I wonder why Parsons never get in any rest. Is it because he never initiates the offense and therefore use less energy on the court? But he also move well off the ball so this seems wrong. Harden's minutes has been a bit under control. He sits when he should and play major minutes when needed. But Parsons I'm baffled on.
At some point it shouldn't matter. The odds of losing a game when you're up 20 with 10 minutes to go should not go up noticiably even if Jordan Hamilton is a fringe player.
The Rockets were up by 30 against the Cavaliers and barely escaped the comeback. Although I do think McHale should have given Parsons more rest, I could understand his decision.
Mchale keeps whining about trying to rest them while continuing to play them 40 min a game because he can't trust anyone else. How does the guy still have supporters?
I haven't been a fan of McHale since we've signed him... Two major things holding this team back, HC and PG position. I believe this team is exponentially more talented than the Mavs and watching how someone like Rick Carlisle wrings ever last drop of potential out of the rosters he's had the last few years sickens me.
What? We have the same number of losses as the Clippers and we play them one more time. I'd say there's a pretty good shot at sneaking in at #3. That said, I'd prefer #4 so we don't see OKC or LA until conference finals. I'm OK with the Spurs in the second round.
you should be ashamed of yourself. and its absolutely ridiculous to think we are stuck in the 4 spot. we are even in the loss column man!!!
Funny you mention Rick Carlisle; you do realize that he only lasted 2 years as a head coach in Detroit in his first gig, and was fired after winning coach of the year because ownership thought he was holding the team back, and indeed, under Larry Brown was able to win a championship the very next year. Carlisle then moved to Indiana, whereby he managed to take a 60 win team with the best overall record in the NBA to out of the playoffs in only 4 seasons, before finally finding a fit in Dallas. How about Doc Rivers? Want to guess how many seasons it took him to end a season more than 8 games over .500? Or how many seasons it took him to win a playoff series? The answer is 8. Now I'm not saying that McHale is the equal of Carlisle or Doc right now. He's clearly never going to be in the class of Popovich or Thibodeau when it comes to designing and installing a system that is greater than the sum of its parts. But Rudy was never that guy either, and the Rockets were able to do pretty well under him when they had overwhelming talent. It's abundantly clear that players other than guys who train with David Thorpe (Morris, Martin), and Kyle Lowry (who doesn't get along with anyone) respect the hell out of him. Furthermore, he's only in his 3rd season as a real coach with no previous assistant experience. It would actually be more surprising if he doesn't continue to improve as the years go by. I'm coming around to the belief that motivational coaches, much like big men, take additional time to "mature" over coaches that are strict disciplinarians or have rigid systems. When your greatest attribute is inspiring players to sacrifice for team, and being a leader who instills poise when the pressure is on, it definitely takes the experience of failure to learn which buttons to push. I was one of the biggest Kevin McHale haters when he was first hired, and after that first season and the subsequent teardown of the team, I though that Morey had merely hired him as a fungible asset, a placeholder that would give rah-rah soundbites as the team tanked, then can him in the offseason and let Finch take over as the handpicked successor. But the guy has really impressed me at how much he has improved over the past two years. All of the early season growing pains this year, the weird lineups, the lack of timeouts, are clearly paying off now. He clearly did a better job adjusting last year in the playoffs than Scott Brooks did with the small-ball lineup. Let's at least let him get truly outcoached for a number of years in the playoffs before giving him the label of "holding the team back". You may be right, but I still think that the old dog can learn many more coaching tricks in the next few years.
A lot of people on this site seem to think beating the Spurs in round 2 would be easy or that beating GS or Mem in round 1 would be easy. Portland in round 1 would be a winnable matchup but I'm doubtful they stay in that spot. With Mark Jackson having won a battle with ownership over the coaching staff issues, I'd look for the Warriors to have a strong finish to the regular season and get that #5 seed.
I attribute much more of that to the Rockets style and in general being lackadasical. Forget the Rockets bench. The Sixers bench, playing correctly to protect the lead, and hold a 30 point lead against the Heat if they put their minds to it.
1) Where have you seen me say the word "never" regarding the Rockets' seeding? 2) What good would getting to #3 bring us if the Spurs remain at #1? 3) After tonight, the magic numbers for The Clippers to stay at #3 is 4 and Rox 6 respectively, while they are 7 for both the Spurs and Thunder to stay at where they are now. 4) The Clips have about the same strength of schedule for their remaining games as ours, and they are not standing still for us to catch up on them even when there is only one game separating the two teams. 5) The second toughest stretch of the season for us is coming up right after tonight--LAC, @BRN, @TOR, OKC--a test for us to find out how good we really are before postseason starts, especially against LAC and OKC. I am confident in our team but equally realistic about where we could be at after game 82. The easiest path to WC finals is my major concern. Meeting LAC or OKC in the second round won't be be one.
Link to an interview with Harden after tonight's game. http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2014/03/27/Harden03272014mp4-3216015 At around the 1:17 mark, James says, "end of the season is winding down so every game is important as far as getting better and doing the right things... Overall trying to have great confidence and feel going into the playoff". Harden's mindset is in stark contrast to the idea what some of you are proposing.
It would mean beating out a team that has had our number, and progressing toward becoming a real contender. It's time to move past this cutesy matchup bullsh!t.
You left out the part about Rasheed Wallace joining the team once Brown took over. Carlisle is probably the best in the business.
Nobody does this resting players in the regular season crap except Popovich. His last championship was in '07.
