ClutchFans Game Thread: Sixers @ Rockets 12/19/2012

I agree. We dont want to have a old injury prone Gasol and drama queen Howard. We need to develope our young talent unless JJ Redick and Kevin Love want to come over.

 

Great to see us totally beating the 76ers, something we haven't really done in the last few years (last year it was under 10 points). Great games by Harden, Asik, Lin, Douglas, Smith & Delfino. Let's hope they can stay consistent and we have solid 8 man rotation + D-Mo / T-Jones by February.

 

The team had a slow start (4-7). But started to turn things around with the Bulls and Knicks games at TC. Since then they have gone 9-5 -- only losing to OKC, Spurs (2x), Raptors, and Maverick.

Really curious how they do against the Grizz, T-Wolves, Spur, and OKC (and Bulls and Hawks) over next 2 wks. Should be a good yardstick of growth.

 

A good game for us. Not particularly good, because we kept letting the 76's close the gaps, and we had several lapses throughout the game. But overall I'm satisfied because we were competent to close it and we showed several improvements that could be a glimpse of a very bright future.

The bads:
- Inconsistency. We had several runs, outscoring them and making a 12+ difference lead. On the other hand, we had several scoreless/bad defense stretches, when the difference came down to 5-. Of course, it is something that a young team will show a lot, but being inconsistent would kill us against tougher competition. Just remember that the 76's were without Jrue, and coming from a losing streak.

- Help defense. When the opposing players start to make several drives, generally it is a sign of poor help defense. A good and fast guard can drive pass almost any defender, specially with a screen set for him. In order to stop that, it is important to have a very good commuication/coordination between the backcourt defender and the backcourt. FOr example, several times N.Young drove pass Lin to the left, and ended with a layup where Asik were just late to contest. I don't have the stats, but for what I notice, this specific situation is always happening through the last games. The opposing guard drives to the left, beat our defending guard (Lin/TD usually) and layup before our center/PF (Asik/PPat/Morris) comes to help. It's funny that this don't happen a lot on the other side, when the opposing player drives to the right and we usually are able to position better.

- Poor rebounding/protecting the rim, when Asik is out. That's something that allowed the 76's to close the gap. Morris, DMo, and to lesser extent, Smith, really need to work on that.

The goods:

- Offense clicking. Despite a bad shooting performance from Parsons, the offense is really coming to gel. Lin is being more aggressive and opening the game for Harden, making the defense unsure about focusing only on him. The moment that I really enjoyed was when Lin was with the ball on top, and Harden just in front of him, with a defender on his back. In the past games, Lin was always deferring in that situation, and handing the ball to Harden. It was very annoying because, if they were in basically the same spot, and Harden was with a defender close o him, there wouldn't be any reason to give the ball if Lin is free. The obvious play would be to look for spacing, and reposition, specially if we are considering that Lin is the point guard, and not a center trying to handle the guard the ball. Well, this time he just waived Harden to go to the other side, and dribbled to the other way, looking for Parsons or to drive. This little moment made me see that yes, we are starting to do the plays and move the ball, and not overburden Harden and push him to an so play. Parsons, Douglas and Lin had a lot of open looks form the 3-point line. That is a symptom of good ball movement too.

- Rotation. Ok, that part of the game when Lin and Harden were both out was terrible. But despite that, McHale seems to be finding the best rotation for this team. Putting TD alongside with Lin and Harden was very effective. The starting unit is playing good, and we are able to rest Asik and have a very nice production from GSmith. TDouglas can rotate with Lin, Harden or Parsons, and provides a very nice 3-point threat.

- Pace/turnovers - we were able to maintain a intense pace, and keep the TOs down. That, perhaps, was the best part for me.

- 1st quarter defense. In the 1st quarter, we were able to defend pretty well, both individually and as a team. If that is a sign of what this team can do on D, we have hope!

The players:

Lin: Good game, stayed in the same path as in the last one, being aggressive, driving, not deferring too much. The fact that several screens were set for him too also helped his production. His assists should have been higher if our centers were not fouled several times, and if Parsons had a better shooting night. He started terrific, with 100% FG%, but by the end, missed some 3 pointers and a layup. If he were shooting a little bit better from outside, it would be a 20+ game for him. On defense, he started well, locking the opposing guard and pretty much keeping him scoreless and assistless for the 1st quarter. By the second half, Young started to shoot over him, due to the size mismatch, and as I told before, when defending to his right, there was a lack of help defense/communication and that lead to some easy layups.

Harden: terrific.33 points with 12 FG. I could end it here. But I also will mention: 17-18 FT. Enough said.

