I'd like to see more of the Canaan ball. And possibly add someone who can drive, dish, and create off the dribble.
How does McHale continue to let Ariza and Beverly and now Smith try to create on offense Why can't he just grab them by their shoulders shake them really hard and scream "SPOT UP FOR 3 OR CUT TO THE BASKET, DO NOTHING ELSE!!!!!!111111111, DO NOT DRIBBLE, DO NOT TAKE CONTESTED SHOTS, JUST 3 AND D IDIOTS"
Why wouldn't you play Brewer Papa and Ariza? Ariza played 38 minutes, at one point the reasoning for it was that there was no one behind him, now there are 2 solid players behind him and they are still running him out there exactly the same way. There's no point in having depth if you refuse to use it.
This would require a coach that can recognize the deficiencies of our team and make adjustments accordingly, i.e. any average coach in the NBA. Unfortunately we have McHale. but hey it's the first 82 games that matter the most, who cares about those annoying games in May?
We have two plays. Post-up Dwight...or D-Mo if he is in. Or we just give it to Harden, and he drives to the basket to layup or kick it out for three, or my favorite, he iso;ates for 10-15 seconds and jacks it up.
I'm a terrible person to watch the game with. I get mad scream and tell every player on the tv to kill themselves or die slow. When we win I freak out and act like I was cool with the team the whole time and when we lose I act like I'm never goin to watch them play again. I would like to see more of Canaan though
btw anyone else bothered by the fact that Harden is playing almost 38 minutes a game again? Hasnt he shown the past two years that his body is not equipped for that kind of usage? Do we have to frigging wait till April for his body to break down?? Would the stathead please GET US A BETTER BACKUP SG?!?!?!?! or could the golem with the cheap suit please give SOMEONE, ANYONE else a shot at taking some of Harden's minutes?!?!
I hate to say it, but I'd move bev in a dragic deal. Yeah he's a pesky defender and is shooting the three well on the season, hustles....but he is super limited and I think we should move on to a player that can do more. Elite pgs are generally going to get theirs against him regardless. We need someone on offense to keep those guys honest. Dragic is a good enough defender, but is much better offensively. Terry/canaan are good enough back ups. Morey should move bev for dragic because mchale isn't going to play bev in a limited role like he should.
While McHale will take some blame, it's the players responsibility to play hard. I believe they will do better later. But it's dumb to have to sacrifice some games to learn that lesson.
I am frustrated about 2 things despite being a big fan of the team.... 1. Ariza's shot selection - not his makes and misses just his selection in general 2. No Kostas or Canaan.
What the Rockets were lacking was a post-up threat before Howard arrived. With him, that are got better, but it's still there since Howard doesn't have a back-to-the-basket game, and he is terrible passing out of double-team. This year, D-Mo got some play time, and finally showed his offensive skill the fans have been expecting. I thought this is a sign that the Rockets became a good playoff team from a good regular season team. Now with Smith taking over D-Mo's minutes, the team just went backwards.
Get. A. ****in. Point. Guard. Canaan not getting any mins because McHale won't play him when he's clearly better than Beverly offensively. Dwight has the post game of a 2nd string high schooler. Ariza shooting percentage is in the toilet. And Josh Smith is.........Josh Smith. Every game we drop will come back to haunt us for our inevitable first round playoff exit. Fin.
Knee-jerky frustrations I probably wouldn't post in any other thread -- 1. Bev is handling the ball WAY TOO MUCH lately. It made more sense to pair him w/ Harden last year, when you needed someone to compensate for Harden/Parsons/TJ's crap defense. With Harden's improvement on defense + Dwight, Ariza and either one of Smith/DMo, I'm not sure a defensive-minded PG is as pressing a need in the starting lineup anymore. In my mind, the only appeal of pairing Bev w/ Harden at this point is to let Harden create, which I don't mind. But Harden seems to be deferring to Bev and even Smith more and more these last few games, and I'm not sure why. Once the ball is across half-court, Bev should be looking for Harden and heading to the corner. Dassit. The more he dribbles, the less confident I become. 2. Tacking onto #1, nobody in the starting lineup moves off the ball. Look at the bench brigade w/ Brewer. I'm pretty sure we don't run any plays for him, and he almost never starts the play with the ball in his hands. But he is always moving, cutting and slashing and making himself available for a pass and easy bucket, reminiscent of ol' boy who plays up I-45 now. The starters? They just stand around and wait for something to happen. Not AS bad of an issue if Harden is handling the ball, because he can always break down the defense and make something happen. But if Bev is handling it as he has been lately, his only options are to dump it in to Dwight (not a high % play) or just pass it around the perimeter for what will likely be an ill-advised jumper. If your ball-handler isn't somebody who's good at creating on his own, you'd think guys would move their damn feet to try to create more opportunities. But nope. 3. DMo plays hard all the time. Joey Dorsey, for all of his flaws, plays hard all the time. Tarik Black played hard all the time. Dwight plays hard when he feels like it. 4. We are completely wasting DMo's skill set. 5. Stupid 8- to 9- man rotation is stupid. Brewer was supposed to give Ariza some relief, yet Ariza still pushes 40 minutes a night because it appears Brewer has simply taken Kostas' minutes, while Ariza's remain untouched. Ariza will be a dead man walking by the postseason, at this rate. 6. No accountability. If Bev is sucking, bench his ass. If Dwight is sucking, bench his ass. If _____ is sucking, bench his ass. IDC. No reason DMo shouldn't have closed this game over Dwight. No reason Canaan should be glued to the bench if Bev's shot is on the side of a milk carton. But there were plenty of times last season we were getting nothing at all from the PG position, yet AB sat glued to the bench while Bev and Lin muddled through their respective slumps -- so I have no hope that this season will be any different. 7. Josh needs to come off the bench. I initially thought starting would put a leash on him instead of him out there doing too much w/ the 2nd unit, but no. He's deferring at all of the wrong times -- and it's not like him starting allows DMo to be featured in the 2nd unit (see #3), so I really see no upside at this point. 8. Overall lack of effort/urgency. Outside of Brewer/Dorsey/DMo, guys just looked completely disinterested. Overdramatic, but I found myself wondering why I cared so much when they didn't appear to. 9. IdontthinkDwightfitsthestyleofoffensewewanttorun. There, I said it. Also turnovers, missed free throws, missed wide open looks. But the other problems are more fundamental, systemic issues IMO.
I'm kind of annoyed that Harden has to morph into Michael Jordan for us to look like a competent offense, and that the stout defense has from the first 15 or so games has all but disappeared. Oh, and Ariza...maybe don't shoot 14 times a game? I mean...you're struggling to get 40% at this point. It's terrible...
