[Stephen A. Smith] The Rockets' upper management are throwing games.

That's what it looks like.

 

hope someone can post the video. would love to listen to this.

 

Someone post that clip if you have it. I'll try to find it on YouTube(I think ESPN uploads them there).

 

hard to believe any nba team can be that ****in stupid so yeah they are throwing games
look at the rotation vs the suns. what the ****ing **** jb?

 

Guess that would explain some of the weird stuff going on this season.

 

This is news? They let Bickerstaff coach 70 games. Of course they're throwing games.

 

or you know the Rockets just suck

 

Stop making excuses for this so called professional basketball team, they flat out suck.

 

We couldn't even beat the Suns when we were at home. Harden had a great game and played a lot of minutes.

But it did seem like the players rolled over in the last few minutes.

 

It finally dawned on me after the suns game rockets were throwing games, but when did morey start to tank.?

 

why did you post this without a "hot take alert" man.

 

Only dumb asses watch/listen to First Take or anything from BSPN for that matter...

 

SAS: They're throwing games. That's what's going on. I don't mean the players & coaching staff. I mean upper management. I don't believe the players are tanking. I do believe things are going on with upper management. Firing Kevin McHale 11 games in, which was absolutely idiotic and Daryl Morey should be ashamed for making that decision. I like Daryl and has done a good job leading up to this year but that decision was just abysmal. A stupid decision and people should be looking at Morey differently.

They're in a situation where they don't want to face Golden State. As a result, you'll hear Clint Capela and other guys should get more minutes. Yeah, they'll show up against OKC and other big games and then they'll show up and wet the bed like last night. I think J.B. Bickerstaff is being told from time to time who to play and who not to play.

Then we get to the issue of Dwight Howard. No doubt he looks like just another player. Over the last 12-13 games, he's not in double digit shot attempts. It's 8 or less. They're not calling plays for him, they're not getting him the ball, they're not having their $88M involved at all. That's no accident. That's on purpose. I think in a round about way, they're saying we don't want you here anymore. If he's smart, he'll want to get the hell out of there and go back to Orlando, where he never should have left. Harden needs help. He's a superstar. But too much messiness going on with the Rockets and look no further than upstairs. That's where the problem lies. They've disrupted this team that was 2 games from the NBA Finals.

Skip: I don't see how you think they're throwing games from the top down. (OKC, TOR, CLE victories) Clint Capela, he's earned more minutes. He's that good. If you want to focus on Dwight, he's lost heart for this. He doesn't really care. If Dwight is at the center of giving up, I get that. If you think he's the albatross this team drags up and down the court, I get that. I don't think they're tanking.

SAS: That's fair enough. I'm saying there have been many times in my NBA career where I've seen a team on the cusp of the 8th spot say it's not worth it for us. It's not a priority to make the playoffs. I'm not comparing them to the Sixers. They realize this is not an ideal situation. They want the season to be over. They know Dwight is probably gonna leave and he should want to and you have that albatross causing that dissension.

Skip: There are nights I watch this team and think they could make GS sweat.

SAS: That's not good enough for them.

 

To be honest, not wanting to make the playoffs is the only reason I can see to have kept Bickerstaff as coach.

 

False. You don't throw games by running your franchise player to ground. Harden was averaging 43.2 MPG during last five games. 43.2 min!! Are you kidding me?!

 

thanks J.R., appreciate that.

 

So basically:

SAS: They're tanking. I KNOW IT FOR A FACT.

Skip: I don't think they're tanking.

SAS: Fair enough. I'm just saying that sometimes some teams tank.

Grade A television, reporting and analysis.