Biggest reason we lost was not because of Lin. It's that Portland can put a lot more ball pressure and create problems for us than vice versa. Both Lin and Harden struggled to get us into the offense at times down the stretch.
1. McHale needs to go ASAP 2. Lin needs to go too ASAP somehow. 3. Harden has been exposed and has work to do
New coach. Upgrade the point. More junk yard dogs. More gunners. A backup to replace Dwight. You know, not much.
1. McHale is slow with adjustments, Portland owns the fourth quarter 2. Harden is a lazy defender and the team is not listening to the coach 3. Portland relies on Aldridge's mid range game, we take a lot of threes and very few mid range shots.
Even as we had came back and where up +2 in the last seconds of the game, I thought to myself "even if we win this game, this series, this team won't go anywhere with this coach". McHale is clueless.
1. bad calls by refs. fouls, and1, bad out of bound calls. ridculous 2. disappointed in lin 3. coaching is trash - howard is a guy you don't want to post up under 2 minutes left UNLESS he is willing to pass it out to a shooter when doubled/tripled or a man comes out to bail him out. did that happen? nope. not a single time. it's too risky to rely on dwight. granted he made his FT's though which was great. harden and howard took turns with iso ball which really made the offense stagnant. blazers share ball, set screens to get something open. 4. just no defensive intensity at all. during the blazer run - the defense was soooo soft. bev was great in the first game, but his intensity has disappeared a bit - he needs to keep that up to spark the team. maybe he's tired (i don't blame him, it's a team effort to play hard together) 5. :'(
Oh yeah and wha thappened to PNR? did we get lazy because we had a 10point lead so let's abandon something that works down the stretch? I really don't get it. "hey guys we don't need PNR - we are ahead."
1. As crazy as it seems at first, these two teams might be playing the best ball of anyone in the playoffs. Yeah they both make boneheaded plays, but both have hit huge shots back and forth all series. Neither team has really put up a stinker like in the other series. 2. McHale doesn't understand the concept of defensive lineups in late game situations. Jordan Hamilton really can't get on the floor for a stop?! Troy Daniels and Lin in instead? If you know there's a timeout as soon as a dead ball, why not Hamilton who is long and a good rebounder? 3. Silver needs to get to work fixing the officiating. It really is just very bad and inconsistent.
My 3 observations: - Jeremy Lin will be the convenient scapegoat should they lose the series because of one critical mistake, the equivalent of a goal line fumble. That mistake obscures the fact that he was the team's second best 2 way player in the first 3 games of the series, nearly won game 1 with a strong OT effort and helped to win game 3. - The Blazer starters have been better than the Rockets starters through 4 games: more points, rebounds, assists. Play calling and coaching are factors. But it's also about a commitment to defense and hustle plays from all the players on the floor. They've had it for 3 of the 4 games (and especially in Q4 and OT of Game 4). The Rockets' are better scorers, but the Blazers are making up for it by finding and sticking with a hot hand and hustling. - James Harden improved his efficiency in game 4 and may be due for a breakout but he is a defensive liability and Stotts is exploiting it effectively.
1) We need a new coach 2) Maybe a new coach can get more out of these players 3) Lin needs to go. Not a good enough player.
1. Teams that "are not really that good" don't make the playoffs in the West. 2. One of the top SGs in the league seems pretty good to me. I'd like to see your analysis of the rest of the roster and their "worth". 3. The Magic would disagree. Howard has been great this series. 4. No idea where you're going with this one.
1. Lin is not very good 2.McHale is not very good 3. Harden is very good but man would it suck being his team mate, all the standing around and watching him chuck brick after brick and just when you're tired of watching he chucks up another one. And I'm ISOed with CSN garbage but does he always have trouble finishing or just in the playoffs when the refs allow a little more contact. 4. (bonus) What Defense... bye McHale.
1. Our PG's are bench players, not NBA starters. Lin has regressed from a viable "sixth man" to a third stringer. Beverly is a defensive specialist. Neither can shoot consistently. This is a killer, especially in big games like the playoffs. 2. The Rockets appear to have a marginal commitment to defense both from a system and effort standpoint. This is the main reason they can't hold leads, but it is a large problem in every respect. 3. Coaching is sub par. I really like McHale, but he is not one of the league's premier coaches. Maybe the addition of a defensive minded assistant would help, but he might be replaced. This is a sensitive issue with Howard, so who knows.
