Key defensive possession (see image below). Harden had no clue where his man was coming off an INBOUNDS PLAY. Just terrible. Because Harden was sleeping, Ariza had to rotate over to Gordon, D-Mo had to defend two guys and decided to rotate to Oladipo who was 3-4 from three, Frye knocked down the open three. That one was completely on Harden. Spoiler Harden's defense has slipped badly in the last weeks. He really has to pick it up again on that end, get those bad habits out of his game.
Honestly, what the hell are some of you talking about we need playmakers?? We recieved 120 points fellas.
Maybe someone already mentioned it, but our "point guard" Beverley had 0 assists. ZERO! I know Harden handles the ball a lot, but even Schved had 1 assist. Damn...
This. We had tons of these games last season and it was the difference between the 4th seed and the 2nd/3rd seed.
I think part of the problem with the slow starts is that there's no one to light a fire under this team's ass at the beginning of a game. We know McHale doesn't do it. And Harden looks to get others involved early, so he's passive. Bev and Ariza feed off of the other players. D-Mo is a 4, so he needs to be given the ball first before he can be aggressive. And Dwight is sleepwalking through the season. I think until we get a quality starting point guard who pushes the ball and can create his own shot(which will allow Harden to be passive early on without putting the Rockets in a hole), this trend will continue.
Canaan needs to play..he's better than Beverly! When Rockets were playing their best basketball. Canaan was in the starting lineup! Having a scorer like Canaan makes things easier for Harden!! Why doesn't Mchale see it?
Orlando is one of those perfect trap teams too. Where their record isn't indicative of their quality. Didn't see the games against the Hawks or the Bulls but I'm betting the same thing happened. Orlando's not really the Knicks, where even if you get their best you can still wake up and dominate. Orlando has young go to players and if you let them in a game they are going to suddenly look like something they are not yet because they live for these match ups. Oladipo sees "Best SG" on his schedule and he's ready to test how good he's gotten and looking to prove a point. It was funny though at all the people that thought this was a easy win.
Yeah I don't know why people are complaining about playmaking right now. Yeah it's an issue, but the Orlando Magic just dropped 120 on us. The defense needs to go back to the way it was in November if the Rockets want to make noise in the playoffs.
Why go away from playing the same rotation? Terry and Pap did not see any PT tonight. I just don't understand McHale's logic tonight in not playing key contributors tonight.
Must have been looking forward to the okc game.......I mean how else do u explain giving up 120 points to the magic??????
I don't know man. Seems like you're basing your ideas off of the past 15 or so games. At least give them until the all-star break before you start trading/releasing people. I only watched segments of the game (stupid ass DISH and sucky live streams) but it seemed like this game should be blamed on perimeter D. Dwight can't cover 2 or 3 guys cutting to the paint at the same time which is all the Magic seemed to be doing. I think the notion of benching Bev or Ariza is a much more legitimate solution than trading a top 5 center in the NBA. And I saw Smith shoot those 3's, . He might be a lost cause, but I can't give up on Howard like that
