ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 1/16/2013

Terrible officiating, inability to hit ft when it mattered most and turnovers lost this game. Tough loss but with such a young team u gonna have to have growing pains. Hopefully they get back on track, still plenty time left in the season

 

What's funny is at some points in the game the offense was being run through Morris and asik lol Morris was more here and there when the offense was being ran through him bout asik the start of the 2nd half was being ran through him and it was funny but pitiful at the same time

 

Just because it's a simple problem doesn't mean there's a simple solution. He's a young player and like a lot of young players he has confidence issues. If he misses a few shots he gets down on himself. He's going to somehow find a way to stay confident and agressive even though at some points of the game things aren't going well for him.

It's hard to argue with "I bet.." It's totally subjective, I cannot prove or disprove your argument. It just doesn't seem logical that McHail was telling him to pass the ball when he was playing well.

 

Jeremy Lin per 36 mins since McHale took over: 15/6.8/3.6 and 2.3 steals on 46.5 shooting from the field.. Also 3.4 TO's so that's bad.

Since McHale came back he's been pretty good. Still young and learning, he will be fine.

 

I wonder what kind of plays McHale is drawing up for some of these late game possessions out of timeouts... Is he not drawing up plays at all or are the players failing to execute the plays?

 

It's a disappointing loss but we fought hard down the stretch.

 

It also doesn't seem logical that McHale runs no pick-and-roll with a backcourt that thrives off that very play. Or that after Lin puts up 38-7 on the Spurs by utilizing screens/picks McHale goes on to utilize neither going forward.

I would not put logic and McHale together.

 

The aggressiveness you are talking about is taking your man 1-on-1 which is not a good play most of the time. That's why PnR offense > ISO ball.

I really don't believe it's a confidence issue. I think it all comes down whether you are put in a position to thrive like what happened in the 4th.

 

A few observations:
1. Besides missing a lot of shots tonight and a few crucial layups, Harden had good stats across the board.
2. Lin showed up in the 4th, but disappeared at the line.
3. Delfino needs to stop trying to be a PG.
4. I can respect < 3 TOs from Lin and Harden...anything higher is too much.
5. Beverley looks to be a good backup to Lin, feel bad for Douglas though as he's going to be sitting more now. Beverley seems to be too aggressive...drawing too many fouls in limited minutes.
6. Another sad rebounding night by Morris/Patterson. When you guard has the same number of boards as the two combine...something is wrong.
7. I put the loss blame on Lin/Harden tonight. Missing crucical layups and FTs...both had a chance to close the game but didn't come through tonight.
8. Not to worry....lot more games to play.

 

Got to hit those FTs.

 

Lin needs to play like he did in the 4th every minute of every game not just for 1 quarter. Cause he got us back in the game with a chance to win

 

We lost the game against the Spurs man. When we were on a 5 game win streak we were running the same plays we've been running on the losing streak. That's what worked earlier in the year, and that's what we're going with. We had many chances to win this game, and we do run P&R with Lin/Harden for stretches in almost every game.

 

Has anyone noticed harden is not doing the Euro step more often?

 

EXACTLY.

 

Not always his fault, it is a team game afterall. Having said that he needs to play better at his salary and role on the team. Aside from Loh, I think people are just becoming irritated with all the bad games. When a team loses, you turn to your best players for answers. Harden had a bad game, but he's consistently getting it done. I do believe Jeremy will get it together but so far he hasn't. With his role and salary, we should expect more from the starting pg spot. At the very least, consistently hitting open shots a starting point guard should make. At 6ast per game he clearly isn't Rondo, so there is really no excuse. It is a detriment to the rest of the team and if he can't improve on that, the Rockets need to find a PG. who can put up starting PG numbers.

 

GREAT POST!

 

Honestly, this team does not run as many PnR plays as you would think.

From Synergy...

Houston Rockets plays

PnR Ball Handler, 523 plays, 12.7%
PnR Roll Man, 253 plays, 5.9%

Total : 18.6%

James Harden

PnR Ball Handler, 238 plays, 45.5% of total Rockets PnR, 25% of Harden's total plays

Jeremy Lin

PnR Ball Handler, 148 plays, 28.2% of total Rockets PnR, 25.9% of Lin's total plays

Harden has 62% more PnR plays called for him than Lin, and approximately 60% more plays for him in general. Some of that is attributable to minutes differential, however part of that I notice is that the ball sometimes get sticky when it reaches Harden.

Lin on the other hand does seem to overpass, however it's harder to determine how much of that is due to him looking for higher quality shots when there's a lot of time on the clock, how much is him not trying to force shots when he's not feeling like he's hot, and how much is him trying to create for his team mates too much.

For comparison, here's the use of PnR by some other teams...

Spurs - 15.5% PnR Handler, 8.1% Roll Man (23.6%)
Dallas - 14.3% PnR Handler, 8.1% Roll Man (22.4%)
Cleveland - 15.4% PnR Handler, 7% Roll Man (23.1%)
Portland - 14.6% PnR Handler, 6.9% Roll Man (21.5%)
Knicks - 16.6% PnR Handler, 7.3% Roll Man (23.9%)
Memphis - 11% PnR Handler, 6.7% Roll Man (17.7%)
Suns - 12.7% PnR Handler, 6.1% Roll Man (18.8%)
Minnesota - 14.3% PnR Handler, 7.1% Roll Man (21.4%)
Wizards - 12.5% PnR Handler, 9% Roll Man (21.5%)

In other words, in theory we have two of the better PnR players in the NBA, yet we seem to run fewer PnR's than a LOT of teams out there.

Yes, there are drive and kicks, but a lot of them are off Isolation plays (one on one) instead of manufacturing space and allowing Harden and Lin to play off the pick.

I do think they need to integrate more PnR into the game for Harden AND Lin as well as better use off ball screening for open shooters. We are seeing more of it now than earlier in the season, but it's clear that this offense still isn't fully developed in terms of a play book.

 

You guys lost this game because Harden got his shot rubbed to put the team up 1... that's it.. that's where the game was lost, period.

 

Hate to break it to you, but the way Lin has played over the past 20-25 games, he is worth his salary, maybe more...check those stats above your post, he's averaging 15/7 while playing good defense...not sure what kind of stat line you think you can get for 8 mil a year...if you want him averaging around 18/8 while playing good defense, well, then that is max money right there.

 

torocan PnR won't work until we get decent roll man. Asik's man will immediately come off him to double the handler and Asik can't catch the bounce pass that Lin/Harden like to use to thread through the double team. PnR only works if we have a good roll guy.