Well, I've had a couple of days to settle back down and everyone else has too . . . a question that has been gnawing at me is wtf was the game plan? Harden doesn't take a shot until the second quarter, was that part of the plan? were they trying simply to get everyone else involved early and trust that James would get his shots later in the game as usual? or what the hell were they thinking? This is a serious question, what can you tell (if anything) about what the approach was supposed to be heading into Game 6? I have to admit I am still dumbfounded that the game plan, if there was one, fell apart so quickly and so completely.
The game plan was that it was a fixed game because Leslie Alexander didn't want the season to go on any longer. Undisclosed amounts were paid to Harden, Anderson, Beverly and Gordon. Season over game over. Alrite. Get over it. Go back and look at the body language and the footage.
Typically the Rockets attempt to score more points than the opposing team -- as has been mentioned previously the Rockets have not won a game this season/ playoffs when outscored by the opposition.
I don't think D'Antoni had a Game Plan B. The game plan was Harden. When Harden didn't work, nothing else worked.
our game plans flew out the window the sec. NENE went down. Our small ball line up was effective for one game. MDA decision to have James guard the post was idiotic. We all know Harden saves his energy in the defensive end and we live with it because of his offensive output. We had Harrell and Onikaua?? Available for spot up min/fouls. This formula will not work unless James plays both ends. To keep it simple MDA fudged up.
The plan was to run the offense through a version of Harden that wasn't smashed in the head with a Louisville slugger before the game.
It's hard to tell. The team, led by Harden, just did not show up. The game was over early. Mike might not have had a plan B. He did do some good things in this series tho. He had Pop looking completely unprepared for us in game 1. It looked like we knew everything that the Spurs were trying to do on offense, and we completely exposed them defensively. Pop made adjustments which is to be expected since he's 1 of the greatest coaches in NBA history. The decision to insert Ego into the starting lineup for the 2nd half of game 4 and bring Ryno off the bench was also a huge adjustment. It completely turned the game around for us and allowed us to blow them out of the building for the 2nd time in this series. It even worked for most of game 5. I was really proud of them after that 1st half in game 5. We even had a 9 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Things unraveled at the end of the 4th and in OT, but that game was still there for the taking in SA. Game 6 was just a disaster . I hate how the season ended, but I will not allow it to erase all the good things that happened this year, especially after what happened during the 15-16 season. We got better this year as an organization and team, and I expect that trend to continue.
gameplan was to obey their illuminati masters and throw the game. aliens threatened anal probing if they didnt comply. ask cartman he knows how that goes, it aint pretty, especially if you dont eat right. i would know. for every vegetable i eat, there's like 50 thousand cheeseburgers and dontus. thats why i keep hitting up morey's twitter saying "hey u got 3 chins lemme help you out, just pass those cheeseburgers my way" he doesnt listen, or see my tweets.
As painful as it is if you have game 5 on DVR go back and still though the last 1/2. I did and it wasn't as bad I had felt at the time; there's 1 play @ the end of OT that wasn't James' fault, Gordon took an inbounds from Ariza and drove and lost the ball. And James did keep driving @ the end of regulation and even into OT. Game 6, oh yeah that game will never stop pissing me off.
Seemed like Harden was pouting to MDA every time after getting every scored on in the post. He just bought a 30K necklace for Harrell and wanted him to be out there providing muscle in lieu of Nene. MDA stuck to his plan, the personnel he "trusts", which was wrong, and Harden checked out. I think he was emotionally worn from losing a game that got away using the same game plan with him banging in the paint on D, then having to go be the offensive force we need. No excuses though. Absolutely no excuses to go "oh yeah well I'll show everybody! I'm gonna check out in an elimination game!" If he just decided to go Super Saiyan Harden and score as the #1 option then his team would've rallied. But if he sets the funk, then the whole team follows in funk. And boy did he set the funk. Like something I've never seen in sports ever. He has a safety blow-off valve in his millennial mind. It goes "if at the crest of competition and greatness, the challenge gets too intense - then just chill man it's just a game and you're a $400 million dollar man with a brand and a Travis Scott party to hit after this thing is done". And that's what he'll always have. It's baked into his ethos. You could actually see his safety valve actuate right after the Ginobli block. He walked away, turned to look back at Ginobli and where that just happened, then he turned back around all cool and slick and bumped one of his shoulders as if an imaginary chip was there that he was too cool to have sitting there. He immediately went 'pfft whatevs'. You can watch it. He wears his 'don't give a sh-t in the final yard' on his sleeve per say with his body language.
One thing that seems obvious to me is Pop massaged his game plan and made adjustments to force Harden to think too much on his drives and reads. This caused some hesitancy in his game. Midrange got opened up and that is not where the team operates. And Harden was not getting fouls at the rim on drives. Harden got frustrated and that partly through off his game. MDA has to make offensive adjustments moving forward that includes some midrange for variance.
Don't know about g6 but I can already predict what happens next year. Situation 1: Harden depressed from this year and the entire team has a down year. We scrape by and barely make the 8th seed. Harden doesn't make an All-NBA team again. D'antoni on verge of quitting. Situation 2: Harden sucks it up over the summer and actually improves (offensively ofcourse). Breaks another TOs record and get us to the playoffs with a top 4 seed with better stats than this year but because the playoff image this year, no one outside Rocket fans give a **** about him. He's not even in top 3 MVP talks and will end up with an All-NBA 3rd team at best. Another 2nd round exit, but this time to a Warriors team in their prime.
I think harden caming out hoping to do the opposite of game 5. game 5 he was on fire early but ran out of gas at the end. I believe he tried to pace himself this time. He was hoping to get everyone else involved and then take over late. When teammates missed shots and the spurs got layups with no nene harden just lost faith, quit, and gave up. it is what it is. I do believe that game 5 had a lot to do with it mentally.
to run 8 guys into the ground and hope at laest one of them dies or gets hurt? worked with nene. eg surprisingly survived his murder attempt despite never having a healthy season sinc ehis rookie year. ariza probably not even human after his 3rd straigh tseason playing superstar minutes including th epo's and staying healthy. if they die they die, better to stick with a tight rotation then to use the bench.
