Win or lose, i think we should prefer the rockets to play close games rather than winning comfortably...If we play close games, it helps us get ready for the playoffs as we have to find ways to win games when its close... The playoffs are all going to be close games so if we play them now, we can learn on what will work and what won't We need to find ways to win close games if were going to be ready for the playoffs agree?
If the Rockets are playing a lot of close games rather than blowing teams out, that indicates they aren't good enough to even make it close against the elite teams in the playoffs.
WE all know the rockets can play with any team in the league Yes but blowing teams out won't give us a chance to execute plays in the last 5 minutes of games which we need to get really good at to play with the elite teams The rockets don't know where to go at the end of games so its better we play close games against anyone so they can practice that
I mean I see what you're saying, but there are some games where we just need to be blowing teams out of the water. Plus, you can't be telling me you would rather see a 3 point win over the Spurs than a 17 point stomping over them. Basketball may come down to good execution in the fourth quarter, but I don't think anything surmounts the confidence of pulverizing a team ranked ahead of you in the west. But, I see your point, it's just not 100% good for every game IMO.
Of course blowouts are better but as its the last 15 games of the season the rockets need more practice than anyone closing games bc they don't have a closer. As for the spurs, you can probably have to look at both sides of the situation...a 17 point win would mean we blew them out, but also a 3 point win would mean we executed in the final minutes better then them
That's why we blew others in 3 quarters and collapsed in the 4th-> to practise the final minutes in a close game. Ha!
not really. we've played a ton of close games the past few years bro. i think TNT put up a stat during the laker-spur game and it showed the # of blowouts the top 5 teams had. lakers, cavs, boston, and orlando all have blown out teams (10+ pts) for around 30 times individually and had less close games. playing more closer games don't necessarily prepare you for the playoffs unless you win the majority of those games and we've struggled to do that. even in the bobcats game, the 2 shots we made (yao and battier) were shots that didn't really come out of the offense and you can say "miracle" shots. we have to do a better job of getting the shots WE WANT, not what the other teams want us to take. that's the key for us: we have to learn how to take shots that we want to take. until we can do that consistently, we're going to struggle.
Im just thinking that if a team has a lot of blowouts, then its less situations for you to win, when the game is close... The Rockets are really having a lot of trouble at the end of games, so if we play close games its helps them prepare more eh?
you still need to be able to close games with large leads, we had large leads in the playoffs last year and we were able to sustain them, i fear that we won't be able to this year
Man I wish that were true. My heart stops with all these blown 17 point leads. Every time we get up by 12 or so, I know the game's going to be close. Why do we do that? Practice for the playoffs???
I think we had more close games this season than the last. Almost every game is the same... 4th quarter collapse... down or up by 1-2... can't make shots during crunch time. The only time we dominated the last seconds was against the Bobcats.
Not really. We want to kill the bad teams, but having a close game against the Contenders is not a bad thing, because it will build character. I prefer tonight's game a close game though. Tim Duncan vs Yao Ming baby.
Every team is in the NBA. As Rockets fan, we should know that if you play a team 10 times, you'll lose several of them. That's why the 22 game winning streak was special even though we may have had a light schedule. If Lakers played the Clippers 10 times, Clippers will find a way to win one or several.
Forgot to mention, that I agree with the OP. Every closer game we play; the more we learn, especially our young players. (Wafer, Brooks, Lowry) Would you want to see Brooks slip and turn the ball over yesterday, or today? (Or playoffs)
Playoffs are an entirely different situation and all of your teams good and bad play on a different level... So a close game in the regular season is not the same as a close game in the playoffs. They need to learn how to play TEAM ball to avoid that scenario..
Of course a close game is not the same as a close game in the playoffs. Team ball will come eventually (hopefully). But when we are in a close game, (Which most playoff games are) we must have experience. Right now, Aaron Brooks have no experience (or small) in close type situation. A close game in the regular season will only help him, and if we win, that's great! Team ball or not, in the playoffs, it will be likely a close game. Nothing more to it.
If your two good teams going at it, its going to be a close game Tonights game will be like a playoff game, with playoff type intensity because the rockets want to catch San Antonio and San Antonio wants to stay ahead of the rockets so i expect it to be a great game...Games like last night will help us be more prepared in the closing moments of games if it comes down to it tonight
