I do think it's partially Melo antics and the Butler trade deal that fell through. You got players on this active roster that were major contributors to last year's team that were up in arms over whether they were going to have to relocate. I don't care how strong your willpower is, that's going to take a mental toll on you and it will affect your overall game. I don't think Gordon was intentionally tanking to remain a Rocket but I do think worrying about being trade fodder was impacting him.
See you can say the Rockets were going to go after a trophy this year but given our roster turnover + lack of spending money is showing the opposite. You don’t just break up a 65 win team if you truly believe it was a championship team. This team does not believe like last year and that’s a big issue. Morey and Tilman messed up.
the team wasnt roken up...we just got rid of moute who was always injured and ariza who was declining for years now
We could have brought back the exact same team from last year and we might still suck. Everyone is a year older. CP3 has been mostly bad so far. Harden is missing layups and free throws. Luc has barely played for the Clippers because of injuries. Nene is about done. Green can't make a shot to save his life. Ariza is doing ok, but he's in a slow decline. Gordon has been hurt or just can't make shots. It could be that roster changes are partially to blame, or maybe last year was just a magical season that was always going to be difficult to repeat.
Yes it was, it’s about belief and obviously they didn’t value Ariza and Mbah enough. And they also don’t believe in the current team, the goal is not a championship. They just need to be honest. All these minimum contracts, this was bound to fail.
Melo isn't the main problem, that I agree. But he sure as hell isn't the solution. I say cut him out and focus on the real issues. His babiness does the team no good anyways. Cut out his distraction to the team and focus on winning again.
just cut him, he’s not worth the distraction 11 games in and there are already issues with his role...after the 1st game of the season he was already complaining about how mentally challenging it was coming off the bench it is always about him, not the team
makes perfect sense - well done! I'd add the loss of Bzdelik was a huge impact (that will be remedied)... but folks would still rather just blame the guy on the min contract for the downfall... smh... maybe MDA was right and last season was 'something to cherish - even without the championship...' lol
Time to move on from the Melo experiment. Don’t think he’s the cause of our record, but the focus needs to be on the team, not Melo’s mental stability.
The Rockets have looked flat and gutless since game 1 of the season. It was like other teams turned it on and we are still asleep. Now the players are panicky, and even easy shots have become difficult. In hockey we call that "squeezing the sawdust out of your stick". Nothing is coming easily or naturally in the game flow, so everyone is oscillating between over-thinking and giving up.
Understood, but their opponents should be experiencing a similar drop-off between play-offs and regular season. Maybe it is injury, fitness, chemistry or some combination.
we had many injuries /suspensions, more than any of our opponents, and the shorter rotation, that is less quality guys to play
