[DeadSpin] The Rockets Are Driving Opposing Coaches Insane

Absolutely 100% verbatim

 

All I can say is WOW. I’m glad Sam Presti also had such a misguided understanding of basketball.

 

Funny thing is if that ESPN TV contract had ended a year or two sooner, they would likely be riding towards 2-3 ships by now. (or have one helluva nasty breakup)

 

Westbrook ego has always been so massive that it blocks out the sun and keeps guys like Harden and Oladipo
in the shade. Those types of egos tend to break up teams. Kobe/Shaq, Shaq/ A Hardaway, Ray Allen/Rondo,
Dragic/Bledsoe/I Thomas, Dwight Howard/everyone, etc

Edited: Bledsoe/Dragic.......IT and Brandon Knight trades happened during that season.

 

That is my biggest thing
I watch the Rockets get hacked to hell
but
PJ gets about 3 ticky tack fouls a night.

Rocket River

 

I have no problem with that. . . only that it only happens on one end

Rocket River

 

It's been dispelled over and over that Harden isn't getting less FTs in the playoffs. However what has been true has been that he's being gameplanned against in the playoffs and he's not capable of overcoming that. Well, that's presumably what CP3 will remedy. If having Paul still doesn't provide enough help for Harden, then we can talk about whether he's not cut out for the playoffs.

 

Well no lone superstar on any team is capable of overcoming a teams defense focusing solely on him in the playoffs.

Thats the reason morey replaced pbev dekker n harrell with cp3 lmm tucker and tried his best acquiring melo

 

In 45 playoffs games with the Rockets Harden's FTR (FTA/FGA) is .528
In the six regular season with the Rockets Harden's FTR is .549

A slight dropoff but not significant IMO especially when compared to the drop from Hardens regular season & postseason FG%/TS% .443/.609 to .413/.579

 

I remember once thinking boozer, brewer, wills, and Korver were bad people and dirty players

 

To OP, a long post but I didn’t quite get your point. You bring this up to show that Harden doesn’t deserve the call or that come playoff time it would be difficult to get the calls.

At any rate, a foul is foul. Most of the calls that Harden got weren’t that balatant as you make them. For sure he was looking for the contact, while you may call it cheating, we call it a skill. Yes, it treads on that saviness, an aspect different from driving it to the hoop or out jump your opponent or fancy foot work. Nevertheless, that’s a skill. It’s within the rules. To me the question is not whether he was fouled, because clearly he is. The question is rather will the refs call it in the playoffs. The argument against Harden is that he initiated that contact by going into the space the opposing player already has. But come to think of it, isn’t that part of the basketball. You have to give that space to him just like you can’t undercut him while he jumps. So why the opposing player wouldn’t give that space to him? Because he is the best one on one player in the game with triple threat moves from the line. So this is not so simple Harden games the system. You have to be that good to creat that premise and then what he does is well within the rules. Clearly he is fouled. I am not sure what OP’s problem is with if he/she is a rocket fan.

 

For both teams???

We can play that game too

 

How is this move any different from a player pumping faking a defender in the air and then jumping into that defender while also shooting the ball? Players have been doing this for YEARS and getting the call just about every time.

It all sounds like sour grapes to me

 

IMO not really because of 2 things
1. Situational Fouls. .. . . no one cares if you give him 6 make up calls in the 4th when you have sapped all his energy and will through allowing the opposition to body block him all the 1st half.
2. The playoffs are more physical. . . so the same foul shots with a a far more physical game does not equate the same levle of reffing

Rocket River

 

very good point that I believe gets overlooked. someone who doesn't watch an entire game and sees the box score of fts will assume harden gets the normal amount of calls. yes this does happen. make up calls at the end can definitely skew what actually happened

 

It's really been bad. PJ's so quick when defending a guy that the refs seem to think that he's just got to be fouling. He's not. You can tell that it really frustrates him, but he probably funnels that into motivation. Very underrated player, in my opinion. A decent passer, moves well without the ball, great defender, especially for his size, and the opposition can't ignore his corner 3. Tucker and Luc were key acquisitions by Morey in the off-season that have paid big dividends for the Rockets.

 

I still laugh at people whining about Harden for getting some calls, had to listen to a Jazz fan yesterday saying Harden is great but also a lamer cause he's always looking for the cheap ways to score lol...also said there's an analyst who tweeted some sort of stat showing how Harden shoots way more fts than any other player combining some numbers etc...wasn't able to back it up or show me that tweet so it was probably bullshit as i expected.

Anyway, i just wonder why everyone seems to care so much about Harden being in fact smart and good in what he does, while nobody cares or talk about being lame/cheap when let's say, players like Curry extend their leg to get a foul on a shot or...when players like Leonard move their pivot foot like three times or...when every player in the league jumps on the defender after a pump fake and gets a call or...when guys like Gasol, Bogut etc are used to guard in the post by grabbing and puling arms and jerseys, but hey, they have been always considered smart for that, and in a good way, i wonder why. Probably the same reason why nobody said **** about Duncan doing the exact same thing Harden does 20 years ago.