Not a single ESPN writer took the rockets to beat the lakers

Perfect! We have the Lakers just where we want them!

What would concern me is if many of the talking heads DID pick the Rockets.

 

I definitely think the Rockets have a shot to win this series because their style of play causes the Lakers problems. However, it shouldn’t bother anyone that every ESPN expert picked the Lakers.

The Rockets had far too many mental lapses and a lack of defensive intensity at times against the Thunder. If the Rockets did the little things better, it would have been a Rockets’ sweep, but instead the Thunder pushed the series to seven games.

If they don’t clean up those areas, they likely will not advance to the conference finals.

 

You can tire on defense, you're not going to go pedal to the metal every minute. The more agonizing ones to me are the "up 8, 3 minutes to go" possessions where Harden pulls up from 3 with 18 seconds left on the clock. Or errant passes that get stolen. Or dribbling into a trap.

So many times during those moments I'm out loud saying "let's run a play, get a good shot off please don't just sho....God dammit."

 

I get what some of these guys are saying...

“Rockets didn’t look very good in beating OKC”

The problem there is.

We aren’t playing OKC again. There’s no Dort on LA. There aren’t going to be a bunch of guards creating havok on the perimeter. It’s a different series. Different styles. Different matchups.

No problem if anyone wants to pick LA. They are likely very rightfully favored in the series.

But the reasoning...They played this way against team A and expecting the exact same level of play against team B based off of that isn’t very smart.

 

Really? Who? I know no one on TNT picked Rockets (Charles Barkley jinx is oh the Lakers now)

 

I don't get it. OKC had something like the 2nd best record after the all star break , they had a good defense, they had the best 5 man lineup in the league.

OKC was a different kind of 5 seed.

 

Do you know or anyone else what are the two main guys that will be guarding Harden? Is Kuzma one?

 

Yeah this isn’t surprising I’m not even picking Houston.

 

I don't think anybody did. I only said I'd be concerned if that was what many of them did. Rockets do better when counted out, and do worse when talking heads talk them up.

 

Marc J. Spears: Lakers in 5
Jesse Washington: Lakers in 5
Bobby Marks: Lakers in 5

Jerry Bembry: Lakers in 6
Nick DePaula: Lakers in 6
Kirk Goldsberry: Lakers in 6
Andrew Han: Lakers in 6
Andrew Lopez: Lakers in 6
Zach Lowe: Lakers in 6
Eric Woodyard: Lakers in 6
Royce Young: Lakers in 6
Ohm Youngmisuk: Lakers in 6
Kevin Pelton: Lakers in 6
Jorge Sedano: Lakers in 6
Ramona Shelburne: Lakers in 6

Dave McMenamin: Lakers in 7
Andre' Snellings: Lakers in 7
Nick Friedell: Lakers in 7
Tim MacMahon: Lakers in 7

I am surprised Ramona didn't pick Lakers in 4...

 

Ah, I see. I read it wrong.

 

Its not a coincidence. Make no mistake, we are a huge underdog in this series. Gun to my head i say Lakers in 6.(5 if we dont shoot the ball particularly well)

 

This is what Zach Lowe said at the end of a long article that was mostly spent criticizing Harden, the part I agreed with to large extent:

Houston has geared everything toward Harden. When Harden's relationship with Paul soured, the Rockets exchanged the Point God for Harden's old pal -- sacrificing two first-round picks and two swaps to do it. When the combination of Westbrook and Clint Capela became an impediment to Harden's drives, the Rockets traded Capela and another first-round pick for Covington.

Harden is worth it. He might be the greatest one-on-one player ever. His greatness is inexorable, exhausting for defenders, scary for opponents to contemplate. He walks onto the court with 30 points. He is an offense unto himself, almost an automatic playoff berth, and, yes, what he does in the regular season -- the metronomic relentlessness of his scoring -- matters, too.

He is nearing 21,000 career points. If he averages 2,200 per season -- a shade under his average since 2014 -- for the next seven seasons, he will approach Karl Malone's career scoring total (No. 2 all time).

On the Bill Simmons Podcast earlier this season, I called Harden something like the guard version of Malone: piling up monstrous regular-season totals and advancing far in every postseason without a signature Moment -- without ever giving you the feeling that They Got This in a big game.

Malone did not redefine the boundaries of basketball the way Harden has in pioneering the step-back triple. Harden just turned 31. The clock is ticking, but he should still have some chances.

This series against Los Angeles is one. The Lakers are not indomitable. They have been a poor shooting team and average half-court offense all season. LeBron James is the best player in the series, but recent MVP votes suggest Harden is No. 2. The Lakers have no one who can stay in front of Harden.

If Houston shoots well and commits to the hard stuff -- especially transition defense, long a weak point for Harden and Westbrook -- the Rockets should give themselves a chance. (I picked Lakers in six, for the record.)

Harden's postseason story is messy, and sometimes unpleasant, but it's not finished.

https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2015/story/_/id/12802517/experts-predictions-round-2

 

Putas.

 

These people are not blind. They just saw the Rockets barely escape Chris Paul and a team full of role players. I dont care what anyone says, that says it all. Plus the Lakers had time to sit back and watch a game or two to see how the Rockets stumbled and bumbled their way to a series win. I guarantee you the Lerbon is ready.

 

What'd y'all expect after OKC took us to 7 games...we're not beating LA with the way Harden and WB finished that series

 

I agree going to G7 was a joke, but not shaken about our chances.

 

It’s over idiots.

 

I wouldn't bet too much money on the Rockets.

 

Good... and I can’t wait to see the reaction if we win game 1. WeLL PoRtLaNd WoN GaMe 1 AlsO... we aren’t Portland and James/Russ aren’t dame/cj