PORTLAND, Ore. -- Houston Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Wednesday night that he is coaching "a broken team," and veteran guard Jason Terry said the team has chemistry issues. The Rockets enter the All-Star break at 27-28 after a 116-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. "We're broken," Bickerstaff said. "It's that simple. We're a broken team, and we all need to use this break to figure out how we're going to impact change. If we don't want to impact change, then we need to be made aware of that, too, and we'll go in a different direction. "We can't continue to go out and play this way. It's easy to see it's a fragmented bunch. You can't win that way."The Rockets won 56 games last season and reached the Western Conference finals before losing to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in five games. With expectations raised, the Rockets got off to a 4-7 start, leading to the firing of coach Kevin McHale. Under Bickerstaff, the Rockets have gone 23-21, and the loss to the Blazers pushed them from the seventh seed in the West to ninth. "If you look at it, the chemistry is not quite where you would like it, and hopefully the break can be what we need to get away from each other," Terry said. "It's like a marriage. You might need time away to get back right. I've seen worse." Rockets center Dwight Howard, when told about Bickerstaff's comments, said he didn't want to talk negatively about his team. Howard did say he is shocked by the Rockets' record and noted that his teammates have to start playing together. When asked what about the team is broken, Howard said, "I'm not going to talk about what's broken. It's all we do is we talk about the issues that we have. Nobody is being positive." The Rockets' leading scorer, James Harden, said Bickerstaff told the team it was broken after Wednesday's loss. Harden said he didn't know how to fix it. However, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told ESPN that, considering the expectations, he is disappointed in the performance of his team. "We're obviously not playing at a level we need to be," Morey said. "We will keep battling until we are." http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...bickerstaff-calls-houston-rockets-broken-team
No one knows how to fix it... we're so ****ed. We might be ****ed for the next couple years. Morey needed to do something sooner, yet he waited until things were at its worse before stepping in.
Bad chemistry with the same guys from last year? Thorton/Lawson are only additions and they struggled to get minutes for a while. JB has been here so its not a whole new coaching staff.
Damn right it's broken! Caoching/rotation suck - that's on Bickerstaff... "Chemistry issues" are Harden not sharing the ball... despite a few good assist games... I still don't know how anyone can b**** about D12... I always hated the dude (esp after the SVG press conference fiasco) bbut he has been a consumate professional - despite only avg 8-9 shots while shooting over 60%... Lawson has been a total bust - due to lack of confidence in this "system" while next to Harden... Many will disagree... but i think harden has to go... I think he's the root of most issues due his narcissistic diva attitude... and a final thought... Deckard, does THIS make JB a bad fan?
I also hate this quote by Morey "We're obviously not playing at a level we need to be," Morey said. "We will keep battling until we are." He hasn't realized that he built a bad roster. Still believes that this team is good. Refusing to take accountability for this bad season.
Dwight knows it. He is just trying really hard to save his image from further damage. Dwight wants to make sure there are no stories of him being upset at his teammates, upset at coaching or anything like what he did in Orlando. He's not going to stand up and be a leader for fear of comparisons to Orlando.
I don't think Morey telling the media "Yeah, this team I built is garbage" solves anything. He has nothing to gain by publicly throwing players under the bus, even if he has differing views behind closed doors.
He doesn't want to lose the small foam like "leverage" he has to make deals. Why would you want to sound desperate and just announce to rival GMs that you are in a position of weakness. Any smart GM would act this way.
IT'S THE COACH!!!! WHY DOES NO ONE SEE THAT!!!! HOW ABOUT YOU PUT LAWSON HARDEN ARIZA SMITH HOWARD IN THE GAME "TOGETHER!!!!!" WHAT TO YOU EXPECT WHEN YOUR BEST WEAPONS ARE ON THE BENCH. THE TEAM HAS NO REAL PLAYS. NO REAL SYSTEM. WHAT THE POINT OF EVEN HAVING A COACH?
There wasn't a diva attitude last year when he was balling out of control. Harden will only play as hard as his team plays. He's that kind of guy, which sucks, but its understandable. If your teammates aren't giving 110%, why should he? Yes, he is supposed to be the leader, but at some point, it gets old having to backpack a team every season. That's why superstars leave all the time. If you surround Harden with 3 and D wings and reliable post defenders, we'd be a conference favorite. But, the truth is, Bev and Ariza are not the defenders they were last year. There's been a ? at the PF spot for years, and it's worse now than it ever was.
Not trying to defend anyone but you want them to publicly come out and say "We freaking suck! We're terrible!! We need to blow this thing up because it's not working!" What kind of leaders would that be? If my boss at work or coach/team leader of any team I've played on said those things, I would either be pissed, completely lose faith in them in leading us or lose hope in the job at hand. I like what Dwight says and how he handles these things. Let's stop harping on all the things that are not working or are broken. Let's pull together, keep our heads up and push through. Why keep being conscious of the negative things? Find the positives and build off of them... as one.
exactly! This is what I've been saying... The guy's rep has taken such a beating, that he's just keeping is head down and trying to keep his mouth shut... I feel bad for the dude.... gotta be frustrating as hell! HE'S #4 ALL TIME FOR FG% AND GETTING 8-9 SHOTS A GAME!!!! OH, AND HE'S SHOOTING THE HIGHEST % OF HIS CAREER - THIS YEAR!!!! AND HE'S GETTING 8-9 SHOTS A GAME!!!!!! THIS IS A TRAVESTY!!!!!! People talk about is Harden going to be top this top that for all time greats... let me repeat DWIGHT IS #4 ALL TIME FG % - NOW! Respect it! JB needs to do his job - and demand 12 get the ball - and Harden needs to give it to him!
