ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Pelicans 3/25/2015

The more that I see of our team, the more convinced I am that the only thing we truly lack is a very good point guard who can fit in well with Harden in the back court, along with the rest of the team in excellent health, in order to win a championship.

I am in favor of trying Brewer at the 1 right away. He is tall, athletic, quick and he can pass the ball off to James without much trouble. I think he can defend most PG's without much difficulty. Give some minutes to Johnson for defense, and playmaking to Prigioni.

Terry can come off the bench for shooting. That will be the key to getting into the 2nd round of the playoffs IMO.

Lot's of people might say, that is obvious but I am starting to believe this now, because we played like a team who weren't over relying on shooting quick 3's or leaving Harden to carry the heavy load by himself.

 

Agree with ya.. Starting Brewer seems like the best scenario. Offense runs through Harden anyways. Once the playoffs start and if Bev's unavailable, mixing up defensive looks for the elite PGs in the west with Ariza and Brewer is likely gonna give opposing PGs fits, especially with their lengthy arms.

 

I can't even wrap my mind around how a professional broadcaster can be as slimy and dishonest as Skip and keep a job.

 

Skip has been anti-Howard from day one. This team has great chemistry, and he's just trying to cause trouble to get him something to talk about on First Take.

 

I assumed Skip was talking about Dwight's comment that every time he got in the game, it seemed like it was time to come back out (something along those lines).

 

Yeah I remember Bull asking him about getting into the flow of the game. Dwight was just answering the question honestly. He didn't complain about it, nor blame the coaching staff, he just, like you said, mentioned it was hard to get into the flow of the game when you had to go out every four minutes. Very far from complaining.

 

I agree he was just answering honestly, not b****ing -- just don't see the huge deal about Skip's tweet, I guess. Except for the fact that I just can't stand Skip.

 

Exactly, seemed annoyed. If anything, he seemed annoyed more about being on a treadmill and all the Rehab stuff. He was more than happy to be back on the court. Skip making something out of nothing

 

Yeah, reminds me of Kevin Hart's "Comedy" skit, where he mentioned he was addicted to watching First Take just to see what Skip would say wrong next. Sad thing is, it's not a joke.

 

The problem with Skip's quote is that it's completely false and worded to instigate drama that isn't remotely there. That's **** journalism, even for Skip.

I think you're right in what he's referencing, obviously Dwight wasn't complaining and his minutes and the gameplan to use him was predetermined before the game started.

 

Cannot do that. He is already out of bounds. He has to be inbounds then while jumping in the air save the ball before hitting the ground in the out of bounds area.

 

most likely but that is just dishonest journalism on his part - very sensationalistic at the very least. All Dwight said was that it was hard to establish a rhythm since he would just start getting into the flow and then have to come sit. The guy has missed 26 games straight of course its going to take some time out there for him. What player doesn't say things along those lines when they have a strict minutes regulation and have to get pulled after like 4-5 minutes?

Saying it was hard to get into the flow and rhythm isnt complaining about his minutes at all.

FWIW I personally would have preferred to see Dwight play like 7-8 minutes in a row twice instead of the 4-4-4-4 just for that reason alone. There was a lot of adjustments needed by everyone and they need time to be able to coalesce with each other again. I thought in the minutes he did play he looked good, a bit tenative (expected) but there is nothing to show that he can't be just as good as he was last year in the playoffs yet. Hopefully the minutes increase tomorrow night to like 20 or so and we can try to see some sets ran for him when James is out of the game.

 

Bingo!

 

I'm very curious as to see how teams will defend the Harden - DMo pick and roll in the future, especially with Dwight back. If Dwights man doesn't help, James takes it to the rim. If Dwights man does help it's an alley to Dwight. If D-Mo's man helps it's a slip pass to D-mo for a lay up.

I'm extremely excited to see us run this for games to come.

 

Not sure if serious.

 

McHale:

(Dwight) He's gonna have a little bit of an adjustment. His knee will always give him trouble off and on. ... Trying to get him in the 24-30 minute range. Don't quote me on that. He handled last night well. Will amp it up 18-20 next game and incrementally move up. No back to backs this year. He'll go again tomorrow and hopefully more minutes.

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Anyone put a bug in D-Mo's ear last night?

He rebounds when he goes against 4s. ... At his normal spot, he can react more. Not as much holding and grabbing. Joey and Dwight are more comfortable doing that. You'll see his rebound numbers improve now that he's not guarding the DeAndre Jordan's of the world.

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Beverley?

Biggest thing is he has to let the pain go away. Got some real issues with the tendon. Flaked off the bone. Left hand. Can he play? No way to know he can play until he plays a game with it. We'll know a lot more in 7-10 days. Long shot Pat coming back and where he can play.

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I'd like to let Nick get some time. Trevor and Brew will get 'em. Some of the top PGs are hard to guard for anyone. Pablo and Jet being older will have their hands full. Hopefully Nick can get some time and confidence.

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(Dwight; say, if the Minnesota game is over by the 3rd Q) We'll play him, he needs to play. Haven't had enough bodies in practice. I'd like to keep him out there with Pablo so they can get some rhythm. We have to play fast even with Dwight back. A lot of things I'd like to do with Dwight. One way or another, we'll try to get him up to 20 tomorrow and 20 for a few games.

Which end of back to backs?

We'll look at it. Let's get Minnesota tomorrow and see. His knee might dictate it. He might say I'm sore Sunday and I'd rather play Monday. I'd rather have him for Washington but if he's sore or needs an extra day, we'll play against Toronto. Planning too far ahead is...I'm planning on 20 minutes tomorrow and evaluate Saturday. It puts less pressure on Dwight on being something he can't be after taking 2 months off.

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I'd like to track down Memphis and catch them. They have the tiebreaker so we have to beat them flat out by record. It's so tight in this race. 3rd spot now. My biggest concern is playing well, getting Terrence back. (Lung) It's fully functioning. He has to get comfortable. Still in pain but 100% better than 2 days ago. Getting him back, finding out about Pat and getting our best team together.

D-Mo back tight?

Very sore today. He should be good to go.

 

Sounds like Dwight is still in pain... This sucks :/

 

I admit that was deflating to me. Hope he will keep on improving.

 

Did you guy's really think he would be pain free? I don't see anything troubling about what McHale said

 

So McHale is quite pessimistic about Bev returning this season, god I hope Johnson is ready if called upon.

Good news that Terrence is making progress.