Thank you Costa Rica for not showing the game. I don't think I could have stomached watching 36 bricks get thrown from behind the arc. That's a loss against anyone, refs or no refs. Better to vomit bricks now rather than playoff time. No worries. Tucker and Gordon were bound to have some nights like this after the way they have been lighting up 3's. They have been our best 3 PT% shooters for over a month behind House. House is lighting it up, and I hope that flame turns into a big ole Texas bonfire during the playoffs. Time to make history again. Gotta Believe!!! Go Rockets!!
we have too many careless turnovers, how many live ball turnovers we had under our own bucket? i counted 4 at least, giving up easy buckets to a great defensive team is just bad........ despite the poor 3 point shooting, we still could have won if we did not have this many careless turnovers....
Here's a post I made in another thread, but it applies here as well. Not only was Bledsoe playing matador defense and baiting Harden to drive right... but Bledsoe completely PUNKED Harden, bullied him, and disrespected him... especially in the 1st half. examples: Bledsoe slaps the ball out of Hardens' hands during an inbounds, purposely getting called for a delay of game. Then he steps up into Harden face and flexes, basically calling Harden out and challenging him right there on the spot. What does Harden do?.... he looks over at the ref... then backs off from Bledsoe... GAME, SET, MATCH! Bledsoe then baited Harden to drive later on, practically playing behind him, then followed behind Harden and blocked his shot out of bounds... then Bledsoe flexed his arms at the crowd, further insulting Harden. Bledsoe continued with this type of stuff on Harden while he was also dropping 3's and driving for layups at will... with NO retaliation or resistance from Harden or the Rockets. Harden may have ended up with decent stats, but stats don't tell the story of the game. His lack of fight and determination led to the Bucks getting a sense of domination, and it led to the Rockets being less confident and less aggressive. It affected the overall psyche and demeanor of the team. That right there showed everyone, on national TV, what Harden is made of... and it proves what people have been questioning him about all of these years from his past meltdowns... that he is mentally weak, and that he doesn't handle pressure well... when it really matters and counts. Name any other "great", "superstar" players that would back down from a direct challenge like that. I guarantee Bledsoe would never dare do that to Jordan, Kobe, or Iverson. Hell, even regular all-star players would take that personal and fight back, trash talk back, raise their game, go into domination mode, or whatever. Most players in the NBA would not just lay down and take it... like Harden did. Call it whatever you like, I call it "lack of killer instinct". But the bottom line is that when push comes to shove, and when the real pressure is on... Harden does not show up the way that he should. Last nights game just reinforces that narrative, and what's worse... it showed all the other teams Hardens' Achilles heel... just bully him and pressure him... and he's likely to fold. (other teams and other players are watching, and taking notes) That was a very bad look for Harden. He's a 10 year veteran now, so expecting him to suddenly change into a "killer instinct" player isn't likely. I just hope he and the rest of the Rockets can find ways to overcome that deficiency.
Great post... I wish more people would open their eyes and see these realities. Regular season games mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Regular season MVP trophies are meaning less in the grand scheme as well. In an old interview with Jordan right before he retired, John Thompson asked him about his scoring achievements and stuff... and Jordan replied... (I'm paraphrasing, but this is the gist of what he said) "The only thing that mattered to me was winning games, and winning championships. The other accomplishments are nice... but they are not what I played the game for." Harden backed down and folded from Bledsoes' challenge, the rest of the Rockets didn't step up and take it personal either (esp. CP3), and D'Antoni continued to do what he notoriously always does... nothing.... he makes no adjustments to what other teams are doing. Hopefully this is a wakeup call for all of them. Toughness wins championships, both physical and mental.
...da fuq is this? The refs are there for a reason - to control chaos if it gets out of hand. If Harden shows emotion against Bledsoe and gets T'd up, that would be such a bad look. All eyes are were on the game - if Harden shows signs that the 3rd best player on that team is getting to him, that says a lot more than an aloof Harden would. Harden gets blocked. It happens. But just because you get swatted, you want to retaliate? That's the logic a child has - a petulant one, at that. James did the smart thing all game - drive into the lane when his primary defender played him too close and kicked it out when Lopez / another big was in the lane waiting for him. A Rocket (Tucker, Gordon, etc) was open from the 3pt line all game because of this defensive tactic, but no one could hit a 3. Simple as that.
Talk about missing the point bro... Who said anything about getting T'd up? I'm talking about regular old school, typical basketball, especially at the Pro level. Players talking trash between each other and challenging each other. It goes on every game, every single day. I'm talking about professional players taking each others challenges and battling it out on the court. If you don't understand that... I can't explain it to you any other way.
uhhhh.... are you saying the guy that averaged 40 over 40 games to bring this team back from the ashes doesn't have a killer instinct? Did you watch the last game against the spurs? Or against the Warriors earlier this year? We got out-schemed and out-hustled. Instead of forcing something that wasn't there, Harden got his role players WIDE OPEN 3 point looks. That's what our offense is supposed to do.
