i dunno why the hell you're so salty but i dont call pple idiots for disgreeing iwith me on this. i mentioned in this thread and before that the defense is better than last season and even recognizing ryan's hustle on d. BUT, that doesnt change the fact that before this 4 game stretch of lottery teams, rockets were bottom 10 in the 4 defensive cats i mentioned. they can easily be top 15 on d and i wouldn tbe surprised if they get there by the end of december or early jan. but top 10 requires commitment that they dont have yet and i dont care if they do this season. you homers need to take the homer goggles off. there are still lots of improvements this team can make. maybe you are an idiot for taking what i said out of context and getting salty about it. i didnt say ryan should be more like dirk. but he can do better than he's shown. doesnt need to do a lot.
If MDA can make the Rockets perform big in the Playoffs, I will be among the first ones to come out and give him credit. Let everyone keep a clear head until then.
I hate when people start taking it personally and name calling and ****. It's just stupid. But the truth is the rockets are top 10 defensively in the last 16 games since Beverly returned, so don't make it about the last 4 games of playing scrubs. The defense is just solid as of late. There is really nothing to complain. Anderson is doing exactly what he should do. Shooting 40% from behind the arc, he's not just standing there but moves a lot. In the Dantoni offense it's all about angles. Anderson is very smart by always stretch the angles and then living open shots for the other guys. We don't want him posting up. It's just inefficient way of play. Everyone is shooting and playing great at the moment, if we'll keep it up (which I doubt we can keep that level of shooting) we'll finish in the top 3 of the Western conference. When things won't go our way, and we might have a few nights like that then I'll get the complains, but this team is playing just amazing at the moment. Enjoy it.
NOPE I wanted him over gundy, y'all thought for some reason a slow offense and him talking crap to harden making him play defense was going to be better than a high power structured offense that supported harden strengths. It was dumb honestly
On one hand, I think it's too early to really say MDA has been a success. We could win 60+ games this season but if we lost in the first round it still wouldn't be a successful season. Let's see how MDA is able to lead us in the playoffs and over multiple years. However, on the other hand, we have undeniably been better so far than I imagined. Longest winning streak in the NBA. Wins over GSW and SAS on the road. I will admit that I wasn't a fan of the hiring at all. We were a pretty decent offensive team last year and a pretty terrible defensive one. It seemed like the obvious choice would have been someone whose strengths were best suited to fix our weaknesses. The Rockets, in a pretty gutsy move, instead doubled down on their strengths and what they wanted to do. They hired an offensive head coach and signed offensive free agents. They finally added legit 3 point shooters to a team that emphasizes 3 point shooting. And MDA's system seems to have unleashed Harden's abilities even further. It sure has been fun to watch this season.
I'll admit I was wrong. I assumed this was a 45-50 win team at best and a first round knockout. Now there are other factors involved with the Rockets' great start to the season. The All-Star caliber performance by Eric Gordon. The development of Capela, Harrell, and Dekker. The rejuvenated play of Bev and to a lesser extent Ariza. But D'Antoni is the one who brought all the pieces together. He made Harden the point guard. He decided to start Bev and have Gordon come off the bench(once Bev returned from injury). He's trusted young guys like Harrell and Dekker late in close games(the wins over the Warriors and Celtics for example). And obviously he's the one who installed this offensive system that's currently putting up the 2nd most points per game in the league behind only Golden State. If the Rockets keep this up, not only was D'Antoni a great hire, but he's a frontrunner for Coach of the Year.
Coach Dantoni - sorry i doubted you dude. so far so good. but it's a long season - let's not lose sight of playoff success.
I was against the hire although not nearly as vehemently as many here were. So glad to be proven wrong. This is the "Redemption Team". Is there ANYONE on this team that doesn't have something to prove? Here's the narratives pre season.... D'antoni - Overrated offense only coach. Harden - Can't play defense. Overrated superstar. Lazy. Will never lead a team to a title. Gordon - Injury riddled bust. Anderson - One dimensional player who only plays for losers. PBev - Injury riddled poor shooter who everyone hates for "hurting" Westbrook a few years back. Capela - Young skinny kid who is too timid to play among the men. Brewer - Can't shoot. (wait...this one is still true) Decker - Still unproven after being hurt his rookie year. Nene - Solid player but unspectacular. Ariza - Solid player but inconsistent jumper and hasn't been a winner since leaving LA. Harrell - Super athletic player with a great motor but can he take the next step as a shooter? McDaniels - Athleticism is there but can he play disciplined ball? Brown, Wiltjer, Ennis, Onuaku - All just trying to prove the ARE NBA players.
i expected a fun time with the offense being much better. i still don't think they can win a title with this defense, but just continue the fun offense.
MDA deserves credit for the overall improvement in the team, with the personnel that he has. We do need further additions via trade before the February deadline. Playoff success will determine the final grade that MDA gets.
1) Don't act like you know what's going on in practice/player's lives as there may be a good reason that KJ may not be getting minutes. Maybe its attitude towards the style of play or how he plays, lack of focus, etc. When we're playing this well, its up to KJ to step up his game and show the coaching staff he deserves minutes - and he's probably not doing that. Again this is all assumption but you aren't making any, you just want him to play regardless. 2) Giving Ariza and Beverly "superstar" minutes has nothing to do with how good they are in terms of player rankings. They are our best defenders at 2 key positions where the majority of the league's scoring comes from (1, 2, & 3). In order for us to be decent on defense they need to play big minutes. It's not just about offense - as you mentioned - so you are clearly contradicting yourself. 3) Why would you want someone who doesn't move well with the ball, and spreads the floors so much to be move involved in the offense? He's happy about playing this type of basketball, he's good at it, and frankly we don't need him to play a larger role. Nobody said this team is contending, we are saying we have over-achieved expectations.
The scary part to all this is that it seems the Rox are not even playing very hard against these teams lately and they're putting teams away
We are beating teams so bad it's gets painful to watch for the other team at times. Is there such thing as winner's regret? Should I feel sorry for the team we're giving nightly azz whippings
