**OFFICIAL 2019 NBA OFFSEASON THREAD**

[P C H]

Bruh they were the biggest underdogs since this dynasty got going in Game 6. ALL we heard about last year was only if CP0 was healthy, Houston would have won, so they get a healthy CP0, KD gets injured in a tie game, blow that game. Steph maybe has the worst half of his career in the 1st half of game 6 yet they couldn't pull away then either and they blow that game at home. It was an even series WITH KD, yet somehow they shouldn't have been favored to win the moment he got injured. C'mon man.

They had a bad loss. Yes. But Literally everyone has a bad loss. They probably win that series if KD doesn’t play.

But If you weren’t putting bread on the rockets (or any other team in the league) to win a 7 game series against a healthy GSW then I’m not trying to hear about MDA being a bad coach, harden choking, blah blah blah that’s out. They’ve been as close as anyone can feasibly expect to be against a healthy GSW.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

 

[HOU$TON]

Did harden shrink this year ?

Wasn't the rockets defense better this year than last year? After they got rid of melo, was it the best in the NBA? Was that because of harden or all the guys you are downplaying to make it seem like the warriors are unbeatable? Austin, house and faried>>>ariza and luc. MDA is gonna run a 7 man rotation regardless so does it even matter what kinda depth you have? That's been his MO from jump. And a bunch of people try to act like Gerald green lost that game in 30 seconds so why did MDA even put him in? Same thing with Ryan Anderson the year before. Whenever Kerr does something like that he gets killed for it but MDA gets a pass for some reason.

McHale took the rockets from 34 to 45 to 54 to 56 wins and the conference finals and they got that far because he benched harden in a crucial game. But you're making it seem like harden is the only reason for anything. And nobody would hesitate to call mchale a bad coach. MDA had 55 65 and 53 wins and one conference finals. So how much better is he really?

Same thing with capela. Nobody would hesitate to say how poor he was. But when harden shrinks every year, there's always some reason besides that why the rockets couldn't get it done.

And you said there's no way to beat the warriors starting 5. Shoe said you wouldn't bet against a healthy gsw. Yall keep tryna act like KD wasn't even injured

Excuses

 

[addict4sneakers]

Look at this IG bird

 

[buc em]

Harden is gonna leave the league the same way as Melo if he don't change that frame of thought.

110%

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Did harden shrink this year ?

Every single year before this one, definitely. He had the worst numbers of his playoff career in the 1st round. He put up his stats in the 2nd round and props for that but as far as doing what's needed to win he definitely shrunk. Not taking a shot and key turnovers and defensive lapses in game 5. Terrible defense all game 6 and crucial turnovers. He cleans that up and there's no reason they should lose that game despite anything else that happened. I've never seen him set a screen, take a charge, move off the ball, close out hard, dive for a loose ball. That's why he always loses

 

[lawdog1]

^^^ Ben must like getting comments from his IG followers about his lack of a jump shot. Because he’s asking for it with a post like that...

 

[ill steelo]

Rockets won 65 games last year then won 53 ( I think) this past season with CP3 missing a nice chunk and we’re probably the 2nd best team in the league after dec 1st.

MDA as a rox HC is fine. Their main issue was and is health (Paul) and that Durant plays for GSW. Paul stays healthy this year and they probably win 60 again and avoid GSW in R2. But even then they still have to play gsw at some point.

However you’re fighting an uphill battle when you’re in the West and Steph/KD/Klay are on the same team. GSW Makes it incredibly difficult to have a chip or bust mentality. There’s no coach who would make the rockets better against gsw than how MDA has done.

Durant was not on the floor for 4th of G5 and all of G6.

Warriors had a 32 point 4th in G5, scored 120 in G6.

Remove Durant from the roster, that roster has been eliminated before. That roster has been shut down offensively before.

That series was a step back for D’Antoni and the Rockets. Period. After 30 years in the league or however long it’s been for him, he just may not have it, so Morey is looking for alternatives

 

[amitt5504]

Look at this IG bird

At least he ain’t simping on Kendall smh

 

[HOU$TON]

Every single year before this one, definitely. He had the worst numbers of his playoff career in the 1st round. He put up his stats in the 2nd round and props for that but as far as doing what's needed to win he definitely shrunk. Not taking a shot and key turnovers and defensive lapses in game 5. Terrible defense all game 6 and crucial turnovers. He cleans that up and there's no reason they should lose that game despite anything else that happened. I've never seen him set a screen, take a charge, move off the ball, close out hard, dive for a loose ball. That's why he always loses

If Eric Gordon gives his series averages in game 6 rockets also win right?

 

[MVP]

They had a bad loss. Yes. But Literally everyone has a bad loss. They probably win that series if KD doesn’t play.

But If you weren’t putting bread on the rockets (or any other team in the league) to win a 7 game series against a healthy GSW then I’m not trying to hear about MDA being a bad coach, harden choking, blah blah blah that’s out. They’ve been as close as anyone can feasibly expect to be against a healthy GSW.

