Houston Rockets Thread - Preseason vs Spurs (Friday)

[statis22]

Man Bickerstaff was on the staff last year when we were a defensive trainwreck, he can get a good sum of the credit but not all of it. I mean we did hire an assistant who was here under JVG right?

I actually think our issues actually shifted more offensively than defensively.

 

[bonafide hustla]

^agree agree agree (Jin)

except for Brew being a horrid shooter. You can't just leave Brew wide open, bro. We forgot what he did against the Mavs? He was hitting some very key 3s off the Harden dime as the last option. He also knows how to pump fake off rotation and attack the rim. Also, ideally, Curry is the one left closing on him. That is ideal because now we have a 6'9 aggressor shooting wide open 3s with a 6'3 stick coming at him. or a 6'9 aggressor attacking that same guy to the rim (fouls?)

but beyond that, a portion of that idea is that lineup will create more turnover, more transition, Brew/Josh are better in transition. Beard is also generally better in transition

 

[jewbacca2]

Man Bickerstaff was on the staff last year when we were a defensive trainwreck, he can get a good sum of the credit but not all of it. I mean we did hire an assistant who was here under JVG right?

I actually think our issues actually shifted more offensively than defensively.

All of this.

The defense was so bad, because the offense was so bad

 

[bonafide hustla]

^agree with Statis too. That's essentially what I was tryna say. Yes JB has an impact, but a big portion of the blame imo come from Mchale's high level system

 

[jinkazama]

^agree agree agree (Jin)

except for Brew being a horrid shooter. You can't just leave Brew wide open, bro. We forgot what he did against the Mavs? He was hitting some very key 3s off the Harden dime as the last option. He also knows how to pump fake off rotation and attack the rim. Also, ideally, Curry is the one left closing on him. That is ideal because now we have a 6'9 aggressor shooting wide open 3s with a 6'3 stick coming at him. or a 6'9 aggressor attacking that same guy to the rim (fouls?)

but beyond that, a portion of that idea is that lineup will create more turnover, more transition, Brew/Josh are better in transition. Beard is also generally better in transition

Brew is a slasher...he can get hot from outside but he shot 28% from 3 this year. You aren't going to respect that if you are the opposing coach. Ok he gets hot and torches you one game from 3...OK...eventually he's gonna wake up. They would have played Brewer for the drive the whole series and forced JH to kick it to him because the lane would be so clogged. They couldn't do that with Jet, thus keeping the floor more spaced and giving Dwight and Harden more room to operate.

Not saying it was right or wrong...but I can see the rationale for Brewer not starting/getting more playing time. I would've started Brewer in Game 4 when the Rockets were down 3-0. I mean what do you have to lose at that point.

 

[jewbacca2]

Listening to 790 right now, according to Charlie, Earlier today, Harden basically said he wants someone on the team to take the ball out of his hands at times.

 

[polosanddunks]

Listening to 790 right now, according to Charlie, Earlier today, Harden basically said he wants someone on the team to take the ball out of his hands at times.

thats fine but bruh cant be having these kind of turnovers that are downright embarrassing.

 

[statis22]

Listening to 790 right now, according to Charlie, Earlier today, Harden basically said he wants someone on the team to take the ball out of his hands at times.

Good! He needs help.

 

[Retroballer]

play maker you say?

 

[bonafide hustla]

Brew is a slasher...he can get hot from outside but he shot 28% from 3 this year. You aren't going to respect that if you are the opposing coach. Ok he gets hot and torches you one game from 3...OK...eventually he's gonna wake up. They would have played Brewer for the drive the whole series and forced JH to kick it to him because the lane would be so clogged. They couldn't do that with Jet, thus keeping the floor more spaced and giving Dwight and Harden more room to operate.

Not saying it was right or wrong...but I can see the rationale for Brewer not starting/getting more playing time. I would've started Brewer in Game 4 when the Rockets were down 3-0. I mean what do you have to lose at that point.

he can't shoot lights out, but he will knock it down if he's literally the last guy standing naked. if they close out, he can definitely catch and attack. the whole "spacing" thing can't be so elementary to the point where literally everybody on your team has to be able to knock down 3s at a high clip

and even then, you don't expect to rely on him purely shooting the corner 3. you expect the game to have more transition. then when you're stalling or a team makes you realllllly pay for having brewer out there, switch the lineup.

we gotta gameplan to dictate rather than just be reactive

 

[Peep Game]

I'm just glad that Sergio vid is better than the Dorsey one

 

[bartleby929]

Listening to 790 right now, according to Charlie, Earlier today, Harden basically said he wants someone on the team to take the ball out of his hands at times.

