Some teams care more about maximizing themselves in the playoffs. Some teams care more about maximizing themselves in the regular season. Which one do you think the Rockets are?
Come on man, this is ridiculous, don't frame it this way. The rockets obviously care about the playoffs more than anything, they just fail at it. It's absurd to act like they are intentionally built to maximize the regular season.
The biggest problem is that ever since the end of game 1, the Rockets have let the Lakers dictate the style of play and it isnt because the Lakers have exerted their will, the Rockets have just gone along with it. The Rockets were shooting far less 3's than usual. The times that the Rockets did shoot more 3's they tended to win the scoring advantage. The Rockets also failed to get out in transition. Further the splits with Harden of the floor compared to when he is on the floor have been atrocious. Westbrook has been a complete disaster as well. So teams can just double Harden, who is doing what the Rockets want.... he isn't turning it over or forcing the action. The problem is that Westbrook and Gordon have not picked up the difference and they are the two that can create. None of these observations are earth shattering, yet the head coach has not made adjustments. We did not take more 3's until already down 15 to start the 4th quarter. Yet McLemore does not play, when to be honest, the Rockets were already atrocious when Harden sits. The difference between Harden on/of stats is by far the largest in the league. Not controlling the pace of the game wouldn't be an issue if the defense was truly a top 5 in the league, which it isn't. Everyone complains about the lack of big players inside, but honestly a lot of it has been Westbrook. Harden has greatly improved his defense to where it is a positive, Tucker and Covington are really good defenders and House is good in some match ups. Gordon is up and down depending on the match up. For as much as I appreciate what MDA has done for the Rockets, it is time for a change. I am not convinced this group entirely believes in MDA anymore and that is a problem.
Who have the Rockets lost to? This year they are down 3-1 to the team that was favored to win the title Last year they lost to the team favored to win the title. (that went to the Finals) The year before that they lost to the team favored to win the title (that won the Title) The year before that they lost to the team favored to win the title. (that went to the Finals) Arguably the Rockets have lost every single season under MDA to a team that was just better than them, and they were on the cusp of winning the title a few years ago before they lost their second best player. I am not happy with the coaching this post season and I have seen a marked change this post season in a lack of adjustments that MDA would make in the past or in the past it would be a talent issue.... it isn't this year. However keep in mind the Lakers wrapped up the West, and THEY are the #1 seed. So I get the frustration, but fair is fair.
They fail every year because they refuse to adjust. We missed 27 threes in a row. We could of stepped in a foot or two for the mid-range. How many do we make then? 5-10 IMO. It's completely ass backwards to not adjustment. This philosophy is flawed in the playoffs and they can't even ditch it for ONE QUARTER where they say **** it, take a shot if you're open within the arc.
The Rockets have lost every single season under MDA to arguably the better team. They lost to the Warriors 3 times and all three of those Warriors teams went to the Finals or won the Title. This year they are losing to the team that had the best regular season record in the West and has been the favorite to win the Title. So while I have some issues with some of the things the Rockets coaches have not done (especially this year), we need to look at the bigger picture. It isn't a situation like the Bucks were we are losing to teams we for sure should beat.
i really believe we should trade harden now. better for him to get a chance w/ another team while he still has a couple years mvp level left , and better for us to reload w/ younger players and picks the only caveat to this is if we were somehow able to get popavich as head coach here. he is a big fan of both harden & russ, but first he'd have to leave SAS and then tilman would have to agree to pay him (probably the biggest obstacle)
We can discuss whether the Rockets should deal Harden and Covington and Tucker..... while we will lose our draft picks, we would get some really solid assets for those three players. However, the reality is the owner isn't going to agree to do it. He is going to pick HIS head coach, just like he traded for HIS star (Westbrook). Popovich would be amazing, but at his age I don't think he wants to leave SA where he really has absolute control. I think the best the Rockets can hope for is either a coach like Atkinson comes aboard and makes improvements defensively where it makes a difference next season OR the Rockets get extremely lucky and strike gold on a first time head coach. It is clear to me the Rockets need someone more detail oriented and someone that will tighten the defense. The hard part is getting someone that the players will buy into and go through the effort and see it payoff. I am not worried about Harden making changes the coach wants, he has shown he will adapt his game, I am more concerned with Westbrook who apparently has no forethought to anything he does on the court.
Many teams don’t try very hard on defense during the regular season. It changes in the playoffs. Suddenly all those open looks our shooters get in the regular season aren’t there. The Rockets offense is very one dimensional. In a seven game series, opposing teams learn how to defend the Rockets. The Rockets have shot the ball pretty good from long range this series, but not so great going to the basket. This is where small vs tall has hurt the Rockets. The Lakers have blocked a lot of Rockets shots. The Rockets also have been out rebounded by the Lakers. I’m not sure where the Rockets go from here. I think we had a better team last year. We traded away some of our best assets(Capela and draft picks) and have gotten worse.
i mean you literally had to change the lineup for him to play well. You would hope he'd do something. They forced themselves to play unconventionally 100% of the time just to get him to fit. LOL. But in the end reality set in and things went back to the way they should be. he still sucks. 2 months omg? give him the trophy now. it's funny how casuals are so easily tricked
I understand the point of view you're coming from. We've definitely always lost to a team perceived to be better than us from the outsiders. However, what always seems to be a consistent thorn in our side in every single one of these playoffs losses, is the belief (and a good belief at that - not some deluded homerism belief) that if this team did just this; or did just that; they'd be advancing. The problem is with this team and coaching staff, those things never happen. Even though we're losing to better teams which some may deem understandable, all these losses (at least recent playoff losses besides this season's one to me) leave a bitter taste in the mouth knowing things could have been so easily different. This season is different because, there's just a hell of a long list of laundry items as to why we're losing.
