ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Timberwolves 12/26/2012

steady · Dec 27, 2012

"In many ways, this win was more impressive than any the Rockets have had during this torrid stretch of play."
http://www.sbnation.com/2012/12/27/3807682/nba-scores-2012-james-harden

Cadreaming · Dec 27, 2012

Akim523 said: ↑

I'm seriously worried about the conditioning of the team. I remember Asik had a sloppy game against the Knicks which was a back to back as well, he looked tired and timid. Then Lin had one of his worst games with 7 TO, in the first 3 qtrs he looked absolutely spaced out, he lost his focus and he was still a bit passive with all those long jumpers. Even Harden was forcing the issue a bit before he broke out in the 4th qtr --- I think someone tweeted during the game that Harden was looking for fouls instead of attacking the basket.

I wonder if there's something wrong with the conditioning of this team, being so young they should have no problem adapting to back to backs from a pure physical standpoint.
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I read some reports that their plane was delayed at the Chicago airport until 4AM due to the snow storm that swept through the Midwest and the East Coast yesterday. All of them gave their all in the Chicago game. Add the flight delay and probably sleep-deprivation, it explains the starters' sluggishness. Don't be too hard on them.

BraveFox · Dec 27, 2012

gee didnt know avery johnson got fired...btw thnx for the article

langal · Dec 27, 2012

steady said: ↑

"In many ways, this win was more impressive than any the Rockets have had during this torrid stretch of play."
http://www.sbnation.com/2012/12/27/3807682/nba-scores-2012-james-harden
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Totally agree. We've been winning on transition buckets and scoring a whole lot of points. Good to see that we can grind out an ugly one too.

jscmedia · Dec 27, 2012

crash5179 said: ↑

This type of win was very important. The Rockets did not have their a-game, the calls were not going their way, they were down by double digits close to the end of the 3rd and trailed most of the second half on the road. All things were going against them but their superstar was able to put the team on his back and they squeaked out a last second win!

These wins build character and gives you confidence to win close games on the road. This was a great win for such a young team.
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Crash this is dead on. Every game has it's own flavor, rhythm and patterns.

With 5 mins left, and harden returning around that time, I turned to my wife and said,"I think McHale just told him(Harden) to go ahead and take it home..i.e. take the ball and go directly to the hoop. Which is exactly what he did. You either have this or you don't. James has it in his DNA> This game needed a driver and sense of direction, either team could have won. James Harden willed us to this win. That will come in mighty handy down the road.

By far most talented Rocket since Hakeem.

Knickskiller · Dec 27, 2012

who closed sick 14 point lead that the timber wolves had on us . Who pushed it to a draw ? It was so ugly at that point before the comeback. Alot of us and the reporters have forgotten this....

Akim523 · Dec 27, 2012

Knickskiller said: ↑

who closed sick 14 point lead that the timber wolves had on us . Who pushed it to a draw ? It was so ugly at that point before the comeback. Alot of us and the reporters have forgotten this....
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Toney Douglas!

just a word · Dec 27, 2012

Postcall said: ↑

Does anyone know why Lin was wearing the knee brace again during the game? He was not wearing anything during the Chicago game and I was wondering if he had a setback or if this was planned?
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both chandler and lin wear the knee pads; I'm not very surprised since they're both really physically and dive/fall to the floor alot.

Actually chandler DIDN'T wear the knee pad on the leg that was swollen I think, and I'm pretty sure that they didn't wear them because they didn't make the xmas jerseys look as good or something.

Supermaruchi · Dec 27, 2012

coach41 said: ↑

gamer4Life said: ↑

It's self-hate, period. They've internalized the racism that's been spewed by white media.

Let's not get confused with Asian Americans vs. the folks born in China.

The American (or otherwise known as White Media) doesn't particularly portray Asians in a good light as you mentioned. It's a known thing among Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans consume media like nothing else, yet there is not really a KNOWN Asian-American star to bank on. John Cho is probably one of the best known but he's not an "A Lister". Daniel Dae Kim is another, but he's not a "star" that leads the show.

So when Jeremy Lin popped up, tons of Asian-Americans (males) suddenly said "Oh wow, an Asian dude who can play. AND he's not foreign born and 7 feet tall". Those of you who are not Asian will not fully understand how it is to be a minority in the country.

In China, I've read some things in the past. Maybe it's internalized racism or just beliefs from when China was "weak". For the longest time, China believed they could not compete with other races in certain sports due to genetics. African athletes were just built for running, etc, etc. Of course, Liu Xiang blew that idea out of the water. Yao Ming showed he could play and now Jeremy Lin is showing (even though he's American) that he can play.

Final thought on Jeremy Lin. This came from someone else so I don't claim credit. This person said that it was GOOD that Jeremy Lin is not a freak of nature and that he is not running and jumping out of the gym. He got to the NBA because of his skill / talent rather than his raw athletic ability. It did help that Jeremy Lin is 6'3" though.

There's a ton of Asian-Americans who play basketball from the youth to adult league levels and I'm sure they've been paying attention to Jeremy Lin's exploits. I wouldn't expect a wave of Asian American kids to pop in the NBA soon, but in my neck of the woods (SF Bay Area), lots of Asian American kids going through the ranks and even trying to play junior college. Matter of time before more talented kids come through the pipeline.
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There is a huge difference between Asians and Asian Americans

The ignorance that exists today is astounding.

The clip with Steven a Smith on Jeremy's topic about racism was clearly a slap in a "Slave's" face, to the Asian Americans and every single race living in the U S of A.