I have chosen to focus on the Harden-Howard dynamic instead of the ongoing Lin soap opera. This was supposed to be the key to propelling them into elite status - the pairing of two star players. Well it hasn't really worked out as many here thought and I have felt that there is something of a disconnect between the two and here's an article from Bleacher Report by Alec Nathan that discusses the issue in depth: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2043882-where-rockets-co-stars-james-harden-and-dwight-howard-are-falling-short In particular, it references an article from Friday that sort of predicted what would happen last night: Following a thrilling 123-120 Game 4 overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday night, the Houston Rockets find themselves battling for their playoff lives as they head back home facing a 3-1 series deficit. And just as Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding predicted after the Rockets' Game 3 victory, Houston's offense continued to sputter as James Harden and Dwight Howard played a glorified version of my-turn, your-turn that slowed Kevin McHale's offense to a crawl: "They have a theory on how to play basketball, focusing on scoring via threes, free throws and in the paint, but they don't have a system that mandates Harden and Howard really being all-in as far as working together. Their style is basically alternating attack modes, which is the sort of simplistic approach that always gets mucked up come playoff time." Examine common box score statistics and things don't look so bleak. Harden and Howard scored 28 and 25 points, respectively. Howard even made 11 of his 17 free throws. But the continuity simply wasn't there. For the fourth straight game, the Blazers outscored the Rockets in the fourth quarter (27-22), due largely in part to repeated post-ups called for Howard down on the low block and lengthy, unproductive isolations from Harden on the perimeter. If there's one thing we learned during the regular season, it's that Howard is most effective in pick-and-roll situations that take advantage of his quick movement off the ball and explosive leaping ability around the rim. According to Synergy Sports (subscription required), Howard ranked No. 5 among all players in pick-and-roll scoring this season, generating 1.29 points per possession as the roll man in such play types. On post-ups, that number dropped to a paltry 0.76 points per possession, which ranked 126th overall, per Synergy. And after shooting above the league average in the restricted area during the regular season (68.4 percent, per NBA.com), Howard's field-goal percentage down low has plummeted to a shade under 58 percent in the postseason. When Harden has operated as the primary ball-handler in Houston's offensive sets, a lack of chemistry frequently rears its ugly head. Too often, Harden is settling for mid-range jumpers, a disturbing trend that's cropped up at the most inopportune time. Known for a style of play that oozes efficiency, Harden has actually attempted more shots between 16 and 24 feet than he has in the restricted area in four games against the Blazers. As a result, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Harden's player efficiency rating has plummeted in tandem with a massive drop in his advanced shooting stats. Following a regular season that saw Harden post an effective field-goal percentage (which adjusts for the fact that three-point baskets are worth more than conventional two-point field goals) of 52.9, the Bearded maestro's conversion rate has dropped to a staggering 40.3 percent, according to NBA.com. It would be one thing if these struggles existed in a vacuum on offense. The sad truth is that Harden's defensive efforts have been generally appalling. Small sample size be damned, Harden has looked downright careless nearly every time down the floor, showing lackadaisical tendencies in the pick-and-roll. Blazers swingman visibly outplayed him Sunday evening. "He came out determined and made plays on both ends," Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said of Matthews, according to The Oregonian's Mike Tokito. "That's what Wes does. He has a big heart." If only McHale could say the same about Harden. Instead, the Rockets have posted the worst defensive rating of any playoff team, surrendering 114.6 points per 100 possessions against Portland's vaunted spread attack, per NBA.com. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Rockets have somehow been worse with Harden on the floor, ceding 116.2 points per 100 possessions while posting a net rating of minus-4.3 per 100 possessions. Prior to tipoff, Harden reiterated that it was "very important for us to come out with intensity and realize that our season is on the line," according to the Rockets' official Twitter account. Not only did he underwhelm to the tune of 9-of-21 shooting (3-of-11 from three) and five turnovers, but Harden allowed Matthews to steal his thunder by posting 21 points on a tidy 8-of-15 shooting (2-of-6 from three) and four steals, including the game's decisive theft. The intensity may have been there during a prosperous first half that saw the Rockets outscore the opposition by 10, but Houston's offensive prosperity waned down the stretch as Portland turned the tables and held Harden and co. in check. Now scrapping for their playoff lives, the Rockets need an offensive intervention in order to regain vintage form before a decisive Game 5. The team that famously made a living by torching opponents in the paint and beyond the arc is shooting just below 57 percent in the restricted area and 30.6 percent on threes above the break, per NBA.com. It all starts with Harden and Howard, the two polarizing stars who've yet to achieve the cohesion necessary to craft the Rockets into legitimate title contenders. IMO, the person who appears to be most affected by this is Lin who simply is not the type of PG this team needs in order to impose the offensive discipline that is so lacking. Lin would fare much better in an offensive system where the roles are clearly defined which as we all know, is not what McHale is running.
1. The pressure playbook: In pressure situations, Portland moves the ball, finds the open man, and knocks down high percentage shots. Houston isolates a player, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, (continue pattern ad nauseum), shoots a contested low percentage shot, and often misses. Yes, it would have been shorter to just write "fire McHale. He sucks @$$!!!" 2. The blame game: Folks blame Lin for some bone-headed plays (and yes, he deserves it), but praise Harden for his offense (which incidentally has been a "blistering" team worst 35.0% FG and 26.8% 3PT in this series off of 25.8 FGA/game (7 more FGA than Howard who is shooting 53.4% and 9 more than Parsons who is shooting 47.0%). The truth is Harden has been by far the worst offender for observation 1 above (shooting long contested 2's and 3's). I guess the beard is more hypnotic to fans than I could have possibly imagined! 3. Confidence vs CON-fidence: Lillard and Aldridge and several other Blazers role players show swagger during pressure situations (no fear of "the big shot" or overcoming deficits). The Rockets stars speak a good game (the CON), but often fold under pressure (although props to Howard for raising his overall FT% to 64% after starting with an abysmal 9-17 in game 1).
That can be fixed in one move by convincing Lowry to come back. We've found our legitimate gunner in Daniels. It seems like he's opened the door to the rotation and came in not giving a F. Love it.
1. Howard needs to get more offensive fouls. He attacks the middle of the paint almost every time, when I believe he should try to jerk the rim down every single time. His right hand is weaker than his left, which I do not understand at all. However, he has been our glimmer of hope in these dreary playoffs. 2. Portland is a whole lot better than I thought they were. However, looking back into the regular season our 3-1 record against them was a little misleading. We struggled to win every one of those games. This stat was nothing more than fools gold. 3. Not offering Goran, the dragon, Dragic his desired fourth year player option ( I believe that was the discrepancy ) has really come back to haunt us. If he were still a part of this roster then I believe we are a legitimate contender. This series has been heart breaking, but eye opening. Long live the Houston Rockets , the team that I do love so.
Les need to open up his pockets and pay for some good players this offseason, and buy some picks. Get rid of the guys who are not in the playoffs rotation apart from the rookies. Les' cheapness costed T-Mac and Yao's prime. Doing the same to Howard and Harden would just be a dealbreaker.
