It is a difference for sure, but not close to the only one. The Spurs defense in the playoffs has been tremendous. Other than Wemby and their defense, their clutch shooting was through the roof and was the biggest difference in game 7.
If the refs let both teams play the BS “playoff basketball” then Wemby will not have as a good a series as against OKC. Brunson may be totally ineffective in most games like SGA. This series could be decided by each teams supporting cast. Both teams have elite defenders in Bridges. Anouby, Castle, Wemby. Very interesting matchup. I hope the refs don’t play too big a role.
That’s not fair to make that comparison. Spurs have much more talent on their roster while Lebron had to carry the bulk of the weight for the Cavs. His teams always lacked consistent and sturdy guards. And the rosters were overall ok or Mediocre not great. He had Ricky Davis, D Wagner, larry hughes, eric snow for guards. Best player he played with was probably big Z. Thompson has talent. He can get by almost everyone off the dribble and can get into the paint with ease. The issues with him is finishing on drives and developing a dribble pullup mid range and 3 pt shot. He is still a work in progress but the potential is there to be great.
Interesting to me Knicks are 2-1 against Spurs this year including the cup game. Only lost by 2 in the loss. Knicks dominated in the paint and had more rebounds in the wins. Also shot 3pt well all 3 games.
Exactly. Dobbizle has a negative obsession with Amen, not unlike BTG’s obsession with Jalen. Potential sometimes plays out well, sometimes not. We will see.
I didn’t watch those games in reg season but seems like spurs couldn’t defend the Knicks shooting or the paint. I think OG has to win his matchup and get in the paint. KAT is also key for pulling Wemby out to the 3 pt line and the bench needs to win their battles when wemby is on the bench.
It's not an obsession, it's a fact that instead of top tier superstar Wemby we got athletic role player, Ameiz.
Who said Thompson was a superstar? And the argument that he’s just an athletic role player is the same argument made by little bobby with Jalen Green. It’s reductive. Green isn’t great as we all know but to say he was simply athletic is reductive and dismissive of his natural talents as a 2 that could get by most players with the ability to have huge games. Same here with Amen who has the ability to get by anyone. Has playmaking ability. Plays great defense. Only missing a couple weapons in his arsenal but we will see if he develops them further next year, which is likely since we already have seen more range this year.
It’s troubling when Rockets fans reduce and limit our players to less than what they are. As much as I criticize Sheppard I still see that he has potential to be a good passer and can be effective if he shoots consistently, plays with contact, and perfect that FT line jumper. The difference between him and Amen is he hasn’t been great at anything. Had a few big games but very inconsistent and hopefully he comes back better next year
Hakeem went to the Finals his 2nd year... Then it took a ~decade to get back I hope the Spurs lose, but I'm not gonna say **** about Wemby. He's that good.
the Knicks look like a well oiled machine…it’s honestly really impressive shoutout to Mike Brown they have their superstar/#1 option and elite shot maker in Jalen Brunson, they have a bunch of lengthy defenders, they have their stretch big, and they have a bunch of other really good shooters as well the guy teams try to sag off of or sometimes ignore is Josh Hart, who is definitely capable of making them and even shot 41% from deep this year…he’s a career 35% shooter, and that’s who teams have no choice but to leave open…he made the Cavs pay dearly for that meanwhile, our #1 option is an ancient KD who can’t handle a double team after damn near 20 years in the league, we have very little shooting, no stretch big, and the guy teams leave open is Amen who is not capable of making any team pay for doing that…Amen will airball wide open threes from the corner I had someone tell me the Rockets would make the Finals if they were in the East…there’s no way in hell we even get a single game off the Knicks, and there’s several EC teams I think beat us in a playoff series along with most of the WC playoff teams our roster is not built for playoff success…can’t shoot from deep or from the free throw line, too many exploitable defenders, very weak PG play, a pathetic bench, etc maybe I’m the only one that feels this way, but our weak home atmosphere is also a disservice in a playoff series…teams are very comfortable coming on the road and playing in Toyota Center GS came into our house game 7, raided our fridge and put their feet on our couch…Lakers were never bothered or pressed playing in Toyota Center
Wouldn’t you say you have an unrealistic obsession with “amens potential” none of our players will be real all stars. They are good role players
Nope. He has immense potential and having hope that one of our players is worth building around is not an un-healthy obsession. I don’t go in to virtually every thread regardless of topic and rail against one of our best players. I have supported all our young players with varying amounts of enthusiasm based on what I believe to be their potential. Amen with a shot has the most potential on this team. Sengun with a 3 pointer has tremendous offensive potential, but does not have the physical attributes to be a superstar. Reed has potential to be a good rotation player. Jabari has the potential to be an elite stretch 4/5 with 20 lbs more of muscle. They are all less than 24 years old. Why be obsessively negative about any of them.
I read a book in college called "How to lie with statistics". So over that same 31 year period you mention, the Rockets have been top 10 in regular winning % as well as playoff appearances. So the Rockets have been competitive and relevant over a very long period of time, better than average. I think that fact is what makes it feel worse cause the expectations are often high ...and they fall short. FYI: The Spurs are #1 in the NBA in both categories over the same period.
I think our best chance is to move the Rockets to the eastern conference when the Vegas and Seattle expansion teams come in. Then we get lucky in the finals. It’s a solid plan
I agree with with this, right now. But if you squint real hard, I think we can have some cause for hope. I think the Knicks are the answer to the question "how do you beat the Spurs." I've not watched the Knicks this year except one game against the Rockets when we won. On paper, heights and weights, it seems to me the Rockets are a similar team. A really big team. The biggest difference that I see is the shooting and the coaching. Brunson has become phenomenal but on paper he's an undersized guard who can shoot well and needs to be hidden a little on defense. KAT is not and all world defender either. He's big but not Wemby big. His greatest asset is he can shoot well from 3. I know all of you already know this. My point is, with better coaching, and player development, I think we have the core group needed to compete with any team. Maybe not next year, but soon. That said, there's no amount of squinting that will fix our atmosphere.
