ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 1/18/2020

Funny. He’s doing a lot more winning than we are.

We don’t have a better chance when we have exactly zero percent chance at the title.

 

What is happening now is sadly the rest of the team is being badly and I mean badly being exposed for the incompetent frauds that they are that harden has cooled down and is not playing at superhuman level anymore to bail them out of sticky situations.

Hardens last 5 or 6 games has been average by his standards and the teams record reflect that. Morey needs to convince Tillman this team as currently constructed will not win a title and he needs to make a choice

 

I have been a Rockets fan since before Sampson hit the “shot heard round the world” to end the lakers season in 1986. Of course through the title years. This years team? 2015/16 all over again. First round fodder with a whimper.

 

After seeing how the Heat is doing this season, I can't even blame Butler for not coming here.

The Heat, starting from their GM all the way down to their coaches just have this culture to compete hard in every game.

Now they have the #2 record in the East, which is the same record as the #2 in the West 29-12.

 

I think Morey is basically begging to be fired at this point. He hasn't done sh*t since last year. He's just sitting in his office, gaining more double-chins, and hoping the team wins the next game so that he doesn't have to make tough decisions, and by the time, the hard decision has to be made, most of the valuable players look like crap and can't be traded for something good.

 

Lakers are an elite team. No shame in losing vs them. They put up a good fight.

 

As it’s becoming glaring obvious teams are getting the ball out of hardens hands and forcing others to make plays on the ball and it’s ugly.
Hell harden himself had been poor in the last few games so imagine what these bench players are like. This team currently lacks the necessary talent to win unless harden scores 50 a night and now that teams see its working to double him and get the ball out of his hands it’s not happening. We need a big man who can shoot and score. Need a legit 3/4 man who can defend outside of a dinosaur like Tucker. The holes are a many

 

This team needs a make over like yesterday. Let’s just start trading everyone.

funny how every team looks better than us atm. Even New Orleans, Sacramento or Phoenix have some ball moment and players that can shoot and make wide open shots. Pretty much every one that is in the playoffs right now is playing well except us. We hit a slump and is due to guys not making wide open shots making defenses triple teaming Harden.

we need a new coach if the only thing he is going to do is clap and say everything will be alright. We already had enough of that with McHale.

 

I mean I didn’t think that him having a reasonable game of 30+ with decent FG %, wouldn’t be enough especially if the other star has 35. I mean even without CP last year we had a similar cast but went on some insane stretch. I wonder If this 5 game stretch is a horrific sign that we need great Harden every night or is it that our supporting cast has become just void as of late. 110 points isn’t chump change either but the effort from the first half to the second half was completely different.

 

This team has lost lots of talent from the 2017/2018 years. And yes unless harden scores 50 or atleast 40 plus on high efficiency this team has very little chance against the contenders.

Guys like House and Mclemor were on the scrap heap for a reason. They can be solid for only brief periods but they are not starter or big pieces on a contender

 

After that 5 days rest, James Harden started playing like an average player. I don’t know what happened to him during that 5 days rest.

 

Whatever the case for his struggles is this just exposes the incompetence of the likes of House and Mclemor.

 

Nah, that Heat team isn't much better than we are.

Had we gotten Butler he'd be on the better team for sure.

CP3, Harden, Butler, three stars better than two.

Butler is playing on a one star team, while they play hard and play together, a 2 star team will do away with them in the playoffs. Whether that be Boston, Milwaukee, Toronto, Philly, doesn't matter. They are a great regular season team but I wouldn't even take them over this Rocket team in a 7 game series.

They remind me of those Horford-Coach Bud Hawks team. They are coached well, play hard every night, but just won't have the firepower to really scare any team in the playoffs.

 

At the moment they’re the second seed, and will make it to the second round.

Neither of those things will be true about the Rockets.

Butler made the right choice. We all mocked him thinking he wasn’t about winning and wanted the lavish lifestyle of Miami.

Maybe, dude actually knew what he was doing all along.

 

lol at overrreactions... this is just a game in january and we are only 3 games out of 2nd seed... wake me up in april when real games begin and we start playing real defense... nobody will want to face us

 

As much as we got exposed as a team full of incompetent individuals who cannot dribble nor pass or do anything once Harden gets double-teamed aside from Westbrook, I did not like our defensive demeanor and in particular Harden's. He didn't fight for rebounds, didn't cover for teammates, when he lost the ball just started talking to the referee or run back half-assed quite often. Westbrook went all out and it still is not enough to fire up the rest of the team it seems. Tucker of course gives it his all and Capela looked aggressive early on on defense, but somehow it all went to ****.

So many wide open looks we gave them and they made, the same open looks we miss. My god, how much room and time does House need to get up a shot? I understand Harden's frustration as guys are just not making shots, but that also comes back to running plays which is on coach. What I don't understand is what we were doing on defense at times with leaving guys like Kuzma and Green open, but then Gordon defending Troy Daniels as if he was going to be a threat to drive the ball. A lot of defensive problems was due to late rotations or getting screened. That's what actually pissed me off the most, once Harden got screened, he didn't even attempt to get back in the play. He needs to understand that when role players see that from him, it is worse because he's our main guy.

Our passing was just atrocious all game long, from the ankle passes toTucker giving it to Lebron to Gordon's football pass. Also twice it got picked off when Tyson & Capela threw it out of bounds to a guy who had a Laker running up from behind without communicating. Communication was also a big problem, especially early in the game when we should've been up by 15-20 points, where there was a late rotation by one of the guards or just not sure who's picking up who on the switch. We're making silly mistakes, but very costly.

I don't know what we're practicing, but somehow I doubt we are working on plays to get guys in positions to make a play once Harden is double-teamed or plays once they get the ball. Or they just cannot execute it. MDA might actually realise he's dealing with players who cannot dribble or pass so he just doesn't even bother. Of all the decisions MDA made tonight, one baffled me the most after Tyson's childish back and forth with Dwight to the point where he was just shoving and wanted to strip him rather than just wait for him to make a move so he could block it or force a miss: where was Hartenstein??

 

Try hard teams never go anywhere.

 

This little losing streak coincides with the schedule getting tougher.

And Harden's 3 not falling more regularly. Role players getting fatigued. WB being the only one who can rest.

 

Or nobody is going to wake you up, you gotta do it yourself!

 

James Butler?
James Butler would have walked out the door.

...

Team isn't a contender but sure, trade more first round picks for a quick "fix".