I agree with you that this was a great showing for our players. Rockets obviously have players that want to win and are capable of contributing. I think some of you guys are confused by why people are angry.. no one expected Rockets to win, but when it was there for the taking it seemed there was no effort from the coaching staff to take it. Like you said: "expectations should be altered." Rockets were totally in this game late Expectations for this game were blow out, then the Rockets came out and played great, expectations changed when we saw Rockets could hang with GSW down 3 starters. It just seems there is no plan if Harden or Dwight are out of the game. "Shoot threes" is not an adequate adjustment when faced with injuries.
***Sorry meant to this post in the GAME thread*** 4 games in 6 nights with light travel against a very good team is very challenging especially with 3 starters injured however the Rox are a very young & Dynamic team. In the second half: when shots aren't falling and some calls aren't made, the Rox must attack more which will also create better and wider looks all around. Better D & Rebounding becomes even more important as well. Not playing Black much or even Dorsey in the second half is a head scratcher... Playing HarDen soo many minutes consecutively and all of the second half considering this recent stretch of games shows minimal confidence in the bench. Sometimes plants need some water
But threes are really efficient. They are being guarded? Well then do lay ups. Right? It's that easy. We don't need screens, picks, down low touches, cutting to the basket. The only thing that is saving Mchale is talent.
DMo, and he played pretty well all things considered. Ariza and Pop basically lost the game as much as I love them.
Oh ok. We are doing regular ritual losing. Patterson and Scola playing center and let Dally and Camby ride the bench.
Well to be fair he shouldn't be out rebounded by either player but they definitely sucked more tonight. This Rockets team will be fine. Sounds like you don't enjoy our victories due to your dwelling in the past. Sorry.
So I guess Pops is also a terrible coach since he too just sat there as we ran circles around the spurs, although they were missing 2 starters... T_Man
difference between the spurs game and this one, is spurs didnt have a chance, we did. I would have sat harden alot sooner
Down 3 starters and still kept it close. Without Howard, we had no PnR which has been a huge part of our success. Can't really complain too much about McHale tonight. He played his best with the hand that he was dealt.
We really lack depth and in this game it showed. It should have been apparent watching the amount of minutes our starters have been playing. Get Dwight some help!
Pretty unfair to expect McHale and the coaches to come up with an alternative game plan after they just found out Howard was not going to play. We haven't practiced a lot of offense yet. I'm sure the coaches will realize they need to put in more schemes as the season goes on.
Pops was doing it to evaluate his bench. Testing them out. If that's what McHale was doing then great. But I highly doubt it.
Does Mchale have an anti ESP device? Strange you can read Pop's mind and not our coach. Or your abilities only work when you feel he did something wrong?
Pops was resting Duncan and Ginobili.. it was planned, he was not evaluating his bench.. McHale was playing the players he had and as others have stated Howard was a last minute scratch. Some of you guys are just freaking ridiculous with your accusations after a loss.. McHale has had his share of screw ups and dumb coaching, but last night was not one of them. T_Man
He should always have a back up plan. In fact its more than that. He should be able to react, adjust, and even predict somethings. Most people are blaming the lose because McHale couldn't identify that harden was out of it from the early 3rd quarter to the last second. Lets say harden was exhausted ? You have to deal with it and make that sub. If he was lazy, even more so to sub him
McHale was evaluating his bench because he had no choice. That is what generally happens to teams that are missing three starters. And the bench did OK. That wasn't the Sixers out there last night people. It was one of the five best teams in the NBA this season.