yeh.... to say MDA is runnin guys into the ground is just crazy talk.... PJ is playing at the same level he always has... and Harden didnt look tired and lacking spring against Portland...
The Rockets have no choice but to play Clark and Hartenstein for 10-15 minutes. They aren't that bad. Tuck and Clint need to get some rest. Nene should be retained for some minutes too. It's too bad that Chriss has learned nothing. He could have been of some use today, and developed his trade value if nothing else. I hope Knight will continue to make gradual progress so he can be traded by the Feb 7th deadline along with a pick. I also wonder if MCW can play some D at the 3 spot instead of Ennis, despite not having a 3 point shot to speak off. DM should look for a power forward version of House. Our situation is getting grim with injuries and excessive minutes.
It is unquestionably idiotic to play Harden this much. All you need to know is that the same people who act like there's nothing wrong with it would shrug their shoulders if he went down and say "how do you know it wouldn't have happened anyway? Just bad luck." I would rather miss the playoffs than risk a 29 year old Harden while 33 year old Paul will make $35m+ for the next 4 years on an unmovable contract. If we can't compete when dropping Harden's minutes by 5-6, then there is no point going to the playoffs. The Nuggets have had worse injuries, they are leading the Western conference. We had injuries last season, we ended as #1 seed. We "only" lost Ariza and Ryno from the WCF team. What's the explanation? lol I get it, we don't have Paul and Gordon at this very moment. But Harden's minutes were absurd before Gordon went down. They have always been too high. The excuse has always been that he doesn't want to come out. This is an asset that is at the foundation of everything we do. The key point is: MDA's requirement for playing Harden 35.5 minutes is to have the best backup guard(s) in the NBA. That's not a fair bar to set. If our bench is average or above average, we should be able to keep Harden to around 33-34. Would you rather miss the playoffs or have Harden attacking the rim on a weak hamstring 10 times a game? Do you understand how that starts affecting the knees and the other hamstring and the balance required to land safely on your ankles? Do you know how much higher the risk of injury is when fatigued muscles are involved? How many wins is playing Harden 4-5 extra minutes getting us? Just subtract it from what we expect and let's move on. What's infuriating is that it's the same people who will then **** on him in the playoffs for not stepping it up against more talented teams with well rested superstars. FFS. It's not MDA's first time, and it's not only showing on Harden. We can't be eroding our assets for the benefit of MDA's legacy. He's a top tier coach, but this weakness of his is maddening.
Is it? If this thread doesn't seem relevant every time key players are too worn out to perform, something is wrong with your head.
Idiotic homers don't want to admit this because they're caught up on the wins. That's adorable, but you're going to see just like you see at the end of every D'Antoni season: the key players will be too worn out to play like they played once upon a time. For instance, in the Blazers game, once again, the bench had something going, and D'Antoni decided to pull them out and bring in Harden and Tucker who were playing like absolute garbage. Logic says that you would keep the bench in while they're still riding the momentum until they start blowing the lead that they themselves built up, but hey, I'm not a coach, so I guess criticism isn't warranted.
http://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401071258 Who would talk like that? He talks like he was a fan and cannot assess the whole game. There is something up with you, No D Antoni.
MDA is a top tier coach who has never been to the Finals once I guess. Even with a superhuman Harden he managed to screw it up enough. https://thebiglead.com/2018/05/29/mike-dantoni-rockets-warriors-offense-harden/
well maybe comforting and reassuring were an exaggeration . . . but you're the one who needlessly posted the flame-throwing and absurd thread title. There's been plenty of opportunity here to change the thread title to a more neutral, factual, and empirically demonstrable discussion topic (e.g., Harden's minutes are creeping up) rather than the kind of dumb notion of "calling out" the head coach. Hell, you could have had fun with it (Are we just gonna ignore Harden's minutes are too high?) rather than sending out a rather RocketsTruthian statement of "Hey!! I'm a know-it-all who can tell an NBA coach how to do his job!!! I don't know how long it's going to take for someone to finally call his bullshit out!!!!" So rather than insults about 'idiotic homers' and replying 'something is wrong with your head,' you might look within and re-consider your posting style. I think you've got good things to say, you just need to be a bit less assholish in saying them imho.
Really? CP3 being injured in game 7 against the Warriors is Dantoni's fault then? And do not bring in Luc cause its a separate issue.
Golden state, the team who has enough star power to actually do what you constantly b**** about doing, does a good job resting their guys. Are they perfect every game? Reaching holic territory with your false equivalency. Just because you want us to rest guys more, any time we under perform you get to say “SEE IF WE WERE ONLY RESTED”!!!! Gordon has been playing like crap since day 1. Not enough rest over the summer? Calm the f down.
If MDA had a history of ensuring his guys were healthy and rested for the playoffs - then it wouldnt be an issue... but that aint the history... Last year after running Harden for 1 mpg less than the previous year and actually resting Harden for 1 or 2 games over the course of the season, MDA actually attributed a late season shooting slump to "too much rest" for Harden - you cant make this stuff up... lol
MDA should've given Harden the night off. Don't think the Cavs would've beat the Rockets tonight anyway.
Pretty sure MDA was happy to let him get his 40+/10+/10+ and took him out pretty quickly after that. Maybe these contracts have certain milestones for it to reach max money. Maybe having a guy go on a tear like this makes it easier come trade deadline. We talk about potentially missing playoffs as opposed to playing these heavy minutes. I assume it's much harder to sell a free agent to take less money to play for a non-playoff team as opposed to a potential contender to take down Golden State. I just went through 6-7 pages of people calling others idiots or homers for having a difference in opinions. This is a pretty sad fanbase if people aren't allowed to be excited about a history breaking streak while winning games.
Game 2 was one of those games where the bench was playing really well, but MDA as usual relied heavily on the starters and they failed to get it done. MDA has no read for how the game is going, period. You have very little chance to win a championship if your coaches aren't able to adjust on the fly, and MDA is probably the worst at doing that. Look at the Warriors. They're the back to back champs! And yet they immediately started the series with the Hampton's 5 lineup because they know starting a real center like Looney or Bogut would favor Capela in that matchup. So they go small, render Caplea completely ineffective, and yet D'Antoni still plays Clint for 33 minutes in Game 2 instead of going small-ball. That decision alone literally cost the Rockets the game. In Game 2 last year, our Tuckwagon lineup destroyed their Hampton's 5, so why didn't we try that more this year? Unbelievable
