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[ClutchFans] Game 2 Podcast: Are you only the legend or are you the truth?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Clutch, Apr 24, 2014.

  1. Clutch

    Clutch Administrator
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  2. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    eerily prophetic ...

    i blame the writer for this whole mess
     
  3. Liberon

    Liberon Rookie

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    Harden is the definition of Bungholio at its finest.
     
  4. rocksclo

    rocksclo Member

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    Rocket's need to run and gun more. Feeding ball to Harden for ISO isn't gonna work.
    Lin, Bevs and Parsons need to get more shots. Can't let the mistakes happen again.
     
  5. James88

    James88 Member

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    James Harden needs to be traded for Kevin Love this offseason. Spread the word.
     
  6. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    I was going to start a thread with a similar theme.

    I'm putting these losses on Harden. And this is coming from a genuine Harden fan - a Harden apologist, even. I could accept the argument that McHale is somewhat to blame as well, but for me it's at least 90% on Harden.

    I don't care if role players X, Y, and Z on the Rockets are also having bad series'. They're not the franchise player(s). They are role players, and are of average ability in this league. And let's be real here, this is not a role players' league. This is a superstar's league. A superstar can change you from a team playing top 4 pick to a team playing for a title, or vice versa (see: Cavs minus LeBron).

    LaMarcus Aldridge is playing like a superstar. He's doing things role players and normal human beings cannot do. So we need to answer that with a superstar performance on our side, but we're getting nothing.

    You can tell Harden's confidence is shaken. He's making the wrong passes at the wrong time, he's hesitant to shoot, he's struggling to finish near the rim, and he's playing his usual mediocre-to-terrible defense. Him not taking responsibility is also troubling. I wish he'd be shooting at a better clip, but even excusing his percentages he's playing terribly.

    The good news is that he's only 24 and we weren't likely to win the title anyway. But we needed to get some kind of playoff experience this year. We needed something to go right. But we're not getting any of that, and I put the blame on Harden.

    The series may be essentially lost, but he needs to use our next 2+ games to prove to Rockets fans that he can be the man in the playoffs, because the playoffs are what really matter. Can he be the alpha dog on a championship team? A week ago I would have given a resounding Yes! but now I'm not so sure. I really, really hope he can have some sort of positive impact in our next couple of games, otherwise the front office might want to consider bringing in another offensive player to play Batman to Harden's Robin.
     
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  7. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    ^^^

    I'm a Harden apologist too, and I agree that the vast majority of the blame goes to Harden. Mchale has been awful, but the Rockets have lost by 2 and 7, and there's not a doubt that if Harden shows up in either of those games, the Rockets win. Last year I was okay with him not playing great in the playoffs because it was his first year as the top guy and the Rockets were big underdogs, but there's no excuses for how badly he's playing right now.
     
  8. conquistador#11

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    the way our "superstar" is playing we might need 8 of them on this roster to actually have a chance at anything. =(
     
  9. No Chance

    No Chance Contributing Member

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    I am a Harden fan but a Harden for Melo or Love trade is sounding very good about now.

    I am not sure but wasn't there some discussion about Harden fading in the
    thunder play offs?

    Why didn't they give Dmo some playing time against Aldridge?
     
  10. IzakDavid13

    IzakDavid13 Contributing Member

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    Wow, 2 bad games & we want to trade a 24 year old superstar?

    Clutchfans is going into meltdown.
     
  11. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    whoa there, buddy.
     
  12. sugrlndkid

    sugrlndkid Member

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    Let us give credit to the terrific job Terry Stots has done against the entire Rockets team. First and foremost, he let Howard go single covered in the post...Most of the time that would be a mistake, but on the other end, LMA was matching him point for point. Howard also was tremendously exerting his effort on defensive end causing his performance to be diminished...He looked gassed.

    Terry Stots also made terrific decisions on a late double team on both Harden and Howard. Heck even in the fourth quarter, they doubled our cold star in James. Good coaching knows that a great player can get hot at any moment.

    The Rockets need a change at the starting lineup. One suggestion is to start DMo and Dwight with Parsons, Harden and Bev. This lineup gives us the spacing. Infact, We dont have to have DMo on LMA, but we do need a bigger player than TJones.

    Next in regards to the bench. It is time to effectively end the Garcia experiment, and bring someone off the bench that can make shots. My answer would be Troy Daniels. A lineup off the bench of Asik, TJones, Lin and Daniels could work.

