holic is getting massacred out here...my goodness he’s the type of the dude to start rooting for the Warriors with the hope that he can come on here and say he was right after a lifetime of L’s
If they only had Anthony Randolph they would be 3-0 against the Warriors this season.....oh, wait....
Been saying for years that’s one of the main flaws of motion (vs Ball Control offenses) -- isolating the worst shooter, being another. No one listens, except peeps from the cornfields of Illinois and Indiana (like me), where Motion was invented. But I did think most Rockets fans have been following this low TO trend of the Rockets, since about Jan 2018, and certainly after how we demonstrated it in the playoffs last year, v Minn, Utah and in our GSW Wins. this year, below. it’s the advantage @basketballholic never addresses.
My only problem with drawing the Warriors in the first or second round and getting them out of the way would be that we might suffer a letdown in subsequent rounds.
Here are all the teams (from memory) that knocked off the defending champions in their conference that got to the finals: '82 Sixers, '86 Rockets, '91 Bulls, '96 Sonics, '03 Spurs, '04 Lakers, '06 Mavs, '08 Lakers, '09 Magic, '11 Mavs, '12 Thunder And all the teams that suffered a "letdown" before the finals: '00 Suns, '07 Bulls, '15 Clippers Every team that failed to make the finals after defeating the champs did so by beating them in round 1 then getting slaughtered by either a 1 or 2 seed. EDIT: added some more teams
Actually, I think it would do the opposite. If they get to wait for the WCF they are ready and prepared. They just have to beat the Rockets. Regardless of whether the Rockets win or lose, the Rockets are in their heads. They know they lost the series last year. Our greater worry is can the Rockets become who they were last year in time. Last night showed us a glimpse that team still exists. We know it does and they have a duty to revive it. The Rockets won that series by embracing the team during all of those streaks that said "F**k it, we are playing every damn possession and winning every damn game and there is nothing you can do to stop us."
We're not that team any longer @durcasa. We do not have a 5 man that can switch effectively, defend the post effectively, and shoot the 3 to spread the court alongside PJ at the 4/5. What we have is pieces/parts. House is mediocre defending at the 4 and he's a defensive liability at the 5. Clint can't switch on to smalls effectively nor shoot. Faired can't defend the post. (I'm glad he can shoot though apparent.) You put both those guys out there against the Dubs death lineup and we're toast. And you know it. You're too smart not to know. We currently DO NOT have the right small ball combination to deal with their death lineup. Maybe Morey performs a miracle with the late season roster adds. I'm waiting to see those before I write us off as also-rans for this season.
IF WE actually meet them in the playoffs without a significant roster upgrade here late in the season and they are healthy you will eat those words and be blaming bad officiating after they roll out the death lineup against us. We currently DO NOT have the defenders we need in our system to beat them.
Yes they are solid additions. But neither player can contain length and size down low. They will be exploited.
You obviously know way more about dope than I do. (I knew this type retort was coming. Because I did check the spelling of the word because I knew I didn't know how to spell it. Decided to leave it to draw out the druggies.)
Or maybe I just know more about spelling than you do. And of course it wasn't an error on your part, which would be inconceivable. No, it was merely a clever trap to catch the stoners! You're a joy, Holic. Never stop being you.
1. Go look at least years regular season splits against the Warriors. 2. Then go look at the splits with the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. 3. Compare this seasons regular season splits with last years regular season splits. 4. Look at the rest of our defensive data. 5. Extrapolate. This current roster is not as good as last year's team. Nor will it be if we just add House.
