden and Parson are the only two player with various offensive weapons. Then the others: Howard - post-ups and dunks Asik - dunk only Lin - average 3 pt shooter, slash and drive to the basket Beverley - poor 3 point shooter, occasional drives Casspi- 3pt Garcia - 3pt Daniels - 3pt Jones - average post-ups Montejunas - poor post-up player, shoots 3s If you look at this roster and you look at this Houston roster, how will you design your defensive schemes. Hmm....let's see. Defend the 3!!!! Let Howard get his. If Rockets start missing 3s then no matter what Howard does, Houston won't win the game. And if Howard does end up changing the result by his sheer force, then foul him and make him earn it at the FT line. It's really that simple.
what was it that oarsons said about us playing a different brand of basketball when a certain sticky was missing? We can play like that. However, you need a coach with cojones to rise up and DEMAND it from everyone. Mchale has proven he can't get fired so he has nothing to lose.
Beverley hit a higher three point percentage than Lin but he's a poor three point shooter and Lin is average. Makes sense. The problem with the Rockets wasn't their offense,they scored plenty of points. It was their defense.
Only by a slight margin. Both are in their mid 30 percentile. If you think the only problem with the Rox is our defense then you are delusional. Our holes are far greater than just that. The whole purpose of this thread is to highlight how stagnant and predictable our offense is. And yes, our defense sucks too.
Yeah, they're getting swept and making excuses that have nothing to do with their ability or effort, laying blame on the team they beat (barely), us. Why do you do this to yourselves? One thing for sure, if there wasn't a rivalry before, these jackasses are making sure the Rockets reconsider that for next season, with all these deflections and insults.
I sure hope our GM is watching this series....really shows the flaws in Houston's system..or lack of a system
Our system is basically let Harden run wild on offense (read: iso) and dump the ball to Dwight on the low block. Everyone else get the hell out of the way or shoot 3s. And...don't worry about playing defense. It's all about who can score the most points.
The difference is that Harden didn't drive nearly as much in the playoffs due to the way Portland was playing him. Portland kept two big men in the paint and overplayed Harden to the outside (usually his left) which forced him to the middle and into the two big men. During the regular season 33.1% of Harden's shots were from within 5 feet of the baket. In the playoffs only 23% of his shots were from within 5 feet of the basket. The less Harden drives then the fewer free throws he'll shoot.
Rockets are more talented and can do more than what you just wrote. Biggest difference is the Rox coaching sucks and can't maximize talent. If they ran more pnr and less post-ups/freelancing, they'd be more efficient. If they incorporated off-ball movement to confuse the defense, they'd be dangerous.
I hate to say this, but most NBA offenses are a lot closer to the Spurs offense than to the Rockets offense. Some may be intrigued by our ("Moreyball") philosophy.... But most teams try to emulate the Spurs offense. And discount our system as nothing more than a gimmick. (Former coaching great Pat Riley amongst them.)
