I agree with your general point, but if Iggy is a hall of famer that’s kind of an indictment on HOF selection criteria (and I agree with you that I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get in). Also, Iggy isn’t really in the meat of his career anymore and Draymond isn’t as good as he was a couple of years ago since his shooting has gone to crap, though he’s still a great role player for that team. But in any event, having arguably the best player in the league (KD) flanked by the rest of that crew is ludicrous.
And yeah, there are 30 teams, only one team wins, and the team that keeps winning and will probably win again this year has a preposterous talent advantage.
For the “not real basketball” crowd, the level of play at the college level is not remotely close to the NBA. The Suns would beat Virginia by 50+. That’s cool if you aren’t into it as much, but it’s a much higher level of hoops.
I think the NBA sucks because the refs dictate the outcomes of most of the games! Too many favoritism for star players such as KD! I have watched the way the refs called fouls for him, 60% of the so-called “fouls” that the refs sent him to shoot free throws with he wasn’t even touched by anybody! With the way the refs called fouls and orchestrating the outcomes of the game, it is extremely predictable which team is going to win —— just like the WWE! That’s why I stopped watching the NBA!
The Rockets are a tough team and I think the scheme isn’t championship level. Iso ball in this day and age doesn’t win championships. Warriors in addition to being loaded with talent… Warriors play TEAM ball, they share. On any given night one of the starters can go off and score 40+. Seems with the Rockets, it all hinges on Harden.
The Rockets are a gritty team, and Harden had his best night in the playoffs WITH the eye injuries (which I hate to see btw). I just don’t think it will be enough once again.
Kind of like the NFL… there are some really good NBA games but the more i’ve gotten into NCAA Football and Basketball… the pros just don’t have the same consistent level of excitement to me and a lot of the games are just boring to watch. But that’s just my own view of course. I’ll watch a Game 5 or 7 if the Rockets are in it… but if an Astros game is on right now, then that’s what the channel is on.
I’ve always said that most sports fans have a pretty clear preference for either college OR pro football and basketball. I, as well as most of us (I assume), have a preference for college athletics, but may still follow the pros with a lower level of interest. Strangely, I know people, especially with regard to football, who won’t accept anything other than the pro game, and consider everything else to be an inferior product, despite the fact that pro football and basketball have all of the undesirable traits that we’ve already discussed ad nauseum here; traits that the college games DON’T have.
I don’t buy this. The Rockets were a CP3 hamstring injury or honestly an Mbah a Moute shoulder injury coming into the playoffs away from beating them last year (in fairness they had Iggy hurt as well). Also, the Warriors played a ton of iso ball in the series last year because the Rockets switching was so on point it stifled their ability to swing the ball around. The old get off my lawn basketball types like Barkley were saying a jump shooting team like the Warriors couldn’t win a championship until they did. The Warriors have much more talent at the top of their roster than the Rockets. It’s as simple as that. If the Rockets played in the exact same system as the Warriors they’d just run an inferior version of it, especially since the personnel is less suited. Running Harden and CP3 off a bunch of off ball screens like they are Klay and Steph isn’t the way to maximize their ability. We don’t have a big man who can pass like Draymond. And oh yeah, they have Kevin Durant.
However, I do think a few adjustments the Warriors have made this series defensively trying to hide Curry haven’t been properly countered by D’antoni, but it’s not a “you can’t win playing like this” type of thing.
I’ve completely quit watching the NFL. And I’ve got a foot out the door of the NBA. I’ll quit watching the Astros when they pry my cold, dead hands off the remote however.
Ever since the Warriors switched to the small ball “Hamptons Five” lineup its been tough on the Rockets. Noticing too this year Curry is not getting stuck on Harden as much due to an adjustment I think by GSW. Harden can get by anybody though.
I’d like to be clear (in case this was in any way aimed at me) that my comment about the NBA barely resembling basketball was not a comment about talent. It’s a comment about how the game is officiated. Almost all rules are made to benefit the offense. Harden is so smart that he figures out how to legally exploit the rules, which causes more rule changes that seem to only apply to him. The Warriors set illegal screens for Steph and Klay constantly. The screener either runs a defender completely out of the play or hooks an arm so the defender can’t get off the screen. It happens so often without a call that it’s clear the NBA doesn’t want it called because it benefits the offense. If my boys were at all interested in playing basketball, I’d never let them watch the NBA because of the bad habits it would teach them. That’s what I meant by “not real basketball.”
Yeah. Curry is hedging on the screen (and not even doing a good aggressive job of it) and then going back to the screener. While that kind of lazy transition happens with Curry going back to his man and Iggy or whoever is on Harden is kind of in no man’s land while that happens, there are opportunities to exploit it. It’s not easy, but we need to do it next game and make them pay for not committing to a switch or hard hedging.
This. My only concern is the team’s collective age (especially CP3) makes the window to even get to the Finals out of the Western Conference so tight.
Edit- Also, everyone’s right about the NHL playoffs. I can’t get into a team though because I feel like that’ll be waving a white flag on Houston ever getting a team.
My one problem with the rockets is rebounding. Everyone just stands on the edges and you have one rebounder waiting on Hardens shot to go in. Sampson plans this well with us and its how we suffocate the other team. One player wont change a team not prepared in all aspects.