Nook, I hear what you're saying bro. It doesn't negate the fact that a simple adjustment, could flip some of those losses to wins. That's what's infuriating. It's all hindsight now. This series is over unless an certain "adjustment" is made and that doesn't seem feasible unfortunately
We lost to the Spurs in 2017. They weren't favored to win the title, and after injuries to Parker/Leonard, we were better than them. And then they embarrassed us. Last year, GSW lost Durant at the end of game 5. We were big favorites to win game 6, but again, we lost.
I don't think the issue is the Rockets system on offense. If they had Chris Paul instead of Westbrook their offense AND defense would look better. The trade for Covington has also helped both the offense and defense. Sadly we never got to see Paul with this offense. As for the rebounding, the Rockets can afford to be out rebounded IF they are taking and making a lot of threes and are protecting the ball and going to the line. The Rockets this series for most quarters have NOT shot enough 3's. They have made 3's but the Lakers have been shooting as many as the Rockets. The times where the Rockets have shot more 3's, they have outscored the Lakers by a decent margin. If the Rockets are not taking a lot of 3's, most of the advantages of small ball are lost. The Rockets will have Harden, Westbrook and Covington and Tucker back next year unless Harden demands a trade (which is possible). They will have a new coach that will still be analytically driven but will be more detail oriented and will attempt to add to what there is on offense. The biggest change will be that the Rockets will likely have a coach that puts even more emphasis on defense. The real question will be whether Tilman will be willing to spend what he can with the MLE. My guess is with Harden getting older and with a new coach "selling" Tilman, that we will spend the money. We will try to target some higher end guys like Ibaka, Milsap, Gallinari, Thompson, Morris, Grant, Harris, and Wood but those are all long shots. They then will likely turn to players like JaMychal Green, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews, Nerlens Noel and Torey Craig. The Rockets will also be adding a rotation piece in David Nwaba if he is healthy, he is an excellent defender and loves to run. I do not see Jeff Green coming back if it is going to take their exception money. Most the guys I expect them to target are either long 4'-5's that can hit 3's and defend......... 3 point shooters or possibly a quality real 5 that can play 15 minutes a night. Their ideal scenario would likely be a S&T with the Pistons for the full MLE for Wood (unlikely), who could play the 5 with a 7'4" wingspan and a 9'5" standing reach...... or Serge Ibaka........ I do not think either is likely. I haven't even dug into the Rockets current exceptions (which I believe would be instead of the MLE)
First, James Harden was injured....... but second, Russell Westbrook has been absolute garbage in the playoffs. He has been completely outplayed by Rajon Rondo and Caruso.
You know....I would have defended the Rockets this way a year ago. I get the sentiment. But I’m sorry...every year they flame out in the playoffs because of 3 main things... A) James Harden plays absolutely terrible in huge games. Not just bad, but *terrible*, in a way other superstars don't even come close to on a regular basis. B) They blow 4th quarter leads, big or small, because they resort to lazy offense down the stretch that's easy to defend. This mostly falls on MDA and Harden C) They come out flat in playoff games. Need I say more? Just pathetic for a team with nobody who’s ever won a ring. Losing to better teams is what it is. But it's the way the Rockets lose that shows they don't have the capability. They aren’t built for it and I am done pretending like the are. 2018 was the lone exception because they were a perfectly built team with a great leader in CP3.
I understand this sentiment, and that is why they will change their head coach. The reality is that they have had 4 years under MDA, and while I do believe he can help a lot of teams, he isn't right for the Rockets anymore. The lack of adjustments and attention to detail has become glaring this playoff season. Westbrook should not have been playing a meaningless bubble game.... that is on MDA. The Rockets could not make an easy inbound pass, that is a detail a coach should work on. The Rockets let the House situation bother them and came out flat against the Lakers... that is on the head coach. The Rockets have not taken enough 3's at the right times, that is on the coach. The Rockets have not made necessary adjustments with pace against the Lakers... that is on the coach. Most importantly, for as much as the players like and respect MDA, I don't think they in their back of their collective minds believe what he tells them anymore. Being REALLY close to winning it all really sucks, especially in a league that tips the balance to particular teams......
Do we actually watch film between games and talk about what to do when Harden is trapped? Even in a time-out you’d think professionals and best of the world could come up with a simple solution at least. To go 2-3 games with not a single wrinkle in there or attacking from a different angle, nothing...sums up this great offense. So much space, not taking advantage of it, just dumb. Nothing elite about it. Never was.
