Clutchfans Game Thread: Rockets @ Blazers 8/4/2020

Morey admits he is getting old.

 

Very typical Rockets, losing to a sub-.500 team after two nice wins. Been the same all year.

I just wish the two wins didn't seem so flimsy. Needing furious last minute comebacks and some unlikely bounces for the first. I miss blowing teams out, when is the last time that happened? They are going to need to shoot better from 3 for playoff success.

 

Getting ountrebounded by 25 in loss to Blazers is ________?

Nick Wright: Budgeted in. Such a silly story. They expect to be out-rebounded. You can't have everything life. They want as much shooting as possible & be one of the best offenses. Downside is you'll be out-rebounded. That this continues to be a story, they know it, they're OK with it. They expect it & are fine with it.

Antoine Walker: Trouble. You can't get past LA without being able to rebound. 19 threes last night, they still lost. Achilles hill for them. Too many big teams in the West. They're gonna get killed inside. Fun strategy but they won't be able to advance deep in the playoffs.

Kevin Wildes: On par.

 

and avoid shooting 35-footers 5 seconds into shotclock as well as dribbling off of his feet...

 

Its funny, whenever the Rockets used to frustrate me in previous years, the complaints were numerous, yet now it seems like I exclaim 2 things:

"Oh my God, hit your open shot!"
-or-
"C'mon get the f***ing rebound!"

Yup, that's about 99% of the negative reactions in the game now, lol. I tell ya what... small ball will get us a lot of wins, but what it won't get us are blowout wins. We could get blown out, but most likely it'll be a close game, where a couple of turnovers or a couple of missed shots could be the entire difference.

Russ can't shoot less than 50% from the FT line, and Covington and Tucker cant be sht from 3. I'm okay with this experiment in this weird 2020 world we're in, but man did the Rockets spoil us a couple of years ago with 65 wins, tons of blowouts, and minimal consistent frustrations. I do like the effort on this current squad, but it seems like it only "really" comes out in crunch time, and I'd live to see them being ramped up for an entire game.

 

some people beg to differ citing the stats that in the bubble virtual home teams win 2/3 of the time

 

Yesterday it was fifty-fifty.

Blazers, Pacers, Heat won their HC games.

Bucks, Kings and Clippers lost their virtual home game.

 

Covid Melo is deadly.

 

I'm actually proud of the team's effort. Sucks to not get the win but they battled hard, particularly the bench when both Harden and Russ were sitting. We played well defensively and that's all I care about. Our offense will normally not be a problem.

 

Tired legs = 3pt bricks.

DD

 

My favorite plays of this game:

1. McLemore boxing out to get us a D rebound.
2. McLemore boxing out to get us *another* D rebound.
3. McLemore blocking a shot!
4. McLemore pinned down under the basket by Melo, fights like hell to make it hard for Melo to take down the rebound, and Rivers flies in to grab the loose ball before Melo can corral it.

This is how to survive small ball. We have to outwork our opponents. The small guys have to use their speed and hustle to overwhelm the big guys. It can be done.

 

Bro, no fans to boo the refs. They can do whatever they want going forward. I

 

No offense.

If the guy named Mclemore who is paid 2 million a year has to bail you out.....

Same thing about Jeff and House.

Those players are underappreciated by contract status.

PJ and Covington who are paid well, do not have the chops offensively when it counts.

The financial imbalance is staggering.

 

Yes. In my gut I thought we would lose this game for a variety of reasons....... we had just won two very close games against two very tough opponents and the law of averages would catch up to us. In addition we just beat the best team in the league and the Blazers are in reality a solid team that had a terrible pre-pandemic season that they can try to salvage....... at the end of the day I went with my gut and this pandemic has put the entire league and it's players in a new situation and everyone is still adjusting.

I did not see the Clippers losing to the Suns though.

 

same. I mentioned this at the very start of the thread, that this was going to be a tough one. I'm not upset at the loss at all. they're not going to win them all. people that understand situational spots would get it

 

Yep exactly. You know how it goes on here though, no matter what, after a loss here comes all the talk about how bad we are and all of the flaws we have. We win two good games coming back and overcoming deficits, and we are kings. Then lose to a solid team at the end, and now we have no chance and small ball is not good. SMH Same ol same ol... If we beat the Lakers tomorrow the story changes again and we can win it all...

 

Wouldn't be a problem if the refs allowed aggressive boxing out like the good old 'Chuck Hayes' days. That's the only way Tucker and company are going to be able to get more rebounds.

 

i would want to read a serious analysis of this phenomenon... is the sample too small or there is really something to it...

 

Rivers is good we re lucky ego got injured