D12 talking about lack of effort

[Mr Exlax]

This has been my only gripe with the Rockets this season. We don't try for shit. Offense takes time to gel. Effort should be there all the time. It's sad to see. Our lack of effort is why I don't think we're contenders. Not blaming one single person on my team, but it's just us as a whole. We gotta whip this shit in to shape. I blame McHale partially. Dwight shouldn't be the only one calling out players. Make them hoes accountable at least. Bench them for slacking.

Article: http://t.co/fDmlnfyhBQ

HOUSTON — From the moment the Rockets hit the free agent jackpot with Dwight Howard last summer and put him in the lineup with James Harden, there were always going to be questions about how they would put it all together and how long it might take.

Those questions were not supposed to be about how hard they would try.
“[Expletive] effort out there on defense and on offense,” said Howard. “The ball stuck … We didn’t move it and we can’t win that way.”

Bumps in the road over the course of the long regular season are to be expected, but the Rockets have now run head-long into a boulder of indifference as a 97-88 home loss to the Suns Wednesday night came on the heels of a virtual no-show trip to Utah on Monday.

“It had nothing to do with us missing shots,” Howard said. “They just played harder than us. It had nothing to do with the offensive game. They just played hard.

“We know what we [have to] do. It’s gotta be important for guys to come out and play the same way every night.”

The Rockets were shorthanded without Chandler Parsons (sore back), Jeremy Lin (sprained right knee), Omer Asik (right thigh contusion) and Greg Smith (sprained right knee). But neither Howard or coach Kevin McHale, who kept the locker room closed for 20 minutes after the game, would accept that out.

“You still have to play,” McHale said. “I don’t care who’s not there. You just [have to] go play and we didn’t play the right way.

“We didn’t move the ball. We didn’t move our bodies. They got up on us and started denying passes. We didn’t go backdoor. We didn’t drive all the scenes. When we did drive, we took wild shots…We did not play very good and that’s the bottom line.”

The Rockets were uninspired from the opening tip and never seemed able — or willing — to match the Suns energy or aggression and it was the fact that it was a virtual repeat of nonchalance that carried over from the loss to the Jazz that bothered Howard, who scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

“We can’t give away games like this,” Howard said. “It will come back and bite us later on in the season. So we got to learn no matter how many guys we got out there, short-handed and all, we got to play the same way — play hard and play aggressive.

“It’s just [has to] be in you. You can’t coach it. You can’t draw up plays or anything like that. You just gotta have it.”

Howard would not reveal what the obviously distressed McHale told the team.
“We keep that between us,” said the All-Star center. “We know what we got to do. We don’t do it, we’re [going to] continue to lose.

“We got to learn when we’re down. We got to learn how to play when we got big leads. It’s something that we got to learn how to do. We got to get a good shot every time. Coming down and shooting quick shots is not always good, especially when you’re down. That gives a team like Phoenix an opportunity to run. That’s what they want to do. We played right into their hands tonight.”

It is only the second time this season that the Rockets have lost back-to-back games and, at 13-7, they are still the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. So it was less a blaring alarm bell than a humming undercurrent reminder that a wannabe playoff contender needs more than summertime signings and headlines to turn into the real thing.

“It happens,” Howard said. “I told you guys a couple weeks ago the season is up and down. You go on runs. You have those games where you miss and you lose a couple of games. But the biggest thing is coming back the next game with a better effort and if not, then we got to take an ‘L’ for us to learn.”

[imnew09]

We so SALTY!

[GaryRaymond23]

D12 talking about lack of effort

Saw this thread Title - came in to post "Irony."

That's all.

[brownmamba00]

That plumlee guy on the suns was blocking the shit out of him last nite. It's not effort you just suck.

[Mr Exlax]

The funniest thing is I think all 3 of you guys are Lakers fans right? Do any of you care to comment on the lack of effort we've shown all season though? Why would it be wrong for our best defender to talk about lack of effort? I don't know what you people expected out of Dwight in LA being that he came back early from back surgery. Couple that with not wanting to be there. I saw Shaq, Bynum and Gasol all quit while playing with Kobe more than a few times. Not saying that it was right for them to do it, but I kinda sorta understand why they all did. Dwight just kinda quit/injuries all damn season though lol.

[BlackVVaves]

Harden chucking up 10 threes last night, and missing on all of them, may have something to do with their recent lost more than effort. Though their effort and hustle has been thoroughly lacking.

For a player that posters here say is clearly a superior passer compared to the likes of other stars in the game, I find his frequent ISO-centric play-style and three point attempts (currently 7 a game) less criticized.

