txtdo1411

I'm still not quite sure why the consensus seems to be that D-MO is superior to TJ.  I totally get that there are major questions about TJ--he's disappeared for two years in the playoffs now, he may be a bit undersized to defend some biggers PFs, and his three-point shot (to be charitable) needs a lot of work.  But D-Mo also has a lot of question marks.  He's never posted a league-average PER, he was unreliable after the All-Star break last year, he's not a good rebounder, and he's coming back from major back surgery.  He was pretty bad in the regular season against key playoff teams such as GS and LA Clippers (look the splits at NBA.com), which does not give and one great confidence that he would have been that much better than TJ in the playoffs.  At the end of the day, you have two young PFs brimming with potential, but with a lot of "known unknowns" that will have to be sorted out.  The Rox should be patient and see how each develops over the season.

You bring up very good points, but I think the main reason most (or at least myself) feel D-Mo is superior is how he stepped up big when the team needed him to. When we needed him to be the 2nd option behind Harden, he filled in admirably. When the likes of Black, Dorsey, and Papa were getting major minutes in the rotation, he was the one constant that continued to make sure the ship didn't sink. Can you imagine if it would have been Jones with those other 3 in the rotation? We would have likely been slaughtered night in and night out in the paint. 

I would venture to say that those splits you are looking at are misconceiving. D-Mo played a good portion of the season out of position at Center, because that is what we needed of him. He is not a Center, and I honestly don't think it will ever be the best spot for him, so it makes sense that he struggled against the Boguts and Jordans of the world. A full season from D-mo playing predominantly at the 4 (across from Howard or another true Center... not Dorsey), and I would be willing to bet his splits against playoff teams would be much better. I honestly think he would destroy Green if GSW tried to put him on D-mo, but unfortunately he was facing Bogut most of the time. 

Lastly PER is a terrible stat to compare two players that play completely different such as D-Mo and TJ. Not only do they play differently, but different things are asked of them. D-Mo was asked to bang with the Centers, because we had no other options. He was also asked to create his own offense, because honestly we had nothing behind Harden in that department. Being asked to create your own offense and playing out of position are two sure fire ways to see a lower efficiency or PER. Jones was asked to be a garbage man and slasher. Fight like hell for offensive boards, and cut hard to the rim. That is Jones' duty, and he performs it well. He is efficient because he is feeding off of everything/everyone else. He isn't posting up or working from the elbow. He is solely asked to be a garbage man opposite of Dwight Howard. That's a lot different than being asked to be Dwight's quasi-replacement across from Tarik Black or Joey Dorsey.

I have said it before and I will say it again McHale is no coach. he is being outcoach by a mile. he's always a step behind on adjustments. I agree this reminds me of the Portland series last year. we're toast

Yea losing our only PG that could actually defend was McHale's fault. Losing the only player that could actually make Blake work on the defensive end was McHale's fault...

Look McHale is no great coach, and I will never try to argue that (although I would argue top 5 COTY candidate this season), but we are not losing games by 20+ points because of his coaching. We are losing these games because the Clippers, at this point in time, are better than the Rockets. We have no one to match up with Paul or even Rivers. Griffin is owning Smith and Jones. Our only advantage was supposed to be our bench, and they have been outplayed worse than anyone could have possibly thought. To blame this series on McHale is ridiculous. I know you don't like the guy, but just say that, don't make up things about how he is the reason we are down 3-1 in this series. 

When Smoove hustles and does the little things, rebounds, steals blocks and general chaos caused for the other team, it's extremely forgivable for him to chuck up a few each game.

I wholeheartedly agree about Smith. He had a poor shooting night last night, but everything else was exceptional. I admittedly did not watch too much of Smith with either the Hawks or Pistons. I had no clue how tough this guys interior defense is. He has successfully defended both Gasols, Randolph, Chandler, Nowitzki, and Gibson (sure I'm missing quite a few too). The versatility to be able to defend 4s and 5s is huge, especially with Dwight out right now. His rebounding has also been key here lately. 
 

