Why are we such a soft team in losses? Where is our JYD?

The mental toughness argument really makes this conversation murky. If we are talking about physical toughness the labels are correct.

Kevin Durant was physically weak early in his career. He put on about 20 pounds of extra weight and got stronger. Since then he's gotten to the free throw line at a higher rate, become a better rebounder, and become a much better defender. Ron Artest while known for hard fouls and fighting, was physically tough. In his prime, he was the defensive equivalent to Lebron James able to guard nearly every position because of his strength, quickness, and endurance. He was certainly not garbage.

Outside of Dwight, most of the rockets are physically weak for their position and/or struggle to stay in front of their man. You can use whatever buzz word you'd like to describe it but the team won't get much better without significant changes. The Spurs and Heat shoot plenty of threes as well but they can manage runs from the other team because they can defend.

I will say i'm leaning more towards coaching being an issue. Often I see Dwight having to point and sometimes literally push our guys into the correct defensive rotation because our perimeter guys and stretch 4s just don't get it.

 

And yet you still talk **** about Dwight Howard being soft. Was Rafer Alston the one who led Orlando to the NBA Finals?

 

Mark Cuban said to Charlie Rose that Lin is fearless.

 

He is when it comes to free throws.

 

Dwight Howard is not the same player he was #1 and I don't mean just physically, leaving Orlando and going to La effed him up a bit. # 2 not when it comes to free throws he doubles his free throw percentage in practice, that is mental my friend.

 

Totally agree.

 

I don't agree with that sentiment because I and many others have been saying the same things everday win or lose. We beat the Pelicans but you would still see people complain about Coaching and Toughness. I find it funny that the same person you doesn't believe in the toughness or softness of a team somehow believes in "Luck".

 

I wouldn't say this team is soft as it is just young and inexperienced. This team still need to go through the growth that comes with losing games. They need to have experience to fall back on when things get tough, so they know what they need to do to keep the game in reach. It is a process and it's still ongoing.

 

Well if you look at the roster, its doesn't strike fear into the opponents heart. We need an enforcer type to change that.

 

And also I don't see how I am talking **** about Dwight?? Considering I am a big fan and a fan of the whole team. I am just a realist and I don't believe in a bunch of excuses like bad luck? That can only be used so much. I don't like Mchales coaching so if anything you can say I am talking **** about him. I don't believe he instills fear or confidence and I don't believe he can get them to play defense and play tough the way they should. I don't think Mchale prepares them for the game properly. I don't hate him personally I just think we would be A LOT better with a better coach.

 

This team is too talented to get blown out like that.

 

No killers. No fight. No jyd.

This is why I want rondo. He would help.

Durant bent this team over and screwed them and no one even bothered to protest. They just took it.

This team is reminding more and more of the texans and mchale is seeming more like kubiak.

 

So Rajon Rondo's team never loses badly vs. top team, eh?

 

God forbid McHale puts in a bench player and he goes 2 for 9. To get depth on the bench you need to play the bench. The current scheme will leave most of the starters exhausted and the bench unprepared to step up.

 

It was the 3rd game in 4 nights, the team looked gassed. Lets see how well the Thunder do if the circumstances were reversed. My guess is that we beat them by double digits.

With that said, the Rockets biggest problem is lack of leadership. Nobody wants to step up and take ownership of the team, lately its been leadership by committee which is why we're so inconsistent. Hopefully these growing pains will get better once we get Asik back or trade him for someone who is capable of contributing off the bench. Our bench of awful right now, starters are playing too many minutes and if this keeps up we will be out of gas and bounced in the first round by the end of the season.

 

One obvious difference between the Texans and the Rockets is winning percentage. You know, with the Rockets winning 65% of their games so far and all...

But sure, yeah, other than that I'm sure they are identical.

 

Who are you calling soft! It's MerMAN! MerMAN!

(by the way, Mario Elie DOES NOT approve)

 

Who cares?

The Spurs have won four championship and you'd never see Tony, Timmy, or Manu ever do such a thing.

Man you guys find a way to complain about everything related to this team.

 

One bad game and suddenly we're the softest team in the league? Sure we got some bad beats but does that honestly represent the entire body of work that we've been able to crank out as a whole? Where was this soft talk when Harden delivered the dagger to seal the win against the SA Spurs? Where was that soft talk when Harden and Lin combined for 50+ points and a furious 4th quarter rally to get the win against OKC in the previous year?

Where the hell was it now when we got the resounding win in SA? Back to back wins against the physical Grizzlies? The come from behind against Pelicans? We go 3-1 in a stretch of two back-to-backs and suddenly we don't have enough presence? That's asinine and complete nonsense.

It just so happens that we got soft now? It's the month of December, we're still gelling and adjusting to injuries. We came off running ragged and tired with our 4th game in 5 nights. Our HC can't even trust our bench. You want to face the real problem? We lack a real defensive wing presence. Garcia and Casspi are good when they're hitting their shots but when the shots don't fall, they're just open doors for the opposing offense.

 

There is no bench. Scrubs don't just get better by playing more. The coach is trying to keep this team from being one and done in the playoffs. The front office is not helping him out.