The Spurs built their defense against stopping Golden State and their threes. There's a reason why they're bottom 6 in both opponent 3P attempts and 3P%. They're built to stop teams that shoot a bunch of threes. If Houston shoots 30% from three we win this game. We shot 22.6% so we lost by 20. If we shoot 35% we win by 20. Quick maths. Nothing to be worried about.
I can say with confidence that the team has stopped giving a **** because they had already done their work in the regular season. There is literally nothing to play for, already clinched home-court, already broke the wins record, MVP race is over, whats the point? Even the 96-97 Bulls who won 69 games lost 3 of their last 4 to close the season, all in blowout fashion, the moment they clinched the #1 overall seed from the 64 win Utah Jazz. Quality thread, would post again.
Not if this is the effort level. What was Harden doing losing that ball with a few minutes left in the game? I'm mildly concerned about him. I fully comprehend that these games are meaningless, but if you're playing Harden 36 minutes, I'm assuming you're trying to win.
The Rockets offense revolves around the P&R. Having Harden and Capela alone just wont get it done. In the playoffs with CP3 helping carry the load and keeping Harden affective would help a ton. Also play freaking Nene with the second unit now please. The Ryno at the 5 lineup is godawful. You MUST have a big that can suck in the defense on the P&R to get open shots. Why D'Antoni with his years of experience isn't seeing how important Nene is and putting him back in is beyond me. We need him against San Antonio, and especially if we face Golden State where we will need to score for 48 minutes a night. With everyone healthy, Harden isn't being overworked, and you have a healthy Nene coming off the bench, I think we'd beat SAS in 5 or 6 games without Kawhi.
This is why I am going to hold my breath and pray that we win the championship this year. Go Rockets!
Still not concerned, LeBron had an entire month and a half where he put up shitty performances on efficiency that would make Josh Smith blush. That was a combination of regular season apathy and an attempt to force moves at the deadline. Now that playoffs are near and seeding battles appear, LeBron has turned it on and the Cavs have won like 6 in a row. Harden did all his regular season work early and is now taking this psuedo-pre-postseason off.
Defense, rebounding, and ball movement are their strengths. If we match their intensity, and knock some mid range shots, it will make it easier to make 3's. At full strength, we should beat them. Go Houston Rockets!
Can't disagree, Harden was not very Harednesque looking today... Then again there really wasn't one player except maybe Ego who looked even remotely good today. tons of missed layups, several open threes, and FTs, that **** will get you in a game the Spurs had to have to stay in the middle of the playoff seeding race. not worried but a little concerned if we match up with them in the playoffs and CP3 isn't running the show, Harden can't be entirely trusted against the Spurs imo.
Lol no. 2 super stars with last years 6th man and the most improved center vs Aldridge and company? Not even on the same level.
Uh, no. We're 3-1 against them this season. And one of those wins was when the Spurs had Kawhi, and the Rockets still destroyed them. The only teams I'd consider bad matchups for the Rockets are the Raptors and Sixers. And there's a decent chance neither one will play us again this season.
I'm not aware of any team around the 8 seed that swept us, all in blowout fashion, and happens to employ a former coach of ours whom so happens to be one of the greatest offensive minds of the modern era. I'm more worried about following the path of the #1 seeded 2012 Chicago Bulls...
Maybe we're trying to avoid being "Silvered" with a fine. I am also really concerned about us playing tucker and green as hard as we did. Everytime anyone grimaced I had to hold my breath.
Pop probaly applaud D'Antoni because that is how the Spurs operate. Win the most important games, lose games you don't need to win. You don't want to show and tell to the Spurs. In the games that count, we will show and tell.
