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Kibner posted:I don't like that the game is centered around the 3 pointer anymore. It's so much of a focus now it has made the game less interesting to watch. I like seeing the acrobatic skills involved when trying to score around and through people. Bombing away from distance does not excite me. counterpoint: add the 4 point line
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Apr 17, 2019 15:21
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Rick posted:Welcome Houston Rockets fans. I feel a lot better about this team than I did about them at the end of last year and way better than the years prior. Which is interesting because the Rockets started the year out looking cooked. I guess congrats to Morey for having the scapegoat in Melo and James Harden for carrying this team for like three and a half months of the season. This is obviously not the way that Rocket fans wanted to see the season end, and it sucks that someone has to lose, but I think the title window is still open. Even if Durant doesn't leave. The Rockets are so close. If you think back to Mavs, or even farther back to the Jerry West Lakers, these are teams that got so close to the mountain top again and again against the teams of the generation, and they managed to eventually get their win, so there's still reason to have hope. Its gonna be interesting to see what Houston does this offseason. Obviously flexibility is extremely limited with the salaries they have on the books, and they don't have many assets to work with. There is going to be a lot of pressure to make a splashy move of some sort, given how this season and series played out, but its hard to see how that happens, or if it is a particularly good idea. The Rockets insider rumors are Morey still wants to chase Butler, not sure how that would work, but Morey is perpetually chasing stars so sounds about right. There could definitely be a temptation to try to change the makeup of the team by trading some of the non Harden/CP3 pieces. And after Houston openly dodged the luxury tax this season, the fan pressure is gonna be on to spend if that is what it takes. I thought Morey did a pretty decent job scrapping together a bench during the season, all things considered, but last offseason wasn't exactly great. Morey is going to face A LOT of heat if he doesn't have some sort of upgrade(s) to point to by the fall, justified or not. I'd be happy if he could just find a couple bench players who can play on both sides of the court, but with no money that isn't exactly easy either. Winning the championship is hard, especially when you have to go through one of the best teams ever, even with injuries, to do it. But when you're as close as Houston is, not being able to get over that hump is really frustrating.
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May 11, 2019 15:59
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Carlosologist posted:I was really impressed with how Houston rallied this year, obviously behind a generational performance by Harden. The bench rounded into form this year but I wonder if shaking the table and moving Capela's big salary for someone else on the wing will be the next move. Capela's value is a double edged sword since a ton of his offense is helped by having CP3 and Harden create looks for him so that's a risk any acquiring team has to assume. Good defense at the 5 is always hard to replace but with Tucker able to go to the 5 in their closeout lineups I don't think it'll matter too much I'd be really reluctant to move Capela, he obviously had a rough series but he is generally crucial to this Houston team and has played well in the playoffs in the past. His salary isn't really a problem at all, its a good deal. He is certainly Houston's biggest trade chip, but he does a ton for this team, and I wouldn't want to move him unless its in a deal for some sort of all star, which as you mentioned, Capela's value is probably lower to other teams. I don't think Tucker can play the 5 against most teams, and Houston's defense during the season was shocking when Capela was out, it was like a free run at the basket. He may not be the best piece against the Warriors in particular, but how far do you want to go building a team solely to beat the Warriors when, especially if Durant leaves, they're likely not the only or possibly even biggest challenge next year.
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May 11, 2019 16:13
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morestuff posted:I really appreciate Houston going all-in to compete over the last few years even if things didn’t work out Yeah. Its easy to make fun of the results but they've been the only team at least in the west who has even mounted a serious challenge to Golden State and I give them credit for doing that. And I know the back end of Chris Paul's contract is nasty, but thats the pill Houston had to swallow. Its not like they had a buffet of options, the nature of the NBA right now is you have to try to manuever to fit multiple max contracts on your payroll, preferably the best players you can find, and roll with that. I'm sure Morey would have rather had that contract going to someone 5 or 10 years younger but that wasn't the option, it was Paul or no one. I'm good with 2-3 more seasons a team anchored by Harden and Paul, its not perfect,but its a better situation than probably 20-25 teams have right now.
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May 11, 2019 17:02
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That loss will sting for Denver but 2nd seed and knocking the spurs out aint too bad of a step. Gonna be interesting to see where they go from here
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May 13, 2019 01:43
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