Some hate, some love. Key takeaway: of the 47 lineups that the Rockets used against the Warriors in the regular season, only 2 have been used in the postseason.
Game 1: GSW at full strength. Tarik Black and Isaiah Canaan started alongside Harden, Howard, Ariza Jet played off the bench Pablo, JSmoove, and Brewer weren't here Jones was out injured Game 2: GSW-Bogut out. Black and Motie startd alongside Harden, Ariza, and Bev. (Dwight out, Jones out) Smith, Brewer, and Pablo not here yet. Game 3: Both teams full strength except for Terrence Jones. Brewer here a month. Smith here for a couple weeks. Pablo still not here. Motie starting. Brewer/Smith off the bench Game 4: Everybody at full strength except Jones and Pablo not here. Motie starting. Smith coming off the bench.
Yeah, sorry.. forgot it for a sec. Haberstroh still picked the Warriors in 5. Also... Wilbon ranks Rockets 3rd out of 4 remaining teams in this clip (Warriors, Cavs, Rox, Hawks) but talks about how we're "scary" starting @ 1:40: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12910538
Can't really hate on them. GSW is the safe choice as they ARE scary good. I simply believe that Houston is better given what we had to get through to even get to the WCF.
To add... game 3/4 was when Dwight was trying to play through pain, he's playing completely different in the playoffs since returning, it seemed during middle stretch before 2nd procedure he was just not the same player he is now.
Absolutely. And what is also downplayed here is Pablo. He is our second playmaker. We didn't have that in any of these games. We are vulnerable. Gotta have Smith/Jones bring it at the 4 spot. But I like what McHale did in game 7. It sure takes him a long time to make adjustments but ..... he got there in the nick of time. I just hope he doesn't wait so long to make adjustments in this next series. We don't have that much latitude to wait so long. But anyways.....the adjustment where Doc went to the hack-a-Dwight. McHale let them hack Dwight twice to get in the bonus. And as soon as they were in the bonus, he went small with Jones at the 5 and Harden/Ariza/Smith/Pablo out there together. That was the final tipping point and it was downhill the rest of the way for us as we increased the margin and walked away from the Clips. Very, very gutsy to do that and I've got to give McHale credit for that. Loved it. He totally outfoxed Doc in that moment. By the same token, we cannot afford to wait around for game 3 to adjust to Curry or anybody else for that matter if they are clearly winning their matchup. If we can't water down Curry's offensive efficiency with JET out there.....he's gotta see that early and get Brewer out there on Curry. We are NOT going to outshoot GS. We have to out-defense and out-rebound them. Gotta get our defensive matchups such that we have a chance to get into transition offensive flow until we get into the bonus. It's the only chance we have against them. Cautiously optimistic. (But McHale has to make quick adjustments.)
look if any rockets fan is mad the warriors are favorites they're fools - that said i go into these games thinking we can and will win, I have belief - it isn't simple winning an NBA title so we have to go through the best. i am glad we played them early in the season and haven't seen them for a while, we have changed a lot. I am confident in this group
No team is scary good. Furthermore no team featuring a prime Harden and beast Howard with championship supporting cast should be "scared" of anybody. Seriously I can't believe how many fans on here are THAT scared of the Warriors. You must not have much faith in the current Rockets squad. And no it's not "blind homerism" on my part. I prefer to let the series play out and believe in my team with full confidence from the get go.
I'm not mad, I just think it's ridiculous how much love and unwarranted "fear" is instilled in many of the fans here before the first game is even played. I see a lot of "veteran" fans on here acting uncharacteristically like chicken littles. Rockets will be a VERY tough out for the Warriors if the Rockets end up losing the series. I however believe the Rockets will win it all this year.
we really can't be upset no one is giving us love to win. The Warriors flat out were the more dominant team up to this point and have proven it with their record/awards/impressive wins. We should be embellishing the fact that the wold is against us and we have the opportunity to prove everybody wrong - it would be a much richer piece of history than if we were expected to win.
Reading comprehension helps when trying to reply to someone. First, I never said the Rockets are scared. 2nd, anyone with half a brain will be able to tell you that statistically speaking, GSW is an extremely good and dangerous team and therefore the safe bet for BSPN media heads. Going by the playoffs, we KNOW they are a scary good team. Lastly, seeing as how I flat out said I believe the Rockets are a better team right now due to the adversity we had to overcome. Not sure how you could have even inferred that I thought otherwise.
Agreed, and we should actually have team prepared before Game 1... Also agree that Smith and Jones are pivotal alongside Howard to dominate inside.
We have to recall that we almost swept GSW with less of a bench and Parsons. We have been playing hurt all season! Can't wait to make national media and oddsmakers believe
i could be wrong but i think didn't play the first game at all. I attended that game here in houston.
I will admit that I did not read the latter part of your initial post for context prior to replying. I'll apologize for that. And nope, Warriors are very good but not scary in my opinion. They are very beatable and I believe the Current Rockets squad will do it. If you are judging the Warriors "scariness" by their play in the playoffs this year, then relatively speaking, the Rockets are "terrifying" because of the impossible they just overcame. Battle tested...
I think a healthy Memphis beats GS. For me it comes down to experience. Those youngsters havent been this far before, need to use that to our advantage.
I wouldn't be surprised if we come back to houston down 0-2 but I wouldn't be surprised if we come back tied. You can throw the regular season out the window, GSW have never dealt with healthy playoff Dwight. They also have not dealt with the Dwight that plays to his strengths on offense instead of experimenting with post ups 5 - 10 times per game. You will see a different 4 game series than what you saw in the regular season.