The lineup with Smith, Jones, Brewer, Ariza, and Terry was just beautiful to watch. The length and activity on the defensive end was unreal. It lead to multiple steals and quick points in transition. On a side-note, Corey Brewer's 60 ft one handed pass while jumping out of bounds was one of the coolest plays I have seen in a while. I am still in awe of the coordination and awareness displayed in that one play. 

All in all it was great game for the good guys. Harden played within the flow of the game tearing them up in the first half, and then facilitating in the 2nd. Ariza was clutch in the 4th. D-mo looked like the D-mo we have grown to love. If the bench unit plays like that every game, we are going to be a very tough out for any opponent. 

If you all would like to enjoy a well-written, well-researched breakdown of James' defense so far through the season, then take a gander at this http://tinyurl.com/oe6uome

Now it is a pro-Harden article, so of course I am going to enjoy it more  , but the main thing I wanted to show is how different this article is from that caca that Elhassan wrote. Notice there are actually stats to go along with his eye test.

That GSW game was pretty terrible, and it really drags his overall season numbers down. The sample size is so small after only 7 games played, that a game like that is going to throw everything off. He missed 10 three pointers and 16 field goals... definitely going to skew the numbers a little.  He was pressing way too hard that game, especially towards the end where we just started jacking up 3s. It's not surprising though seeing as we were going up against the "best team in the league" (sarcasm here) with 3 starters out. 

I expect his numbers will return to around his career averages of 45% FG and 37% 3FG. It would be awesome if he could raise his percentages a little, but with everything else he brings to the offense (free throws, spacing, creating, etc.) I am perfectly content with somewhere in the 44-46% range. 

The only good thing defensively for Jones is when he plays against a team with a subpar PF that he can cheat off of, he can block shots during help defense.

Yea his weak side help defense is pretty decent. He has already gotten a few blocks in help D this season. His main issue is just being bullied in one on one coverage. The hope is that with experience and putting on a little size, he will be able to at least somewhat contain bigger power forwards. I don't know if he will ever be a plus on that end, but hopefully he can get to where he isn't a complete liability when facing good competition. 

All that being said, even with all his warts, I would absolutely hate to lose this guy in a trade. I know a lot of people may disagree with me on this, but I like the way he fits in our offense (of course if he could shoot the 3 just a little more consistently he would be an even better fit). As the 4th/5th option on offense I really like what he brings to the table. He can attack pretty much any PF off the dribble, and his post moves are certainly getting better. It seems like the last few games, our offensive strategy has been to get Jones going early. He also seems to be attacking the boards harder this year compared to last season. He still pulled a disappearing act against the Jazz and Sixers where he had 3 & 4 rebounds respectively, but in the other three games he has had 13 & 10. That is pretty solid considering who he plays next to as well as Harden ripping down over 6 boards a game. 

The inconsistency is an issue, and probably the main thing that holds back Jones from solidifying his role as our starting PF on a contending team. It was a problem last year, and through 4 games so far it appears like it is going to plague him again. The thing we must remember as fans is that he is only 22 years old, and playing his second season as a starter. We have to try and be patient with him (if we can afford to be patient with him without wasting Howard's prime is a topic for a different discussion completely). As of right now, unless we are getting a star PF in return, I would be very upset if Morey included Jones in any trade. 

On a side note: Can we appreciate how great Harden has been so far this season. He is averaging 27.8 pts, 6.8 asts, 6.3 boards, and sporting a cool 31 PER! He is doing all this while shooting 37% from the field. I know it hasn't been the best competition, but man those are some impressive numbers. If/When his shots start falling, he is going to be the most dominant offensive player in the NBA. Oh and did I mention he is actually playing serviceable defense to boot?! 

49 wins. We have zero depth. If we lose Howard for games, we lose. If we lose Harden, same thing. Say what you want about Lin,Asik,Parsons there wasn't too big of a dropoff compared to now. Hopefully we will stay healthy because if not we might not make the playoffs. We're not like SA or other teams that can lose a guy for 10-15 games here and there and be fine.

