The Disrespect is Well Earned

On the one hand, nobody here respect the media's takes on anything, not just on the Rockets. On the other hand, people feel so hurt when the media show disrespect to the Rockets.

Either you think the media suck and ignore them, or pay attention to them and respect what they say about the Rockets. I don't know about you. I've chosen the first rout.

 

I agree with all of this. I'll even take it a step further and state that I really just don't like this team very much. I don't like a lot of the players, I don't think they are well coached, I don't care for the systems that they run, they just don't do it for me anymore. I don't think you can win a championship with Harden and Howard. I don't think you can win big with role players like Lawson and Terrence Jones and Trevor Ariza. I've been a rockets fan longer than most of you have been alive, and this team just leaves me kind of meh. I follow them out of curiosity now more than anything else. If they are hot, they can beat anyone on any given night, but there is no way that they are going to beat a team of equal talent, or one with even slightly less talent, over the course of a series. They will get out coached on most nights, and the threes aren't going to always fall. There's just not enough consistency for me to believe this team is anything more than a bunch of pretenders. I want to believe, but it's just not there for me with this group.

 

+1.

well said.

but i'll keep watching most of their games...

 

There is validity to both points in the original post. There is media indifference and the players have helped create it.

You can't have lived through the 2 championships and not have noted that the Rockets didn't get as much media love as other championship teams from larger markets. Only this year did the accomplishment of the '95 championship team get some props for what they did as a 6th seed.

Last season whenever the Rockets were on national TV I felt like most ot the time analysts and commentators gave as much positive commentary to Harden as any great player. As a team maybe not so much, but the Rockets have a history of doing puzzling things, like losing big leads on too regular a basis. And that goes back to that first championship team that was labeled "Choke City" before it became "Clutch City."

Then one also has to acknowledge what the team did do last year. I think it is very hard to attribute what they did to luck. Too many injuries, too many lineups to say it was mostly luck. If you want to give a better case for "luck" it's where teams seem to avoid the injury bug; i.e., the Warriors.

In theory a "read and react" system should yield good shots most of the time. But it does depend on player awareness and ability to see what the other team's defense is doing. That is BB IQ. And it also requires decisiveness. Even a little hesitation and an opportunity gets lost. That is part of building team chemistry. Once players get used to each others tendencies, rhythm and flow become more seamless. The addition of Lawson, while good on paper, will require an adjustment to the offensive flow, which was so dependent on Harden last season, that developing a new rhythm and flow won't happen overnight. And that can be more critical in the WC. Too many games lost in that process might make it unrecoverable to gain a high seeding for the playoffs. Injuries are a huge factor, too. Other teams can stumble as well.

Having said that, a problem with most of the Rockets "shooters" are that they are fairly streaky. And that can easily result in a game like the Denver game. Plus, as mentioned, Harden is having to play differently with Lawson on the floor. The Rockets want to change the offense from a, primarily, Harden show to more of a balanced Lawson/Harden show. On top of that, the Rockets still want to take advantage of an "inside/out" game. Again, theoretically, that should be possible with read and react. But in practical terms it can become like trying to have your cake and eat it too. To me, the shooters are just too streaky to emphasize the 3--point shot as much as they do.

McHale has certainly shown a willingness to play young players. Capela is a prime example. But he only does it when they demonstrate that they can produce on a consistent enough basis to warrant it. As good as younger players like Dekker and McDaniels might become, they aren't consistent enough to expect them to turn a game like the Denver game around. Of course, Brewer was having such an off night that one could argue it couldn't have been any worse. In retrospect McHale might even agree.

So what does it seem that San Antonio and Golden State have that the Rockets don't? Mostly consistency, IMO. Across the board -- on both offense and defense. They have a honed rhythm. That is why they are so watchable. The Rockets can look that way and certainly did at times last season, despite the rotation problems -- except for the turnovers. They just don't look that way consistently.

Continuity and time are the things needed and, hopefully, will lead to manifesting the potential that is on paper.

As far as the media... who really cares? The other part of the Rockets history that produced Clutch City was that lack of respect and the feeling on the players part that "it's us against the world." That is as strong a factor, if not stronger, in producing team cohesiveness and eliciting effort and drive, than not getting to the Finals. Losing in the Finals... well that's probably the biggest driving force in a succeeding season.

 

I think we should find out the last time a championship team lost a home opener by 20 to a low level team. I think I would feel better if it happened before.

 

I think the point is the the Nuggets have a new coach and a new rookie point guard and they rolled us. It's a bit concerning.

 

A strong performance tonight and all is forgiven. Another dud, and the Rockets deserve all the criticism they will undoubtedly get.

 

This is what the Rockets do. Win on the night the 3 falls or Harden is getting rhe whistle and lose on the night the 3 doesn't and Harden doesn't get to the line 20 times.

Just wish the losses weren't so excruciating.

 

Yup. I hope the media obliterates the Rockets, especially Harden. They need to wake up. The season has started.

 

well that's officially the end of the little praise the rockets and harden get.

 

Our real issue its coaching wether you want to admit it out not.

I want a coach like thibs to scream his ass off an hold these softies liable.

 

Our biggest mistake was surrounding a head coach like Kevin McHale(who's really just a motivator/recruiter) with mediocre staff. McHale should have been surrounded by former/veteran NBA head coaches as his assistants much like Kerr was last season.

 

+1

Nothing against McHale, but he plays his favorites and yells at the refs instead of holding his players accountable.

I admired how Fred Hoiberg utilized almost everyone on the Bulls against the Cavs. Small sample size, but the difference can be seen.

 

shooting "comes and goes" with bad shooting teams

 

Yea and having signed him for 3 years get used to this. I am fairly sure the prime years of our stars will get wasted unless we get kd to save us.

 

at least now no one will expect us to ever be a serious threat. maybe that's a good thing.

 

I find it embarrassing that these jokers hype up the season...and fans pay good money...only to have them mentally check out, whine complain, and jack up terrible shots....OH and allow them a myriad of fast break buckets...

The GSW team is a good team...but the are able to take off a night and still dominate the Rockets in almost every facet of the game.

What I too have come to learn is that this team in its 3rd year with Howard still can NOT efficiently execute an offense. There is a very real chance this team starts the season off 0-5.

 

Why does how the media views us matter at all? All any fan should care about is progress towards a Championship.