Clutchfans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 7/26/2020 (Scrimmage)

Nuggets are a threat and never have been. Harden dominates them. Lakers and Bucks are title contenders(just like we are) they are always gonna be a problem and that wasnt gonna change wether we had Clint or not.

 

anybody who played basketball at any level know you can't teach height. thing that separates euroball with nba been athleticism including height. the way you had to adjust your shot just to get it over tall and athletic front court. against rockets you have euro type centers defending the paint. With prime James Harden and almost prime Westbrook we should be flushing teams down the toilet and we have conversations about whether 6'6 center will work or no lol

 

The Euros have better passing bigs.

This goes beyond microball.

MDA is an innovator for sure, tries something different every other year.
To some avail or no avail.

Bball should be simpler.

 

If you don't think the nuggets are a threat...just wait until the first round, if that's who we end up against. As far as the contenders, those series will barely be competitive if they happen.

 

I just brought that up to see if he actually believed in the small ball or just accepted it because russ got better.

 

Im just watching Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics, before Ray Allen joined Heat. They got Haslem, Chalmers, Battier, Wade, LeBron. And they play AMAZING. If Harden is at comparable level to LeBron and Westbrook to Wade then what separates those teams?

 

Lakers didn’t make a drastic change to their team at the trade deadline like we did

Lakers didn’t have 2 starters show up late to the bubble

much easier for them to be in midseason form

 

Uh, they also had Chris f*cking Bosh.

You know how nasty this Rockets team would be if they could just throw Bosh in at center?

Russ
Harden
Covington
Tucker
Bosh

That is a championship line-up. If the small-ball experiment doesn't work in the playoffs, this off-season will be about getting an actual defending big who can shoot the 3 like a Chris Bosh (ex: Serge Ibaka).

 

You forgot about about Chris Bosh. And LeBron is also 6'8 and stronger than most PF. It's not even comparable to what we are doing.

Having Bosh and LeBron in there who are 6'11 and 6'8 is not the same as having Harden and WB

 

Bosh was not playing the game i am talking about

 

I sure do miss those plays where there’s a pick and roll with a big, then the ball handler chunks it up to the big man who grabs and slams in down..

Think those were called oollie whoops
Or maybe whoopsie daisy...

Anyways. That used to be cool and effective..



Come back Capela !

 

I think the Nuggets would be a threat but the Corona situation unfortunately made things difficult for them.

Players outside the bubble are slow to re-join the team and so on.

As good as Bol has been, it's still pre season.

Doncic on the Mavpricks plays like a vet, team relies on spacing and 3s.
OKC looks poised as well.

 

The Rockets honestly didn't look very impressive most of that game, but catching fire from 3 at the end sure helps things.

They really just look like the same wildly inconsistent team from earlier this season, which is to be expected. Just have to hope the team catches fire from 3 during the playoffs.

 

The Rockets need to tighten up the screws. Playing well in spurts won't cut against the top teams in the league.

Need consistent effort on both sides of the ball, especially the defense.

I think and hope we will see them play with a different mind set when the games start for real.

 

yup , cant judge too much as it was a game that didnt count ... but both teams were playing hard at times... and i was encouraged how many wide open 3's we were able to generate with the Grizz playing hard.

Our defense didnt look too hot, but PJ ins't in good form yet. He needs to be physical to be successful and you cant go all out in these preseason games. Plus , foul trouble.

Grizz commentators were ragging on our depth , but i think we have it ( if guys can find their form : rivers, gordon , etc )

Grizzlies are a young , wanna push the pace team , and we tore them apart and had the energy at the end of the game. If we can hit enough threes to keep some pressure on other teams and off our defense then we are gonna run teams ragged over 48 min .

 

funny how there's a number of people in here who think the rockets should be firing on all cylinders right now when the two players they rely on the most literally just showed up a week ago. the conclusions people are drawing from a scrimmage game in which they won is pure classic GARM game threads. In a way, I did miss it for awhile when there weren't any games but now I realize wow sometimes its just better off not seeing the kneejerks

 

Its still unsettling watching PJ playing 'center' vs 7 footers.

 

Definitely. PJ has the heart of a lion, but he is 35 and 6’ 5”. Bruno is nearer G League status. There is a huge hole at the 5. MDA and the statistician think they’re smarter than the whole league. A lot of energy will be taken out on the boards with many fouls. This will decrease our 3 point percentage, because of increasing pressure and we will run out of gas.

PS: That doesn’t mean that I was against the Capela/ Ro-Co trade. Ro-Co has been terrific for us.

 

Please, they arent a threat. No on our team is afraid of them. Harden will destroy Jokic like he always does. We actually almost beat them the game Harden sat. Will it be harder without Capela, sure. But are they a threat to us....nah. Jokic will get eaten alive by Russ and Harden. Barely be competitive? I bet you thought we would barely be competitive with the Lakers the day we traded for Covington too right? 538 has us at 5th best in the league for championship odds and 3rd in the league for full strength rating. Its not as lop sided as you think it is.

 

Why are we talking about Clint? Before COVID he was basically out for the season. He was not going to be ready for the playoffs.

The Rockets got a playable high caliber 6-9 3 & D SF for an injured C. Even if this small ball experience doesn’t work, I feel better about having Covington moving forward than Clint. It’s easier to find a halfway decent center over finding a player like Covington.