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3rd in the West

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by DrNuegebauer, Jan 31, 2015.

  1. FluxCapacity

    FluxCapacity Member

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    Lmfao lol. Comical yet true
     
  2. Kwame

    Kwame Member

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    3rd seed, 5th seed, 8th seed, 13th seed... at this point nothing really matters, because Le$ has already declared the season to be a success.
     
  3. banzai

    banzai Member

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  4. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Member

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    We can't depend on Harden every night to be the guy who saves us and does everything.
     
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  5. Houstunna

    Houstunna Mr Graphix
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    Rockets don't dominate enough. Our point diff is only 6th in the West. We allow subpar teams to take us down to the wire (KNOWING we play again the next night) causing the starters to play extended minutes. Our record against .500+ teams is below .500.

    There's still hope, but this trend is disturbing.
     
  6. Zergling

    Zergling Member

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    Last year's Rockets were 31-17 at this point. This year, we are 33-15.

    Considering all the players we gave up to get Bosh and utterly failing, this is pretty amazing what this team has accomplished so far. Morey is so damn good at damage control.
     
  7. Zbed

    Zbed Member

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    I feel like with a healthy Dwight we'd be a few games better than that too
     
  8. SF3isBack!!

    SF3isBack!! Member

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    I think you overrated those players. I also think we might need another year together before we get out of the first round in the West. Read and react is based on chemistry and knowing when and where the shooters like their shots. I don't see this team beating anyone but Dallas and Phoenix in the first round.
     
  9. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Has Morey or McHale do a good job of Damage Control?

    Rocket River
    McHale deserves SOME credit here
     
  10. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    I am neutral about McHale. I think he has his fair share of strengths and weaknesses.

    IMO, these are the most important factors that saved this season from the Bosh and Parsons debacles:

    1. Harden's elevation to superstardom. The difference between this season's Harden and last's makes chasing the "third star" irrelevant.

    2. The emergence of Motiejunas. I believe this is the second most important development this season after #1 above. Without that, Dwight and Jones being out for extended stretches, we would not have had this record.

    3. Acquiring Brewer. Brewer's game fits us like a glove. I think his shooting percentage will drop. But his defense and his ability to create fast break is very valuable.

    4. Josh Smith falling in our lap. Let's face it, who would have thought a team would cut a max player just like that? And props to Smith for accepting the current role. It seems to be helping.

    #1 and #2 are huge. They are what carry us to where we are now.

    I did not mention about getting Ariza because I am not sure if Ariza is overall better than Parsons. (Please don't bring in the contract thing. We are comparing personnel with last season, not discussing whether we should have matched Parsons's contract.) I personally think that they are kind of a wash in terms of overall impact. So replacing Parsons with Ariza does not really improve the team much.
     
  11. crash5179

    crash5179 Member

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    I don't have an issue with any of your points. As a matter of fact I think they are pretty much spot on. Having said that I would not down play the importance of the Ariza acquisition, not because he is necessarily better than Parsons but because he filled a void left by Parsons. And although Ariza is not shooting the ball all that well, his defense has been terrific this season.

    When Dwight and Jones went down early in the season and we were also playing musical point guards because of injuries, it was the emergence of DMo that brought balance back to the offense.
     
  12. kingkingston

    kingkingston Member

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    i hate this "allow" sup par teams thing, those teams have the talent to stick with any team on a given night

    and just for the record, only 5 teams have winning records against +.500 teams, so it isn't that much of a big deal
     
  13. SF3isBack!!

    SF3isBack!! Member

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    What are the five teams?
     
  14. Htownballer38

    Htownballer38 Member

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    They are meeting Howard ' s demand as well as Harden's. Unfortunately that won't change no time soon. So get use to seeing Howard post up, especially in the playoffs. Where we seen how effective he was against Portland.
     
  15. getbloodyred

    getbloodyred Member

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    I agree with this, but most people on CF might disagree. If we do talk about cap space and contracts, obviously Ariza is much mroe favorable compared to Parsons. Now let's talk about on the court.

    Everything we lost in Parsons on offense we gained in Ariza on defense and it's obvious. Our offense lacks a second facilitator, and Parsons would be so great to have right now. However, we know about Parsons' defensive woes and if we had Parsons right now, we would be complaining about a wing defender in place of a facilitator. Basically a wash.

    I like Ariza, and his defensive impact has been so important for us this season that we can only point to the PG position to sure up our issues on offense. I like Bev and believe that he's given us almost everything he possibly could, but at some point, energy and intensity is not enough. Bev is simply not talented enough for this team. We need a PG who will both facilitate and defend. Bev is too one dimensional and he's not even living up to his caliber in that dimension (defense). I don't know who is out there in the pool of PGs that can facilitate and defend for us, but Morey could pull that off, we would be instant contenders in my eyes.
     
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  16. Htownballer38

    Htownballer38 Member

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    It's pretty amazing that we are holding down that 3rd seed. But man this month without Dwight is going to brutal. Add the fact that Harden isn't fully healthy.
     
  17. Houstunna

    Houstunna Mr Graphix
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    You might "hate" it, but you're just hating the truth. Rockets don't consistently handle subpar teams with ease and their point diff reflects it. Blowouts shouldn't be expected 24/7 and our injuries could be factor, but there's no denying we allow crap teams to hang around too long and too often.

    Parsons would be better offensively than Ariza, but don't get carried away and call him a good facilitator. His handle isn't good enough and his passing skills are adequate at best. I remember a game last season where McHale scripted Chandler to facilitate during the final seconds. He failed miserably and the majority laughed at the notion he should have the ball.

    He doesn't make crap passes and feeds the post well, but that's the extent of his facilitating.
     
  18. getbloodyred

    getbloodyred Member

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    Okay I'll concede that. But he contributed more to the flow of the offense than Ariza does currently. That's really all I'm trying to say
     

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