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Dallas Mavericks 123, Houston Rockets 120: Where's the defense?
#41
Posted 21 November 2013 - 10:19 PM
I think people are speaking up because this resulted in a loss. If it were a win, I'd only be upset because Lin is on my fantasy team.
Why so Serious?
#42
Posted 21 November 2013 - 10:33 PM
People definitely pay too much attention to the wins and losses. We really should pay more attention to whether or not we're improving, and in that aspect there's a lot to be positive about. There are some things to be negative about too, but I think the positives out-weigh the negatives which would definitely be the story here if we got the W.
#43
Posted 21 November 2013 - 10:53 PM
Nobody is untouchable. If the right offer comes in I would ship Harden and Howard in a package deal if a better offer came around.
#44
Posted 21 November 2013 - 10:55 PM
Bev/Lin
James
Parsons
Bosh
Asik
Obviously unrealistic. I like our team as is, but it would be tough to argue that it doesn't make us better.
Edited by timetodienow1234567, 21 November 2013 - 10:58 PM.
Why so Serious?
#45
Posted 22 November 2013 - 12:00 AM
Why put Lin back with one minute remaining in the game? What does Mac expect Lin to do?
More or less agree with FSS. It is a byproduct of how we've decided to handle the PG situation. A pattern has emerged - McHale seems to stick with a general rotation of Beverly, Lin, and Harden, with the general presumption that the rotations will be conducted like clock work. However, Bevery and Lin's role in a given game also fluctuate depending on what's going on in that specific game. There have been a few games that Lin stayed in when Beverly would have normally subbed back in, because Lin was playing well and the flow shouldn't be disrupted. Similar situation with last night - things were going really well with the first unit in the first half, so Lin didn't play that much. Then at the end of the game, the collapse happened so quickly that I'm not sure it would make much sense to insert Lin for Beverly, particularly since Lin didn't seem to be on his game. And while you can say Lin wasn't himself, particularly in the second half, because he didn't get a chance to get into a flow in the first half, then that suggests he's not fully over his confidence/mental issues. He plays a very important role for us and he needs to be in attack mode at all times.
That being said, these late game collapses don't help quiet the noise about McHale's overall coaching abilities.
#46
Posted 22 November 2013 - 12:05 AM
No, I am just not a Lin fanatic. I am a Rockets fan and if Lin were traded I wouldn't care what he was doing just as if Asik, Beverley or Jones were to be traded. I care about Rocket players succeeding. I know it's much easier to call people haters which I find a silly word to use unless you're a rapper than see the actual truth. The actual truth for me is I was a Rockets fan long before Lin and I will be one long after he leaves.
This is why Lin should complain about being a bench player.
For the curious, I went and checked some of our favorite 6th man comparisons in regards to how their minutes fluctuate throughout a season. I tried to use seasons at, or around, the same age. What I found is that minutes fluctuate wildly from time to time--what we are looking at is are we more concerned with team success or personal success and how the two are connected?
I'd say most of us are concerned with overall team success (I know. Bold statement, right?) vs. one player's success (or is it perceived happiness?). I believe the 6th man role is crucial to success in the NBA. This means Lin is crucial to the Rockets' success. It does not mean he is more important than the team. The bottom line is he is replaceable. So is Parsons, Beverley, and just about everyone whose last name doesn't start with "H". Jeremy is going to be fine and will continue to be a huge part of our success. Sadly, that will not be enough for many.
I agree with you, but it's weird giving 17 minutes to your 6th man who has been playing well. For this reason alone, Lin should not like coming off the bench. Or when he's in the game, try to take as many shots as he can.
#47
Posted 22 November 2013 - 01:42 AM
Of those 17 min, most were garbage time. It was wrong way to use your "scorer of the season so far". McHale failed on his player. Period. Oh, I am Rockets fan and I only care about Rockets as a team. The player in question just happened to be Lin. Oh well.
#48
Posted 22 November 2013 - 02:07 AM
I'm glad to see Lin getting support from true Rockets fans. As for the rest of you Rockets fans, shame on you! I'm not saying I would be against it if Lin was traded for a better player, but as long as he's a Rocket and he's helping us win games it only seems natural that he should have our support.
