at this point i'd rather play the lakers than the blazers

We match up against the Blazers well. I don't think they can play Nukic and Whiteside at the same time against us. Harden/Westbrook v. Dame/CJ, that advantage has to go to us, and I think we have a better supporting cast than theirs.

OTOH, we do not match up well against the Lakers. If the lakers space it correctly, it will be tough for us.

 

I’m sorry but as good as he is, that is too much to give up for him.

 

Teams do not match up well with the Rockets.

That includes both Lakers and Blazers.

Rockets just flip the paradigm.

 

What about the Clippers?

Also they were saying coming to the playoffs, there would be a wall formed by the opponent on Harden. Looks like we have made a lot of planning, based on the small sample size so far.

 

Clippers are similar to OKC, they are not prolific 3ball shooters.

They are definitely more talented offensively as well as defensively but the Rockets have played an even more talented team on both sides of the ball and would have beat them but for a CP3 hammy and corrupt officiating.

Clips are not better than the Durant led GSW with 4 All Stars & 3 MVPs.

And this Rockets team is better than our 65 win team.

I will get flamed for this but I stand by it.

 

????
EG PJ and Roco is too much for AD?

I’m sorry I may have been wrong a lot recently but no way Lakers do that deal and no way Morey doesn’t do that deal.

I think you’re living too much in the 2-0 moment right now.

 

I love it. Now come to think of it, we are minus CP and Ariza from that team but plus Russ. Russ is an upgrade over that CP I think. PJ has become a defense leader than Ariza ever was. The rest of the squads are different, but I think overall this team is better. Yes, I think the current team is better.

 

Can AD switch everything as well as PJ and RoCo?

AD is a talent for sure but is he a fit?

His 3ball will have to improve considerably with Russ on same team.

Aaron Gordon is better fit IMO. And Rockets will not have to decimate roster to obtain him.

But discussion is moot anyway because no way Lakers do that trade.

Old man Lebron is a better fit for this Rockets team than AD in my opinion.

 

um no, did i stutter?

 

Even if Lakers were foolish to give up their only superstar in prime of his game for 3 role players, not so sure Morey pulls trigger on this deal.

If this were Cp3/Harden team, no brainer, take AD and thank the gods.

But new system with Russ as 5 is much more complicated.

Morey may still make the trade because he loves superstars but this current system has to be drastically modified.

Not sure if that's a good thing.

 

No way not me. Lebron and AD would devastate our interior. We wouldnt be able to stop that type of talented size easily. If our 3 ball is nonexistent it would be a blowout. We'd have to shoot 40%+ from 3 I think to beat that team 4 times. Not impossible, but I think we matchup a lot better with the blazers even though i think Nurkic and Whiteside offer their own set of issues for Houston to deal with primarily rebounding.

Im gonna enjoy beating up the Thunder for a few more games before the anxiety kicks in thanks.

 

You are right, one game at a time.

But I will politely agree to disagree with you on the Lakers.

Rockets will crush them.

 

Since you put it that way!! FO FO FO FO!! (Lakers still make me feel weird in my loins - maybe thats just the tight underwear)

 

my thoughts pretty much... we would be trading the backbone of our switch everything D for a soft center who wants to launch from 3 at 32 percent? we wouldn't be able to switch everything anymore, which would mean that harden and russ would have to guard the perimeter more.... just cuz AD is a vastly superior talent, its a matter of the fit, the sum of the parts fitting together. If you play AD in the paint, then russ would have to be on the perimeter with his three point shot? why give up three starter rotation players for a center who will be launch threes at a low clip and also have to change the whole defense? Gordon will find his shot and he, pj, and cov are our best switchable defenders who fit around harden.

i'm not sure morey would do that trade, especially if we beat them...if he is as all world as he's supposed to be, then he should beat us with lebron. he hasn't done anything yet.

 

Your post got me curious about our matchups with the Lakers this year, especially since we decided a traditional NBA center was a hindrance to our offense. I know, I know; cart before the horse, etc. Sue me. Anyway, I did some poking around, and here's what I found...

1st matchup, Jan 18: L 124-115
AD was out for the game. We still had Capela/Sefolosha/Hartenstein on the roster and didn't yet have Covington/Green/Carroll. We had them down by 6 at the half, but they beat us with a strong thirt quarter. They took nearly as many 3s as us (33 to our 37). And we had 20 turnovers. Harden and Westbrook played about 40 minutes each and MDA pretty much stuck to a 7-man rotation, with Tyson/Thabo/Frazier getting 15 minutes between them. Green and KCP each had 20 pts, which may never happen again.

2nd matchup, Feb 6: W 121-111
Exit Capela, enter RoCo (not Jeff Green yet, though). This was the "The Lakers will demonstrate that small-ball can't possibly work!" game, with both teams at full strength. Tied at the half, we pulled away in the 2nd half, holding them to 18 pts in the 4th. The key: We were 19-42 from three, and they were 9-33; that's 30 points right there. Harden only had 14, but Russ had 41. We don't need Harden to score big to beat these guys. MDA played 9 guys at least 10 minutes each.

3rd matchup, Aug 6: W 113-97
Fourth game after the COVID break. Green was now on board, but Westbrook and EG missed the game. LeBron/Bradley/Rondo were out for the Lakers. Rockets were now in full-on small-ball mode. We were 21-57 from 3, while our D held the Lakers to 2-19; that's a difference of 57 points on 3-point shots. Harden had 39 points. We led by 9 at the half and by 15 going into the 4th.

Of note is the fact that we held the Lakers to just 18 points in the fourth in each of the two small-ball games. Is that a fluke? Maybe, but it might also be that when our all-wings defense cranks it up a notch, the Lakers don't know what to do. Also, in those games we hit 40 of the 99 3s we took. They're obviously having trouble defending the perimeter against us, even when both Bradley and Rondo played.

 

The lakers will always have the three stooges in their pockets much like the warriors had them in 018 and in 19

the NBA will always do whatever it takes to get their biggest cash cow the lakers into the finals. Same with the warriors. Go ask the Blazers in 2000 and the kings how bad these rigged games are. We also know from past experiences

 

Just need to blow them out earlier instead of waiting until 4th.

50+ treys is hard to rig against.

 

Lakers dont have enough fire power to match us.

 

They are missing key piece Bradley Avery, they are not the same without him.

 

It is moot in the sense it would never happen.
Still think it’s crazy to think it would not be an easy decision to do that trade. Davis would do just fine with Harden. Morey would definitely do it and him and MDA would make it work.
I think anyone who says PJ Roco and EG is too much for AD is just a little high from the 2 games we’ve won as one should be. AD is no Harden, but he’s better than most teams best player. We’ll see once the playoffs are done if system players are a better idea for us than adding another top tier player. Hopefully we’ll see me wrong again