ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 11/20/2015

First blowout of season

 

I heard yesterday on 790 (The Charlie Pullilo Show) that Deight went to the doctor yesterday to evaluate his knees so he could be cleared to play limited minutes of the 2nd game of a back to back. Did not hear how it went but this is probably a good sign, especially if he gets cleared.

 

can we blow a team out for once. and i've never liked this bears team.

100-70 it is!

 

We have our own Porzingis. Clint Capela.

 

When you get 23 points down to anyone, you're not playing good. they didn't start "playing good" till the comeback. That's basically what we did against the Blazers.

 

yup. exactly right.

and it was the clips. what u expect.

 

We continue to flounder offensively and no lucky ass Brewer shot to bail us out.

Loss.

 

The Grizzlies are in the same boat though... 50/50 game.

 

After one practice led by JB Bickerstaff we see a difference in the games. We beat Memphis by 15 points tonight and Lawson has his first big game.

 

Very curious about this one. If the defensive effort from most of the Portland game is there for 48 minutes and their offense is better, it's winnable. Memphis is really struggling this season compared to their start last year. Kinda like us, I guess.

 

Just want to see some ball movement and players (Harden) playing off the ball. Lets make whatever inside presence we have felt for once, still pessimistic because it still is Memphis whom we have trouble with.

 

They've won 3 in a row though so more momentum. It's winnable but less than 50/50 IMO.

 

Let me continue the Tradition!

6th game of the year! :grin:

 

Not ready for the season.

Pallilo on 790 interviewed Morey at Toyota Center and he was quoted saying that MANY players did not properly prepare themselves this off season to be ready for training camp. Guys showed up out of shape, hadn't worked on their game, etc. I am sure he was alluding to Harden's lack of preparation and comical off-court lifestyle. It also doesn't help when 3/4 of the team is injured all training camp, and your new star PG arrives fresh off 30 days of inpatient treatment for alcoholism.
It's obvious that lackadaisical approach cost McHale his job and is the reason for our wretched start to this season.
Good news is that Harden will be playing for Team USA in the Olympics this summer and should come into next season ready to ball game 1.
Let's just hope that this team finally figures it out and is fully healthy heading into the stretch run of this season. AND they haven't doomed their playoff seeding by loosing too many foolish games in the process.

 

I'm still gonna post it.

Sixth game of the season, here we go!

 

That's on the players AND McHale. Training camp and preseason last a month. They get 8 games in before the start of the regular season. That is more than enough time to play your way back into shape. Most of the players were available for at least half of the preseason. The only Rocket to be out virtually the entire time(aside from D-Mo) was Dwight who missed 7 of 8 games. And if I recall correctly, Ariza and Brewer both looked good and in midseason form.

It looks to me like the entire team(players and coaching staff) basically punted on the preseason and figured they'd work out the kinks as the regular season unfolded. I imagine they were suckered into a false sense of security given their playoff success last year and easy schedule to begin this season. That wound up being a naïve and incredibly dumb plan. And when things spiraled out of control, McHale was unable to assert himself and right the ship.

 

I think that's a good point. There seemed to be an arrogance about the team once the season began - extremely halfassing it, especially against teams they considered beneath them. I had the impression they really bought into the hype surrounding the acquisition of Ty Lawson and the sudden - and unfamiliar - media love.

McHale and others complained about the lack of consistency during training camp, but that also seemed like more and more of an excuse for lack of preparation and ideas as the team failed to gel. Hopefully this will be a major wake-up call to everyone.

 

Throw capela at him.. I bet he'll give him a hard time.
Buttttt it prob won't happen. Smh

 

That's really disappointing if true.

This is the year they have a championship-caliber roster and winning a title is a realistic goal.

They should have worked harder than ever if they were serious about winning a title.

I understand they worked really hard last year. Harden even played on Team USA over the summer. I'm sure he was needing a break.

But when you have this golden opportunity in front of you, it's a shame to not do everything possible to take advantage of it. Hopefully they get serious and round into form before the playoffs start.

 

Where I blame McHale is his failure to integrate Lawson into the offense in the preseason. He had at least 4 games if I recall where Ty was available and he made no effort to develop any chemistry between him and his new teammates(especially Harden). McHale also did nothing to deal with the defensive deficiencies which were glaring in those 8 preseason games. He and everyone else knew that Dwight would likely miss B2Bs at least early on. Why not prepare for that by practicing their team defense for when Dwight isn't on the floor? And if guys truly were out of shape, then why sit them out as often as he did? Why let almost everyone take the night off in that preseason game at the Warriors? All but one of Golden State's starters played. Look at how they're playing to start the season vs us. And why waste so many minutes on scrubs who all wound up being cut or sent to the Vipers?

Like I said, they punted. McHale and everyone else just wrote off an entire month where they could've been getting ready and it bit them in the ass. I'm not saying there aren't other issues at play(Harden's offcourt distractions, Ariza, Brewer, and others shooting horribly, Lawson's struggles), but when you don't take your job seriously, it's gonna be evident in the product on the court.