shortest rotation in the playoffs, went 7 games in the 1st round, and play the most taxing defense with this short rotation but like I said, fatigue is only part of it
Small ball works if you use 8 to 9 people on the rotation. You have to keep guys fresh and play basketball. To much Moreryball undermines a team's intangibles.
that’s true. But every year they are going against teams with more talent. Often way more talent. there are 3 players in a class of their own this series. 2 of them are on the other team. when will this board stop giving DM a free pass. He has not yet constructed a championship caliber roster. If they win one - this year, next year - it will be despite that. In other words we need Harden, a guy not know for elevating in the toughest of times, to elevate his game meaningfully against the best opponents for a month and a half straight, to win a ring. the problem isn’t small ball. That’s not why they’re tired. It’s their roster trying to play small ball. the Celtics, Heat, even the Lakers this series all playing small ball. The clippers have plenty of ability to play small ball. but when those teams play small ball, (1) they’re still way bigger smalls, and (2) they can at least go big for stretches and spot minutes. on top of all that ... DM has whiffed in VERY MEANINGFUL ways when it comes to macro strategy. First with Dwight. Forget the player and his odd personality. In a league moving away from Dwight like players he went all in on Dwight. Second and probably more importantly.... the move to small ball has worked the best, imo, with forwards. I’ve been beating this drum for 5 years now. FORWARDS!!! Ours are meh. The other remaining teams have forwards as their strength. why does this matter? For one, the size issue. If you’re all in on small ball and your best players are guards you are more likely to go with 3 guard lineups. I’d rather have one guard lineups wi th 3-4 legit sized forwards, one or two of whom are dominant. For two, there are TONS of pretty solid guards. Lowry, Dragic, CJ, Kemba, Murray, LouWill, Dragic, LaVert, Trae etc, etc. Or better ones Harden, Luka, Dame, Steph, Russ (lol), Klay, Kyrie, Kemba. does this mean move Harden? Well.. no, absent a crazy good deal. If the Celtics want Harden for Tatum go for it. but it does question the absurd desire to constantly pair Harden with another great guard? Why?? Seriously.... ****ing WHY???? Harden is a PG. at PG he has a crazy size advantage. At PG with a legit sized SG next to him, and legit sized forwards, one of whom ideally is all star or near level ... you are still playing small ... but in a big way. anyway this post is too long. Especially as a response to why they’re tired lol. But they’re tired not JUST because they play small ball. They play INSANELY small ball.
its some long time rockets fans that lowkey dont want harden to pass hakeem in career rockets scoring.. thats why they want harden traded
So what you are saying is we should shorten the rotation to 6 players? Can we at least set DeMarre on fire as a sacrifice to the basketball gods?
Uhh are Covington and Tucker not good forwards? You guys don't realize how many constraints Daryl has to work with. He is better than most other GMs in the league. And the league wastn moving away from player's like Dwight when we got him, idk what you are talking about theere.
Harden is performing fine.Not sure why you would call Harden out the guy performing the best out of this team?
I mean ... they’re ok. Clutchfans loves to overrate these types of players though. The Shane Battiers of the world. Great guys to have on your squad. But the best thing about them both is the intangible values they bring. Which again... definitely needed but there’s a difference between that and “oh, that’s a player”. Know what I mean? And it’s been obvious for half a decade that the best type of player to put next to Harden would be a 20+ ppg, 6+ rpg, A defense Sf that can create if required. You might say “sure, but HOW do you get one of those?!??!” I don’t know... isn’t that the GMs job that’s getting paid millions a year? There could have been ways... every GM has some set of constraints to work around.
I mean what you are asking for is essentially another all star. It's not easy to gather that many on one team. Tbh, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Kawhi are the only guy's who fit that description...maybe Klay Thompson. It's not easy to get those guys. If you are asking me if I would rather have that then Westbrook, that is another question entirely.
D'Antoni and Morey do acknowledge a concern about how they'd fare defending, say, Lakers superstar Anthony Davis for a seven-game series. They also note that's a concern for any team who faces the Lakers, regardless of size, so the Rockets will take their chances forcing tall stars such as Davis and Denver's Nikola Jokic to defend 3-point shooters on the other end. "A lot of people have guarded [Davis]. It hasn't worked," D'Antoni said with a laugh. "I don't care who guards him. He's still going to be Anthony Davis. We're not going to all of a sudden turn him into a pedestrian player." Yes, D'Antoni acknowledged, the Rockets' small-ball philosophy relies on its players to exert extraordinary energy to compete defensively and rebound. Opposing coaches privately wonder what the cumulative effect of the Rockets competing against bigger foes will be during a playoff series. "It's tough, but winning's hard," D'Antoni said. "If you're going to win, you're going to be dog-tired at the end. That cracks me up: 'Oh, they're going to be tired.' Well, yeah! It's a tough league." https://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.ph...-the-rockets-are-all-in-on-small-ball.306539/
When is Mike Dantoni going to Trust his bench, never by the looks of it. Just send the majority of the bench home. Dont waste their time. There are 10 players on the bench and Mike Dantoni doesnt like anybody. Just Play the Starters 48 minutes that would solve everything. A 5 Man Rotation is a better idea for Mike. Enough is Enough. Mike Dantoni is terrible in not developing younger players and never plays them in the playoffs. Daryl Morey is a terrible Playoff GM in terms of not having Rockets First Rounders be a huge part of this Playoff Team. The old age in the Rotation and shortening the rotation is Suicide. The Rockets need a New GM which can evaluate Top Talent lower in the Draft. Raptors Championship Pascal Siakam in a late First Round Fred VanVleet in the 2nd Round 1994 Rockets Rookie Sam Cassell 1 year Robert Horry You got to draft like you drafting for a Playoff team, not for a exhibition season. Draft Defensive 6'7 to 6'9 Players who have a 3 point shot and a good Free Throw shooter.
