Hopefully we adopt some of the Spurs approach and schedule rest days for the starters. This team has nothing to prove in the regular season and everything to prove in the post season. Be smart and bring on whoever is in our way no matter the opponent.
Was thinking before clicking into this thread how can a thread with that title go 5 pages. Now I understand why. OP you have to learn to be more optimistic as a person. Every CFer looks at the same team and most of us extract happiness from the team. Isn't that great for our life?
I really like our squad! My only concern this year (aside from injuries) is MDA! We got so many quality guys that if MDA tries his short rotation bs - coupled with his "the rotations are what they are" stubbornness... there's gonna be issues... I think Melo can be a huge contributor - but if he starts to feeling disrespected... its gonna blow up in our faces... MDA has pushed a few questionable narratives over the last couple years... like 'Harden got too much rest' which is why his shooting was slumping towards the end of the season... Obviously MDA likes to run a short rotation... sometimes its been by necessity - but typically that's just his preference... Like going into game 6 vs the Spurs the year before, he defended his short rotation and said people that question it 'don't know what they're talking about.." - and then game 6 happened... I've attributed his short rotations and unwillingness to play deeper into his bench as his desire to 'pump up his stats' in the regular season... I hope he's learned that they dont give trophies for reg season success - and he sees the bigger picture... We should be running 10 man rotations on a regular basis (like SAS and GSW often do) - and go even deeper during blowouts... dont run our stars down - and get more guys consistent minutes so they're not stepping in cold when they are needed... That's my rant... fingers crossed... GO ROCKETS!
While I agree with most of your post, those first two sentences bug me. Last year, NObody saw us winning 65 games, or 60+. Some folks here on ClutchFans were optimistically predicting 55 or so, while the national media mostly said we'd miss the playoffs while CP3 and Harden were fighting over the ball. My point: We kept almost all of our offense from last year's team and added Carmelo Freakin' Anthony. We kept our three most important defenders (CP3, PJ and Capela) and brought in a decent defender to replace Ariza, trading experience for youthful energy. We replaced Luc with MCW, sort of, but Luc was a complete non-factor while we were still kicking ass during the playoffs so who the hell cares? Basically, we improved our team over the summer. Why are we "definitely" not winning 65 games? I'm not saying we will, but I'm saying we can if our focus is there like it was last year. And with CP3 on the team, I pity the players who lose focus.
When you conveniently left out Ennis, who will start in place of Ariza and according to Rox staff the team doesn’t seem to lose a beat, that tells me all about your agenda.
This. While a favorable playoff seeding is important, health is even more so. Go 10 deep in the regular season, especially for the older guys.
There's a couple Time will tell. I see more emphasis on maintaining health into the playoffs than chasing the top seed. I also see Harden becoming more of a facilitator than a scorer because he already won the MVP. Factor in the loss of Bzdelik and more impact players (All-Stars) in the Western Conference to compete with = 58 - 63 wins IMO. Either way it's a rematch with the Warriors (pending health).
Harden with enough help from CP3 , EGO, Melo offensively and with ball handling has enough energy now to be a neutral to + defender. He is a much better defender than Step Curry, don't let the media and instagram fool you. Other than Melo, who else getting minutes is a major liability in the rotation?
And CP3 is an integral part of our offense. Given CP3’s history, is it wise to bet on him being healthy?? The fact is; we have to be better scorers than Golden State. It is impossible to shutdown KD, Steph, Klay, Green, And potentially cousins. How did Ariza fare in stopping Durant?
he did as good as anybody could hope actually with Ariza as his primary defender, he shot under 40% from the field in 3 straight games of that WCF series (Rockets won 2 of those games)...KD only shot below 40% from the field in 4 of his 21 playoff games last season (3 straight against the Rockets) u just named 5 all stars with 3 of them being all-time great shooters...that is too much firepower defense was the main reason we took GS to 7 games...it is good to have more offense, but you’re not beating GS without holding them in 90’s or low 100’s
It better not because I spent 300 on nba league pass. In all honestly this team got much better offensively and a lot more athletic. Knight is lightning fast once he gets back he will inject much needed speed in our backcourt. MCW already has shown glimpses of his versatility and Mike will get him to thrive. Chriss also bring athleticism to our frontline to compliment Clint and not even mentioning Melo and Ennis. I feel Eric will have a monster year because of his new physical shape and James and CP look awesome. Tucker is shooting it like Curry out there right now.