This is pathetic. Didn't YOU pick them to win the series beforehand? WITH KD? Yet when he went out they were less likely to win? He's the best player on the planet and wasn't there. Steph had the worst playoff half of his career. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. It was a massive choke job no way to excuse it. The Rockets regressed from the previous season with a GS team that was compromised.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

MLGA obsession with the Rockets will never end

Ya'll get real sensitive when dudes slander other teams. This same "maturity" ain't shown across the board.

 

[Mike dunleavy]

Wonder what Cs do with their cap when Morris, rozier, and kyrie come off the books.

 

[frink85]

Ya'll get real sensitive when dudes slander other teams. This same "maturity" ain't shown across the board.

Ironically this has been some actual basketball discussion/analysis as opposed to the usual senseless slander

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

If Eric Gordon gives his series averages in game 6 rockets also win right?

Always an excuse . If the best player on the team makes a few less mistakes they win. He missed 5 free throws, that's his bread and butter and they lost by 5. Yall were talking about how he wasn't getting enough free throws when guys were in his landing space and using that as an excuse, then when he misses free throws yall find another excuse . I'm not putting the blame on a role player when a guy like harden has a history of this. He's just not as good as he's hyped up to be so instead of just admitting that, there's always something else to blame

 

[MVP]

Always an excuse . If the best player on the team makes a few less mistakes they win. He missed 5 free throws, that's his bread and butter and they lost by 5. I'm not putting the blame on a role player when a guy like harden has a history of this. He's just not as good as he's hyped up to be so instead of just admitting that, there's always something else to blame

He's been choking for 7 years straight, this is par the course for him. Only dude that gets more excuses than Harden is Bron.

 

[Peep Game]

Always an excuse . If the best player on the team makes a few less mistakes they win. He missed 5 free throws, that's his bread and butter and they lost by 5. I'm not putting the blame on a role player when a guy like harden has a history of this. He's just not THAT good, so there's always something else to blame

Would you at all blame your key cog center who turned into Swiss Hasheem Thabeet for 6 straight games, even during the wins? Harden can rightfully nitpicked, but he’s the very last reason they lost that series. People claim “excuses” when it’s stuff that simply happened (or didn’t happen in this case)

And it’s funny knowing that when I see your SN on a post along with 2 others it’s always Rockets related

 

[HOU$TON]

Always an excuse . If the best player on the team makes a few less mistakes they win. He missed 5 free throws, that's his bread and butter and they lost by 5. Yall were talking about how he wasn't getting enough free throws when guys were in his landing space and using that as an excuse, then when he misses free throws yall find another excuse . I'm not putting the blame on a role player when a guy like harden has a history of this. He's just not as good as he's hyped up to be so instead of just admitting that, there's always something else to blame

It was a bad loss regardless, very disappointed in how that went down. I’m just saying it’s deeper than the usual blame harden

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Would you at all blame your key cog center who turned into Swiss Hasheem Thabeet for 6 straight games, even during the wins? Harden can rightfully nitpicked, but he’s the very last reason they lost that series. People claim “excuses” when it’s stuff that simply happened (or didn’t happen in this case)

And it’s funny knowing that when I see your SN on a post along with 2 others it’s always Rockets related

Like I said, where is this energy when harden chokes EVERY year? You have no problem calling out a role player but find a way to lower the bar for your star player. EVERY time. And you pointed out yourself that they were still capable of winning with capela being trash. If Westbrook puts up numbers and then shoots his team out the game what do you say? But if harden has key turnovers and gives up wide open layups to seal the game it's..hey, we weren't supposed to win anyway. I don't get it

 

[CDFTDOT]

 

[Mike dunleavy]

So many times in game 6 harden was off the tv screen. Cant walk back on defense in a do or die game.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Dude usage rate was 7% higher than Embiid who was second and the rest of the 10 top was only separated by under 3%. He got all this love and praise for that horrible style of play then when it don't work it's Capela's fault, Gordon's fault, MDA's fault.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

If yall would just be real and say yea harden is nice but he needs to be better in the playoffs, he has a lot of flaws in his game. Then there wouldn't be all this back and forth. Instead yall talk about how he's better than MJ and wonder why he catches so much **** .

Like I hyped up Giannis all year and at the end of the day, he didn't get it done. If he's 5% better the bucks are in the finals right now. Eric Bledsoe was hot garbage but I'm not gonna blame him as if he's an MVP candidate. Giannis has clear flaws that he needs to work on. He comes out and spells out exactly what he has to do to get better. Harden says 'I know exactly what to do' then says nothing and comes out every year with the same style of play. C'mon now

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Tmac was just talking about this. @second2nonee acts like like Mac ain't qualified to talk.

 

[dacomeup]

If yall would just be real and say yea harden is nice but he needs to be better in the playoffs

Because it's usually more complex than "X needs to be better in the playoffs".