ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 12/28/2012

we were incredible...and we even missed 10 free throws?!

I guess in a 2-3 months time we could become unbeatable...

 

Sounds great until you realize the other "great team" that had been rolling was the Toronto Raptors.

 

the spurs are one team that has a list of players that just aggrevate me.

i have to give it to the spurs they were playing out of their minds last night. i'm thinking had the game been in houston the rockets would have pulled it out.
it was one of those nights when you kept saying they can't keep making these shots and they kept making shot after shot.

i'm so proud of the rockets, no one expected games like this from this team.

 

I think back court and Parson all played generally well last night. Problem is the front court. We didn't open up any inside game last night.

 

Wow, you people need to chill. With every loss in here it's like the end of the world The Rockets are the youngest team in the league, the Spurs are one of the oldest and have the most championship experience.

I have the seen some pretty silly reasons explaining why we lost, but if you want the real reason it was because we got outcoached, pure and simple. Popovich just showed everyone how you coach a run-n-gun team, he managed his players to perfection. With the way TD, Parker, Danny Green and Manu were tearing up the Rox most coaches (including Mchale) would've run them ragged, but Pops made sure to sit them and give them a breather, subbing in Splitter, SJax, Mills and Diaw to great effect. As a result of this, their big 3 was fresh and ready to go, and they killed the Rox in the 4rth.

On the flipside, Mchale acted like he had been given courtside seats and just watched his entire team get run into the ground. When you're going at such a frenetic pace, you can't just rely on-6-7 man rotation, you need to use 8-10 guys like how the Spurs did it. CD should have been given minutes to rest Harden, and Morris should have been given mins at the backup SF slot so Parsons could rest, with some of his PT at PF going to DMo. IMHO Mchale's insistence to not play CD/Cook and DMO cost us the game.

 

Offense was fine last night. Rockets shot 52% and scored 116 points. What killed us was having 24 turnovers and terrible free throw shooting. Spurs made 22 of 24 free throw attempts, while the Rockets made only 15 of 26 free throws.

Overall I was happy with what I saw from the Rockets. I think Delfino and Patterson could have possibly helped us last night, so we were short handed, but were still in the game until the last few minutes. I thought Aldrich, while making a few errors, still did a pretty good job for a backup center. Aldrich has great size and is active, so I think we may see more of him when we play team with a really big lineup.

It's going to be difficult to come back and play OKC tonight.

 

When're we gonna have a sticky game thread vs OKC?

 

Wait... Are you serious?! Are you really pointing fingers in our team?

We could have won last night. Even without a PF, we could have won.

Did no one notice how they systematically stripped our team.

1. Silly calls against Asik and Smith to weaken our inside presence.
2. When that wasn't enough and our backcourt started forcing Duncan into foul trouble, they assigned the fouls to other players who were nowhere near the ball.
3. Spurs keep hacking but getting away with it while anything we do is a foul regardless of contact. (Almost like that jump ball against Jeremy in Minnesota game)
4. Even without a good inside presence, we stayed in the game thanks to Harden. What happened next? Harden gets the 5th foul in a ****ing jumpball.
5. No moving screen fouls were called against the Spurs at all. I counted 3 of them in just the 3rd quarter in which we couldn't defend the shooter at all.

I have never seen such an obvious fixed game ever. The outcome was decided before the game even started.

TL;DR We didn't need a PF to win this game, we needed fairness.

 

"We lost to the Spurs! Oh no, its not working! Its the end of this young Rockets team!"

-ClutchFan's Chicken Littles

 

Also, to be fair to the Rockets, the Spurs were LIGHTS OUT from the 3 point line... or should I say, Danny Green and Ginobli were lights out.

12/24 (50%) from behind the arc

Danny Green - 5/7 (.714)
Manu Ginobli - 5/9 (.556)

All the REST of the Spurs - 2/8 (.250)

Green is a .442 shooter, Ginobli is a .372 shooter. If they shot Anywhere near their season averages, this would be a Rockets win.

And it's not like the 3 point shots were all uncontested. Danny Green was just unconscious. Only so much you can do about that.

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VQ6f6Mr932o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Lin highlights.

Thanks Geraldd!!

 

Harden highlights.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N0N-kfgHnS0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Why are people complaining about this loss? I know a loss is a loss and there's no such thing as a moral victory in the NBA, but come on. They were playing against a red-hot Spurs team. One of the youngest teams in the NBA against a roster of tested veterans who happened to be in the zone. Patience, people. Granted, had they beaten the Spurs last night, I would have actually considered them as potential championship contenders this season. But that's frickin unreasonable given that this team was only assembled this season.

 

No, we just needed a decent free throw shooting...cmon if you miss a loads of uncontested 15 ft shots you deserve to lose...

 

if we are this good just 2 months into season its scary to think what will become of this team in a few months time...

Perhaps we will be unbeatable?

 

I have been wondering a similar thing. Commentators have also noted how McHale kept the starters in against the Bulls even when the Rockets had a 23 point lead in the 4Q. (And with a B2B game the following night.)

Don't want to be critical of McHale because obviously he has been doing a lot of things right, but this seems something to watch for. D'Antoni I think likes using a small rotation, even with his run 'n gun style, so there might be something to it? ....It just seems puzzling, especially on a 3 of 4 stretch.

On the topic of Popovich, here is his take on how the Spurs were able to win last night. I especially like the last sentence.

"We got a group out there that did an excellent job of both sprinting back in transition, showing a crowd in full-court shell and getting guys off the 3-point line,'' Popovich said. "But, other than that period [4Q], we were pretty poor in that respect, and that's Houston's game. That's why they're kicking everybody's butt and scoring all these points.''

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/gameflash/2012/12/28/33010/#recap#ixzz2GSV36ZTk

 

If you had told me Parson scored 24, Lin scored 21 and Harden scored 33, I would've told you the rockets 100% won this game.

 

Do they really have to play in those god awful uniforms???? Bring back retro years or the Christmas one, those all red are making my eyes bleed!!!

 

This.

 

The Rox played the same style of run and gun as they did most of the games during the winning streak. They racked up 116 pts against the Spurs. They easily beat almost any other team the way they played last night. The only differences we didn't convert at the foul line, Harden in foul trouble (which was BS), and Spurs hit a ridiculous number of 3's. We'll beat the Spurs come March back home, which it'll be a good shot in the arm heading to the playoffs.