Just don't tbink it's as monumental as people make it out to seem. Sure they had a hand but refs didn't cause this loss. Nor did they cause the ships in 95 either. Lebron took over in that Celtics series. Can you day the same with James? Yes it was a factor but not nearly the biggest one. And the refs will swallow their whistle in game 7's so James better figure that out

Demarcus Cousins saw it first hand last round

Not a chance Lebron goes to Houston - it would more likely be an East team

Either way he has to go through the Warriors for a title, I don't think there is a team in the east that can compete right now.

76ers

76ers just don't make sense for Lebron. He would be basically nullifying Ben Simmons and then the best parts of Embid's game. Simmons has zero off-ball game. Embid would turn into Chris Bosh in Miami or Kevin Love in Cleveland. Lebron needs 3 point shooters surrounding him and the 76ers are just a poor match, imo.

As crazy as this sounds, 76ers should be jostling for the "post-Lebron" era, and getting him would seriously hurt them in that regard. I might try for Kawhi or Paul George instead if I were them.

trm94 said:

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Not a chance Lebron goes to Houston - it would more likely be an East team

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It's not a great chance, but to say there's "no chance" is certainly exaggerating.

CoachRTM said:

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76ers just don't make sense for Lebron. He would be basically nullifying Ben Simmons and then the best parts of Embid's game. Simmons has zero off-ball game. Embid would turn into Chris Bosh in Miami or Kevin Love in Cleveland. Lebron needs 3 point shooters surrounding him and the 76ers are just a poor match, imo.

As crazy as this sounds, 76ers should be jostling for the "post-Lebron" era, and getting him would seriously hurt them in that regard. I might try for Kawhi or Paul George instead if I were them.

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Exactly. They're too young, and have no ability to play off the ball. Also you can't magically wake up with an outside shot; Simmons' shot is broke as hell and he was a total liability against Boston.

Hickory High said:

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trm94 said:

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Not a chance Lebron goes to Houston - it would more likely be an East team

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It's not a great chance, but to say there's "no chance" is certainly exaggerating.

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Pretty much all sources agree there are only 4 possibilities and the Rockets are one of them.

Main observation from a casual fan on this series.

The Rockets just couldn't hang with GS for four quarters (I know that's obvious). But they're so good you can't afford to fall behind early so max effort goes into jumping out early and the keeping pace in the first half which the Rockets could do just fine. But by the time the second half comes around players are beat and they just can't maintain that level of focus and intensity.

It's tough with a full squad and damn near impossible without your main piece.

I think we are going to look back and wonder what could have been if CP3 doesn't injure his hamstring. Threes weren't falling in the second half. You need another guy besides Harden with mid range game who can also get to the hole.

Morey has his work cut out for him this offseason. I would explore all trade options that get LeBron to Houston. Not sure what a deal would look like but if you can pair him and Harden together not much of anything would be out of the question. Can't let that move hold you hostage though, if it isn't going to happen then do what you can to drop the deadweight and add some more reliable 3 point shooters.

Not to sound cliche, but you could almost say game six and seven where microcosms of the season. The first half was like the regular season, the Rockets came out firing on all cylinders and Harden was his usual mvp self. The warriors weren't lackadaisical but you could tell they were kind of saving themselves for the second half. Then the second half was like the playoffs, the Warriors flipped a switch and knew it was time to tighten up on D and hit some shots. They've been here 4 years in a row, they know what it takes.

And yeah, probably the biggest "What If" in modern NBA history...what if CP doesn't get hurt. Do we win game 6 or 7? Do the warriors break up their squad? Does that influence where LeBron goes?

Harden is to blame. Granted had CP3 been healthy they would have won, probably. But harden gives up in the second half. Doesn't have the fire.

king

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2778390-steve-kerr-warriors-would-have-beaten-rockets-in-5-games-with-andre-iguodala

**** Kerr in his ***** ass face. That mother ****er has a chance to say good series and instead starts mouthing off for no reason.

For your viewing displeasure. I'm sure some here still shout at the rooftops about all the missed 3s, but its game and 7 and every point matters.

the Rockets played really hard in the series, but in the end this was about Golden State.

when the Warriors got serious about playing basketball (and felt the threat of elimination), they blew Houston out of the gym.

Golden State is an all-time great team. The rest of the West just has to wait until the team breaks up. This has been the situation many times throughout the history of the NBA

I felt the officiating in the 3rd quarter of Game 6 & 7 was a bit lopsided, but you cannot miss numerous uncontested three-pointers in Game 7. Actually hit a few free throws and the Rockets are in the game with 2 minutes remaining.

PJ Tucker played a solid game. I was fine with experimenting with Ryan Anderson in the 1st half, but it was clear he had no business on the floor in the 2nd half. I would have tried Mbah A Moute to at least provide a defensive presence.

Capela, Harden, and Gordon had a solid first half in Game 6 & 7, but really struggled after halftime.

What if: Harden was hurt instead of Paul. Would it have changed the outcome of game 6 or 7? Obviously, you can point to Harden's pathetic shooting and armchair QB a "wouldn't have hurt" opinion. In honesty, though, I think the Rockets might have been better off with Paul playing. Those shooters might have been more open for some easy looks. Harden was reduced to driving and throwing around ill-advised passes that Paul is much better at completing. Who knows, but I guess it doesn't matter at this point.

On to the summer months and the countdown to fall camp opening for the Aggies.

Quote:

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So how crazy was it that Houston missed that many threes many of which were wide open in a row? To get a better sense, FiveThirtyEight leaned on quantified Shot Probability (qSP) data used to weigh the likelihood of a shot going in depending on who's taking it, how close the nearest defender is to the shot, and how quickly that player is closing out from Second Spectrum and NBA Advanced Stats, which use high-level cameras to track on-court movement.

By using that metric and looking at the probability of each individual shot's chance of going down, from Harden's 33 percent hoist that began the drought to the 31.6 percent chance he had on the one to end it we can conclude that the Rockets embarked on an approximately 1-in-72,000 cold spell from deep at the worst possible time, with a trip to the Finals on the line.

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https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-odds-of-the-rockets-missing-that-many-3s-1-in-72000/

Diggity said:

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we had plenty of "easy looks" last night. They just didn't fall. It happens.

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Actually what we did last night doesn't happen. Like, ever. That's why it was a record.

that really wasn't the point of my post...but continue your sobbing.

If the rockets shot remotely decent from three they won that game had harden might have had 15+ assists

Historically bad shooting stretch cost them a trip to the finals. Maybe it was tired legs but they just flat missed a ton of great looks from three

tired legs had to be a big part of it.

If you take a team that leads the league in three point attempts by a fair margin, put them on a 6/7 man rotation, expect them to play suffocating defense, it's going to be tough sledding when those shots don't fall for extended periods.

We threw up some dumb shots, but most of the ones we missed were decent looks. Did they forget how to shoot 3's...or were they exhausted?

I'm going to say this. Pringles should have gotten a technical after the three where Harden made it and Klay had his hand reach in.

I do think Harden was a victim of the Harden rule on that play, but still, that was the perfect opportunity to get the tech.

my best decision of the entire season came last night when I turned the game off after the third quarter.

Sure. Which means they don't know how to make in game adjustments.