Harden has been carrying the Rockets since he got here. People ragged on him for not playing defense. Then he started playing defense. People rag on him for drawing too many fouls like getting to the free throw line 10 times a game doesn't mean going to the rim 1000 times a season. Even with his build, he just wore out. 

Need another piece, Harden shouldn't be bringing the ball up and distributing when he's been doing everything else. 

 

[Peep Game]

A steady midrange dude would be nice as well. It would be cool to find somebody who can both be a good midrange presence and relieve Harden of the ball.

 

[bartleby929]

Anyone else thinking Jeremy Lin. kidding haha

 

[Peep Game]

 

[bartleby929]

is he crying or faking like he's crying or just mumbling. whats going on in this video 

 

[bonafide hustla]

Mann, Harden's my guy. like a lot....but I think he needs to suck it up, get his conditioning together, and EMBRACE the full blown facilitator role like Lebron does, and all the greats do. This is my basketball interests talking.

The guy is very very good at facilitating the ball. He has the ability to still grow and be effective at another level. I rag on McHale so much about his system, but I will come out and say that I would like for Harden to be more vocal about any ineptitude in our scheme and become one of the guys that soaks up the game and controls what's happening.

In those playoff games he was hitting the midrange like he's never, I would legitimately say he looked unstoppable. Even Lebron has a slight deficiency in his natural shooting. He's worked hard at it, but he doesnt have the same natural stroke as JH. Pause.

If he's saying he wants to score off the ball more, then cool I guess. But he needs to realize that being able to score like an MVP and have that passing ability is a rare, god-given gift. Only the elite guys do it and considering he's only 25, he could be taking over the league doing that.

Next add on would be his defense, because he has some natural ability there too that needs to be groomed. I think conditioning and finishing strong at the rim would take his game to a new level

 

[franchise3]

I think it's more, when Harden goes to the bench, who's facilitating the offense/who can slash to the basket/create his own shot? We saw what happened when Harden sat and got rest. It was pound the ball into Dwight without much success.

 

[bonafide hustla]

Yea, I was thinking that could be Bev in a 6th man role, or we could groom a rookie from this current draft? Luul?...we traded canaan |I

I guess im sayin in our primary, starting lineup, what Harden needs is a PG who can knock down the 3 lights out but also be able to create their own shot.

That doesn't have to be mutually exclusive to Harden wanting a guy to relieve his duties. I'm just saying, we shouldn't be looking for a guy who can be a facilitator first in our starting lineup and then be able to shoot the 3 some. It should be the other way around and Harden should embrace heavy facilitator mins.

 

[Peep Game]

Canaan ain't facilitating anything, he just looked awesome in a couple Sixers games and it tricked a handful of Rockets fans (and Rocket haters) because of box scores.

 

[Retroballer]

Cannan was just a chucker. Nothing more.

 

[bonafide hustla]

alright McHale,

you might save that sentiment for a thread of dot com toms and box score ****** rather than Rockets fans who actually watch games. He wasn't even "facilitating" in Philly. Nobody's checking Philly box scores though.

He was chucking in Philly shooting 1st option numbers. lol at the thought of him doing anything remotely close to that in Houston. Just need a guy to knock down an open 3 and keep the ball moving with our spacing.

and dude was only in his 2nd year in the NBA

 

[puglife]

You guys really ragging on Dwight after he was our best postseason player?

At the end of the day, this is our team and mchale isn't going anywhere either. Gotta work with what you have and just hope they can take the next step next season.

 

[Peep Game]

You guys really ragging on Dwight after he was our best postseason player?

Best post season player *again I don't get it, especially from Rockets fans. It's easy knowing why Dwight haters/detractors/Laker fans say that, because most of them are basically Lynn Whitfield in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, scorned *******.

 

[bonafide hustla]

Nobody in this thread is "ragging" on Dwight. he catches flack and in here when it's justified. Dwight makes 22 mil. anybody making that amount will catch flack for mental midgetry, having terrible back to basket game, and not being able to shoot FTs. When all else fails, not being able to dump down and feel, with certainty, positive play will occur.

He will have to rely on a system or other players getting him the ball directly at the rim. He's elite at rim protection, but there's better value out there. None that are realistic to obtain probably, so here we are. Pretty simple situation here.

He's been critical to our success, but we know what it is in the greater scheme.