Apr 27, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) reacts after making a basket during overtime in game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Ok. I’ve finally had time to take a step back and relive game four in my head. What a frustrating loss. Many things I’ve already said on our Twitter account, @HouseOfHouston, but there’s some more as well.
I’m going to include many of the tweets from yesterday and add a few notes following each tweet.
It's tough to swallow that this #Rockets team could have swept the Blazers with a consistent Harden and the ability to close games.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Harden is going to have to give it his all on BOTH side of the court for the next three games. Absolutely zero excuses.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Pathetic to see Harden give up on a few possessions late in the game. You're no damn superstar when you play like that. Be a team player!
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Honestly, and this may just be me, but I'm fine with "stars" taking off defensively a few games in the regular season.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
...But PLAYOFFS?!? I mean, we're talking about the PLAYOFFS! You better be play defense EVERY SINGLE PLAY. Just terrible at times last night
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Really needed John McLain to chime in here. Absolutely pathetic showing by Harden defensively late in the game. And I was planning on ending my rant there, but as it turns out, I was just getting started.
And others may be afraid to say it, but Parsons has been atrocious defensively this series. Horrendous.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
I feel like there’s a non-stop GIF going on in my head all day of Nicolas Batum turning around Parsons and then nailing that three late in the game. Not to mention the several blowbys (probably made up that word) that Harden as already made famous.
And Lin? He has his ups and downs, but he's nothing more than a solid option off the bench for the #Rockets. Easily replaceable.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
So frustrating.
Quick positive: Troy "Trey" Daniels. UNREAL. Absolutely wet last night. A shooter not afraid to shoot.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Can't believe I saw a rookie hit a big time three with a man in his face last night, yet a "star" passed up a pretty open three late. WHY?!?
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Loved McHale drawing up a play for Trey Daniels late in the game. He was lights out last night.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Absolutely WETTTT last night! We’re talking about a rookie who spent most of the season in the D-League this season, and he’s arguably been the team’s third or fourth best player in the series. Unreal. The three pointers were sick, but the fact that he knocked down three huge FT’s late in the game, his first FT’s in any NBA game ever, was truly unreal. Love Troy “Trey” Daniels.
Honest opinion: Aaron Brooks is a better option off the bench than Lin. Brooks is someone that knows how to score.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
Don't get me wrong, Lin is solid. Can start on some teams, would have solid numbers. Simply though, doesn't cut it for #Rockets.
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
You know who I want off the bench in this offense. A shooter. Check out that shot-chart. GORGEOUS! pic.twitter.com/7U5TjqA1BJ
— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) April 28, 2014
At least with Brooks you get a guy that you’re confident can hit a three, and he can hit them in bunches. With Lin, you hope he gets hot and makes the right passes. Rather have Brooks off the bench for the scoring he could provide, than Lin, who can maybe do a few things a tad better, but that’s about it. I mean, check out Daniels’ shot chart. That’s Lin stealing some of those minutes.
That’s it for the tweets, but here are a few more quick thoughts:
- Keep feeding Dwight Howard. People think it may “ruin our balance” on offense. I disagree.
- Rockets are doing a great job defending LaMarcus Aldridge these last two games. He was bound to come back down to earth.
- Rockets continuing to get owned when they’re forced to put Terrence Jones on Robin Lopez. Rockets need to continue to get Lopez in foul trouble.
- Though the Rockets shot better from beyond the arc, they need to hit the open ones, and had a few big opportunities late in the game that they couldn’t get to fall.
- The officiating isn’t a reason that we lost, but they certainly didn’t make it easy. It’s been terrible all series. Horrendous in game four. Remember that Dwight Howard technical for doing nothing? Yea, the Blazers hit the FT and the game went to OT. Think it made a difference? So many other ones too. Ughh…
That’s all for now, but there’s sure to be a lot more Rockets/Blazers talk over the next few days, and hopefully even longer.
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