ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 10/6/2015 (PRESEASON)

stros win!!!!!!!!

 

Yes! The second unit needs playmaking. Bev isn't it. He's good for what we needed him ,but for a backup he is not. This is not offensive to Bev, it's that from the backup you need different things that when you need from a pg starting next to Harden.
That's why I said in other threads, that also DMO will need to come off the bench, because of better playmaking.

 

I just caught up, but can someone explain to me what the heck was going on with that last play? I don't understand what we were trying to do there. The only explanation I can come up with was that we did not want the game to go into OT.

 

Trying to get Thornton a 3.

But they closed out on him, so he passed it. Whoever caught it went to shoot a 2 but then realized that they needed 3, so he passed it out sloppily and whoever caught it just had to throw it up.

 

Dallas Keuchel tonight

 

Ariza : A
Lawson : A-
Harden : B-
Howard : B
Jones : C-
Capela : B
Brewer : B-
Beverley: C
Dekker: C-
Thornton : C-
McDaniels : B-
Cummings : B-

 

Begging for highlighys

 

My thoughts:


Harden/Howard: Nothing to see here beyond Howard's modified free throw stroke. He'll dominate the defensive end and the glass as long as he stays healthy. Free throw stroke looks interesting. But I doubt he gets his percentage up much over 50%. Still has too much jerk and inconsistent release with the ball rolling off his fingers on some shots and simply clanking up there off his palm on others. Dwight did have 2 postup possessions that I thought were very interesting, back to back practically. The first one he was on the left block with Gasol. He made a hard dribble and quick step to the middle before quickly reversing into the baseline hook which went down. And then the next series, he went back to the left block on Gasol and executed a spin move to the baseline and either got fouled or passed out to the open shooter. Both plays were extremely quick moves by Dwight's standards. They looked like Hakeem. And that is the FIRST TIME I've seen anything like Hakeem out of Dwight, even though he's been working with Hakeem for the last 2 summers before this one. Harden and Howard are ready to go.


Ariza: Looks in prime shape and midseason form. I think he's going to benefit from Lawson's addition as much as anybody. He's going to get more open looks with the defenders having to react to Lawson's penetration. I expect him to be close to 40% from 3 and he looks great defensively.

Lawson: Fitting in well. Our offense will really get rolling here when we get in the regular season. He'll be good starting alongside Harden and running the backups when Harden sits. He did look decent defensively as well, which is a little bit of a surrise to me.

Terrence: Same old Terrence. Except worse. He simply hasn't developed properly. Now for the last year or so he's been working on bulking up instead of really getting his jump shot right. But with the added bulk all of a sudden he's slower on his feet and he's not getting off the floor as quickly. I think he got stuffed at least a couple times tonight. Still can't shoot. And his handle is useless because he can't do anything with it besides dribble the ball up trailing all the runners and then find the table setter. We'd be better off if he simply passed the ball ahead instead of dribbling it, but he even tried that tonight and got the ball stolen. Defensively, no difference at all. Still got blasted by Zach. He can't handle Zach nor Gasol defensively. Simply not big enough nor skilled enough. He did pick up a few boards playing off Dwight. Perhaps the added bulk helped him there. But he's not a dominant rebounder. Just don't see it with Terrence. I think we're wasting time trying to make him into something.

Beverley: Not impressed with Bev. He still looks a step slow and now with Lawson here, Bev's limitations as a ball handler/playmaker are even more obvious. Didn't feel or see him making any difference on the defensive end. Saw Russ Smith beat him several times. I'm worried about Beverley and his contract. I think Morey should trade him as soon as possible so that his contract doesn't become a negative factor on our cap. I was more impressed with Will Cummings defense than with Beverley's and defense is Beverley's calling card.

Brewer: Same old Corey Brewer. Overplaying everything defensively, he either gets burned or he makes a play. Same thing on the offensive end. He either makes an incredible twisting, torquing, spinning finish at the rim or he throws up garbage that has no chance of going in. I'm meh on Brewer. He either is a key component to a win or he is one of the main reasons why we lose.