Two African Americans, one Caucasian American, and a mixed American speak about how Asian Americans feel. That is quite credible, where the Asian American representative? Chuck a Ho Chen in the conversation and I can't stand that guy.
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Alex L. · Dec 27, 2012

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Incredible job by players&coaches yesterday--a win in Minnesota when we don't play our best against a very good TWolves squad is impressive</p>— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/284461380654997505" data-datetime="2012-12-28T00:50:52+00:00">December 28, 2012</a></blockquote>

anson-ke · Dec 27, 2012

good to see shuh, it become my habit to read your comment

shuh said: ↑

An ugly win, with a lot of grinding, several missed shots, off night from our starters.. but we were able to keep fighting through the pain and also we were lucky that Minnesota had an equally ugly game, and Love was off. The merit of this win was us overcoming the struggles and knowing how to close it in crunch time. I bet this is a game that contributed a lot to the team's growth and will impact our mindset positively.

The bads:

- Shooting: none of our starters was hitting the 3's, the jumpers or even the layups. Several misses from our side made the Minnesota also come to us with a transition game. Since they missed also a lot of shots, the game was pretty much even and low scoring. Not due to good defenses, but due to offensive inefficiency

- Starters up to the 3rd quarter: aside Asik, the rest of our starters were not efficient, and seemed off. Lin had a struggling night, Morris didn't hit his open looks, Parsons and Harden were quiet, no scoring much. On D, sometimes it seemed Asik was the only one to hold up the candle there.

- Boxing out: they've outrebounded us offensively and it was because, aside Asik, our players were not boxing out properly. That's something that our coaches have to point out to Morris, Smith.

- Halfcourt game: tonight, since our transition game was not efficient, when we had to focus on a halfcourt game, we were not able to pull it out. Love and Pekovic made it hard to penetrate, and Kirilenko is a good defender that disturbs the pick'n roll attempts. That was also one of the reasons for our drive and dish game to not come up in the first half. Since our shooting was not ok tonight, it made it easier for them to lock the paint. Good to see that, by the end of the game, Harden started to find his way through.

The goods:

Bench: our bench really kept us alive tonight. They closed the gap from 14 to 3, and even if neither TDouglas nor Delfino had an overall outstanding game, the team ball from the bench really put an end to all the frenetic and erratic plays. TDouglas, Delfino, Parsons, Morris and Smith/Asik really conducted us in the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, and also gave a useful long rest to Harden and Lin. We would not have won if it was not for the bench tonight. Delfino missed a lot of shots, but hit 5 crucial points at the right time.

- Crunch time play: When it came down to crunch time, our starters finally took over and some good plays were made and saved us tonight. Lin drawing an offensive foul, hitting that jumper and his defense on Barea. Asik cleaning the boards, not letting them have second chances, and our backcourt+Parsons defending the perimeter. And, of course, the clutch plays from Harden that won us the game.

- Rotation: props to our coaches for keeping the bench for a long time, when they were fighting back, and for putting back the starters, and trusting them, by the end. The timing was perfect, and the starters came back fresh and were able to put the final effort to close the game.

Players:

- Lin: Off night for him He was struggling all night with his shot, and missed several drives with only 1 assist. His defensive plays by the end, and a tying game jumper, however, saved his night, or at least, made it end on a high note.

- Harden: he was having a quiet night until he took over in the 4th. Several clutch plays, lot of confidence and a star performance. He stepped up when most needed.

- Parsons: good overall game, putting some points, rebounds and assists. With all the frenetic transition/miss play happening, his defense was not a huge factor tonight, but he was able to keep a consistent performance amidst all that frenzy.

- Morris: not his night. Missed his open looks, shooting 3-9 (0-3 from 3-point). He was not able to stop Love, and the bad performance from Love is mainly due to an off night than from a good defense.

- Asik: very good night. He won the rebound battle with Love, and kept Pekovic under control. Defensively, he was huge, holding his own and covering the whole team. Offensively, competent, but it was a hard night, we all knew, against their bigs. If he can continue developing a post play, he can really excel.

- TDouglas: quiet night, not very effective as a scorer, but contributed to move the ball and organize the mess in order to close the gap.

- Delfino: despite several bad plays, his good plays came just in the right time. Good defense, and some energy and confidence, that influenced the other players, as a veteran is supposed to do. His playmaking is not something I want to see more, nor the low FG%, but the spirit and the right plays at the right time were really a catalyst to our win tonight.

- GSmith: Nice screens, good movement off ball and great to go hard for the dunk. I was also very pleased with the time he and Asik shared on court.

- McHale: not his fault if the players were not shooting. However, we cannot come so winded in a back to back. The lack of stamina tonight was also because we played our starters a little bit to much yesterday. Ou running game need fresh legs, and in order to do so, we have to include more players into the rotation. An 8-man rotation is good for most of the teams, but not for a high paced offense as ours. In the game, he made right decisions, and I liked how he managed the rotation and put a lot of confidence on our starters by the end.

Overall I'm very pleased with this win. There is plenty to learn from, and I really think it's the kind of game that can make our players mature and grow as contenders. Knowing how to win ugly is a common asset of all great teams, and it was more than time for the Rockets to learn that.
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Viola · Dec 28, 2012

Postcall said: ↑

Does anyone know why Lin was wearing the knee brace again during the game? He was not wearing anything during the Chicago game and I was wondering if he had a setback or if this was planned?
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The knee brace was probably banned due to those "good" looking big color jerseys.

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ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Timberwolves 12/26/2012

steady Member

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langal Contributing Member

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