ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 4/21/2013 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

Blown out in game one, people sure are quick to bail!
Only half-joking.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=237467
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Wednesday will be a different story.

 

Didn't expect a blowout but thought it would be tough to win in OKC...

Tough to match up with these guys but I think we can pull one out...

 

Rox won't win game 2. Team is still in the midst of a slump. Game 3 at home will be much closer. Whether they win game 3 will decide if this series goes 6 or be a sweep.

 

Damn. Have to have this bad taste in our mouths till Wed. Lame.

Really need Lin to man up...and stop cowering to pressure defense. He has good handles, but goes brain dead when pressured. He has the ability to make crisp passes....

Not sure if there is really any chance for him to improve his shooting, he is who he is. He got on a hot streak during the season...but has steadily been falling back down to reality.

If he can hit some of those open shots, and play smarter. There is a much better than for this team to win a game. I guess that's why we see Harden handling the ball more instead of Lin @ PG....no trust in him because of the problems when pressured....and ill advised plays.

Harden has been short on most of his shots since that injury, and it is tough to watch. He and Lin have been awful at hogging the ball and dribbling the air out of it ISO style. Team needs to stick to its identity. Drive and dish, passing the ball around the arc to the open man. No more dribbling crossovers in an ISO for a defended three.

Gotta get out on the break. Gotta get back on D on transition, OKC was doing what the Rockets excel at.

Sad Sad game. Lin's stat line was awful. Let's hope it was playoff jitters since he sat out last season's playoffs.

 

the only game they didn't blow us out by 30 this season was when harden and lin put up 75 points on about 85% shooting, how did people not see this coming?

 

Clutch fans saw this coming. McFail didn't when he tanked the PHX game... He had no idea we could still finish 8th.

 

On a positive note, #6 GSW almost beat Nuggets in Denver, 95 to 97. Don't you wish we could have played the Nuggets now instead of OKC?:grin:

 

I've been saying we would be lucky to win 1 game against OKC all along. But instead you have delusional fools thinking OKC is a better matchup than Denver or the Spurs. It was obviously their first time watching the NBA? This team was on a slump before we played OKC. We lost to the Lakers and Suns. How do people expect us to take more than 1 game from OKC then when they're actually trying?

 

There is another factor above and beyond the fact that OKC is just better.

When teams make it to the Finals the first time and lose, they are usually on a mission the next season -- get there and this time win. When you have a player like Kevin Durant who is on a mission, you are going to have a hard time beating his team. KD will leave everything on the court in every game in every series this year. Talk about willing his team to win; I expect it.

As far as McHale's coaching ability, it's not just what adjustments he makes with the personnel he has, it's also how he tweaks their heads for Game 2. Almost all the TV analysts agree the Rockets can't really match up with OKC talent-wise. What we really want to see the rest of the way is closer, smarter games; i.e., less mistakes. A trend toward maturity. I don't see McHale getting fired even if the team is swept. Too many pieces were changed to expect much different from any coach. He'll be given more time. And the Rockets will pursue the best player available for the position they target this summer.

If anyone here really thinks the Rockets are going to upset a team like OKC with a player like KD on a mission, they need to come out of their trance. I can dream and hope they can upset OKC, but realistically, I just want to see development and the ability to listen and correct their mistakes. Patience is harder to come by for first-time playoff players. That's one thing that Aaron Brooks might also be able to help with. No matter what else fans here thought of his abilities, he represented himself well in the playoffs against LA. I would give him some prime minutes just to upset the defensive flow of OKC. (Hey, the red jerseys are almost as bright as that jacket he wore at the press conference in LA.)

 

i don't think anyone wanted OKC. The main debate was SA Spurs or Nuggets.

 

You would think. But look back at the beginning of this game thread and you'll be surprised.

 

this ridiculous, most so called "fans" bailing out on one playoff game... get a grip people!!!