I'm still sitting here a couple hours after this game FUMING over the officiating. THIS is why the NBA will never shake the image of fixed games. Nights like tonight. Unbelievable.
well if it wasnt for that last free throws to harden, it would have been the equal lowest number of non tech free throws in nba history
given the disparity in free throw shooting or what you call it (though it sometimes swings in houstons favor too) . They were up 5 with 3 min to go and couldn't close it. Bad shot selection..turnovers..they were in a position to win and didn't execute.
Hard to execute down the stretch when Bulter has his ankles broke on a Harden ISO & is rewarded with a foul call against the beard. Hard to execute down the stretch when Noah flops like he's on a date with Jason Collins, & Dwight's dunk gets waved off. Yes we could've made some better decisions in the final 2 minutes, but it was evident that the refs weren't going to let us win tonight. 5 freakin free throws all game...5?
you gonna blame the refs all year? thats a crap WEAK excuse. I recall several games when the refs were way worse and they still won the game with the make shift lineup without Dwight. And it's gone the other way too when the rockets were on the receiving end of 30 plus Free Throws and an opponent team with like 6.. come on man. Let's just admit the Rockets defense for whatever reason has taken a hit compared to how they started the season. There were several plays in the 1st Q where it looked like the Bulls played above the rim and it was dunkfest on us. That wasn't happening at the beginning of the year. The end of the game was just a microcosm of the defensive breakdown and bad shot selection for the whole year. **Why is Josh Smith taking so many shots. 25% of them were 3s. Ill say it again. Team as constructed and how they are playing will be a low seed this year again. THEY WILL BE A FIRST ROUND EXIT.
Jeeps... I stopped following the game at this point (up 5 with 3 mins to go) cos I thought, in the bag. Was really surprised to see the 9(!) point loss. Not sure what can be done. Not sure if the coach could have made any difference. ie. make some plays for DMo who was effective up until then.
No, not going to blame refs all year…but when the shoe fits. Just watched the last 5 minutes of the game again…yes there was some major defensive breakdowns, but those calls cost us big time. When the other team outscores you 27-3 at the free throw line, and gets call after call after call, and you get no calls; even on blatant hacks, holds & all sorts of contact…something is wrong with the officiating. Harden this season is averaging 7.9 Free Throws from 8.9 attempts (18.9FGA). He is 5.7 from 6.7 attempts for his career, but in the last 5 games he is 4.0 made from 4.2 attempts (still 18.8FGA)… October: 10.0-11.0 November: 8.5-9.5 December: 8.0-9.1 January: 3.3-3.3 (3 games) It seems like the 'Yao' memo has been sent out to officials regarding Harden…Call it a conspiracy, but the stats don't lie. Still taking the same amount of shots, same amount of 3 point attempts, same drives, BUT NOT GETTING THE CALLS! It's time for Morey or McHale to get a huge fine & call out the officials. On another note, yes our defence needs to get back on point, and our new players need a little time to gel…but don't tell me that we didn't get royally shafted by the officiating tonight, & in the past few games…Heck, even Dwight has gone from averaging just under 9 Free throw attempts per game to only 3.7 per in January, which is ridiculous considering how much contact he has to endure in the post. Maybe it's time for Dwight to brutally 'Mutombo' someone's grill, maybe it'll make them think twice about shoving, hacking and holding him. One or two well times accidentally on purpose elbows to the bridge of the nose, above the eye or right in the kisser & I guarantee that players will think twice about swarming Dwight. Yes, I'm a little upset at the moment...
and in case you are too young to remember, or have forgotten… This doesn't include LeBron's birthday present, broken cheekbone when he was 'accidentally' elbowed in the face by Mutombo.
I really don't understand how anybody can come on here and say some fans needs to stop with the excuses. Come on man didn't you not watch the game last night. Do you not know that the Rockets are in the top 3 in free throw attempts. The refs did a great job in limiting one of our strengths. Harden only had one damn free throw. After that damn Spurs game when it was very clear to me that Pop and the Spurs made a call to the front office complaining about the way Harden gets his fouls. Chicago is a very physical team so how in the hell the refs not call any fouls on them.
When Harden doesn't get his calls he makes the team stagnant. Let me dribble dribble and jack up a 3 and who cares about defense, I was POTM. He becomes a tempo momentum killer. Fans are realizing how gimmicky our offense is.
You gotta admit to when to two teams that are close in contending status play each other the free throw disparity makes a big difference in who is winning and who is losing. That's on the refs. I say that because rockets were not a team last night that just jacked up threes and ignored getting into the paint. Rockets played well enough on the road to win but it didn't due to the refs. It's one season game time to move on.
Harden went up a guy that was on par if not stronger than him last night in Jimmy Butler. Harden is 1 of if not the strongest 2 guard in the league. He wasn't used to a Jimmy Buttler.....
