But we also signed an awesome defensive specialist for his assistant!?!! And we were told defense would be a priority!?!! Les and Morey wouldn't lie to us
I was going to say I've heard this before. then the "turn the corner" line adjusted my sarcasm meter.
gimmick from day one. Anyone that follows MDA teams defense is not a priority at all. Last year the saying was turning the corner. This year its going to be new focus, new energy, new team. This is what Les wanted from day one. Well here you go you got it
now see, here is WHAT I'M TALKING 'BOUT. This is a man who clearly understands the message of "Stay Calm." Nero doesn't fiddle while Houston burns . . . no, he simply stays calm. Doesn't panic. Waits for the corner to be turned. Nero, you are my hero. Nero My Hero. But our win total is still . . . zero.
Lol, last year's slogan. All off season we talked about improving the defense, and it somehow got worse. You could see this loss coming a mile away, in like the 1st quarter.
it was indicative of how this team will operate make no mistake about that. if you're expecting a huge change into how they played last night you're in for a long season. That's just how MDA teams are plain and simple. Rockets will be able to win games just based off the scoring some nights but in the end they're not much better than a .500 team
Harden truly is amazing, headed in any offensive direction. Pat B is so sorely missed, just my eyes showed that much. Dmo needs to sign and get in here. Capala is great sometimes but crunch time he's still the "skinny tall dude' unfortunately. That was pretty painful at about the mid forth quarter when I realized, "we are going to blow this". I will say the Lakers seem to be jelling....they sure as hell have some smooth shooters.
Very solid future in a couple years. 4 potential all star caliber players in their core. Maybe even higher in Ingram and Russell
The writing was on the wall before MDA was even hired. Mediocre coach with defensive deficits whose best years are behind him (Phoenix). Just like signing Nene - an average Center whose best years are way behind him.
We're also depending on injury-riddled players like Gordon and Anderson. We're still too dependent on Harden for offense. Rebounding is a huge issue. Hope I'm wrong, but this Era will basically be wasted years of fandom, and no one is getting younger.
All of the people shocked and horrified by bad defense - where were you when Les/Morey went out and got Mike D'Antoni, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon as the solution to last year's problems? This is a surprise to you?
Pretty much. I'm pissed about last night, but at the same time, I'm not surprised. D'Antoni has never cared about defense, even when he was having success in Phoenix. There's a reason that team could never get over the hump against the Spurs in the playoffs. At least not until 2010 when the Spurs were in a bit of a transition(pre-Kawhi) and Gentry had taken over as coach. Also, look at our roster. We don't have much talent. Harden is great, but he's playing PG which is not a natural fit for him. Anderson and Gordon are overpaid role players. If they were so good, then why was New Orleans the most disappointing team last season not named the Rockets? And yes, I know there were injuries, but they still vastly underperformed expectations. And the rest of the supporting cast is either not very talented or on the decline. This was never gonna be a good team. It's why I never got excited about our offseason transactions. If you're content with 40-45 wins and maybe a 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs, then mission accomplished. But if deep postseason runs and NBA championships are what you're after, it's gonna be a very very long time before that happens.
It happens man. New team, new system. Regardless, the guys played hard and there was direction and effort. Last year was entirely different. Last year was literally the worst effort I have ever seen from a Houston team.
I don't think they were playing that hard. Defense is about effort. They weren't trying to get stops or secure rebounds. I agree with the other posters who said this is a top-down decision. Les doesn't care about defense. He knew it was the team's biggest weakness(aside from chemistry) last year, yet he went out and hired a washed up, offense only head coach. He wants an high scoring product that can hopefully win just enough games to finish .500 or better and eek into the playoffs.
unfortunately although the offense is improved, the defense isn't going to be much different and quite possibly much worse than last year. But then again this is what ownership wanted in this style of play. I was never a fan from day one of an overall MDA system
Take solace in the fact that we're all going to be miserable together this year. At least I'll have people to share my misery with when I log on. No matter how toxic it gets here, we're all in the same boat.
