Man, I have no energy to really discuss this. Just deflated and sad at the moment. You're right, whatever "it" is, I think it's the only thing James Harden is lacking and it's a tough situation because he still is everything he is praised for. Damian Lillard is a lesser player, but he doesn't let this game go this way in this situation with this supporting cast. There are guys like that. I don't think we have great options moving forward.
Why bother if you don't have a coach who will play them? You act like Dantoni has only coached the Rockets. You act like Dantoni hasn't been in the playoffs before coaching teams that did have good benches in which he chose not to utilize. You have to have a coach who has shown he is willing to play his bench players or why bother. If we promote Bzdelik then sure lets improve our bench. Otherwise, try to hit homeruns with starters.
I'm of similar thinking. To be clear, I don't make this thread as a Tilman nut-hugger; I have mocked his obvious penny pinching (and then lying about it) several times. But if he thought that this wasn't a team worth betting on.... he was right. We have no path to transform our team, really, outside of trading Capela or Harden. And I'm not high on doing either. Paying Chris Paul like he's a #1A guy when he's more like a #3 guy is crippling.
It’s hard to believe that a team that got so close last year and fought hard to the bitter end came in to this season so nonchalant. You would’ve thought they would have been motivated to finish the job. But they played to their level of competition all season.
I could think of a few players that would have made the difference. we spend $21M less than the warriors did. and if you count the wasted money of shumpert and nene that's $35M. retain ariza = $15M use the MLE on a decent player last summer (ed Davis for rebounding and finishing through contact, unlike Clint)= $5M flip shumpert/nene/pick at the deadline for a decent player on a lotto team looking to add picks and save money (Marvin Williams) = $14M now we spent the same as the warriors. I believe if we had ariza, Marvin, and Davis replacing nene, green, and shumpert, we can make up 6 points a game easily. even with a team that doesn't have that killer instinct. it wouldn't have mattered. we would've had the size, defense, and toughness to prevail. match their spending and we are a championship team. stay under the tax and you are a playoff team forever. you don't want to live over the tax every year but you have to know when is your window. our window opened last year and here we are with our tax savings instead of a championship or two.
Clint Capela is a much bigger problem than Chris Paul. Chris Paul was at least playable in this series, unlike Capela. With the Warriors selling out to take away the lob, Clint brought nothing to the table offensively. Add in his lackadaisical effort all series, and it adds up to an $18 million waste. Capela needs to pick up the energy level and develop an offensive game this summer, or Morey has to find the right trade partner for him.
Not really. Considering all the games were close, if you had another high impact player on this team, it would have been a massive help. It does not guarantee a win, but it improves your chances. And that is the whole point of making moves. To improve your chances.
I will be consistent and go back to my same points at the trade deadline. I was optimistic about this season but not the future. We squandered 3 years with albatross of Ryan Anderson and paid the same price we would have paid 3 years ago but had better assets. To me this failure is 100% on Morey for the Ryno debacle and his ego of not letting go of a loser. We couldn't do **** and Philly that is going to lose Game 7 used ALL of their assets and at least got the two players. We do not have that third piece and that is 100% on him trying to win in a trade rather than win the trade. He sacrificed good for great and got neither. If we had moved on Ryno when we first knew it PG13 or Butler is here and we likely have two rings now. 5 vs 2 and really 4 vs 1. That was what we were always dealing with that gets ignored. Harden averages over 30 but has to be a god every game for us to win a series. With as hard as everyone else played that is just bullsh1t. Why does our team have to gut it out with lesser talent and we are the ones that choke. That's just crap. The reports will come out but that was the whole point of showering this team with the talent it deserved. EVERY DAMN GAME WAS A POSSESSION. If we had anyone other than Shumpert we win this series. Last year if we had anyone other than Ryno, we win the championship. Great is the enemy of good because sometimes, its nothing in the end. The Memphis trade for Green and Ellington goes bad because someone won't close the f**king deal, just like they didn't close the deal on anything else. Rivers, Faried, and House were wins but everything else was an abysmal loss. Morey needs to own it and do something in two months or this is the future. We are out of moves. All of those times where he just wouldn't give that extra bit NEEDED to win. The sense of urgency was just not there, we can always wait until later for a better deal and have next year. No, no we don't. Crappy owner combined with failed GM on this one.
Had they actually put forth an effort to win tonight, I'd be saying the same. But they gave up. Didn't want to win or were too lazy to put in even a mediocre performance.
That's 100% coaching. It is the primary job of a coach to get their players up for the game. Coaching is as much psychological job as it is x and os, and sadly neither are Mike's forte.
Trust me. If you knew him in person like I do you would have been very pissed when he bought the team, not shocked that he's a cheap ass, and you would have spent more time doing productive things like i have this year. I may have watched maybe 20 games, including playoffs. Knowing him in person though it's very hard to be a fan of anything he is involved with. One of the biggest douchebag, penny pinching, backstabbing, gutter mouth people I've ever known and my family has known him for 2 decades.
Our bench already was an upgrade to the Warriors. If only our idiot coach knew that. What Tillman needs to do is write a blank check and offer it to the best coach available.
Interesting. Ill take your word for it. You sound very believable and he has already lied to the fans about spending jnto the luxury tax. He wants to wait until Harden and CP3 are older before entering the repeater tax. You need to get in to the tax before you worry about the repeater tax. Lol. Such BS.
Which part is wrong? That the team pathetically rolled over like a dog? Or that sinking money into an apparently mentally weak team is a good idea? Tilman is a liar. He is cheap. That is true. But, if his reason for being cheap this year was because he didn't believe this Rockets team was championship material, he was right. A championship team would not have embarrassed themselves like that last night. Honestly, I'm starting to think they wanted to lose. There is no other reason for coming out and playing like you're hungover in an elimination game on your home court.
