The Houston Rockets were designed to end the Golden State Warriors’ reign of terror out west, but one game into their Western Conference Final matchup and the Rockets look like they still have a way to go. Houston fell to Golden State on their home floor, 119-106, to find themselves in a familiar situation: Wondering what the hell they have to do to beat the Warriors.
Some Rockets players think they have an idea, and it involves seeing lest isoball Chris Paul and James Harden. The pair of guards are two of the best in the game, but a bevy of Houston role players think less 1-on-1 is necessary if the team is going to advance to the NBA Finals. It’s a fair point — it stands to reason that you’re not beating Golden State unless it’s a total team effort — but on the other hand, this is a formula that has worked for the Rockets all season en route to the best record in the NBA.
Mike D’Antoni addressed these concerns during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon. He made it clear that, while this “noise” does exist, he has zero plan of changing the team’s offensive philosophy now.
Mike D’Antoni on the “noise” about Rockets after Game 1 loss to Warriors: “[They say] all we do is iso. No it isn’t and that’s what we do best! … They [say we] don’t pass, all they do is stand. Really? Have you watched us for 82 games?” pic.twitter.com/odgH5Qnbqb
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 15, 2018
Saying “we can’t get off who we are” and “we know our strengths, we’ve just gotta do it better” are both pretty stern declarations from D’Antoni, who seems to chalk up Houston’s Game 1 loss to a lack of execution based off of this clip. This discussion becomes far more entertaining if the Rockets fall in Game 2 and are down 0-2 as things shift to Golden State, but for now, D’Antoni wants everyone — both inside the locker room and out — to remember what has gotten the team this far in the first place.