Capela: Meh. Had a couple nice finishes. Didn't see anything that stood out that he has improved significantly. Didn't see anything that stood out that he has regressed either. Time will tell.

Dekker: Typical rookie play. Nervous. Lost. Yada yada yada. But...I did see several things that I really liked. 1. He does have a nose for the ball. He does find a way to get to the rim and battle on the glass and to get his hands on passes and generally disrupt defensively. 2. You can tell he's got a nice shooting stroke. Yes, he missed a lot tonight. But....the stroke is there. He'll calm down and be a good floor spreader. 3. His length will allow him to play both 3 and 4. 4. He's got a good handle and he looks up when he's dribbling and scans the floor well. I'm pretty sure Dekker will develop into a rotation player maybe as soon as this season. He's smart, a hard worker, and he's got some skills. Just needs some floor time and experience to smooth everything out.

McDaniels: Doggone this kid. All he needs to do is develop his jump shot. He's spectacular defensively and in transition. But he's just as unspectacular with the jump shot. A fundamental problem uber-athletic kids have is tamping down all the spring when they're shooting the jumper. He's wound up so tight, getting ready to explode to the rim, that in my opinion, it tightens him up and he can't flow smoothly into the jumper. He's got good form and mechanics. He's just too tight. He needs to learn to walk into the jumper smoothly and confidently. And he'll have to learn how to move out of the triple-threat. But the tools are there for him. I'd rather he get all Brewer's minutes and we trade Brewer at the deadline. I think he's a better defender and finisher than Brewer and he's got potential to becomes a legit star level player in this league if he can develop his jumper and then develop his game out of the triple threat. Spectacular potential. Spectacular.

Cummings: He's an NBA player. Has the brains and skills do be a decent backup PG in the NBA. Won't make this team out of training camp though. But he's got some nice floor general skills and pretty good defense for an undrafted rookie. I'd be comfortable with him on the roster as a last resort if we did move on from Beverley.

Thornton: Not impressed. He's too heavy. Needs to drop 15 lbs or so. And he needs to play strictly off the ball. When he goes to handling the ball bad things happen. He's in no way a playmaker. He's a shooter/scorer and that's it.

 

Wow impressive and well thought out thoughts.

Anyone saw that DMo video bomb lol?

 

It makes sense to me for Lawson to take on a role similar to Kyle Lowry when he was a bench player: dominate the opposing team's second unit, energize and make plays for the bench. Mix that up with Harden and Lawson getting time on the court together as well.

But I am skeptical whether Lawson could accept and thrive in such a role. It takes a ton of trust between the player and the coach for it to work, which Lowry and Adelman had.

 

A Couple things:
-Ariza was awesome and needs more recognition from this board.
-There must have been nobody watching Summer League, based on all the people surprised by Cummings. He is a true point, but he still needs to work on his shot. I'm hoping Jeremy Tyler makes the team because of our lack of big men depth, but it'd be great if Cummings could be safely stashed in the D-League.

 

Anybody got highlights of the game?

 

I need highlights baby

 

Interesting recap video on ESPN. It was all Rox highlights with only a very quick mention of the Grizz at the very end saying they won. Hope they keep it up! http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400830099

 

Anyone got pics of hardens shoes tonight?

 

Bill Worrell yikes

 

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Figured the years hit him hard this summer or something. lol

 

Agree with most. TJ does look like a mess, but I wouldn't quit on him quite yet. He has shown flashes of brilliance, there is obviously talent here.

Capela looked quite OK, actually. Here's a guy who was unanimously "years away" at the start of last season, then he saw almost no PT during the season, so he is should be evaluated pretty much as a rookie. I am afraid that the strong play in a few playoff games might have lifted expectations unreasonably.

I, too think Dekker has a future in the L. Has a very good combination of size and mobility. Plus seems bright and wanting it, reminds me of young DMo a bit. Still a lot to learn, though. Parsons was more ready when he came to the league.

 

I would package tj and Beverly for something. I think both do some good things and if moved we may miss things like Beverly hustle plays and jones ability to put the ball on the floor in the half court, but if we could package this two for a really good pf or legit scorer off the bench that would be ideal.