ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 12/28/2012

To be honest, I don't care if we lose this game. You have 5 games in 4 days, and two of those comes against the Spurs and OKC. I look at that and I'd say 2 out of those 4 is already awesome, and we got that already. So every win now is a bonus.

With that said, I hope we kick butt today. Rox only had 1 day off but chemistry is at an all time high. I hope Mchale pulls out all the stops, I don't mind a 40 pt walloping against OKC if we get the win today.

 

Wrong, he started the 4th with Nando De Colo guarding him. When he came back in Green was on him instead and the Spurs adjusted how they guarded him. He was a non-factor for the rest of the 4th and OT.

 

What you forget is that Lin for the most part adjusted and STILL found lots of open looks for his team mates.

Unfortunately nobody could hit a shot.

Seriously, watch the 4th quarter and OT. Take away the wide open misses and we win that game in the 4th, not to mention the OT would have been very close.

And yah, they put Green on him, but Green wasn't shutting him down the whole time. He still found open looks and lanes, especially playing off the PnR and using screens.

Green is a very good defender so he's going to impact whoever he's on, but your memory is faulty if you think that Lin was "shut down".

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Carlos Delfino not expected to play tonight vs Spurs due to illness.</p>&mdash; Jason Friedman (@JasonCFriedman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonCFriedman/status/284807172423024642" data-datetime="2012-12-28T17:44:56+00:00">December 28, 2012</a></blockquote>
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Here we go...

 

Hrm. Not sure how I feel about that.

Fewer turn overs, but might miss some shooting.

Tough situation.

 

Daequan Cook time?

 

Put Smith at 4. Smith and Asik can played well together last game. I want to see more of this experiment since I have low expectation anyway. :grin:

 

With Delfino out Cook may get some time. I actually believe cook would be better defensively and has a more consistent 3 ball...

 

Yeah, they shut Lin down in the 4Q in which he scored 8 pts... and 4 of 6 Rockets points in OT... D'oh!

Lin scored with 1:59 left in the 4Q, Houston led 118-117. Spurs scored a 3 to take a 120-118 lead. Then with 37.3 sec left, Lin set Asik up for a jump bank shot to send the game into OT.

Then Lin scored 4 of the Rockets 6 points in OT.

Shut down??

 

The Spurs go small a lot. And they play almost exclusively with stretch 4s. I don't want to see this experiment unless Duncan and Splitter are on the court together.

 

Looks like it. He did better than I expected last time. Maybe he can improve upon that.

 

Are you a direct TV customer? Because if you have watched the games, you'd know that Cook is a horrid offensive player in our schemes, and actually looks like he plays for the other team at times. On defense, he has barely got any run, so it's hard to say if he is an upgrade, but Carlos is one of our better defenders in our schemes.

 

HadToDoItCF, I think you're one of the smartest guy on this forum.

I have a question I've always wanted to ask coach Mchale, but since it's impossible to get to him you might be the second best option Why is Toney Douglas always the one bringing up the ball instead of Harden or Lin? Isn't Harden or Lin much better at pushing the ball/transition ball handling than Toney?

 

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Repeat w/ a W this time plz!
Expecting a 20 pt game from Parsons on Kawhi, he is due.

107-100, Rockets win by 11

 

Gary Neal not playing tonight (according to Jason Friedman tweet) is at least a wash with Delfino not playing.

 

Good news for us, he is a streaky shooter.

 

Jeremy is much better going right, and we like to initiate our sets from the right side of the court (usually with the strong corner filled). That makes the "drag" screen set for Jeremy to go left. When he tries to get back right, he runs in to the big man and the corner man's help defender.

We want the ball to move side to side a lot quicker than it does, and the ball getting "sticky" is a major problem for us. If it does swing (like we want), Jeremy is a nightmare for defenses coming off the slot and turning the corner with his right hand.

Another thing I think is just that we want Jeremy to establish and assert himself more offensively. If we ask him to break presses, handle the ball, get young guys in to sets, and score for 35 minutes a game, he'll wear down like any other player in the league. So when Toney is in there, I think it is easier for us to tell him to spot up and get to his spots where he feels comfortable scoring the ball.

I know from interviews that we don't care if it's our 1, 2, or 3 bringing the ball up the court in transition, but when we want to get in to our sets, and both Jeremy and Toney are in the game, it isn't simply that one or the other has to do the ball handling, it just ends up that way sometimes IMHO.

James initiating the offense looks like it ages the coaches a few years every time he does it. He just never gets off the ball like everyone here (and I'm sure the coaches) wants and he waves off way too many screens. I prefer to see him getting a wide pin down or some weak side action to get the ball. Unless you want to run some mid or high P&R, then I say give that boy the ball and flatten out.

 

get it done!!!!

 

^Well said. He's a play maker when you watch the games, if you just read the stats that can be misleading.