I'm curious as to which teams, other than the Spurs, can lose their 2 best players for an extended period of time and be fine? I think we are in the same boat as most teams are, which is screwed if our star players get hurt.

Also I'd argue we don't know what we have in terms of depth. I will say for a fact that Daniels is a better 3 pt shooter off the bench than any guy we had last year. I will also say the D-mo held down the backup 4/5 duties admirably while Asik was "injured", and should only be better this year. We had absolutely no (good) back up to Parsons last year, so whatever Kostas can provide is a plus. Canaan should be improved as well. Dorsey, Adrien, Ish, Terry all are players that, if they give us anything, is a plus over our depth last year.

Honestly I could see our bench being an improvement over last year. I guess it could be worse too, but we don't  know that we have zero depth. We may have a lot of young unproven players, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to be any good. 

@RBF I believe it would be a mistake for Morey to do a S&T with Phoenix and give away anything more than Pellies pick, Kostas, and non guaranteed contracts. If that happens then we are paying him max money for 4 years, and are pretty much locked in. If he stays healthy, which has been discussed very much on here, I still am not sold on him being a piece that puts us over the top.

I remember you and I had a discussion a couple weeks ago about needing a facilitator to help out Harden. I said I wanted a combo guard type that can help but not be the primary facilitator. You wanted a PG that was an elite facilitator to take the ball out of Harden's hands more. I'm assuming that you're stance has changed because Bledsoe is far from an elite facilitator and more of a combo guard. Per basketballreference.com Bledsoe's career per 36 numbers are 5.6 assists, and 3.6 turnovers. Maybe he could develop into an elite passer, but going into his 5th season it does not seem likely. Even last season in his best year yet, he averaged 5.5 assists to 3.3 turnovers. 

Read this article SI did on Bledsoe  http://www.si.com/nb...uns-free-agency

When he and Dragic were both on the court the Suns scored 108.4 points per 100 possesions. When Bledsoe sat, their offensive efficiency stayed fairly consistent at 108 points. When Dragic sat, and Bledsoe was in the game their offensive efficiency dipped to 100.4 points. That is a huge drop-off. To me it shows that Dragic is the one making plays, and elevating every other players game... not Bledsoe. He is a beneficiary of Dragic's play. I'm not saying Bledsoe wasn't good for them last year, but I believe Dragic is the heart of that offense, and Bledsoe is more of a secondary option. 

All this being said, I do think Bledsoe is a solid player. He is a hell of a defender, and has some things to like about his offensive game. He is just simply not worth the money he is wanting. There are too many question marks, not only about his durability, but about his game in general. His sample size of "ELITE"... not elite even, but "GOOD" play is extremely small. I don't think Morey wants any part of giving up our starting PF, and our bench depth for a player of Bledsoe's quality. I know he has potential, but as deep as the PG position is now a days it makes zero sense to overpay for one that has yet to prove much in the NBA. Now Dragic on the other hand... 

Lastly, I agree with Cooper about having a second play maker. It is tough if you only have one ball handler/creator on the floor. If we acquired a second facilitator (doesn't have to be elite i.e. Rondo) he would certainly help Harden carry the load. I am hoping one of our guys will develop internally... I am looking at you Canaan. 

RBF that is a direct quote from my first post in this thread. For reference it is post number 29 if you want to read it again to gain the context of what I am trying to say. I don't disagree that we would benefit from another facilitator, I disagree with the fact that it needs to be an elite facilitator, because in m opinion we already have a really good one. I never once said Harden doesn't need to work on his game. Every player in the NBA has to continuously work on their game, and Harden is obviously no exception. 

Anyways we seem to be working in circles now even though our opinions only slightly differ. You want an "elite" facilitator (good luck finding one we can bring here), and I want another consistent facilitator that I have hopes can be developed internally (Bev/Canaan/Johnson). Either way unless Ainge decides to loosen his grip on Rondo all this is a moot point. 

And yes I would absolutely like to see Dragic here as long as it wasn't a one year rental. I think he would be a great fit, because he is not an elite facilitator, but a very good scorer and very good facilitator which is more in line with what we need. With him and Harden our back court would be deadly. 

