ClutchFans Game Thread: Celtics @ Rockets 11/16/2015

The problem is when the team is winning, he takes most of the credits since he said that the coaching job was not that important.

 

The coaching job was not that important? LOLOLOL

He needs to watch more games of Warriors or Spurs.

 

"Coach Stevens didn’t want [the Rockets] scoring 35 points in the second half," Smart said. "He gave us that challenge.

"We try to pride ourselves on the defensive end, because we know our offense is going to come."

The Rockets posted only 13 third-quarter points, and if not for a late fourth-quarter burst, Boston might have achieved Stevens' goal. (Houston scored 40 in the second half.)
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celt...cs-defense-leaving-opponents-feeling-defeated

 

Rockets defense sucks is not secret. They didn't worry offense at all.

 

I hope that's because he's p-ssed and embarrassed and doesn't wanna comment on the situation until changes are made.

 

Harden will demand a trade to the LA Lakers in the near future or wait until his contract expire and sign with them.

I'll trade Harden for their 1st Round pick in 2017 and one of their starting guards.

 

Get ready everyone, this is the start of the drama.

 

LOFs aren't even trying to hide now

 

Trade Lawson for Lin and all the LOF can return.

 

I didn't watch the last quarter. I had a bit of work I needed to attend to and at that point it made more sense to do something productive. I would have preferred to have enjoyed watching the game, but I don't think anyone did -- not the fans, the coaches or the players. Who's left?

For one short period in the second quarter the Rockets seemed more like the team from last season, as they kind of did in their wins against OKC and the Clippers. But those 5 quick turnovers that erased the 15--09jt lead they had built seemed to have taken the edge off their effort a bit. A silent, collective, "Here we go again," could be felt by everyone.

The head-scratching by fans has turned into total bewilderment. How can the core of players who made it to the WC finals last season be in such disarray?

Deductions from observation may or may not explain the result. But we do have observations.

There is still some life as a team as evidenced by getting that 15--point lead in the 2nd quarter. Turnovers have plagued the team for over a season now. That's a long time to maintain careless and silly play that undoes the work of getting such leads. Some may be due to chemistry issues; new players not knowing teammates games or tendencies. But one of the big offenders is Harden. It was his turnovers in that last game in the WC finals that helped seal that loss. How does a player who declares himself the best player in the league make so many turnovers to break the momentum of the team? There is just no excuse for all of the turnovers committed by this team. That's not an effort issue that boils down to focus.

There is clearly a disconnect between Lawson's game while with Denver and his game with the Rockets. He ran the offense there. Here, not so much. As a matter of fact, when Harden and Lawson are on the court it's hard to teel who really is running the offense. When a team has a player like Harden it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy to say , "As Harden goes, so goes the team." If you think about that statement, it's like saying Harden is the team. What nonsense. The opposite actually happens sometimes. We have certainly seen the bench come in and turn games around while Harden was sitting. Ball movement seems better sometimes when he is off the court. That's no reflection on his skills, but when he isn't on the court, and the right mix of players is out there, they seem to be able to play team ball better.

The lack of consistent effort is, I think, primarily due to frustration at the speed of progression of things "coming together." Bad shooting and poor defense to start the season has created a tenuous mindset. I think it's hard to shake the "back of the mind" thinking that surfaces after a string of games where shooting is bad. The games won against OKC and the Clippers were more due to Harden going off for 40+ points in each than to a good distribution of scoring across the rotation. That tentativeness is hard to shake once it gets into a team's head. When analysis characterize a team as a really bad team, that is a big part of why they seem so bad. The saving grace the Rockets have is what they did last season. They do know it's possible to play much better.

Another elephant in the room (yes it's big enough for at least 2) is the absence of D-Mo. Still not able to practive, yet a big reason the Rockets won as many games as they did last season. If he isn't on the team last season, especially with Howard out so much, do the Rockets end up the 2nd seed? It's very questionable. I think the organization owes the fans some kind of detailed status on why he is still being held out of practice. They had no problem reporting dire news when he couldn't return last season. If there is thinking that they could hold him out indefinitely and have him ready for the run after the All-Star break, that needs to be rethought. There is a real danger of poor seeding or not even making the playoffs if the sputtering continues. But silence on that his status is not good for the fans or the team.

I am thinking heretical thoughts. I would like to see what would happen if Lawson had a non-Harden offense to run. It would be considered sacrilege to bring Harden off the bench, but remember when he got sat almost a whole quarter in the playoffs? He was not playing well and making mistakes. It was chalked up as that he was just worn out from a long season of carrying the team. It finally caught up to him. But sometimes even the best players need a dose of reality. I think one reason Jones has been better the last couple of games, is, even though he was cleared to play he was not inserted back into the starting lineup. It can give a player a renewed sense of purpose to experience that. I think up until that happened, his injury history was lurking in the back of his mind and hindered him.

Of course I don't expect there will ever be a suggestion of moving Harden to coming off the bench, even for one game. It is too outlandish. But it helped Josh Smiith last season to get integrated with new teammate, to where he became more effective when later put in the starting lineup. The logic would seem to be, "Then bring Lawson off the bench and see how that works." Maybe. But my curiosity is goofy sometimes. I can't help wondering what, might happen. Lawson is the pure point guard that the Rockets haven't had in a long time. Last night Howard wasn't involved in the offense much at all. Entry passes seem to be either bad or often badly timed. You have to wonder if D-Mo would get many touches either as the team is currently playing. Would Harden go ballistic at such a suggestion? Would he in that instant decide he should find another team? Would he lose interest in the team? Crazy, I know. Still, as far as the chess move of coaching go, it might really throw a kink in opposing coach's game plans.

No matter what changes might happen, it is hard to imagine a worse result than we've seen so far. Twenty point losses might become 30-point losses, it's true. But if Harden ever goes down to injury for any period ot time that bridge will have to be crossed for real.

 

^^
tl;dr

 

In the next couple days, there will be a storm of drama in the locker room. Lots of fingers will be pointed and lots of leaks to media will come out.

 

After the game, Thomas and Jae Crowder left no doubt about the impact the Johnson-Jones sequence had on the team’s mentality.

“We had a guy down and their guy (Jones) kind of straddled (Johnson) and wouldn’t let our guy up,” Crowder told reporters, via CSNNE.com. “We saw it as a sign of disrespect. We just came to his rescue, and we weren’t having it. That’s what sparked it.”

“I just went to go protect my teammate,” Thomas added. “It was very disrespectful to stand over somebody.”

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/2015/11/17/jae-crowder-says-rockets-sign-disrespect-propelled-celtics-win/5XEA8VOJkCr3TYoeRQPm5O/story.html

 

This!

 

Good. If some drama is what it takes to wake the Rockets up, then by all means go for it.

 

Watching the game on ROOT right now And it's unbelievable how garbage the paint defense is as well as ball movement. All Boston did was cut off paint And force jumpers

 

Dwight gets ball and auto double

 

They're a really likable team, I considered them a playoff lock before the season and it looks like that's what's gonna happen, along with adding stars in the draft each year thanks to Brooklyn's idiocy. With Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge running things, Boston is set for the future.

 

This

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ty Lawson said the Rockets had a players only meeting Tuesday morning. He said it was a productive meeting.
<a href="https://t.co/nUyJB16wGb">https://t.co/nUyJB16wGb</a></p>&mdash; Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/666707793253003264">November 17, 2015</a></blockquote>
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