Saying experience is our biggest weakness implies that if we make no changes and play the same way for the next 2-3 years, we will yield the greatest improvements... I clearly cannot bring myself to believe that
Dude, that was last season's argument. We've 2 superstars now and plenty of time since, for the core (outside of Dwight) to gel. If we're out of the first round again, heads have to roll.
That is complete BS. The Blazers have less experience than the Rockets but you wouldn't know it based on this series. The reason the Rockets are down 3-1 is that the problems that have plagued them all season long are coming back to bite them. The overreliance on ISO ball, the shoddy defense, the inability to hold leads, the weak bench, and the mediocre 3-point shooting(Daniels after the first 2 games notwithstanding). The weak bench and lack of shooters is on Morey. He needs to address that this offseason(and not wait til 2015 just to preserve his precious capspace). Everything else falls on McHale. He knew these were issues since October and did nothing to fix them. Now he may pay the price with his job.
Excellent post. Another thing is that the Blazers IIRC had their starting five in tact for virtually 82 games. We had a string of injuries so our starting 5 plus Asik has not played together nearly as much. In addition we suffer from a common condition which has effected many a potentially strong team going into the playoffs. We entered the playoff playing poorly, having peaked a month or so before. Portland entered the playoffs playing very good ball. All the blame game is largely hysterics. Now if this happens next year then it is time to be hysterical.
Shocker... A McHale led team not playing well in the end of the season. Where have we seen that before lol.
This would be a good excuse if we were playing the Spurs or Thunder. Portland has little or no experience advantage over our core. Frankly I think the mental side of coaching is what has been missing. Harden is allowed to shoot through a scoring mindset that has failed for 3-4 years now. Parsons thinks he's Dirk Nowitzki when we really need him to be closer to Kawhi Leonard. Lin continues to take too many 3pters. Jones is allowing a below average rebounder in LMA to kill us on the boards. D-Mo has not seen the floor despite it being clear Jones has failed at this matchup. Overall we were a significantly better defensive team than them when we were healthy (which we are). We were slightly better offensively. Still, we are trying to outscore them far more often than we are trying to outdefend them. We've not come out like a team that is looking at the going all the way. We've come out trying to show something off to Portland and they've showed us up. This team has not respected its opponents, and it hasn't respected its own strengths/weaknesses. It should be crystal clear by now that Harden should be ramping up his assist average rather than his usage rate. That Asik and DMo should get the brunt of minutes at PF. That Howard is the most favorable matchup and we should get him the ball way more in the first 3 quarters. That Parsons needs to defend his man, and score within the flow of the game. That when Lin comes off the bench he should be given the ball and multiple screens to attack the basket and get to the line or kick out to 3pt shooters. That Beverley is not going to shut down a guy who is shooting over him with ease. This team is not mentally prepared - and though that could be helped with more experience, it's not a problem that could not be addressed by adequate mental preparation and on-court accountability. The Blazers and Stotts have done it, so can the Rockets.
Agreed. I have played a total of zero minutes in the NBA but if the Rockets start me in tomorrow night's game I don't think the main thing people will say is "that guy needs more experience."