So you guys are saying Lebron James is a bad facilitator? He was the primary ball handler for the Heat, and his ast/to ratio is not much better than Harden's. He is also way more mature and experienced than Harden, yet Harden is close to being on his level as a facilitator.

Harden's non-passing turnover don't indicate anything other than the fact he is forcing action a lot (free throws, offensive fouls, loose balls, etc.). He was right at the top in FTA last season. Durant had 162 non-passing turnovers(32 more than Harden), and it should be noted that he lead the league in FTA. When you are forcing the action, and driving in the lane, sometimes they aren't going to call the foul (lose the ball out of bounds) and offensive fouls will be called. This is not indicative of how good a facilitator that player is  but more the style of player. 

I agree Harden needs to be better with the ball 2:1 ast/to ration would be awesome. He does not have to force the action quite as much, and try to avoid all turnovers regardless of what type they are. But on one hand that is part of what makes him so good... his attacking style. I don't think he is ever going to get his turnovers extremely low because of that style. If he doesn't attack the rim, he is merely a mediocre jump shooter. I don't know how you all don't see how creative of a passer he is. I would argue he should have at least 1 assist per game more if his teammates last year could handle some of his passes. But that is my opinion, and there are no stats or anything to prove it. Just my eyes telling me that he is a step above everyone on the floor in terms of creativity and vision. 

Lastly, I agree with Cooper about having a second play maker. It is tough if you only have one ball handler/creator on the floor. If we acquired a second facilitator (doesn't have to be elite i.e. Rondo) he would certainly help Harden carry the load. I am hoping one of our guys will develop internally... I am looking at you Canaan. 

Wow. I just read the comments. That sounds like he is immature. It might be true, but you don't denigrate your team members like that. If I was a teammate of his, I sure as hell wouldn't like that.

I know he was speaking about losing Parsons, but that quote was dumb.

Hopefully the "role player" Ariza can talk to him. But since he's a cornerstone he probably doesn't care what role players think.

All of my eggs are in the Howard being the leader basket.

It's not that big of a deal. I am pretty sure 100% of people would agree with him. He didn't put any players down. Role player isn't a derogatory term. Everyone has a role. His and Dwight's are to be the leaders of the team. Other players are there to round out the roster, and complete the team just like he said. It might piss Chandler off because in his mind he is more than that, but it is what it is. I guarantee Beverley, Ariza, Jones, Daniels, Dmo, Canaan and whoever else makes the roster agree with him. They are the stars, and for better or worse have to deal with being the star players. They get the most credit for success, and they get blasted the most when something not so great happens. If Harden wasn't a "cornerstone piece" this article never would've been written. Why should everyone know something, agree with it, and then blast Harden for saying it. 

Am I the only one excited about Jeff Adrien? I didn't get to watch too much of him, but I liked what I have seen. I don't know if he will be a contributor, but he reminds me of kind of what Thomas Robinson was to the Blazers last year. An undersized, balls to the wall, always lurking around the rim for an offensive put back, energy type of player. I'm happy to have one of those.

I agree with the sentiment about players having to go overseas or through the Dleague and earn their roster spot. They know what it is like to have to work their asses off just to make a roster. Beverley is one of those been through it all type of players, and it definitely shows in his play. 

Lastly we have some 2nd/3rd year guys to really be excited about. Terrence Jones was pretty dang good last season, posting a 19.14 PER, and he was essentially a rookie. He should make a pretty good leap this season. Hopefully he will understand positioning on defense more, and gain a little bit more lower body strength. I am stoked about Canaan. He was thrown to the wolves last year when Bev went down, and he didn't fare too well. I think given the extra time to develop, he will be a very capable point guard. Daniels is going to break the record for most 3s in a season  . Dorsey could be our 2014 version of Chuck Hayes. I loved the Chuckwagon, and I am fine with that type of player, as well as D-MO, backing up Dwight. Nick Johnson looks like about what we expected when we drafted him. I think towards the middle of the season we will see him contributing. 

