ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 10/3/2017 (Preseason Game 1)

why u tryna push this dude so hard

 

Yeah I hate that. I wish Chris walked the ball up more.

 

I missed it ..... Anybody have a replay link?

 

I respectfully disagree... I know Adams is a big Center and Nene matches up better but Capela just got tossed around and wasn't a game changer defensively. He really needs to show his worth on the defensive side of the basketball and just focus on rebounding and blocking shots.

 

Positive:
- Chris Paul
- Chris Paul's passing, vision, leadership and intensity
- Steals and defense by Tucker, Paul & Mbah. I know Tucker had at least 3, but stats keepers probably chose for ball fumble or some ****
- Mbah's drives and 3pt shot
- Gordon as 6th man
- Threes!!

Negative:
- Harden's laziness on both ends of the court, I didn't see any of the weight loss having a positive effect. Off the ball didn't move at all, kept himself out of the play most of the time, just chucked threes. On defense got caught for not watching his man 3-4 times, Felton owned him twice!
- Harden's TOs due to the same old ankle passes that we should not expect Capela to catch. Watch how CP3 threw a similar type of pass, but higher and Capela caught it.
- Our 3rd stringers looked horrible, Zhou Qi is going to be interesting though.
- Capela did not look good, did not see the strength paying off. Only one drive looked good.
- Settling for threes. Yes we made 24, but a lot were against 3rd stringers and guys you won't see. I guess they were having a bit of pre-season fun.
- We are pretty small, missed Nene's presence and would love to add another athletic big guy.

OKC will be dangerous, they have serious length and with Westbrook both Paul an Melo will get even better opportunities. Will WB take away some shots from Melo? Sure, but he can still create. We might have to start Mbah / Tucker against OKC.

 

He showed it in the playoffs last year against the Spurs, basically leading the playoffs in rebounds and block shots . He has put on a considerable amount of mass and this is game 1 of the preseason. Same people were making these proclamations about him in the preseason last year, and they were all wrong.

 

anyone have the clip of the traveling call on harden's sidestep 3? that call looked dubious

 

I was so worried about the lack of chemistry between Harden and Paul I didn't get any sleep last night, like non.

 

Would be good if those 2nd and 3rd stringers could blow them out as well in the 4th.... huh

 

I am crazy hyped for the season but as usual I cant bring myself to care about preseason ball.

This league basically has an 82 game preseason, this is pre preseason.

 

Just watched the game. Still pissed me off that Morey didn't go all out and get Melo. Now we have serious trouble because Ryan Anderson can't guard Melo. He can't guard anybody. And we don't have enough firepower to match up with them. They are clearly better now. **** Morey

 

Ariza was garbage as usual. Luc and Tucker were nice. But they are all stiffs on the offense. Our frontcourt has zero ability to make plays. Anybody who couldn't see that is an idiot. Melo would have made us the best offense in the NBA. Bash me all you want but at the end of the season I expect a lot of people will join me in the effort of getting Daryl f'ing Morey's ass fired. Man I am so pissed off after watching the game. Seriously the Thunder has much better talent than us now.

 

82 game pre postseason, I concur!

 

Wut?

 

Okay, so that was a good game and quite encouraging.
-Chris Paul played excellent ball and his precision will be a great counterpoint to Harden's more risky passing. The defense looked much more intense with Paul on the floor and to some extent he unlocks Ariza to be better - Trevor's ability to jump passing lanes has more opportunity to shine with Chris putting ball pressure on the ballhandler. Even Harden got some cheap steals off of flustered passes.
-That probably would have been a bottom 20 percentile game for Harden last year, yet we had no problem putting up points.
-Eric Gordon's shot looks better than ever.
-Tucker and Luc look very solid.
-Despite his quick fouls (I think he was being treated a little unfairly by the refs, because 2 of 4 came when he was in full retreat), Zhou showed he can move his feet and stay in front of NBA backups.

Things to work on:
-More activity from Harden. I'm not worried about this.
-Capela got a very stiff test as OKC starts four guys big enough to cover him well on the roll. There are few defenses as well suited to stopping Clint as OKC, especially with their least disciplined defender (Russ) resting. James and Chris need to steer him into better angles as the preseason goes on and establish that chemistry.
-The offense looked like crap with Taylor/Gordon trying to run it. I'm okay with this because if James or Chris misses significant time we're screwed anyways, but I still suspect that a late-season buyout point guard might be on the agenda for the playoffs.

 

If they have so much more talent how come the Rox blew out their ass by 20 pts at one point and MDA played 3rd stringers for majority of the time? None of your posts make any ******* sense just watched a game where the rockets blew out the opponents and your conclusion os the Rox can't stop OKC? Wtf

 

I just wish Harden would stop trying those telegraphed bounce passes to Capela that lead to a turnover 98% of the time. He's too good not to learn from his mistakes and make the necessary corrections.

 

It was the other way around it was OKC who played 3rd stringers for majority of the time and they didn't play Westbrook. You can just see the potential. You put 3 great offensive players together it's gonna be tough to stop. They are an absolute nightmare defensive for the opponent as well because they have the ability to switch everything while we're stuck with Ryno.

 

Chris Paul is a legit baller. A+ player

And Treyrizaa , one of the most under-rated player in the league