What exactly is your point? Harden took on the challenge, took what the defense gave him and drove for most of the game, only to kick it out to a wide-open shooter because that was the smart move. Just so happens that everyone was cold, last night. If you wanted him to play hero-ball and "dominate" Bledsoe, I don't think that would have been the best course of action. If you wanted him to go "eye for an eye" with Bledsoe (bodying him up, slapping the ball away, flexing on him, etc), that would actually prove Harden has thinner skin - moreso than your example of a "non-caring" Harden would.
What I'm saying... is that there is a difference between a player having great talent and great skills, and showing those talents in the regular season, and in some playoff games. But when it comes down the critical and crucial playoff games What I'm saying... is that there is a difference between a player having great talent and great skills, and showing those talents in the regular season, and in some playoff games. But when it comes down the critical and crucial playoff games, or games where there is some other form of heightened pressure or challenge...then some players tend to back down and fold. Unfortunately, Harden has done this in his past, numerous times, and it's being questioned by all the national media as well... not just by me. Is this hating on him? I don't see it that way. I simply look at it as being a realist, and analyzing the teams chances of winning it all.
Not in games that mean something. its time the face this fact, its why we needed CP3 and now CP3 is no longer CP3.
Harden is MVP this year because of the way the team is built he has to be superman to win. But now we have to take that into the playoffs, its not gonna work.
I hope Im wrong but Im not. Also I could be right and we still win, but guys would have to step up other than Harden.
Okay, if you need a direct example of something in order to see what I'm getting at... here goes. Let's use Jordan as an example (I know he's the ultimate competitor, but many other extremely competitive NBA players would do similar) If Bledsoe slapped the ball out of Jordans' hands during an inbounds situation, purposely getting a delay of game whistle, and then stepped up directly into Jordans' chest and face, taunting him and challenging him... what do you think Jordan would have done? Everyone knows what he would've done.... and it would not be getting T'd up, or any other of those negative things you mentioned. Jordan would have talked right back into Bledsoes' face and basically said, "okay, you want some of this... it's on". Then Jordan would have proceeded to dominate the game, in every way possible that he could. He would score, or assist, or rebound, and most importantly... he would have D-up on Bledsoe like a man possessed. Bottom line, Jordan would have willed his team to WIN, and he would make his dominance over Bledsoe known... and he would have made Bledsoe regret challenging him that way. I'm not saying Harden should have, or could have done it just like Jordan... but I'm making the point that he should not have backed away from the challenge the way that he did, because it hurt the team in the overall. Peace
Seems like in big games the Rox throw a Brickfest PJ was awful, Gordon wasn't much, Shumpert was. . . . well, Shumpert. Even CP couldn't make wide open 3's. And we had PLENTY of wide open looks. All the while, the Bucks got hot. Scorching it from 3 I'm impressed with their HUGE frontcourt. Giannis can't shoot from outside. He relies on bullying inside and dunks. But, Eliasova can shoot the 3 and stretch the floor. Their tall, rangy lineup presents problems with rebounding as well. They've been irrelevant for decades, but have built a pretty good team around Giannis
WOW how long have you been waiting to bust out this wack ass take? And you thought it was so great you posted it on multiple threads. Really my dude?
so those back to back games with the Sixers and Raptors where not big games 2 weeks ago? Or the Spurs game just last week?
The Rockets have no excuse to not lock up home court in Round 1. They'll finish ahead of the Spurs. It's just a formality at this point. The Thunder are crumbling and look likely to finish 7th or 8th. Which leaves the Jazz and Clippers. Both currently have 30 losses, 2 more than the Rockets. LA has the tiebreaker over us. Utah technically doesn't, but they would if we wind up with the same number of losses since they'll have a better conference record at that point. Here's the good news. The Jazz and Clippers play each other on the final day of the regular season at Staples Center. Meaning at minimum, one of those teams will have 31 losses at season's end. And LA still has to visit Milwaukee(tomorrow) and Golden State. It seems unthinkable that the Rockets don't finish ahead of them, even if they lose that tough B2B at LA next week. Really the only team to worry about behind us in the standings is Utah. But I have a feeling they'll lose at least 1-2 more games. Regarding the 3rd seed, we're mostly at the mercy of Portland on that one. Without Nurkic and with McCollum out for at least 4 more games, will they go 2-2 or 1-3 on this road trip they start tonight? If that happens, I think the Rockets can pass them in the standings.
