I just don't understand how these guys make it through the system without knowing how to shoot free throws. These guys are the top 0.0001% of the population when it comes to basketball ability and yet they can't make a higher percentage than the guys you see at pick up games. A guy like Josh Smith, rates himself pretty highly when it shots from range and yet he doesn't know how to shoot a FT......... Do their junior coaches just turn a blind eye to it and just coddle them?
Drexler was wrong. Any contact with the wrist came well after Duncan already blocked the shot, and thus was considered incidental (didn't affect the shot attempt). You can tell also by Harden's non reaction in real time that he thought it was clean too.
What's concerning as well is the fact that Harden hasn't showed up twice now against the Spurs. For a possible 1st round foe, that's concerning. Sure, there are guys that bother each superstar but Harden just looks lackadaisical out there lately.
Honestly, I was F'ing amazed that the hack-a-Josh tactic actually worked. This is what the Spurs do - they suck you into their strategy and grind you down. I agree that McHale should have pulled him once it became clear what Pop was doing because that effectively took Harden totally out of the game. This has been a major concern for me because Howard has been mostly a non factor due to injury (missed 39 games) and Harden has had to score 30, 40 or even 50 points for them to win. The Spurs were determined to shutdown Harden and once that was done, McHale and the Rox did not have a counter strategy. That's why I have posted that I have never seen a team win in the playoffs playing the style of basketball we have seen from the Rockets this season.
Woke up this morning nearly as disappointed in the game as I was last night. I say nearly because even though I didn't want to accept it, before this game even started and really throughout the season, there were things we all witnessed that indicated this was not yet a championship-caliber team: 1) Injuries/Gelling: I cringed a little when people talked about standings, or when I ventured over to the standings page to check out the latest positioning myself. We know from experience with our championship teams that being healthy and playing well together is far more important than seeding/home court advantage. With all the injuries, the Rockets never had time to gel with a championship-contending rotation. Beverly and DMO, combined with 1/2 a game Howard, were final straws. On the Beverly front, he wasn't always consistent, but he had youth, intensity, and the capability of driving through the lane/finishing and making clutch shots. 2) Lack of discipline (free throw shooting/turnovers): Can you imagine our 93-94 and 94-95 teams turning the ball over as carelessly as our 14-15 team has, or having so many poor free throw shooters like we do this year? Both of these factors helped keep many teams in games this season that others would have blown out. Rather than being able to put teams away when they were down big the Rockets more often than not let the opponent make it a game again. Being seeded as high as 2 with only a 3.3 point margin of victory average was a warning sign. 3) Defense: The Rockets give up too many points per game. To be a legit title contender, you generally can't be letting your opponents score an average of nearly 101 points per game. They did much better on this early in the season but whether it was injuries, conditioning, or something else entirely, they just couldn't keep up it up. There are obviously other factors at play (coaching has long been debated as one, and perhaps the right coach could address the problem areas discussed above), but the bottom line is that this year's team had too many weaknesses that were highly likely to ultimately be exposed. Are they capable of winning a first-round series? Very questionable at this point, even against Portland or Dallas. With all the injuries, we're quite depleted and increased playing time may really start to impact our shooting (no fresh legs etc. -- Ariza played 43 minutes last night), and one wonders how deflating this last week will be to the team's psyche.
^ I think the biggest factor by far was injuries. If you think about it, what is amazing how far Harden managed to carry this team given the injury situation. I think we keep Dwight, we keep Terrence Jones, as well as the core that people seem to agree about above. We keep Bev but use him as a backup. Rockets are not that far from being there - but they need good starting PG, a good backup center. And a relatively healthy year. This years Rockets are not as good as some of us hoped but they are not as bad as it feels this morning either.
Biggest factor with the rockets vs spurs is simply choking on the rockets part. Mchale and Harden choked... then Smith as a role player choked. Games lost. I don't respect that this team struggles from the free throw line and turns the ball over the way they do. Your a professional nba team that is playoff bound... to have these issue moreso the free throw shooting clearly makes the Houston rockets the biggest joke of a team in the 2015 nba playoffs. I want them to win but at the same time there are clear facts about this team that must be faced and addressed. Morey needs to the stfu from this point on too.
I think Josh needs to learn how to tone it down at times. This team has too much freedom. Josh is wreckless with the ball and you can run the offense through him in certain circumstances, but he isn't no where near effective as say.....Boris Diaw. I couldn't stand Terrence Jones behind the back pass last night. Just lob it to Howard, just hand it to Howard, but whipping a behind the back 5 feet away is asking for a turnover. Edit: Did anyone see that full court pass to Prigioni in the 4th last night(Wow, I am still a bit SALTY from last night)? Didn't end up in a turnover, but what the crap is that. What is he going to do with it? Prigioni's offensive game- A-looking to pass B-pretend to shoot and then pass C-Hesitates to take the shot and then passes again D-Shoots the ball after clearly hesitating. Morey Rant- Your system is flawed. Not because the idea is bad, but because you don't have any shooters on the team. I have never seen a team miss so many blatant wide open shots. Last night when Kawahi, Patty Mills, Belineli, Diaw, etc were open, they hit the shot. Morey, maybe you should look in to getting some guys that can hit an open shot. Best shooting teams in the league San Antonio Spurs Clippers Warriors Hawks Cleveland Those are your contenders.
My concern is that Harden is struggling in big games late in the season. I was really hoping that he would continue to play well going into the playoffs. I wonder if the confidence aspect will affect him in the postseason.
It's not just confidence. It's that teams are finding out how to shut him down by parking a big in his driving lane and bodying up on him. We've yet to see if someone else can win games for us.
imho I know last night's game was a heartbreaker.I honestly think we can still take the spurs in a playoff series. When howard was in the game we took over and went on runs so I think when howard is finally clear to go in the playoffs we can contend with anyone. Howard is the best free throw shooter out of our bigs, if he was in the game Howard would of hit those hack a howard free throws. Idk if it's just me but I think 40min a night howard we win both games
Pop has made a new way to avoid being beat by Harden's game. He made sure Harden would not touch the ball in the fourth by fouling Smith, thus Harden would get in a rhythm going. McHale should done the same foul anyone on the Spurs team just to see what the league would have to do next season to stop this type of play. Seeing teams foul most of quarter would be bad.
Nice try Spurs fan, same talking points being pass on at Spurstalk. Your team got the call be happy with that no need to rub it in. Hoping the Spurs lose in NO which NO will need to get into the playoffs. NO are 2-1 this season against the Spurs. IF the Rockets win out they will have a better lost record then the Spurs thus will finish ahead of the Spurs.
Mchale should have taken Smith out, went small and exploited the Spurs being in the penalty for most of the qtr by getting actually good FT shooters to the line. Go small and spread the floor and let Harden attack the paint.