    Why would this be effective? A starting lineup with DMo guarding RLopez, Howard on LMA, Bev on Lillard, Parsons on Batum, and Harden on Mathews. Robin Lopez or LMA would have to guard DMo out on the perimeter, and on defense, DMo provides size that is desperately needed.

    In regards to the bench, the Rockets must be able to have production. Their bench was extremely effective, with Wright and Mo Williams. The Rockets must have the same effectiveness. A line up of TJones, Asik, Lin, Daniels and Harden/Parsons would have tremendous value. Scoring would not be an issue off the bench and defense would be average with Asik patrolling the paint.

    The Rockets are toast. Losing 2 at home and expecting to go and win in a hostile environment like Portland is exactly what you dont want to face. The Rockets have to look to win 4 straight. If they dont, they most likely will not win the series. Portland has all the momentum and their superstars are playing at an extremely high level. My heart says the Rockets will try competing in Portland, but my mind says it may be over by game 4.
     
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  13. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    wow, are you available to be the interim Rockets coach? because you have more good ideas than the Rockets brain trust?
     
  14. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    Harden has to snap out of his funk and salvage some part of his reputation.

    His shots are really way off and his drives are being blocked. He really needs a pnr partner. Why not Harden/Jones or Harden/DMo? DMo could be the pick and pop guy.

    Another failure of the coaches is we never were able to develop DMo's offensive weapons. His defense improved but we never gave him a consistent role on offense. Pick and pop--that could be his role.
     
  15. JeffB

    JeffB Contributing Member
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    Terry Stotts is coaching circles around McHale. Last night, McHale didn't even adjust once the Blazers started doubling and zoning up on Howard. The players clearly had no idea what to do.

    And the plan to double Harden whenever he starts to get a rhythm is brilliant. Pound Harden on D and keep the ball from him after he hits a shot to prevent a rhythm.

    The answer is off ball movement. The Rockets are showing practically none. Barkley made an astute obervation that the Rockets are playing out of character. They are a run and gun, 3-point shooting, pick n' roll team. They need to get back to that. After the game, Aldridge commented that Howard going off was not a concern because it was for 2s; it is the 3s that concerns the Blazers.

    On offense I think the team needs to up the transition game and focus more on Lin/Howard and Harden/Howard pick n' roll action. Yeah, post up Howard, but mix up the sets. The team knows what to do out of the pick n' roll action. This is the wrong time of year to try and change team identity.

    On D, well... Without Sampson they appear lost. But dealing with LA shouldn't be Rocket science. LA is too long and strong for Jones and too quick for Asik, who did a good job but kept getting pushed off. I think, especially given that LA pushes off on nearly every play, DMo should get a turn, not because of defensive mojo, but because sometimes styles make fights. DMo brings height and more length so LA will have to adjust the arc on his shot more. But DMo has the feet to stay with him and, despite not having any power, DMo will flop. Somebody has to sell the push off. I am surprised the Rox haven't just tried it. What is there to lose? Just have DMo hack a bit to try and disrupt rhythm if you need to. Stotts uses his scrubs to far greater effect (having a guy just push and lean on Howard to make Howard but energy). If the DMo experiment has any effect, then mix up coverage using him and Asik to give LA different looks.

    I am disappoint in Harden's play, and that is on him. But the coach has got to get his guys mentally ready to go. Not sit on the sideline watching guys hyperventilate.
     
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  16. Hakeemtheking

    Hakeemtheking Member

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    I don't want to engage in any more derogatory statements against any of our players without further information (at least now after the cooling off period), but what is happening to Harden?

    He was the clutchest player this year in clutch situations and of the most efficient in the entire NBA. Any superstar can have a subpar game in the playoffs, but two consecutive pathetic ones? Is Harden's tank completely empty due to excessive regular season minutes? This is perplexing to me and I would say 99% of us. There is something going on that is troubling him.
     
  17. ksny15

    ksny15 Member

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    Foolish to put 90% of the losses on one mans shoulders. The team is playing god awful right now and have horrible coaching to boot. Nobody on our team has showed up for an entire game yet. Harden, Parsons and Howard do need to shoulder the majority of the blame but come on Hardens not the only reason we have lost.
     
