ClutchFans Game Thread: Clippers @ Rockets 3/5/2020

Midrange! They are giving Harden WIDE OPEN 15 footers because they know he will refuse to take them at all. It's counterproductive. Take what's given to you, become less predictable, and then benefit from the defense now not knowing how to defend you as well. And that's not to mention the countless backdoor/cutting opportunities that have been there, but have instead just gone unnoticed because we tell everybody to chill at the 3 point line.

And you're right. EGO has killed us. No chance without him playing decent basketball.

 

Fault can be given to both player and coach, as proven by their postgame analysis.

Harden: We got a lot of open looks. If a couple or our threes fall in early, it's a different ball game. Our energy picks up and the game changes. They didn't. It's part of the game of basketball. We got to learn from it and move on.

... AKA... intensity and effort go out the window when shots don't fall.

MDA: They smacked us good, and we didn't respond. Didn't respond defensively, didn't respond anywhere.

... AKA... he didn't respond.

Mentality-wise, they are almost exact copies. Both appear just fine with playing for the lessons learned than actually going for the win, esp when it comes to big games. At this point, I expect more of the same from Mike. Though, James' comment is more eye-opening and disappointing to hear when he's speaking almost as a non-participant. As a co-captain of the team, I expect him to snap his teammates out of whatever funk they're in - lead by example. Instead, he often becomes part of the problem. Love James and his game, which is why I wish he had a coach who didn't enable this kind of mentality but instead one who can challenge him to be more of an on-court leader. Sadly, I don't know if there are any coaches who coach like this. I really do envy the Clips having Doc. To me, he'd be the perfect coach for James and Russ, but more so James.

 

These last two games have been sobering the Knicks had us by the balls all game and had they had a few whetted shooters we would have lost that game handily, the Chips didn’t even play all that great tonight and easily manhandled us, not a good sign at all ... I like some aspects of small ball (better ball movement, more player movement More player involvement) but tonight we see how If the team shoots 3s poorly we are screwed. HUGE !!!! Lack of rebounding and rim protection killed us tonight with Trez and Zubac they destroyed PJ and RoCo. That was disheartening to watch but I almost expected it tbh.

You are right about Harden if he somehow rediscovers his 3 he will be doubled hard and then we are back to relying on these streaky shooters on this roster which doesn’t leave me feeling too good.

 

Can anyone post our 3PT% and ranking before-after the trades ??

 

well we could start w/ a coach who has an actual functioning pair of balls. apparently they like some candidates currently working abroad and in the g-league

 

Westbrook the starter with over 30 minutes, the rest were under.....a good rest night

 

So you you admit you whine without having any solutions.

Typical.

 

I'm very confused why some on here act like there's no possible way our coaching can improve. As if MDA is simply doing all he can do. It's wild to me.

 

What? They aren't giving harden wide open anything. They may guard one on one behind the arc but as soon as he drives they will converge on him. We do not have a lot of players who are great cutters/finishers and that isn't so easy to pull off with 3 guys with one foot in the paint at all times. What they are giving us is the 3 ball. It is really what it boils down to. Our defense after a make was actually very good tonight. But them turning bricks into fast breaks is what really killed us. The more shots we make not only do we get points but we set our defense and get more stops.

 

i don't own the rockets. my proposed solutions are irrelevant. the solution i did allude to was posted by reliable insider Nook in the past day

 

Agree Ego has been awful, that Jazz game was a complete fluke as far as his season has gone he’s wither not available to play, coming back in limited fashion from injury, or he’s shooting terribly most games. His D hasn’t been average and he seems to be settling for that deep 3 more and more like he’s averse to going to the hoop maybe due to contact ... it’d be nice if someone took advantage of the space afforded for mid range,’but teams know we are predictable and know thats never going to happen with this coach, system, and roster. Tonight was a ball buster of a beat down if you ask me .

 

we went small and lost out pick and roll dunk

 

ya even bull & craig mentioned in the previous game that our coaching staff was content sitting on the bench unworried while we were down 21 to the knicks. d'antoni is good at some things, but motivating his team is not one of them. hence we show up flat for so many games. there's a lot more he could improve on as well, but his stubborness gets in the way

 

the Jazz game also gave him all the usage he wanted

 

If you are not the owner then why are you lobbying to fire the winningest coach in franchise history because you dont like the size of his balls???

If I got any of that wrong please correct me, you want D'Antoni fired not because you have a better coach in mind but because he doesnt do the things YOU think he should be doing amirite?

Or is it really a certain size of nut sack that you require?

But you got it right, your suggestions are irrelevant because your solutions are nonexistent and uninformed.

 

True he was the only star on the court, he has really been pretty awful most games he has played significant minutes in this year. Sad because he was our 3rd guy the last two year ame now isn’t half what he was last year just by the eye test.

 

MDA and the Rockets have owned Doc and the Clips in the postseason.

How soon our fans forget.

 

the intial post you replied to here in this thread mentioned that d'antoni is not getting extended. it wasn't a lobby to persuade anyone, it was an opinion/prediction. as far as who replaces him, that will be management's task. i am under no obligation to post any proposals for that here. if you don't like my initial post or the subsequent ones, you are free to utilize the ignore feature. i will not be offended

 

The Clippers have as many Rockets legends as the Rockets have Thunder legends.

 

I agree in principle but also what can he do, this entire system is completely predicated on taking a **** ton of 3s if they’ve don’t fall at an epic rate like tonight and we are stuck with this small ball ( ie poor rebounding) team he’s kinda out of options ... I would love to see him telling the team to take advantage of the mid range but we both know that goes completely against his entire coaching philosophy and game plan. If the threes are falling his job is easy, if they aren’t he doesn’t really have an answer cause there is none.