ClutchFans Game Thread: Raptors @ Rockets 11/11/2013

The Rockets are just making it very hard on themselves. This should have never gone to OT let alone 2OT. But, yet again, Rockets have to not only beat their opponent but overcome their own free throw shooting woes in the process. Rockets won this game flat out but practically gave it away at the free throw line. Here the Raptors think their defense got them back in it. No, what got them back in it is they fouled us and we couldn't get the free points at the line so the lead evaporated in the process. This is a common theme now. Rockets are not only playing their opponents...they are having to play and overcome themselves. Unfortunately, it's primarily still a Dwight FT issue.

That's the new reality of the Rockets. They would have one loss at this point if the free throws weren't an issue. Really, the only reason we won last night imo is because Toronto didn't employ enough Hack-a-Howard. They would have easily won if they did that. I was shocked they didn't. I got to give Toronto props for playing a straight-up basketball game and not resorting to that tactic to win it.

 

FTs will always be an issue. they knew this when they signed dwight. no more excuses about FT shooting. it is what it is.

 

With the exception of Lin, shooting is down across the board for the entire team so far this season.

Looking at the 8 man rotation...

Howard - 55.6 FG%, 0.0 3pt%, 0.56 AFG, 53.4 TS%
Harden - 44.3 FG%, 27.6 3pt%, 0.50 AFG, 58.9 TS%
Lin - 54.5 FG%, 45.5 3pt%, 0.61 AFG, 65.3 TS%
Parsons - 47.5 FG%, 22.6 3pt%, 0.51 AFG, 54.9 TS%
Garcia - 42.6 FG%, 36.8 3pt%, 0.41 AFG, 56.1 TS%
Casspi - 38.6 FG%, 36.4 3pt%, 0.56 AFG, 51.9 TS%
Beverley - 34.1 FG%, 26.1 3pt%, 0.41 AFG, 45.5 TS%
Asik - 51.7 FG%, 0.0 3pt%, 0.52 AFG, 53.6 TS%

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/hou/houston-rockets
http://nbawowy.com/

So over the first 8 games, Lin has by far been the most consistent shooter and the most efficient shooter.

He also has the highest finishing percentage at the Rim (77.7%), tied for 2nd at 10-15 feet (50%), and tied for 2nd from 16-20 feet (50%).

Small sample size this season to be sure, but definitely encouraging.

 

You know what that's true. Lin did do that I like that you pointed out the good and bad. It does show that he has improved and gives you a reason to think he will get better to say the least. Next time they play a bigtime contender team I will be following his game closely.

 

I'm laughing at myself because that's exactly what I think... that Dwight will suddenly decide to put aside whatever mental block he has going on with his free throws, and start knocking them down with ease.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9759569/report-dwight-howard-houston-rockets-beats-james-harden-blind-ft-contest

 

You know what I fear about Lin most? Injury. There's no question he will continue to improve, but sometimes his method of driving can cause early injury - which I fear might reduce his career...so I hope he learns from Harden to draw contact in a more safe way. lol he has probably bled enough to fill a blood bag by now. But those are okay, it's just the hard falls he takes.

 

Wow thats ugly.. Parsons needs to step up the 3 point Pct % or stop shooting and drive more...

 

Lil Ze where you at?

 

all you said is right but TO comparison. the comparison btw lin's TO and bev's TO is ridiculous. I am not saying TO is good. lin is not an elite pg and will not be an elite pg. the best lin can do is to be a good pg. w/ his style, his TO will be high.

let me ask you question.

in football, can you compare defense player with offense player on their scoring capability? you can't say offense player plays well with his scoring capability as opposed to defense player who scores less to indicate defense player is bad at scoring.

 

The one that worries me is Parsons shot....I think his flat shooting stroke is finally coming back to bite him in the ass.

 

Lins tov% is still higher though if i remember correct, harden just has the ball more

 

lin's TOs are more or less tied to his penetration and within the offense flow. in the last game, at least one TO was due to miscommunication btw him and one big (I believe Asik). asik didn't prepare or lane was too crowded. another pass is due to miscommunication btw him and harden. lin did a lob pass to harden and harden didn't expect it. those TOs are bad but not as bad as those committed at the top of 3 pt line, such as one of bev's TOs (intercepted by Gay). it leads to a fast break.

 

I was shocked too.

 

I think lot of the disarray we see in the Rockets' offense is due to their still adjusting to having Dwight here. The "read and react" offense of last year works best when the team is playing with pace. but as Morey and McHale have said, the Rockets will be playing with less pace this year, due to having Dwight on the team. They are still trying to figure out what will work best

 

Lol is that your argument. if you WATCHED the game, all Lin's passes were either bungled or was re-assisted to somebody else. there were crisp passes. having 0 turnovers doesn;t mean he didnt try and went HERO BALL unlike somebody.

get ur FACTS straight else you'd like another troll

 

fixed

 

Yep with him playing sixth man I hope that somehow helps on the injury front I know he will play how Jeremy plays but injuries are knock on him I just hope it doesn't happen on the Yao or TMac level. He is trying his hardest to live up to his contract and I respect that. Turnovers will happen it just ticks me off but this is what Ginobli and Parker went through as well.

 

Response

One difference I see is that many TOs are due to good or not so good passes where receivers could not hold on; I am OK with this type of TOs. I am not OK with careless or bad passes that lead to TOs by both Harden and Lin.

 

1-2 TOs a game from Lin are dumb, really dumb. But so are some TOs produced by Harden or Parsons. 2-3 TOs from Lin are 'not so bad' because he tries to feed Asik who can't catch the ball or he tries to make a homerun pass.
At least he tries to do something productive.

I will take his 5-6 TOs every game if he stays aggressive and confident. He will learn from his mistakes but it needs time and more plays. No need to worry.

If his high FG% is not a fluke but really the result of his hard work, we've got our third star.

And no need to worry about his playmaking skills. If you've watched the game vs Clippers when Lin was with Beverly and Asik on the court without Harden being the PG he played like a true PG. He had 6 assists in 6-7 minutes with really good plays.

 

We hit one transition three last night. One. Made me realize how much I miss our run-and-gun game. Why don't we embrace that? Oh wait, I just answered my own question: we'd have to get stops. Sigh... If we step up the D, I bet Howard could start and cleanup/finish a lot of breaks.