Re: NBA 2017-18 | Dec | A triple double or a win, but not both

By giririsss Go To PostUnless Rudy Gay some how becomes Magical Rudy Gay they don't really have the weapons to match up to GSW.

Not really.

I didn't say they had a good chance, just the best one.

They'll be resting dudes and giving reps to their bit players to make sure they're ready for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, we're running with 7/8 man rotations and letting Harden play ~36 minutes in 20-point blowouts. With 5 of those guys over 30, not sure what we'll have in the tank come postseason (heck, post-All Star break).

By giririsss Go To PostUnless Rudy Gay some how becomes Magical Rudy Gay they don't really have the weapons to match up to GSW.

Not really.

before kawhi went down, they gave GS more trouble than anyone else in the playoffs. even ded they put up more fight than most.

cleveland's win was straight bs

By DY_nasty Go To Postbefore kawhi went down, they gave GS more trouble than anyone else in the playoffs. even ded they put up more fight than most.

cleveland's win was straight bs

I still believe they win game 1 even with kawhi healthy.

And they still put up a fight. You're right.

But it's just not going to matter. They just don't have the talent level, and their system isn't just pure athleticism.

By chandlerparsons Go To PostI didn't say they had a good chance, just the best one.

They'll be resting dudes and giving reps to their bit players to make sure they're ready for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, we're running with 7/8 man rotations and letting Harden play ~36 minutes in 20-point blowouts. With 5 of those guys over 30, not sure what we'll have in the tank come postseason (heck, post-All Star break).

I mean, most teams are really running 8/9 man rotations. When CP3 gets his fitness back you'll see Hardens minutes balance out.

What's The rockets rotation: CP3, Harden, Ariza, Ryno, Capella, Tucker, Gordon, NeN, Mbah a Moute. All averaging over 15mpg (ok, NeNe is at 14... coming back from injury).

Hopefully for the Rockets, Harden either has the MVP locked up with 10 games to go, or starts valuing rest for the plays off more.

The most realistic take down for the GSW is that HOU have one role player step up each game and get hot for 4 out of the 7 games in a series, Capela and Nene are good enough to force GSW to keep a normal C on the floor. And Harden isn't completely drained of energy when the series starts.

By giririsss Go To PostI mean, most teams are really running 8/9 man rotations. When CP3 gets his fitness back you'll see Hardens minutes balance out.

What's The rockets rotation: CP3, Harden, Ariza, Ryno, Capella, Tucker, Gordon, NeN, Mbah a Moute. All averaging over 15mpg (ok, NeNe is at 14… coming back from injury).

Hopefully for the Rockets, Harden either has the MVP locked up with 10 games to go, or starts valuing rest for the plays off more.

The most realistic take down for the GSW is that HOU have one role player step up each game and get hot for 4 out of the 7 games in a series, Capela and Nene are good enough to force GSW to keep a normal C on the floor. And Harden isn't completely drained of energy when the series starts.

While that may be true, most teams aren't in contention to make a deep playoff run. I expect D'Antoni to be able to trust the nine guys you mentioned in the playoffs, but they're old, and the rest of the roster makes it hard to give them rest. When you compare Houston to the league's current elite, the team has a comparatively strong reliance on its top 9 guys.


In 4th quarters, all of Houston's end of roster players are in the bottom 50 when it comes to bench player Plus/Minus (except for Onuaku, who hasn't even played). Accounting for how little they play, they're really in the bottom 20.


In less abstract terms, you can have a look at Bobby Brown's game logs since Chris Paul came back, which is analogous to our garbage time lineups. It looks like the Rockets run up scores, but D'Antoni can't trust that group to keep a 20-point lead unless it's only for a few minutes.


We lose a guy like Mbah a Moute, and the answer isn't Troy Williams, but to play Ariza 42 minutes. Meanwhile, Kawhi was out for the Spurs? No worries, we'll start Justin Anderson. Draymond needs some rest? We'll start Jordan Bell. While our competition puts reps into their younger players to make them injury-resilient come playoff time, we're running our vets into the ground. Your scenario is probably the only way it could happen, but I'm concerned with how the team stays healthy/resilient more than anything else.