[ClutchFans] Four Knee-Jerk Reactions From Houston’s Preseason Opener

LOL!!! My Bad.... :grin:

T_Man

 

So you think getting rid of Lin was to save on the balloon payment and not to clear cap space for Bosh? Or are you just saying that so you can continue in your anti Morey/Les crusade? That love you had for Patterson must have been deep.

 

"Terrence Jones had a bad game Tuesday night. No big deal. There are nights he looks like Tarzan and nights he looks like Jane."

Zingers fired! Not bad...

 

Jane has more heart than Jones.... At least Jane can play defense and block out

Hell Cheetah has more heart than Jones.

T_Man

 

2012-2014 Rockets was 6th in AST.
2013-2014 Rockets was 18th in AST.
My prediction is we will slip further to perhaps bottom 10 in AST.

 

19 team assists, 5 more than Dallas

While it is not a top number, it is average, or slightly above average

I say we are 10th-15th in AST

 

Offense reminded me of Tmac/Yao days, more 1 vs 1 basketball as opposed to a more team oriented offense. Dmo looked more comfortable out there, but as he was the biggest guy on the court when he closes out a perimeter player no one on the 2nd squad took the initiative to box out and rebound.

First squad looked pretty fluid-ish, besides the fact that it seemed like they were trying to force feed Howard/Harden it looked fine. I'm not sure if it's the coaching staff or the players but it doesn't seem like we're fully utilizing all 5 players on the court. If we can get all 5 players to buy in defensively.

Harden still looked like he lost his guy on defense more often than not but maybe it seemed like he was trying harder? Honestly I'll take sold defense all night over gambles for steals. Harden still looked like he was out of position frequently when going against pick/roll situations (which is pretty odd considering that's his bread and butter...)

All I can say for sure is that I'm happy that basketball is back!!

 

No more mr turnover machine

 

There were a few positives I took away from the game.

1. Ariza, Harden, DMo, and PBev looked really really good.
2. Adrien, KPap looked pretty good.
3. Everyone else looked like crap or incomplete.
4. Ish Smith can't shoot whatsoever. It's like 5 on 4 when he's out there because his man is always just daring him to shoot.
5. Canaan didn't impress me at all. Only 1 preseason game, but we really need either him or Smith to play better.
6. Tarik Black is just a big body, and that seems to be all. Similar to Dorsey, except Dorsey is apparently a defender. We'll see.

Overall, glad we won, but very concerned.

 

I don't want to reiterate our biggest problem but after watching the Hornets @ 76ers last night, McHale and our lack of a versatile offense and offensive system whatsoever when Harden & Howard are not in the game. The Hornets second unit last night consisted of Biyombo, Zeller, Neal, Roberts and Hairston.

I saw plenty of body movement, screens, a lot of passing and the threat of 3pt shooting by Neal and Hairston allowed Roberts to get inside + Zeller is a good enough mid-range shooter for defenses to honour that. Granted it was a few minutes of play, but it worked.

With any combination of Terry, Daniel, Johnson & Canaan there should be enough 3pt threat to clear lanes and open up spot on the floor. That way D-Mo / Adrien / Dorsey can work the post and we just need any of those 3 + Papa to be enough of a threat from mid-to long range (within the 3pt line) to open it up.

Sure it's a problem of personell, but these players are not all of a sudden going to be creators. So it's the job of the coaches to get a system in place of body and ball movement and work to the strengths of our bench unit. Hopefully by the start of the season or at least december we have something resembling an offense, given the rotation is set.

The excuse of youth and new players is bull, the Hornets have plenty of new and young guys: Zeller in 2nd year, Roberts new FA, Biyombo only 22 and Hairston rookie).

 

That's not what I'm saying. The whole point of flexibility is to get a superstar. Since Millsapp is not going to be just given to us, we will have to use our Flexibility which Morey won't use because he wants a third superstar. So you will see small moves but nothing big until he finds his third superstar. That's my opinion anyway. Morey had plenty of chances to take care of the PF situation awhile and he didn't supposedly because of "Flexibility".

 

Not necessarily. Spurs use their flexibility to sign very good role players. Morey has showed tons of history where he signed role players too and not just superstars. It's understandable why you feel that is a superstar or nothing with morey because he is always involved in any big name players. There is no reason to think that Morey will turn down 2 very good above average role players instead of one superstar.

With regards to chances, how do we know what he tried to do? All the information we get are rumors from the media. We seem to think that just because Morey wants player X, that it is that easy or because nothing happened, he did not do anything.

 

You mean _ane?

(Yeah, this one is for the poster that rep'd me.)

 

We need to run more Pick'n'roll plays for Dwight Howard...

 

Morey wants a superstar I'm not talking about other teams and I'm not suggesting what should be done. I'm simply saying that we know Morey wants a superstar, we do not have enough assets to get Millsap or Horford AND a third Superstar. I've already said he will make small moves for role players but they won't be exactly what you guys want unless Morey switches strategy.

 

Another knee-jerk prediction:

Trevor Ariza will be the best and most acclaimed 3 & D player in the NBA this season

 

what do you mean will be? he already proved that in the first preseason game

 

my knee-jerk reactions:

jones can still rebound and attack off the dribble. still inconsistent shooting and weak on defense. no real improvement from last season

dmo looks more comfortable shooting the 3, but still doesn't rebound, play d, or post up. still inconsistent and disappears sometimes. no real improvement from last season.

adrien is the best defender and rebounder at the PF spot that we have. he is also the most consistent. his lack of a long range shot will keep him from starting but he will be the backup PF instead of dmo.

papa will start slow but will adjust to the nba game and become a good glue guy off the bench. nothing special though, just a good reserve.

ariza will prove to be just as good as parsons for half the price. he can't create offense off the dribble or pass like chandler, but spot up shooting is even, and defense is light years ahead.

daniels keeps his spot in the rotation as the backup SG. he's too good at 3's not to. i wish he added one more thing to his game to become more than just a situational player.

johnson will be in the dleague all year. could be a good player but not this year.

tarik black will make the team.

ish will be cut.

depth chart on opening night will be:

dwight (36) - dmo (12) - black
jones (28) - adrien (14) - capela (NBDL)
ariza (36) - papa (18) - garcia
harden (38) - daniels (10) - johnson (NBDL)
beverley (38) - terry (10) - canaan

covington is a really really tough cut to make. i bet there will be a small trade to find him a home for a future second round pick before the season starts.

 

The team shot well from distance - from the boxscore

 

Rockets coulda had either Milsap or Jefferson this past offseason but didn't sign either of them.