Overall I think there is a lot to be excited about. Maybe I am too much of a Homer, but I feel like people are over-estimating what we lost, and under-estimating what we have gained/have kept this off-season. We lost Asik (who missed nearly half the season), Lin, and Parsons. I think most people agree that IF Ariza can give close to his offensive production than he will be almost an upgrade over Parsons because of what he can do defensively. Asik will be missed, but he was missed last season and we still figured it out. The only thing that worries me is if Dwight goes down, we don't have Asik to fall back on without too much of a drop off. That was a nice luxury at the end of the year last season, but it is a luxury literally no other team had/has. There are too few quality big men out there to not have a drop off if Dwight was to go down. I'm not going to say much about Lin, except I do believe Canaan can fill much of his production. Honestly if I had to put money on over/under 54 wins this upcoming season I think I would take the over. As long as we stay healthy I think we should be a better team next season. 

Just a thought but aren't we kind of doing what all those "Spurs approach" people were clamoring for. We had to lose Asik unfortunately, and Parsons was a casualty of cap space, but outside of that we are relying on developing our own players within our system. Jones, D-mo, Daniels, Canaan, Bev, Covington are all players that we are grooming for our system. We didn't intentionally do it, but that is essentially what we are doing. We also have rights to a few Euro players like the Spurs   

What do I do here?

 

What does anyone of us do here? Some of us second guess the Rockets , most of us use this forum to wash Darryl Moreys balls. 

 

Since none of us really know anything I allow for all possibilities. What I think i do here is state my opinions and thoughts, then defend them.

 

What do you want me to post?

 

-Houston is the best situation in the NBA and whatever players Morey deems worthy of joining the Rockets should take the veterans minimum because the playoffs next year are just a formality for the Rockets winning a championship.

 

-Kevin Mchale is the greatest coach in the NBA

 

-James Hardens defense is better than anyone knows. By letting the opposing player run right by him  he's actually making that player expend all his energy on offense so late in the game that player will be tired and James will have all the energy in the world. 

 

-Howard post up game reminds me of a young Hakeem. Give him 50 post up plays and he'll get you 30 points. Thats enough to lead the league in scoring.

 

-Jeremy lin is garbage. He's only in the NBA because Stern/Silver forced the Knicks/Rockets to sign an NBA player with Asian descent to open up the Far East market. If Jeremy stays on the Rockets he should also have to work in the accounting department because he's overaid. His minutes should go to Isaiah Canaan. Can't wait to see Nick Johnson take his job.

 

-Morey is the best GM and his draft prowess is legendary. He should trade all his first round picks for second round picks because his eye for talent is far superior than the other GM's

 

-Lebron would be lucky to play for Houston.

 

This (condensed of course) is what 99% of you post on here.

Haha nice post. Kevin McHale is the greatest coach in the NBA. I'm 100% sure no one on this forum or any other forum has said that. Along with pretty much everything else you said. The only one that might have some truth is the Lin is overpaid comment. Even that is only a few select members though. It's not that we are all naive and believe our players/coach/FO are perfect and without their flaws. Their flaws are continuously pointed out and discussed. The difference is a lot of us are optimistic and enjoy actually having a good team in Houston again. Then there are others who want to solely focus on the flaws of everyone in the entire organization excluding one individual. Call us homers or whatever you would like, I prefer to think of it as being positive and having faith in the organization. That includes our beloved GM, players, and the coaching staff. 

People are murdering Harden today. If he doesn't pick it up, this is going to be a long off-season for us as fans having to read the same narrative over and over. 

I honestly think Harden is a better defender than most think. I watched a lot of OKC games before Harden was traded, and he was pretty solid. Not great, but much better than he was last season. Last season he also would have brief... very brief stretches of good defensive play. I think it boils downt to effort. He was asked to do a lot on offense, and I think that translated to lack of effort on defense. Hopefully with less offensive burden on him this year, he will pick up the effort a little on defense. Now if he continues to get blown by time and time again next season, than it is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed pronto.