ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 5/9/2017 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 5)

stop excusing Harden's meltdown by chalking it up to fatigue...

 

You know, it is possible to blame both of them. Which is what we should do

 

Flop

 

WTF maaaaan.

Just play Dekker and Trez dude.

 

I might not have minded the Charges except that we got charges called against us that were equally as sketchy. I think Beverley was set, but those do tend to be 50/50 calls like you said. I just wish it would have been consistent. Capella got smacked by Leonard on one of his dunk attempts, and those calls weren't working both ways at the other end.

I agree with you that officiating shouldn't be blamed for a loss, but it is frustrating.

 

If they had a real smart coach he would have used the bench smarter than he did those guy have been playing hard all year to get in the playoffs and get stuck on the bench SMH.

 

No it's not both. Had Trez been in and missed a crucial assignment everybody here would be like "why would MDA have Montrez playing in a game like this". Now it's "why not give poor Montrez some pt???". The way I see it is we were up in overtime. MDA had our most effective lineup out there. Harden practically GAVE them 3 possessions without getting a shot. He went full Jeremy Lin at the worst time, and this what decided the game

 

No Parker, no Leonard at the end, Rockets lose. Ridiculous.

James Harden and MDA need to redeem themselves the next two games.

 

don't really see it that way. Just because you want it doesn't mean you get it. it's not given. both teams want it. The rockets very well could have wanted it more but along with the execution like i said that's what it really comes down to me. As someone who has been playing competitively for the longest time and in numerous playoff/championship games, in games that come down to the wire that's what it comes down to imo at the end. Being tired is part of the game obviously but every single person deals with that. that's not the reason they lost.

 

exactly. people are trying to blame this and that. the game did not come down to those things. had the rockets closed out this game like they should have, we wouldn't even be having these discussion especially to this magnitude.

 

You don't play Trez late when crucial assignments can be missed. You play him in spots where Lee is the only big on the court for them. Early in the game. Same with Dekker. Early spot minutes may help keep guys fresh at the end.

That doesn't negate the fact that harden fell apart. AND I don't think either of those guys spell Hardens minutes, so he still could've sucked at the end. The point is those rotations may have led to a couple open Ariza or Anderson shots dropping in the 3rd and 4th.

It's both bruh

 

That's the part that hurts the most. No Kawhi and we couldn't capitalize. It's unacceptable. I would've thought Harden would attack the hole relentlessly without Kawhi in the game

 

Harden TOs are also not the reason they lost, afterall, they were still in the game despite them...

So explain to me why Pop is playing guys who have barely played then? You never did.

 

When you have 3 TO's in OT, that's a huge contributing factor to a loss.

 

I honestly feel that Rockets in 7 is the most likely outcome. Kawhi says he'll play but he's not going to be 100% and we saw in Game 5 that actually hurts the Spurs. Simmons was actually more useful to the Spurs than Leonard in Game 5.

I think Ryno having a good Game 4 at home will be a major boost for his confidence for Game 6, and the shooters will step up for Harden and win us the home game. Game 7 will just be about can those same shooters make open shots that Harden creates for them. Nobody knows, but I hope MDA expands the rotation to prevent the 4th quarter exhaustion and subsequent meltdown.

 

Really maddening loss, but at the same time it was extremely predictable. This is how the matchup has gone all season - Spurs are just better at executing down the stretch and don't make dumb ass mistakes like we do. When we couldn't finish it off in regulation, I knew we were gonna lose in OT. On the other hand, we had no business losing that with Leonard on the bench the entire OT. Blown opportunity, but that's what this team loves to do.

It's a shame but we just don't have guys like Ginobili, Mills, Green etc. that aren't your best player but can make a big play at the end of the game. If Harden isn't doing it for us, no one is.

Obviously our end of 4th and OT play was pathetic, but that's what happens when you only play 7 guys. MDA is in a tough spot, Dekker would probably **** his pants out there, Harrell is an even worse rebounder than Anderson, and who knows what you'd get with Troy. But I probably would have thrown Troy out there. He seems like a guy who would make a couple good plays, kinda like a Simmons type. Regardless, we just have to accept that Harden isn't a guy you can throw out there for 45+ minutes and expect him to make plays at the end. His stamina just isn't as good as a guy like LeBron for example. He needs to work on closing out tough games, which is puzzling because that was his specialty two seasons ago. Idk what happened to his clutchness from the 2015 season.

It's easy to focus on the end of the game, but what's been killing us all series is the damn rebounding. We really need to get better at that in the offseason. We just give them too many extra possessions throughout the game. Maybe we would have had a better cushion at the end last night if we rebounded better. That's our biggest area of need IMO. Plus just consistency in shooting the ball.

Before the series I predicted Spurs in 6, but I'd be really disappointed if we didn't win game 6. But we all know where this series is going, last few game 7s on the road haven't been kind to the Rockets.

 

what pop does, doesn't concern me. he does what he thinks is best for his team. mda does what he think is best for ours. but who did pop play that hasn't played in this series already last night. dedmon and murray were both dnps in this one.

 

That's not my argument, that is YOLO saying that because the Rockets were still in the game, that 7 men rotation wasn't the problem.

I think the James Simmons thing is more of a fluke, well his defense at least. Always takes Harden a bit to adjust to the guy whose defending him. Harden will have figured him out next game and will expose him if he has to guard him more.

As for Harden, one thing that was a bigger problem than his TOs was his defense. Everyone is so focused on his TOs but he let Green get a crucial And 1...Spurs fans are joking that Green scored on a drive, he's that bad at slashing. Harden has to defend better than that in crucial minutes. If we get a stop there, we probably win.

 

Kyle Anderson.

Once again man, you won't find teams winning games with 7 man rotations. Not in games with this intensity, this late in the season.