Its not convincing because the refs swallowing their whistles is a real thing that happens. Doesn't mean that a foul isn't a foul. It also doesn't mean that while James might not get all the calls he gets in the regular season, that he's still the Rockets best chance of winning. Morey's point I'm guessing is to say that he's still doing more than the other guy to have an effective offense. Its not the ONLY thing he's doing to get points and get others involved ALA Kevin Martin pre-rule change. But yes, I'm sure Morey is concerned that in the playoffs the Refs wont call fouls a foul as I am concerned. Its just that he can't let it take him away from still trying to finish those plays at the rim if he isn't getting that call, and he can't stop attacking the paint just because he doesn't get a call. They still NEED him to break down the defense to get open shots, or try and score.
There are more PFs called and FTs taken in playoff games than regular season games. Harden averages 9.8 FT in the regular season and 9.7FT in the playoffs as a Rocket, including this season.
I'm not in the camp that thinks Morey needs to keep his mouth shut. I like that he's active with the media. I know it's probably impossible, but it would be nice if he could work something out where he gets to approve/disapprove the headline of the article in exchange for some kind of access.
Trailblazers were one of the better teams at "not fouling" last year: http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/personal-fouls-per-possession?date=2014-06-15 Even better this year: http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/personal-fouls-per-possession
We need Dwight to be an offensive force like last playoff. Anyone thinking we could survive with Harden doing everything in the playoffs are deluding themselves. We need other players to step up on offense.
Mr. Reality, he said something similar last season if I recall, no reason to get your panties in bunch. LOL. I'm a bit old school like Greg Popovich and would rather come into playoffs as far under the radar and as humble as possible. No need to thump my chest. That's reality to me.
Meh, the headline is something of a Rorschach test. If you want to see it as "arrogant Rockets GM being arrogant as always, can't keep mouth shut" you can. If you want to see it as "media painting Rockets as villains again" you can. Doesn't really mean it's either. Ten or so teams have a chance to win a title at this time every year and if directly asked will never deny they have a chance. So...pretty much a generic answer to a generic question as far as I'm concerned.
It's true that anyone has a chance to beat anybody. I feel like if we were on the outside looking in (say as a Clippers fan) I'm sure there is a much different perspective. Clippers fans probably say they don't want to face the Rockets either because we have started to figure them out and they struggle to dominate us this year. Spurs fans probably desperately don't want to face the Warriors or the Rockets. Dallas fans could be dying to see a Houston-Dallas match up because they think they have the better odds (as we do them)
I'm waiting to see how Harden responds when the refs test him by letting opposing players kick the crap out of him on a couple of early possessions. I think Harden has been badly thrown off his game when that happens even if they make up the calls for him later. He's mentally shrunk in the past, but OTOH he's clearly a better player this year so how he responds to that will be a great indicator of just how much he's grown.
There's really only 3 playoff teams in the west that can't win it all this year: Dallas, Portland, and OKC.