#49
Posted 22 November 2013 - 02:16 AM
I think that Lin struggled last night. Part of it was he was not aggressive enough. Part of it was Mchale's rotations. However, he'll learn to be ready to play whenever is called upon him as he learns to adjust to being a bench player. Lin is improving and I think he'll continue to do so. It will be harder without set rotations though. But I think he can handle it. Part of this is because I support Lin and the other part is that he's on my fantasy team.
Why so Serious?
#50
Posted 22 November 2013 - 06:14 AM
Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned our very low (for us) total of 11 turnovers.
Let's curb the knee jerk reactions here. That Frankenstein/McHale photo RBF posted is getting more and more accurate as the villagers assemble with the pitchforks and torches to storm the castle. The Rockets went cold and the Mavs got hot. It happens. Hindsight has little value here and can only serve to help us in future games. The Mavs made a ton of shots from mid-range and from 3 (they only got 36 in the paint the whole game to our 56). They shot 50% from three for the night (11-22).
If we had won do you think people would have called for Carlisle's head this way? "He just let Dwight do whatever he wanted!" "Marion couldn't contain Parsons--what was he thinking?!?" "Harden just sank back to back threes from 27 feet out! Make an adjustment already!" All of these things happened in the game.
Guys, I know we don't like losing--especially to Dallas--but let's get a grip. We actually played a pretty good game and let it slip away at the end. If Dallas misses any one of those fourth quarter shots (Dirk was 6-7 with no shots near the rim, Ellis was 3-4 with one at the rim, Marion was 2-2 with 1 - 3 pointer and 1 at the rim, Calderon was 2-2 with a 3 pointer, and Vince Carter was 1-2 on jumpers. That is a combined 14-17 from the field. There were only two other missed shots (both at the rim) so take it to 14-19 and that is still above 75% from the field (and this is before free throws get counted). We got blitzkrieg'd--which is exactly what Dallas is set up to do. Only two shots were made at the rim--the rest were jumpers--mostly from mid-range. Analytics lovers--explain that!
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I'm kidding. See it for what it is--don't panic and point fingers. We missed and they didn't.
it's not just blowing a double digit lead in the 4th. it becomes more irritating because it is a pattern.
dwight played well. people give him a lot of crap, but defenses almost immediately collapse on him. didn't seem like the mavs doubled as much as other teams have.
#51
Posted 22 November 2013 - 06:44 AM
I waited until today to respond on this thread because I was so pissed last night my comments would only have been a rant I have read the responses here and there is interesting food for thought.
1. get off the "somebody has done Lin wrong kick" Lin stunk last night. as good as he looked in some games this year this was a dud. plain and simple. all players have bad games..............even saint Lin
2. this was the worst of the Rockets and the best of the Rockets all in the same game. for three quarters the offensive execution was flawless, yet the defense stunk pretty much the whole game. we saw everything D-12 can be within the Rockets system, but also saw that our perimeter defense is lacking to be kind about it.
3. some don't think so however coaching was part of the blame for this game. McHale's rotation stunk. allowing Dallas to cut a 14 point lead to 8 before you can get a timeout called? then bought all five starters into the game at the same time? the lineup that started the 4th quarter......what was that? bottom line is McHale made several bad calls. I'm not ready to fire him, but he might want to keep that resume updated
4. the bottom line is we scored enough points to win this game. our defense and rebounding stunk. our coach made some dumb moves. #%*& happens...............when looking at the big picture, we all say we expect this team to struggle early and then get pissed when they do. look at the Clipper's............8-5 just like us. I hate it, but these are natural growing pains. we were never going to go 82-0. I still don't like the losses, but there are enough positives to show we are still pointed in the right direction
you can only warn a man that the bridge is out.....if he keeps driving he's on his own
#52
Posted 22 November 2013 - 07:15 AM
I waited until today to respond on this thread because I was so pissed last night my comments would only have been a rant
I have read the responses here and there is interesting food for thought.
