It's crazy to think Harden has played the entire 2nd half of games for this long of a stretch (8-10 games), back-to-backs included. Beyond the obvious risk of injury from overextended minutes, the strategy has backfired. They have been in a number of close games recently, only to fade in the final minutes. Harden looks worn down, with little to nothing left in the tank for the 4th quarter. You can't run players into the ground and expect them to play with pace. I just think you have to rely/trust the bench and if they fail, so be it. Continuing to play someone 44 minutes a game for an extended period of time, doesn't seem like a viable option.
What a nightmare season this has been. That sinking feeling, when you realize you just wasted the past 6 months of your life watching this train wreck of a team. There weren't really even any fun moments, every minor win streak was followed by crushing losses. From WCF one year, to laughing stock of the league the next.
Exactly, so stupid. Take him out for like 2 mins at least at the end of the 3rd. JB seriously is one of the worst coaches of all time. I hate him with a passion!!
The thing is, this was the season Morey moved away from his Moreyball approach. THE Brewer and Beverley contracts are unlike anything Morey had ever done, tying up $14m per season on two guys at contracts that make them virtually liabilities or untradable. At least you can say Lin was Les or still had potential upside when Morey signed him. Some might disagree about Beverley, but he is a 2nd to 3rd PG in this league without a Harden next to him. What im saying is that, is it Moreyball that failed us or Morey's move away from Moreyball? We could probably have still salvaged our season if Brewer or Beverley were movable.
the biggest acquisition we can make and have no control over is for harden to mature. Because we know how the durant coming to houston is going to play out...done deal until the last minute when durant tells morley no.
I dont get it. What is different about this team from last season's team? Essentially all the same players.
Last year was fluke. A deception that made players and the team think that they were better than they are. This year is closer to reality.
It's simple. Teams figured us out. It's not like our offense has plays to get guys open. Our offense is 75% based off James Harden's ISO. Harden has more ISO's than the whole GS franchise this year. Instead of open up the offense, or adjust, we kept running ISO's to insure Harden got his stats. This is why our season has been the most disappointing. We sucked all season and cared more about appeasing our entitled superstar than winning. In Morey we Trust
Let me take a crack at it: Howard - He's healthier obviously, but the athleticism is waning and he's simply nowhere near the same player anymore. Remember when he came back from injury the first time last season and was mediocre for about 19 games before he got hurt again? That's basically how he's played the entire year. T-Jones - Also healthier, but he's had an awful year even by his low standards. Jones has basically been exposed as a complete scrub. D-Mo - Never really recovered from the back injury. Who knows if he ever will and who really cares at this point since there's no way he'll be here next season? Smith - Wasn't even around for the first half of the season, but since his return, he's looked over the hill just like he did in LA. Smith's a guy much like Dwight who was heavily reliant on his athleticism. Now that that's gone, he's no longer an effective NBA player. Ariza - He's 30 now and it looks like he's starting to decline physically as well. It doesn't help that so much is asked of him on defense considering Harden refuses to play any, so fatigue on top of age is wearing on him. Plus he's almost always been a streaky shooter, and this year is no exception. Bev - He's really never regained his form from 3 seasons ago when he pestered Westbrook in that OKC series. Bev will occasionally get hot from 3, but his defense is a joke compared to what it used to be and he's never been able to create on offense. He has managed to at least stay healthy though for once. Brewer - A complete disaster. He had an overall good season last year for the Rockets, so I get why they wanted to resign him. But this year's basically been like you took all his worst moments from last season and projected them onto all 82 games. He's never really been able to shoot, but this season, he hasn't done anything well. It doesn't help that he's useless on the fast break since we struggle to get stops or grab defensive boards when we do. Terry - Washed up. Finished. He wasn't that good honestly last season either, but I figured coming into this year that he'd be the third stringer behind Ty and Bev. To need him for more than 5 minutes a night means you've got a very weak PG rotation. Capela - He's had his moments this season, but IMO he's about the same as he was last year. He hasn't really advanced the way I'd hoped and he's regressed at the foul line compared to last season's playoff run where he'd upped his free throw shooting above 50%. Harden - One of the only bright spots on this roster and even he's taken a step back from last season. In fairness, it ain't easy playing at an MVP level every year, but he came into camp out of shape and unfocused and his defense has regressed back to where it was a couple of seasons ago when compilation videos on YouTube were mocking his lack of effort. Still a terrific offensive player, but this is probably his worst season as a Rocket. I'm excluding new additions like Ty, Thornton, Harrell, and Beasley and just focusing on the holdovers. When you look at the total sum of the returning players, you see that no one except for maybe Capela has matched last year's output. Everyone else even if healthier and suited up for more games has been worse. In some cases(D-Mo, Brewer, Smith), much much much worse. Add to that the horrible coaching from McHale and JB, the complete lack of chemistry or professionalism, and the tougher Eastern Conference which no longer allowed the Rockets to fatten up on easy competition in 30 of their 82 games and you have a recipe for disaster. Which is why we're now in blow it up and rebuild mode whether Morey and Les wanna admit it or not.
