ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Clippers 5/10/2015 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 4)

Just our luck he got injured in garbage time in our last regular season game.

 

Are you crazy? Smith should be getting less playing time not starting the game. Capela should be given more time off the bench and so should Dorsey. Cant keep doing the same thing, mix it up, look for a spark somewhere on your roster.

 

McHale looks totally beaten and at a loss for ideas and words in that post game questioning.

Definitely demoralizing to see him like that, I'm sure it is for the players as well

 

Is Howard that easily taken out of the game? I remember Max talking to fans all the time, but 90% of the time he did deliver in toughness on defense or making a shot. Dwight mentally checks out when he's pissed..

 

Something's wrong beyond the obvious, being down 3-1.

The Rockets began the season on the heels of Morey's apology to fans, that last season's 1st round exit was on him because of lack of defense. It wasn't exactly planned that the first upgrade in that direction was acquiring Ariza. Bosh was the prime target last offseason. Only the last-minute switch by Bosh started the dominoes falling that led to Ariza.

Injuries then played a significant role in difficulty of developing a rotation, and therefore, a chemistry. When D-Mo finally got his chance at significant minutes most of us were pleasantly surprised at his "progress." The additions of Brewer and Smith, likewise, were more opportunistic than part of a master plan. It is said that Morey wanted Brewer for some time, but a deal could never be worked out before.

Amid the chaos of injuries and lineup changes, the Rockets somehow found ways to win games as they went along with enough success to eventually get the 2nd seed for the playoffs and most fans and analysts were amazed, giving kudos to the coach and his staff that they were able to accomplish such a feat given the injuries.

With much anticipation the opening series against Dallas began, only to reveal by the end, an inability, or disinterest in playing defense -- at least at the level to match the mantra with which the season began.

Then as the 2nd series began Barkley said, even after the Game 1 loss, that the Rockets are one of the deepest teams in the playoffs and that they just needed to not be so lackadaisical. The Clippers, he said, had no bench to match the Rockets. Ditto for the TNT panel's view after the Rockets won Game 2. Now, after Game 4, fans and analysts alike are scratching their heads wondering what has gone wrong. Is it just energy and effort? Is it really blown assignments on both ends of the floor? Is it just that in the face of better defense by the Clippers that shots aren't falling? Is it just a case of a bad matchup in this Round?

Probably all of the above and more. We could dissect both playoff series and compare them to the performance in the regular season. There are a couple of constants, for sure -- unforced turnovers and poor FT shooting. But the team somehow survived that over the course of the season since these flaws never really improved much. These can certainly be deadly flaws.

But I'm certainly left with this nagging feeling that something else is wrong; something larger than the specific mistakes and flaws that we've all seen.

If memory serves me correctly, at some point when the '94 team was labeled "Choke City," the players had a meeting to try to get themselves "right." I don't know if the current roster has had any team meetings to address adversity this season, but if ever one was needed it is now. They should get together without any coaches or staff and see if they can find a unity and inspiration that they seem to be lacking.

In the absence of such bonding one is left speculating that there is a Pollyanna attitude that things will just work themselves out; just keep plugging away. If that was the case before, I don't believe any players can realistically say they believe it to be so at this juncture. Forget winning a championship. Forget even winning this series. Get together and try to rekindle the "love" that Howard mentions in one of the team promos on TV. Love for your brother teammates can inspire a commitment as surely as example is better than precept. At least for this next game, demonstrate to one another that commitment and love. This is a more lasting source of energy and effort than a pep talk from anyone else. Ponder the sacrifices that each of you have made over the course of such a rough season and especially now. Play for each other. Then let the chips fall where they may. But if you've played for this reason, no matter the result, I think you will be at peace.

 

^^^ Barkley's speech was just a psychotic hateful way of jinxing the Rockets and it worked. Deep what? This team is poorly coached and has no post up option that is reliable. With Dmo it would have been deep. There's nobody that can handle the ball when Harden is out. He claimed the Rox would win this series too.

 

I hope to god Smith isn't on this team next year. He's been trash.

 

Our bench has been dreadful, Harden hasn't been able to get into the games because he isn't getting as many calls, and we have absolutely nobody that can effectively guard Griffin and Reddick. Too many issues to correct in such a small amount of time, and it feels like McHale has been overwhelmed all series.

I hope we come up with a solid game plan, and bring some of the fun back into the game tomorrow. It's more than likely too little too late but you're playing for pride now not the series.

Also: I really don't want to bring Smith back. Even in RD1, his mental lapses and inability to make a 3 foot hook shot kept Dallas in nearly every game. He's just not worth 20 MPG and a part of the MLE.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rockets shake it off,regroup and WIN 1 game. <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets">@HoustonRockets</a></p>&mdash; mario elie (@marioelie1) <a href="https://twitter.com/marioelie1/status/597826624474644480">May 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Any chance we can sub McHale out for him in Game 5?

 

Mario with the positive attitude. Seriously though this team should be playing better D. They need to step up and get the W tomorrow. The D should not be this bad. Howard or Ariza need to step up and lead on the D side of ball. They are professionals and even with bad coaching they have been around the game long enough to know what it takes to play solid D and get the other players to get going on the D side of court.

 

How about the other 3 starters (+ bench) step up and DO THEIR JOB?

This is not on Ariza or Howard to "get the other guys going" or to do their responsibility.

Ariza can't cover all five of Paul, Redick, Crawford, Rivers & Barnes.

Howard can't cover Jordan & Griffin and then cover because a guard blew by one of the Rockets guards or rotate over because Jones or Smith is out of position or is getting eaten alive.

And ALL OF THEM need to get back in transition. You turn it over, you get back. You throw a bad pass, you get back. You drive and no foul is called, you get back.

Or don't. Continue your ****ty defense, lose the game, series is over and that'll be that.

And it probably will. Been this way since Dallas series.

As I said earlier, McHale already knows they can't stop them. That's why he went hack-a-Jordan for nearly an entire half.

Whatever they're saying, whatever they're doing, it's not working & the message ain't getting through to the guys.

 

Rockets need to show something and win game 5. Then at least keep it semi competitive game 6. Matter of fact I'd settle for a competitive loss in game 5. That's how low my standards have gotten. Just don't get run out of the gym again.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/LAClippers">@LAClippers</a> have won a second straight <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash">#NBAPlayoffs</a> game by 25+ points. That makes LAC the first team to do so since the 2001 Lakers</p>&mdash; NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/597846437699911681">May 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

They won't get blown out at home. They'll make it a game. Hell...they might even win, which will be great until the slaughter in Game 6.

 

It's really no surprise this would happen. Even the Dallas series where the Rox gave up 110+ points every game was the telling story of if they could compete with the better more competent playoff teams. Even Dennis Scott on NBA TV knew right then and there with a smirk. You have to be a really smug homer fan to not know this isn't a team that would god deep in the playoffs given this facet of the first series.

 

Either Clippers are going to blow out every single team from here on out or they are going to lose to the Warriors/Grizz and we're going to see how truly bad we are.

 

end conclusion here is that rockets may not be a playoffs reason for pretty much reason..

it is easy for good coaches that are in the playoffs to adjust to us in a best of 7... whereas, our team is good in the reg season when we can catch teams off guard with a fast pace which basically relies on two points of offense


always will be and is about the adjustments... i think mchale did just fine this playoffs, its not in his control if someone like Ariza who has two jobs cant do the latter when shooting open threes

 

Wouldn't be the first time the Rockets made someone or a team look better than they actually are.

 

That's for sure. That's for dang sure.

(it's a quote from an old WWII flick - and so true in this case)