  18. ksny15

    ksny15 Member

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    I have been wondering this too you just don't go from clutch to this without something going on. And its not heart I don't by that ****. I'm starting to wonder if he is fatigued or maybe hurt? The team also seems to have tuned out Mchale. I think a lot of it though is Portland packing the paint, our guys just don't have much room to attack. Portland is playing very well on D and deserve a lot of credit. Mchale needs to start running some PnR to get Harden some good looks early to get him in a groove.
     
  19. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
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    Good podcast.

    I'm really surprise that Harden didn't rebound. I don't recall him ever having two stinker in a row. Is the defense that awesome? No, not really. Harden was very tentative, not confident and unsure of himself. I agree that he even play worse this game than game 1. When Lin stink up, I always said it's on him (and that's true), but as still a young (and apparently mentally weak) player in the playoff, it's on you and on your coach to put you into a situation to be successful. I wonder if McHale show him all the mistakes he made in game one (namely, all those jack up 3) and if that's one reason why Harden was so passive this game. As with Lin, we need aggressive Harden, not a passive one. So as much as this is on Harden, I'm thinking McHale "over"-coaching might be part of it. Even if not, it amazes me that there isn't some plan to GET Harden going. Run some play for him, some screens. Get him some easy shots to get his confident going. Nothing. That's on McHale.

    Not running PnR is something that I don't get. We had some success with that in game one with Lin, and all season long with Harden and Parson. There wasn't a single PnR for Lin in this game that I can recall. Why is McHale so against PnR? Just dumping it into the POST gets old and if Portland isn't doubling and Howard isn't make the shots, there isn't much Portland need to do on defense. They just stay home with the shooters and watch. No movement at all. You put so much pressure on Howard to be what he hasn't been all year - a great effective and efficient POST player. I also don't recall much of any PnR for Parson. For whatever reasons, we suddenly just went away from that. You think that when both Howard and Harden are struggling late, we run some PnR instead of doing the same old thing that isn't working.

    The Bench. What chances did they really get? Not excuses, but the reality is they went with POST play and Portland stayed home so it's all on Howard. Again, no PnR for Lin. He's used as a static shooter and there weren't that many passes out from either Howard or Harden to 3pt shooter. It just didn't happen. Do we expect that our bench come in and just start driving to the basket themselves and try to make shots? Is that our offense and what we expect from our bench? Secondly, all seasons long, we have little trust in our bench. We play our starters massive mins. When our starter struggle, we don't have a bench to go to. That's on the coaching staff to place more responsibility and trust and develop the bench. Furthermore, we played basically 7 guys. Lin and Asik was the bench. No PnR for Lin, Asik is for defense. You aren't going to get any production out of your bench if you playing only 2 and you don't put them into a position of strength.

    Low Assists. We don't run play, we don't have PG run plays. We have all year let Harden play the shooter and PG duties. When Harden doesn't have it, we don't do anything different. Well, we did go into the POST and that's basically it. AGAIN, no PnR for Lin, Harden or Parson. So we do blame Harden here (what other option we have), but it's strategic decision by the Rockets very early on to put everything on Harden (make shots and dishes). If we had a more balanced approach of Harden making shots and a PG dishing, we wouldn't be dead in the water when Harden is struggling. It's not really live or die by the 3pt shots, it's live or die via Harden.

    Clueless coach. "we have nothing". Well coach, it's on you to have plans and counter moves and adjust accordingly. You basically showed only two things in this game 2 (Howard POST and hope Harden get it going all by himself). When both fail, of course you have nothing.

    Defense on LMA. I don't have that big of an issue with this as many have. LMA is just playing at an insane level. They tried a number of things and nothing really worked (running at and rotating small guys to him late in the 4th seems to have worked a bit and that might be something worthwhile for game 3).
     
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  20. Bigsupervise

    Bigsupervise Member

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    I think everyone who watches the rockets the last two years knew about the weaknesses of the Rockets and Harden
    1) Harden is selfish on the break
    2) Harden gives no effort on defense
    3) McHale does not make Harden accountable for any of his mistakes or lack of effort
    4) McHale did little to develop Lin and instead tried to turn him into a scorer
    5) Morey did a poor job assembling a bench - trading away shooters (Patterson, Morris, Douglas and Delfino)
    6) McHale is doing a poor job of adjustments - Why no double team of Aldridge, Why no half court press, force someone else to score
    7) Rockets do a poor job of running sets to get Harden, Lin, Parsons and Howard easy looks instead only relying on natural talent.
    8)Morey put a roster together with no shooters yet his team shoots alot of 3's
     

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