1. get off the "somebody has done Lin wrong kick" Lin stunk last night. as good as he looked in some games this year this was a dud. plain and simple. all players have bad games..............even saint Lin
2. this was the worst of the Rockets and the best of the Rockets all in the same game. for three quarters the offensive execution was flawless, yet the defense stunk pretty much the whole game. we saw everything D-12 can be within the Rockets system, but also saw that our perimeter defense is lacking to be kind about it.
3. some don't think so however coaching was part of the blame for this game. McHale's rotation stunk. allowing Dallas to cut a 14 point lead to 8 before you can get a timeout called? then bought all five starters into the game at the same time? the lineup that started the 4th quarter......what was that? bottom line is McHale made several bad calls. I'm not ready to fire him, but he might want to keep that resume updated
4. the bottom line is we scored enough points to win this game. our defense and rebounding stunk. our coach made some dumb moves. #%*& happens...............when looking at the big picture, we all say we expect this team to struggle early and then get pissed when they do. look at the Clipper's............8-5 just like us. I hate it, but these are natural growing pains. we were never going to go 82-0. I still don't like the losses, but there are enough positives to show we are still pointed in the right direction
Good thing you didn't write this last night eh? There would have been a whole bunch of words in large caps! Good stuff.
#53
Posted 22 November 2013 - 07:06 PM
I get it. It is a common belief that close losses and fourth quarter collapses are the coach's fault. While I agree that the coach can get some plays run out of time outs and keep his players fresh so they can finish strong I disagree with any other implication. Match-ups? Maybe, but usually a mis-match on one side equals a mis-match the other way too. What were we going to do with Monta/Dirk? Maybe put Garcia on Monta? Didn't we sign some guy to specifically play defense for us (Brewer)? Nobody can shut down Dirk when his jumper is falling--it is as unstoppable as the Dream Shake. Nobody thought they were going to shoot that well--but they did.
The deal is at the end of the game you've got to get stops and you've got to make some shots. That falls on the players--not the coaches. It is the most basic, simple part of the game. I'd say we've all played pick up games. What do you do at the end of a tight game? If you want to win you've got to get some stops and make some buckets. I put the onus on the players to execute. They were good enough for 40 minutes. I just don't see how it's McHale's fault--even after acknowledging his "coaching errors".
Yes, there is a pattern. It's the players. It is as if they think the game ends at 46 minutes. We've come this far--we deserve the victory. They must learn to go for the kill for the entire 48 minutes. If I was McHale--I'd let them learn the hard way. If they don't like it then they need to do something about it. The players are not mindless drones/puppets--they've got to learn how to win in their minds and be able to put that onto the court.
What is that Lao Tzu quote? Here it is...
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win"
Thanks Google!
#54
Posted 22 November 2013 - 09:19 PM
Sorry team, not cause of players but because of 1. Coaching
2. Egos
And last but not least, and imma be fair. JEREMY LIN! You played like GARBAGE because it's in your own head! You gotta be more aggressive! You can't let Casspi and Garcia be playmakers instead of you! You be aggressive and create for your shooters and yourself! Casspi and Garcia have to know their role too! Take the ball away from Beverley if he's playing point and PnR them to death! Your playing a zone you HAVE TO penetrate!
#55
Posted 22 November 2013 - 10:42 PM
Does anyone believe that Morey would work this hard all this time to assemble a championship-caliber roster only to let it all go to waste on a "bad" coach who is afraid of his players? McHale strikes me as the type of guy who is not easily impressed nor intimidated by any of his players. That is part of the cache that comes with having been there and done that. The complaints about him are nothing more than backseat driving. You're not doing it right! Pull over...Let me drive!
Not that it matters, but the Clippers and the Bulls suffered similar fates in their last games. I suppose it's different though, right?
Dallas is third in ppg (Houston is 1st) and ahead of Houston in nearly every offensive % category I looked at including shooting .399 as a team from 3 while taking more threes/game than Houston (courtesy of ESPN)...oh, and Dallas is allowing fewer points per game than Houston as well. The stats say we should have lost a close game...and we did. The fact that we nearly won despite Dallas shooting well above their season average is a good sign in my estimation.
It's weird to me that the Rockets can't just lose a game...there has to be blame...because people somehow forget that the other team is trying to win and they have hall of fame players too.
