We knew mid-season we weren't good and front office didn't do **** to switch it up. KD, Ime, Stone -- that's where I put the blame. The other young stars, they're too young. It's disappointing, but I can't blame them.
Stone and ime. You cant beat LA without their 2 leading scorers, 70 yr old lebron and scrubs, you need to be shown the door.
Whatever philosophy put this team together, from the coach on down, and decided not to replace the team's only reliable ball handler. I guess they thought Durant could make enough plays to do something in the playoffs. But you can't rely on a mercenary to make the game easier for his teammates.
I blame myself for thinking that there was no way they could whiff on 9 first round picks. Surely they'll hit on at least one alpha type. But, here we are. Depending on a 50 year old Durant to bail the team out. Congrats to the front office. You did the impossible. Jalen, JC, Garuba, Sengun, Jabari, Tari, Amen, Cam, and Reed. Not one alpha in the bunch. Just bums and a few role players.
Stone deserves the blame here. As an NBA GM, the job is simple: go get the guy, whatever it takes or you’re gone. Multiple years, multiple picks, plenty of chances… and came up empty every time.
Reed is hardly been given a chance which is ****ing predictable based on the line ups Udoka was playing to end the season. It's no coincidence that the best run we had this game was with Reed in the line up.
That’s the big picture to me. Start there and go from there first if you’re making decisions. Lost with intention to end up with a group that over two seasons just misses open bunnies and airballs threes. Move em all somewhere else and I won’t care. Franchise needs a massive facelift.
The obvious answer is Ime. You can blame his lineups, but the biggest problem is the players aren't motivated to play with energy and urgency from the start even when down 0-1 in the series. This series is where I'm finally starting to believe Ime could be losing the locker room. Stone not adding some shooting help at the deadline was also inexcusable. But, IMO, the flawed coaching is the bigger issue than the flawed roster.
This is accurate. I didn’t like to blame the coach in previous games of the season but we’ve now lost 4 consecutive games to the Lakers and they’ve shown that they will double KD as soon as he touches the ball. Our brain dead coach can’t figure out how to punish them for doubling. 4 games later, can’t do it. An NBA coach shouldn’t be this incompetent. If he can’t figure out a scheme, bring on a consultant that helps him figure it out. It’s not that difficult. Also, I don’t blame KD for trying to force the issue sometimes. He turns it over because the rest of the teammates have consistently failed to convert on 4 on 3 situations. It’s pathetic all around.
Its a tough league. You don't play these games like there the regular season. I just don't see our guys mentally there, and if coach cant get them set, ready to execute plays, there needs to be changes. It starts from the coaching to the players. Something is just not clicking with thing team. I mean a few home games could change things, but right now we are just playing like we don't want this at all.
I think the thing that fooled us all about Ime is actually that he's pretty good at getting a bunch of young impressionable guys who aren't accustomed to his shtick to "play harder". It helps you have regular season success, but there's no more room to turn it up when you get to the playoffs and everybody is playing at the same intensity level. It doesn't work so well when they've been with him for 3 years and half the team is veterans who know better. He has that one really good trick and nothing else. It might get him another coaching job somewhere, maybe he even gets to be part of the coaching carousel. But he's not a championship level coach.
this team is just not a good team as it is, we know it way back in march, they need shooting and ball handling.... but the sad part is that Houston is stuck with this coach and this lineup for this year
