I would be outraged if the players missing were Gobert and Hayward, but this wasn't the case obviously.
Eh, i get what you're saying (and you can check page 5/6/7 of this thread where i said that they may not miss Favors that much) but still...Hill has been huge for them this season, and having Exum + Neto playing the pg in his place is enough to be a big advantage for us on both ends (but on defense especially), allowing 60 or more points in the first half at home and in a game like this, yeah, it was bad, like our defense.
this rockets team needs rebounding and paint defense badly, if Morey can somehow grab a tyson chandler before playoff starts, i think we will be all set, otherwise, we will be bounced in the first round....
The Rockets are what they are. We are obviously struggling to understand what that is. But, I find it hard to believe this team is up for a deep playoff run the way it's going.
They either hit their 3's or they don't. Pretty simple. Few teams can keep up with them when they do, and when they don't, there's few teams that can't beat them.
Yep...sort of like a one trick pony. Absent of a strong interior defense and a mid-range offensive game where it's either 3s or layups...I do not believe that bodes well for the playoffs. There will be extra emphasis of trying to minimize Harden and take away the 3 point line in the playoffs. I think that is going to be a problem against better teams. If Harden is still trying to score 30+ points a game, then to me that means the rest of the team is not pulling their weight and/or the balance isn't there. And, if we go into playoff crunch time situations where Harden tries to take it upon himself to beat the other team, then flip a coin and call it as to what the result will be.
It's okay to be a one-trick pony if you're consistent. Rockets were terrific in November and December with it. Obviously they are not the same team as that December version of themselves, but the formula works if they're executing. Unfortunately, you're not getting that execution from guys like Gordon/Anderson/Ariza/Dekker/etc., and now Lou Williams is joining that list as well.
It isn't hard. If the Rockets take 3's and hit them at 35-37% they are going to win 75% of the time. If the Rockets take and 3's and hit them at 38%+, they are likely to win 95% of the time. The Jazz do deserve some credit for their defense on the perimeter, but this was mostly just the Rockets not hitting shots. The reason that the Rockets are a 50 win team and not a 60 win team is that the Rockets do not bring it defensively in those games where they shoot 30-35% from 3. If the Rockets brought it defensively when needed, they would be record-wise where the Spurs and Warriors are. Some of it is personnel but a lot of it isn't. Beverley and Ariza both are good defenders, Harden is capable (especially against 3's). Anderson isn't terrible when surrounded by other defenders. Capela is meh defensively.
Anyone who thinks the Rockets are going for a deep playoff run is fooling themselves. The Rockets struggle against teams with strong, physical front courts and until the Rockets address this, they will continue to struggle. The Rockets also need to score inside more and hit more mid-range jumpers. It is what it is and it's really nothing to lose sleep over, during the offseason, the Rockets can correct this if they don't pick up anyone one else during the regular season. Someone mentioned Tyson Chandler and I think that would be a terrific pick, since we have enough scoring.
I anticipate a few 10/40 from 3 pt range games in the Playoffs. Clutchfans will be saying, we just missed shots. Well, we are going to "just miss shots" all the way out of the Playoffs. Great teams don't let missing shots be an excuse for not getting it done. Good teams are consistently good and have a dependable defense to withstand when they don't shoot well from the field.
always these general assumptions. how did the front line of cousins/davis, blake/DJ, gasol/randolph do. These were supposed to be guys that would "destroy" houston The rockets struggle when they dont hit shots, that's what they do. The rockets are capable of going head to head with anyone in this league. Nobody is fooling themselves. The rockets are essentially right there with these super teams that field multiple stars night in and night out, whereas houston still has 1. The only people fooling themselves are the whiners that came out after losses that act like this team is one of the worst in the league.
I just feel as if that's the case with any team in the league? Let them shoot 40 threes a game, and the games where they are hot, they would be unbeatable.
To a degree. Any team that's just on fire will usually win. Generally, when the Rockets are hitting 3's at a high rate, they are pretty much unbeatable. Given the personnel, that's pretty much their only formula. The difference is the Rockets shoot more 3's than any team by far. All the Rockets need is generally average shooting, say, anything above 12-13's usually will work given the volume they take. Nights like last night or the Pacers loss or anything like that where they go sub-30% and can't even hit 10 3's is almost always going to be a loss. They don't have the defense/rebounding to make up for that.
The frustrating AND appealing part of all this is that they are missing open jumpers. The pacers, spurs, and jazz had very little to do with Houston not hitting 3s. Harden had some attempts where a defender was right up on him butwe had sooo many open 3s that should've been knocked down. I'm hoping that their shooting runs in cycles and that they will return to that form that talked in a 20-2 record.
It will all depend on how they shoot from the outside. If they shoot 37%+ from outside, they will go deep in the playoffs. Every team has a weakness. Teams with strong and physical front courts usually have difficulty on the perimeter. The Rockets get lots of points inside and at a high field goal percentage. The idea that the Rockets don't score inside is false. The Rockets don't need to hit more mid range shots, they are the least efficient shots in the NBA. The Rockets need to tighten their defense and hit their three point shots. I don't think the Rockets think their flaws are what you think they are. Chandler no longer good at anything other than rebounding. If the Rockets only make ten three point shots, they are unlikely to win regardless of how well their defense plays.