#56
Posted 23 November 2013 - 12:47 AM
Does anyone believe that Morey would work this hard all this time to assemble a championship-caliber roster only to let it all go to waste on a "bad" coach who is afraid of his players? McHale strikes me as the type of guy who is not easily impressed nor intimidated by any of his players. That is part of the cache that comes with having been there and done that. The complaints about him are nothing more than backseat driving. You're not doing it right! Pull over...Let me drive!
Not that it matters, but the Clippers and the Bulls suffered similar fates in their last games. I suppose it's different though, right?
Dallas is third in ppg (Houston is 1st) and ahead of Houston in nearly every offensive % category I looked at including shooting .399 as a team from 3 while taking more threes/game than Houston (courtesy of ESPN)...oh, and Dallas is allowing fewer points per game than Houston as well. The stats say we should have lost a close game...and we did. The fact that we nearly won despite Dallas shooting well above their season average is a good sign in my estimation.
It's weird to me that the Rockets can't just lose a game...there has to be blame...because people somehow forget that the other team is trying to win and they have hall of fame players too.
Good points, but Im sure there are similar rants coming forth in their forums, too. As for the negative focus on this game, it's not only that we lost, but perhaps also that we were up significantly until the very end. I think most people's issues are with the closing of games, and probably 4 games in the young season have not gotten closed. But yeah, at the end of the day it was a one-possession loss to a great team shooting hotly. It happens sometimes.
#57
Posted 23 November 2013 - 02:28 AM
#58
Posted 23 November 2013 - 05:05 AM
Does anyone believe that Morey would work this hard all this time to assemble a championship-caliber roster only to let it all go to waste on a "bad" coach who is afraid of his players? McHale strikes me as the type of guy who is not easily impressed nor intimidated by any of his players. That is part of the cache that comes with having been there and done that. The complaints about him are nothing more than backseat driving. You're not doing it right! Pull over...Let me drive!
Not that it matters, but the Clippers and the Bulls suffered similar fates in their last games. I suppose it's different though, right?
Dallas is third in ppg (Houston is 1st) and ahead of Houston in nearly every offensive % category I looked at including shooting .399 as a team from 3 while taking more threes/game than Houston (courtesy of ESPN)...oh, and Dallas is allowing fewer points per game than Houston as well. The stats say we should have lost a close game...and we did. The fact that we nearly won despite Dallas shooting well above their season average is a good sign in my estimation.
It's weird to me that the Rockets can't just lose a game...there has to be blame...because people somehow forget that the other team is trying to win and they have hall of fame players too.
I disagree. it's not just backseat driving and it's not just losing the game at the end to a hot shooting team. it's players who play the game......sure, but it's the coaches job to put those players in the best position to win and McHale is clearly having mental blocks in this area. just look at not only our end of game execution, but look at how we close quarters. far to often we have a good lead and allow teams to close on us at the end of quarters. what is our go to play that we can use when we need a sure fire score? I watch them all the time and I still don't know it. McHale always explains lack of offensive execution on the ball getting sticky. WHAT has he done to stop this problem? he says he doesn't like iso's. then why do his players continue to run it? is he scare to call them out on it? again I'm not calling for his firing YET, however he deserves blame. McHale's defensive schemes are garbage. instead of trying to funnel everyone to D-12 why not attempt to prevent them from driving in the first place? again I'm not saying the players don't deserve blame, but to believe the coach is blameless or has little to no effect on what is happening on the floor is way off base IMO
you can only warn a man that the bridge is out.....if he keeps driving he's on his own
#59
Posted 23 November 2013 - 06:05 AM
TJG, how do you explain the obvious pattern of undisciplined play from the past 2 seasons?
turnovers. taking quarters/halves off. the inability to keep leads. I understand that these sorts things happen, but with the rockets, they seem to be more extreme. too much of a roller coaster.
#60
Posted 23 November 2013 - 06:09 AM
TJG, how do you explain the obvious pattern of undisciplined play from the past 2 seasons?
turnovers. taking quarters/halves off. the inability to keep leads. I understand that these sorts things happen, but with the rockets, they seem to be more extreme. too much of a roller coaster.
Can you name any teams who have had as much turnover and roster changes that are also playoff teams?
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