ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 4/6/2016

That's obviously a dunk if that were KJ. Pretty much every position needs to improve either with athleticism or 3pt shooting.

 

Dmo is not JB's kind of player....he can't do the party dance...lol

 

Our star has 26 points on 22 shots, committed 6 turnovers, and played horrific defense.

Imma blame the coaches and role players tho.

 

Harden's defense wasn't horrific last night. Not at all, actually.

His offense was, unusually, the much bigger problem last night.

 

Yea...I figured we were in trouble early when Harden was driving to the hoop a lot, running into defenders while putting up bad layup attempts with defenders in his grill, and he wasn't getting any foul calls. In a game where we needed Harden offensively, I thought the Mavs did a good job on him and he wasn't playing at the offensive level we needed from him last night. I figured he would play better later in the game but I couldn't stand to watch after I saw several of his layup attempts fail early. I just knew the Rockets were in trouble then. I caught some of the game later but, even when we went up for a bit, it still felt like fool's gold.

Did the Mavs ever resort to Hack-a-Howard?

 

so i wasnt the only one who thought the same.

when was the last time we saw harden played really well on both ends of the floor...

 

The dude is worn the hell out. JB's running him into the ground.

 

Dude Corey Brewer has been garbage. He was 1-9 as usual and we only lost by a couple of points. Do the math. If someone was put in that same roll who played well we win. In fact we would be 5th seed right now without Corey Brewer. He has a negative impact every time he steps on the floor he plays heavy minutes and we lose a lot of close games. Common sense tells you that our coach is an idiot for playing him.

 

Why I am not surprise you posted this ****ty comment, lol. typical.

 

This^

 

Harden has had many games post-All Star Break with his usual great offense and solid defense.

Last night was not one of those games. His offense was not good, but his defense was fine. He guarded Wes Matthews fine, and when Dirk was switched onto him, he did fine there as well. Harden's defense was not an issue last night.

 

We did not learn from the warriors series last year. In a close game down the stretch teams will double Harden and force the ball out of his hands because nobody else can create a shot for themselves (well except Beasley this year).
Down the stretch it was Harden and four guys better known for their defense, so Carlisle figured out to force the ball out of Harden's hand with Beasley on the bench the Rockets can't score.

 

Yup. The Rockets need a true offensive system, ball movement and creators. Doesn't mean that Harden's ISOs can't be a PART of that system. But just one aspect.

Can't win in the NBA when half of your offensive system is being reliant on fast break points and helter skelter play. Efficient half court offense, please.

 

I would like to see a closing lineup of...

Harden/Ariza/Beasley/McDaniels/Dwight

 

Fair enough, I think Harden is putting in more effort on the defensive end. Being more active

 

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His defense really has been fine for a while now. Like...he'll never be Kawhi Leonard, but if he gives his usual offense and this post-all star break level defense, you got to be more than happy with that. You just don't want to see pre-All star break level defense come back.

 

Half if not more than Half of the Rockets players Suck which puts more pressure on Harden to do everything. Give him players that can actually make open shots,layups and can grab KEY Rebounds and I think we'll see improvement all around. Harden is worn out. Frankenstein can't even hold onto key rebounds let alone hold onto passes. Terrible

 

It doesn't matter who you put in then, other players are already used to standing around for Harden to ISO for the first 40 minutes, they aren't going to change the mindset for the last few minutes.

This is not Harden's fault, but the team's problem. You cannot win big solely rely on ONE player in this league, other teams are too good for that. Harden's ISO should be part of the team's offense, maybe be a big part, but not the only thing.

As for Howard's offense, they need to get him the ball on the move, not catch it stationary, then make his post moves, that's not his strength.

 

I agree, Harden has been terrific the past month or so. He's put the team on his back and is the main reason the Rockets have even managed to be competitive in this recent stretch of tough games.

Dallas forced the ball out of Harden's hands towards the end of the game, they needed someone else to step up and make a play. The Rockets had a 1 point lead down the stretch and had a chance on 2-3 possessions to build a cushion. Instead, what they got was Brewer bricking wide open jump-shots. I still think Smith would have been useful in this game as a secondary playmaker, when they trapped Harden off the PnR. Smith really made the Mavericks pay last year for over committing to stopping Harden. He had the middle of the lane open every time to drive and score, lob to Howard, or kick to the shooters in the corners. Similar to how the Warriors use Draymond, when Curry is doubled.