Parsons: The 3s were not falling. But, he is very good to our team flow, passing the right way on offense, moving off ball, and defending. He really works well in those small things and even with a bad shooting night, his impact is still very positive. He was +22, the third most on the team.

Morris: Solid game. His impact on the overall game is higher than PPat's in my opinion. He can provide several offensive options (3's, drive and lay-up, midrange shots, shots off the dribble) and also ended up with 5 assists and rebounds. That really opens up the opposing team's defense, and makes it easier for everybody on our side.

Asik: a double-double machine. Solid defense, rebounding and always scoring 10+. Sure, he misses easy looks, keeps missing to catch passes, and still needs to go for the dunk more. But his reverse layup is consistent, FT% very good, and finally he is setting competent screens. When you see so many flaws in a player, but he still keeps putting double doubles every time, you start to realize the huge upside he has. And, also, he seems to be constantly improving, game after game, on several areas. Just notice how he is making everything a little bit better each time.

GSmith: mr. Efficiency. He provided an 8 point run when most needed, and his post skills are great. Smooth small hook, nice elevation and power to go for a dunk, excellent hand to catch passes, and, the most important: moves very well without the ball. If he can adjust his defense to commit less fouls, he would grab more minutes, and deservingly.

TDouglas: when he had to be the PG, when Lin and Harden were out, it was terrible. He didn't find our centers, DMo, etc.. The ball movement were not the smartest, and his shot was not falling, since the defense was over him. However, when he plays alongside with Lin or Harden, or both, he thrives because his shot is very reliable, he can share the ball handling duties making the defense always off balance, and provides speed and energy.

Delfino: his style is to love when his shots are falling, and to hate when they aren't. He can either turn a game around with his 3's, or make us lose several possessions with the bad shots. Last night was the second option.

Dmo: rookie, showed some talent for post plays, but he was all over the place sometimes, struggling on defense and he really has to be abetter rebounder/protect the rim if he wants to make the team rotation more often.

McHale: Nice job adjusting the screens, the team defense on the first half was good, and maybe that is a glimpse of what they have been practicing. With time and more games, maybe the team can extend the good defense for the whole game. Also, he adjusted the offense flow with screens for Lin, making it more balanced. The rotation is getting better. He wanted to test DMo and a rotation without Lin and Harden early, when we had a 14 point lead. OK, didn't work, but it there was a time to test that, that would be as good as any other, and we still won.

Really hope we can keep building upon that small and very important things we've seen in the last game.

 

Their record may be bad, but they played really well and competed really hard last night. They got many contested shots and out-rebounded Rockets for most of the first half. So, this was not an easy win. The fact that Rockets still blew out them at the end shows how good Rockets were last night.

 

If you can't see his sarcasm, you have a problem

 

Shuh, you're probably just as bad with your 1st language as we are with English. However, your English is enjoyable and easy to read. Plus, I like your takes.

 

Thanks very much for the kind words. But the truth is: when I re-read my posts, I always feel ashamed of the many mistakes, and thus, I'm grateful that you are so patient and willing to be kind to someone that is not writing proper english.

PS: my main language is portuguese, and indeed, I treat it very badly!

 

Good analysis. Great quality post. Props.

 

Thanks. Great post.

 

Asik,Lin,Harden,

i'm sure moreys not done yet he has a trade coming soon

 

I think Clutch mentioned it before in a post game video thread. Omer's rarely in the locker room iirc.

 

Then you grab him right after the showers... I don't know. Omer need to stay in the locker room to build comradery.

 

From Geraldd.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>VIDEO: Rockets sing Happy Birthday to head coach Kevin McHale after Wednesday's win over Philadelphia: <a href="http://t.co/AZhmPPKj" title="http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/happy-birthday-kevin-mchale">nba.com/rockets/video/…</a></p>&mdash; Jason Friedman (@JasonCFriedman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonCFriedman/status/281878417723518978" data-datetime="2012-12-20T21:47:06+00:00">December 20, 2012</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I'd like to get Parsons back to playing lockdown D like he did last year and get another PF who can really block, rebound, and finish at the rim. Improved defense is what's going to make this team competitive in the playoffs.

 

LOL hazing the rooks? That's Jones right?

AND WTF IS DELFINO DOING BACK THERE? LMFAO

 

Btw the boys are at the season tickets holder party right now? So look out for interviews and stuff, they just took a pic with boys II men, and machado just commented and said he was jealous lol must suck watching from the outside in =( hopefully he hones up his skills quick so he can have a shot too

 

Boyz II Men is there?

 

Man, this was nice!!

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