ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Pacers 11/12/2017

I still remember Capella's first game. Looked like a baby deer trying to learn how to walk...

 

Impressive victory. Black showing he should play more, Mbah and Ariza finding their stroke, PJ hustling, Harden just amazing at creating and just having fun out there while Capela was a monster at finishing and rebounding. I only lost sight of road Ryno, where was he?

 

More than once, Clint came from outside his immediate area to secure a board. The stats show that he got 16 of 18 chances on the defensive glass. Keep in mind this was on the tail end of a back-to-back in a game that we were cruising. The only thing he didn't do is win all the offensive boards (he only got 1 of 8 offensive rebounding chances), but it was a back-to-back. He logged his 32 minutes and took a seat.

The Pacers have some decent bigs. They rank in about the middle of the pack in the league right now, and we really got to the ball.

More Tarik Black, please. . . He's got upside if we'll play him. That guy shouldn't be sitting waiting for a back-to-back to play. He'll absolutely thrive with CP3.

 

he made a deal with home rhyno not to suck for one game in exchange for his services

 

I think that only playing during a back-to-back if Nene can’t go is the right role for him. Do u want Mike to play 3 C’s in the same game? It will be a rare occasion where Nene can play and Black will be the better option which means that he’s gonna be stuck in the role that he currently has which is Nene insurance.

 

I don't have a good answer for how to make the minutes work. Nene's only playing 15 a game when he's out there.

We could steal 4 minutes for Black simply by taking 2 minutes from Capela and Anderson (they are playing 32 minutes each) . . . I think early in the season it's worth giving Black 5-10 minutes of work in the 1st and 2nd quarter. But I wouldn't want to mess with the team chemistry.

Black's very active, eager, and hungry. He gives us a shot blocking presence that Nene no longer has. I'd hope we could find a way to get him out there on some kind of basis.

I'm not a fan of an 8-man rotation. It will be a new world when we add CP3 as we'll be to a 9th man. Personally, I think we should be working in even more players. Of course, the Spurs give a clinic in how to distribute minutes every night.

 

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I think the acquisitions of Luc & PJ give us a different look from last year. As good as Bev was, his size only allows him to guard PG's. But with Luc & PJ we now have size that gives us more flexibility. We now can guard 5 positions and switch everything. We can now play the passing lanes and still get back on defense. This is the biggest difference.

 

Watching Capela and Harden work the Pick and Roll is a thing of beauty.

If you are 6'10 and above. . . in the NBA you must drool at the place setting Harden is doing for Capela and NeNe

Rocket River

 

Team transformation has more to do with Luc, Tucker, and Capela becoming a star.

 

an cp3 becoming coach paul

 

Paul's coaching in the sidelines for Harden becoming an elite playmaker and scorer has made wonders for Capela offensively

Plus of course replacing Dekker and Harrel with 2 legit 3&D, layups, rebounds, and hustle player helped alot

 

and Black. Hope we see a couple of minutes of Harden playing with Chee

 

Watching that through the legs pass to Capela was exciting as hell. there was almost NO ONE between Capela and the basket.

Chee needs to be watching and learning that . . .. BE READY cause the ball is coming.

What's the story in Chinanu?

Rocket River

 

This is easily the best Rockets team that I have seen since I have started watching in 1998. CP3 is going to really expand some of those leads in the beginning of the second quarter.

 

Bull mentioned that this team leads the league in defensive rebounding percentage but we're 11th overall in offensive rebounds. This is great news, to me this means we're getting back on defense. We don't have to have the greatest 5 defensive players in the game to be good on defense, but if we get 5 guys back on defense for the large majority of plays, we have a chance to be the best defense in the league.

This was the greatest piece of news I've gotten about the Rockets since the Chris Paul trade. This is statistical evidence of our commitment to winning.

 

Morey said this was one of the best teams he has assembled and Clutchfans.net wasn't hearing it. Morey doubled-down on his statement, even after whiffing on Melo, Clutchfans.net really wasn't hearing it.

I remember when Morey said the Rockets would still do well after losing Parsons and missing out on Bosh. Even though Rockets acquired CP3, the mood felt the same this off-season as it did back then with incredulous fans.

 

Pacers broadcast was extremely complimentary of James Harden and the Rockets. It feels like they talked more about the Rockets than their own team.

 

Our defense with Paul, Harden, Ariza, Luc, and Capela may be the best in the league when splits are calculated at the end of the season. Just insane switching potential. I can rave all day about Capela's ability to stay in front of guards on the perimeter. We finally have a defense that mirrors the Heat's defenses in the the Lebron Era.

 

Let's be honest, it was a long time after losing Yao to injury and early retirement.