I had great seats to the Memphis game last night, right next to the Rockets bench. Lots of great moments, wanted to share with Clutchfans: 1) Start with a positive. Rockets showed Andre Johnson in attendance and played the chorus line from "I will always love you." Guy got a huge ovation that lasted for over a minute. Good journey Andre. 2) Jason Terry and Dwight Howard are EASILY the most interactive with the crowd. I got to interact with them a couple of times and they are really friendly. Dwight was constantly turning to the crowd to get them fired up and did the Hulk Hogan ear cupping thing at one point. A note for Howard, he was incredibly tuned into the game. Guys like Nick Johnson and KJ are sitting on the bench, not checked out, but just sort of there. Dwight is watching every minute of the game, reacting to shots, rebounds, etc. He was also not moving with any issue that was noticeable. Hopped up out of his seat with no problem. 3) I won't give details because they aren't mine to share, but Jason Terry is a total class act and did something REALLY COOL for someone's kid. Dude is a straight up class act. 4) Met Clyde Drexler. All I can say is that he is a consummate professional. Now to some more serious notes... 5) Kevin McHale was LIVID with the team. At one point he called a timeout, lifted a leg in the air, dropped an audible F-Bomb and paced the court to cool down before he addressed the players. Another time he sat Bev and Tjones (think it was those two) for a few minutes of rest, but then the guys were playing with zero energy and he was pissed and told the guys to get back into the game because the guys on the court weren't playing hard enough. Just in general, the narrative about him as being this softie that doesn't even run the timeouts isn't true at all. 6) Josh Smith was getting roasted in the crowd. Guy had a nice little stretch for us, but the old Josh Smith is back. You could hear an audible groan where I was sitting when he had the ball. McHale has to do something about letting him be a primary playmaker for this team. He's just too reckless. 7) Crowd was downright ANGRY about multiple calls down the stretch. Dwight Howard was angry and turned to the crowd to encourage us to boo louder. The final minute or so when there was a non-call on Terrence Jones (he ended scoring anyway) and then the Harden non-call, the crowd was ready to riot. 8) It's amazing how much bigger Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol are compared to our guys. Yikes. 9) Scary moment. During his time on the bench at the end when he got his final rest, Harden had big ice packs on his knees. He was sitting for awhile there and we were nervous he wasn't going to get back in the game. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the read. Nothing earth shattering, but had a lot of fun. I also saw a few clutchfans, but ya'll don't know me so I didn't say hi. Edit: Oh, and Bart Ennis is a cool guy. Edit 2: Came up in another thread, but McHale was all up in the face of the officials throughout the night. He was clearly angry about the bad officiating that was happening, not just on the final call. After the final play though he was FURIOUS with the officials.
Harden had ice packs on his knees during the Cleveland game as well. I haven't paid attention to other games though. glad you had a great time.
Rockets should have put the guy who made the half court shot in the game. That was the best shot all day.
I am loving these fan reports from the games. You guys rock so hard. Thank you for this. This is 100x better than any official journalist. Every time I hear someone report about McHale getting angry with the team, I'm happy. They never show that, and he really doesn't show it in the press conferences. I'm glad to hear he's not as milquetoasty as he comes off through the media lens. Great job.
It's always funny when people say how Dwight shouldn't be smiling on the bench because he's not caring about the game.
I still don't like him. He didn't tattoo the title trophy on his arm before the season started. He doesn't believe.
josh smith has played solid overall as a rocket. he's been doing more than enough off the bench in his role. don't know what the crowd is complaining about with his playmaking when he had 0 to's and a few incredible assist to TJ that nobody other than probably harden would be able to see.
The idea that McHale doesn't get upset is just not true. In previous seasons McHale would get livid at Lin and Parsons and sometimes even Harden because of blown defensive assignments and a general lack of defensive intelligence. This season the team has been together longer, adding Ariza and dumping Parsons and Lin have made things run far smoother defensively. Also, McHale is old school, I have been at games and heard him call out guys and go off on refs. I have seen him go at Popovich as well. I am not sure what people want. When coaches go after the officials or the league after games, there are severe consequences, just as JVG. This isn't the same league that existed years ago where you could blast the officials without consequences.
Enjoyed the notes. Thanks for posting. Sick and tired of hearing all the crap on here about coach McHale. Ignorance, pure ignorance to call him soft.
He was jacking 3s at inopportune times rather than working for a good shot. He bricked point blank layups down the stretch and lost the ball down low couple times.
by this time nothing should surprise you about his play. point being overall he is more than doing his part and the rockets wouldnt be as good without him especially with dwight being out.
I've already said he's done better than I expected. I just don't think McHale should have him in the game down the stretch. He becomes a jumpshooter and is careless with the ball. I'm perhaps in the minority, but in the 4th when Harden gets his rest, I would have Prigioni out there running the offense for that 2-5 minute stretch. When Smith is running the offense it is just broken.
smith wasn't even in the game during the last stretch. it was TJ as he was brought in to sub Smith. the only times smith has been in the game at the end when he clearly is in a rhythm and having a great game. ive stated this earlier but prig although he is pg, doesn't really run an offense. and he isn't even a threat so he doesn't really matter.
Smith was in the game in the 3rd and 4th when Harden was getting his rest. That's the thing I'm talking about. I don't like Smith being out there as the primary ball handler.
