There's a lot of garbage being thrown around and the usual suspects are happy as hell to lose games so they can bash Harden and Morey (which....lol). But let's get to the real heart of the matter - the reason the Rockets OVERACHIEVED this season with Dwight mostly out was our defense. That defense has disappeared in the playoffs. What are the reasons? I thought PBev was overrated as a defender this season but maybe he had more of an impact than I gave him credit for. I do think DMo is a good team defender Let's not forget we are missing these two guys. But what else can we do? It's not just about 'effort'
Harden took a step back defensively. Step back King. I b**** about the refs a lot but dammit Austin cannot be allowed to put his firearm in our chest every damn time he drives. DJ cannot be allowed to shove and push but Dwight gets call for every tricky tack foul. Doc's and the Clippers' complaints were rewarded last night. Tjones and Smith need to get determined. Again breathing on Griffin is a foul. We don't get those bull**** glen Davis charge calls. We need to get PHYSICAL. If you foul out ... You foul out. If they do that TheClips will fold like Origami. Rocket River
No team has ever completely and utterly abandoned their identity more than the 2014-2015 Rockets. Like...the team we're watching right now was actually GOOD at defense this year. That's almost unbelievable at this point.
It's not about whose missing. It's not about individual matchups. It's the whole team defense as a whole. Accountability as mentioned in another thread. You can't have good team defense without this. At this point I'm also not sure if the schemes are even being altered from series to series. You can't play the way as they did dallas. They need to be changed. What exactly has houston tried to limit the clips as a whole. Good defensive teams limit Atleast some tendencies a team usually has. Communication just isn't there as well. Tbh I never thought houston was a top defensive team despite what advanced numbers have said. Just relying on Dwight to bail you out is not good defense
Ariza can't guard every player between 5'10" and 6'10" but I guess that's what it will take to win since our guards can't handle Reddick and some guy who might not even belong in the league and our power forwards are getting embarrassed by Blake Griffin. I'm completely disgusted by Harden's effort and Jones and Smith's complete bone-headedness. I feel like this team is wasting a vintage performance from Dwight. Maybe his last dominant performance in the playoffs due to his health issues.
Wow -- I did not see that. Someone should report this to the league. You can't let some guy bring a firearm onto the basketball court. (Or apologies if the NBA has adopted open carry... maybe just for games in TX?)
Rivers is working out with Gilbert Arenas in the off season. Specifically, Arenas is helping him with his shooting.
This to me is the biggest tragedy. Due to some kind of last-minute chemistry issue, we are totally wasting some vintage dregs of Howard's best basketball. He and the training staff carefully calculated this so he could give maximal effort in the playoffs... and, ugh. He must be so frustrated.
This is the first time I've ever said this but I hope Dwight calls for the ball in the post every possession in the next game. At least let him have his touches if no one can score or be bothered to play defense.
There where a lot of missed rotations from the weak side defender last night. TJones was the main culprit yesterday. Also, I noticed that every player but Ariza and Brewer play too loose on their opponent. But the most disappointing thing was Austin Fcking Rivers punking James on his drives to the rim. Forearm or not that **** is unacceptable. There is poor communication on D out there. This team looks like a bunch of undisciplined kids out there. One more thing. BOXING OUT. Rant over.
The Rockets dependency on the three often leads to the other team going on runs. Long rebounds lead to fast break points for the other team, and when our shooters go cold we struggle to score points. According to Feigen when the Clippers went on their run at the end of the third period the Rockets took and missed eight shots, seven of them being threes, and most of them off of one or no passes. The Rockets need to slow things down a bit when the Clippers are making runs, and not always take the first shot.
1. We are going under the screens. We've made shooters like JJ and CP3 have easy looks by not going around the pick. We even made a SCRUB in Rivers look like an all-star. *******By the way, Austin, I suggest you NEVER "stir the pot"/"FlickaTheWrist" again. You've never been an all-star or a meaningful rotation player until this year. And yes, your dad traded for you for depth, BUT TO SAVE YOUR CAREER FROM THE D-LEAGUE. ***Sorry to say his name again, but Kevin can't call a mismatch to save his life. That goes for subbing, too. 2. Doubling-to Double. We have doubled Blake when he wasn't in position to score. This leave the likes of Jamal Crawford open to toast us. 3. Calling time outs before 10 point deficits. 4. Too much defensive help. You can't allow your man to run into the lane and force Dwight to guard two guys. clog the paint. 5. Turnovers. If you turn the ball over, get back on defense. How many times are we going to allow Blake to run coast-to-coast to score while we complain about a call. 6. Corey Brewer: Stop reaching. Period. it's not working. You have fouled jump shooters more than anyone in the playoffs. Put those long arms up and make them shoot over you. 7. Selective fouling. Don't foul guys that are automatic from the stripe. 8***Communication. We have to talk. Call the pick. Call the back door. Kevin needs to call SOMETHING. To be honest, our defense relies too heavily on Dwight. Kevin doesn't have the skills to call a double out of the blue, nor does he understand that ending a 20-0 run can be done by calling a time out and telling your guys to drive to the basket. Get a couple of free throws. Something. This loss was on our players trying to take over and James not being able to overcome to double team pressure. This loss is ALSO on Kevin. It was also on freethrows. I don't understand how even our guards can't make them. Why did we STOP going to Dwight when he was punishing his opponents. Why did we start settling for Trevor's shooting? Dwight needs more touches. That play calling comes from, well, a coach. We don't have a head coach. We have a bunch of assistants. Dwight is not happy and we need to be careful. Losses like this can cause dissension in the locker room. Give him the ball and let him go to work. If we win the next one, Rockets in 7.
We have been pretty good half court defense all year, but last night our transition defense was just pitiful. I know our poor shooting has a lot to do with it, but we really have to do a much better job protecting the ball and making them beat us 5 on 5. If we can get some stops and some fast break points we could give ourselves a chance to pull this out and get the home court back. If we start turning it over and not getting back on defense this series will be over quick.
I'm really confused what has happened, but we were a damn good defensive team before, but now, we're just awful. The effort is not there, that's for sure. Dwight and Harden are both mentally checking out of games and McHale is clueless so I guess that has something to do with it.
#ChokeCity The Rockets don't play defense anymore. It's that simple. Play defense, don't worry about horrible refs, dive for lose balls, and treat every game like an elimination game. Tomorrow is do or die for Houston.
People saying the rockets played good defense all year. Sorry but not completely true. It's easily masked during the regular season. It gets easily exposed by discipline teams and you're seeing that in the playoffs now including the first round. They don't have good habits on the defensive end and I'm talking about the team as a whole not certain players. If every player doesn't buy into defense and communicate it's not going to be good period.
This. Bad defensive habits were present for the entire last half of the season. We won a lot of those games on the backs of good scoring and sub-par opposition. It's like letting your hand drop in boxing. You can get away with it until you can't. Good defense requires consistent effort and focus. IE, accountability from the coaches and the players. Without that then you might as well just lay down a carpet to the basket.