Why is that? Especially when paired with his defense, which I contend is BYFAR the worst of any NBA team's superstar sans Carmelo. And he may be even worst than Melo.

[longtime lurker]

This has been my only gripe with the Rockets this season. We don't try for shit. Offense takes time to gel. Effort should be there all the time. It's sad to see. Our lack of effort is why I don't think we're contenders. Not blaming one single person on my team, but it's just us as a whole. We gotta whip this shit in to shape. I blame McHale partially. Dwight shouldn't be the only one calling out players. Make them hoes accountable at least. Bench them for slacking.

Article: http://t.co/fDmlnfyhBQ

Translation: "get me more post touches or Dwight unhappy"

[Mr Exlax]

Translation: "get me more post touches or Dwight unhappy"

Nah man. I translated that into something different. He gets his touches. He gets a ton of them hoes actually. It's up to him to call for the ball deeper like how he used to in Orlando. This is more about defense though. I can live with us trying to play defense and us sucking at it, but it's just that we're not even trying. He's had lapses too, but there are too many times that we play the matador defense and I guess everybody expects him to contest the shot and then still try and get the rebound. It's dumb to me.

[Mr Exlax]

Harden chucking up 10 threes last night, and missing on all of them, may have something to do with their recent lost more than effort. Though their effort and hustle has been thoroughly lacking.

For a player that posters here say is clearly a superior passer compared to the likes of other stars in the game, I find his frequent ISO-centric play-style and three point attempts (currently 7 a game) less criticized.

Why is that? Especially when paired with his defense, which I contend is BYFAR the worst of any NBA team's superstar sans Carmelo. And he may be even worst than Melo.

I can't blame it all on Harden though. This is what he was basically forced to do last season. The offense will come though bro. That is the thing that takes time. The effort though. I don't even look at a single game. I'm saying our season as a whole. No effort.

[shoops]

I can't blame it all on Harden though. This is what he was basically forced to do last season. The offense will come though bro. That is the thing that takes time. The effort though. I don't even look at a single game. I'm saying our season as a whole. No effort.

Meh...he's probably still injured, but still, how do you miss 10 3s? You'd think that after say, the 7th one he would've stopped chucking, but nope. Probably half those shots were early in the clock too. Need a coach that doesn't just bend over backwards for Harden, he shouldn't have been in the game after the deficit was cut by the bench.

[PizzamanIRL]

Effort? We talking bout effort?

[DCL]

"Coming down and shooting quick shots is not always good, especially when you’re down. That gives a team like Phoenix an opportunity to run. That’s what they want to do. We played right into their hands tonight.”

howard's message to team: "stop chucking your bullshit shots."

that's how i read it. maybe an indirect jab at harden.

[Legends66NBA7]

[QUOTE]HOUSTON

[brownmamba00]

The funniest thing is I think all 3 of you guys are Lakers fans right? Do any of you care to comment on the lack of effort we've shown all season though? Why would it be wrong for our best defender to talk about lack of effort? I don't know what you people expected out of Dwight in LA being that he came back early from back surgery. Couple that with not wanting to be there. I saw Shaq, Bynum and Gasol all quit while playing with Kobe more than a few times. Not saying that it was right for them to do it, but I kinda sorta understand why they all did. Dwight just kinda quit/injuries all damn season though lol.

if he quit cause of kobe why didn't he step up in the playoffs when kobe was out?

instead he got his ass locked down, whined, bitched and carried around a statsheet.

And don't give me that 'he didn't want to be in LA' bullshit. We know damn well his fake ass was happy in Hollywood before the bright lights of Staples hit him.

I used to like the Rockets. I still like Parsons and Asik they give 100% but the rest of your team is made of fake ass niggas like Howard and Harden. You just wait a couple of months you'll turn on them. I watched the game last nite Dwight is the same what he was last year no difference...

[Mr Exlax]

Meh...he's probably still injured, but still, how do you miss 10 3s? You'd think that after say, the 7th one he would've stopped chucking, but nope. Probably half those shots were early in the clock too. Need a coach that doesn't just bend over backwards for Harden, he shouldn't have been in the game after the deficit was cut by the bench.

That's the mentality of a scorer i think. Shoot till you make one cause most times you just need one to go in lol. Hopefully he's still injured though. That would for sure make it understandable about his lazy play on offense and defense. Harden isn't the only one to shoot early in the shotclock this year though. It's just been a fun and gun offense, but sometimes they should at least wait till somebody's in position to get a rebound.