ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 11/18/2015

Dwight had 5FGA in 40 minutes! Do you prefer jacking up 3s at 15% accuracy?

 

They played bad for most of the game... but what's promising is that they figured it out in the 4th quarter and overtime and dominated from then on.

 

I'm telling you Harden is not running the PnR with Howard. He's aborting it. Go back and watch him either pass out early or simply take the jump shot when Dwight comes up to set the pick. He did it over and over again. And then when Capela comes in he runs the durn PnR through to completion with Clint.

It is so obvious right now that Harden and Howard are having problems. Frankly, I'm impressed with how Howard is handling it and handling all the negativity. The man beasted last night.

I'm not the biggest Howard fan but the man deserves more touches than he's getting right now and he for sure deserves to have Harden complete the PnR play with him. That's unacceptable and I'm going to keep talking about it as long as Harden keeps doing it. It's totally ridiculous and unprofessional. The Rockets should fine and suspend Harden for that crap.

 

Yeah I see Harden avoiding the Dwight PnR too.

 

The biggest difference was the consistent effort on defense. Portland was never allowed to blow the game wide open which would've definitely happened last night had McHale still been on the sidelines. The Rockets kept it within striking distance which is why they had a shot to tie at the end.

Also, the rotations were different. Lawson coming off the bench, Harden coming out before the end of the 1st quarter(mostly due to Lawson not starting). And they went to that Harden postup play a ton once they figured out it was working. One of the things that drove me nutz about McHale was how when something worked, the team would inexplicably go away from it(Game 2 vs Dallas notwithstanding).

There is still a ton of work to do, but there were signs last night. Brewer breaking out of his slump(we'll overlook that blown layup), Harden being more engaged on both ends, Dwight being a monster on the boards, and the team overall playing better defense. Now they get a real test with Memphis on the road. Even though the Grizzlies are struggling themselves, that's never been an easy place for the Rockets to get a win.

 

I've noticed little things like this all season so far, I don't know what is wrong with him but he needs to cut it out. He can get his 30pts and we continue to lose unless we play like a team, whatever beef he has with Dwight he needs to get over it, we don't make it out of the first round (or even make the playoffs at this point) without his post presence and rebounding. DMo is out, Jones sucks right now and as good as Clint is playing he's too young to count on just yet.

He keeps this up and we are going to be stuck with Harden and no other big name will come to Houston, McHale and Dwight aren't/weren't the problem, Harden is.

Last night was a much needed, undeserved win. I'm glad JB got his first win, hopefully it will build his confidence and he can get the players to play the first 48 minutes like NBA players instead of amateur hour.

I hate it when the Rockets win a game and I don't feel any better about the team that I did before the game.

 

Ha, Harden wouldn't let Howard sit at the same table as him...

 

Happy for Bickerstaff. But, we were lucky to win against a team that had lost six straight. I think it was a good move starting someone other than Lawson at PG. But, we are still going to have to figure out how to incorporate Lawson into our offense. Maybe we played with a little more effort, but the first three quarters were really ugly.

 

I don't see Howard keeping quiet for too long if he's not more involve in the offense and given more shoot attempts. He's not going to be turn into a DJordan 2.0.

 

Clyde has said some crazy things in the past, but last night he was on point...

The shooting is off, but yet the rockets keep chunking up 3 after 3 after 3.. Clyde was on point, dump it down to Howard and try to get some mid range shots, do something different.

Dumping it down to Howard can open up for easier outside shots, if they move the ball..

T_Man

 

Yeah i see that also...

It also looks as if he's having issues with Thornton also.. He will not pass Thornton the ball...

Harden needs to grow up.

T_Man

 

This is pretty funny...I even like have Lin is sitting way back on another table.

 

I'm not doubting JB's influence, but how much of Harden's post "milking" was on JB? I mean is JB directing the team to keep feeding Harden in the post?

I just wonder how much of a particular tactic (that is working) during a game is being pushed by the coach, as opposed to the players on the court just recognizing and going with it.

David

 

Howard is a horrendous offensive player with very little skills. Amazing that a veteran like him still struggles with footwork and gets obvious traveling violations. He's also turnover prone and a crappy free throw shooter.

It is not in the Rockets best interest to get him touches. Let him get his points from finishing plays like alley oops and offensive rebounds. Dwight should never initiate a play for the Rockets like a post-up.

Harden showed he's a far superior post-up player than Dwight. Harden is the one we should be feeding down low.

 

yeah, agreed.

harden has very sound fundamentals. dwight was never a center with terrific offensive skills to begin with, and now he's over his peak.

 

this is where people are wrong. To completely eliminate Dwight in the post hurts the team more than helps it. No matter what people think, he's still at the very least a factor down there. You don't just completely take him out of the game like that. he still is able to get an easy score from time to time. When did he become non existent on offense like Deandre. he commands attention. he opens up shots for everyone else. he draws fouls. It's not just about getting touches but more so getting him involved so it gives your offense some versatility. You have to put pressure on opposing defenses to keep them honest. We're actually lucky enough that he acknowledged last year he would sacrifice his role on offense for the betterment of the team without causing a big drama episode. But that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve opportunities here and there as the game progresses especially when he has guys pinned under the basket.

 

The Rockets won. In the new era the Rockets are 1-0.

 

I agree that there is no chemistry between Howard and Harden and that they rarely run what should be a bread and butter pick and roll.

It's possible that Harden is doing it to spite Howard, but there are two other reasons I can suggest:

1) Harden knows that Howard is likely to get fouled as soon as he gets the ball on the pass. Given Howard's hopelessness at the FT line, perhaps Harden views the pick and roll as a wasted possession.

2) Harden is not confident in his interior passing abilities. He's never been a very timely or accurate passer. This isn't a big deal when he kicks the ball out to the perimeter because the receiver usually can adjust. In the paint, however, there is less room for error and Harden's tendency to pass to his teammates' feet or to make the pass after the defense has read what he's planning to do limits his passing in that context. Obviously, Dwight is not going to do anything with the ball on the perimeter so the only thing he can do is roll to the basket. That means Harden has to make a pass that he isn't particularly adept at making.

That being said, I've also noticed that Harden has less issues passing to Capella. So that definitely counters my hypotheses above.

 

Barkley on Rockets:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Charles Barkley: &quot;I don't think you can build a team using analytics b/c you need the to find best players.&quot;</p>&mdash; jimmyist (@jimmyist) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyist/status/667343012247244802">November 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

We basically just have to play down hill to win its makes us aggressive on D. And make more accurate shots (layups)