<The Ringer> It might be time to bring out the brooms

my prediction was Rockets in 5, but I don’t mind sweeping up the trash early

let’s just get this over with...I’ve been waiting for GS, and Utah is just an annoyance that needs to go away

 

We get good preparation for the officiating in the Warriors series on the way out. Let’s pull this out.

 

One: smart nba analysts should realize by now good defense doesn’t force Harden into bad shooting nights. His own game does that. This is typical. He was what 0 for a thousand from three against the Magic one night. To be fair/sure this was worse than a typical bad night but that wasn’t specific to the Jazz defense in general as much as it was to the style and the refereeing. Regarding style, forcing Harden right so emphatically is akin to a double team. James has 10 assists. So that’s no problem. Regarding refs... just a matter of how much contact they want to allow. They let it go relatively speaking through three quarters.

Two: from Utah’s perspective... why’d they lose? They have no offense. Not that complicated lol. This definitely isn’t all on Rubio... he had as decent a night as anyone not named Mitchell. But I really think the guy is such a good player... other than shooting, that coaches fall in love with him. Mitchell will never reach his potential with Rubio next to him. The kid can’t shoot. But again, Crowder, Ingles, Niang, O’Neal, Korver, Gobert, etc. these aren’t good offensive players now.

Sidebar... I really like Favors. I think he is way way way overlooked to the defensive value he has. If you look at the stats he defends at the rim wotybsimilar success as Govert and is better on then perimeter. I think he’d be a better player in a different system.

 

My related ad content for this thread about brooms shows two versions of a novel called “Orlando”

 

How is Tony Brothers still employed?

 

This means we have a Foster game in the 1st three with the Warriors. . ..
and probably game 6 or 7

Rocket River

 

Jazz didn't squander anything. It was back to back 20+ point blowouts at Houston.

That potential lead covered a **** night by Harden.

Squander would mean the Jazz had some sort of control or advantage during the course of this series.

 

As I keep saying, the Rockets have got to play like a 10-point lead is a dead tie, and with anything less, they're losing. A few blown calls, sketchy or not, is enough to erase most of that very quickly. And that's not even accounting for standard basketball runs and cold spots. Really, I'd say consider a lead of 20 to be too close for any sort of comfort.

 

Might have to throw on my Tony Brothers jersey for good luck tonight