ClutchFans Game Thread: Knicks @ Rockets 11/25/2017

They just got spanked by one of the worst teams in the league. Good sign for us.

 

Plus... we are getting Gordan back!!!!!

 

Don't forget Home Ryno! He will hit 10-10 threes this game and banish his nickname forever, book it.

 

Would be a win regardless

 

Lose to Hawks...

Reward: Rockets on B2B.

90 points in first half... AGAIN!!!

 

Can't watch, last year's playoffs still give me heartburn... and burn my heart...

 

BSPN predictor has us at 89.2% chance of winning... Seems way too low.

 

What I'm watching for:

1.) early effort--do we come out and just take the Knicks out of their offense? They thrive when they get a little movement and a D breaks down. They need uncontested shots to score. If you bring early effort, they'll get frustrated.

2.) rebounding/ 2nd chance points--again, there's no secret that the Knicks have beaten people just by showing effort. But the way Capela has been tearing down boards, this looks like a stat we should control.

3.) signs of practice--our D has been looking better and better. I can't wait to see new wrinkles on offense with Harden moving without the ball.

4.) establishing patterns of playing 9 or 10 guys--I think MDA is tired of us harping on this one. Continue to let Black take a couple of minutes in the second quarter, why not? See if there is a way to cut back Ariza to closer to 35. He can always play longer later in the year. Gordon and Anderson are terrific if they aren't spent.

 

Can Toyota Center be loud and energized tonight? Good god, I just was rewatching Harden's performance against Utah and I don't think I've ever seen a worse home crowd in respect to their superstar dominating...man was putting on a show and the TC sounded like a tennis match. It actually puts a dampen on the performance.

I don't think it's even a question we have the worst home crowd of any contending team...that seriously needs to change. It's embarrassing.

 

Even during the performance it doesn't seem like you are watching a game where a guy is going off. If I hadn't known about the stats, I would've guessed Harden put up maybe 30-40 points with a few assists. It totally takes away from my enjoyment. The only solace I have is knowing the crowd will kind of show up during the play-offs. Worrell is the only guy who adds excitement though, something only a few commentators can do like him.

Won't change, unless Tilman cares enough. He should have the option to build a new stadium with better access, though I fear he might have to move it to a more fanatic city which he won't.

 

I predict there will be another lame crowd and tons of empty seats like usual...people don’t care about this team

 

YES GAME IS ON MSG NETWORK I CAN WATCH IT

 

We need to go on a long winning streak. That will make the crowd more numerous and loud.

 

That's the best news I've seen this morning. Beats the hell out of the cable news I frequently subject myself to (working to stay well informed can be pretty damned depressing). I just love what I'm seeing from the team. What an off-season by Morey! It's early days, but if we can stay healthy, no one is going to want to play us by the time the break rolls around. We have a coach who lives and breaths offense, busy taking full advantage of the way the league is now, and the players Morey added have been a revelation on the defensive end, with a surprising impact at the other end of the court. This team could be one of the best in Rockets history. I really believe that.

 

GO ROCKETS!!!

 

Three Knicks players score 20+ and still lose by 12. So I'm guessing the same thing tonight. Hardaway scores 30+, Courtney Lee hits 5-7 threes, Unicorn is in the 25-30 range, and Knicks lose by 15-20. Harden shows everyone he is on the Rudy Gay level.

 

nope. houston has one of the worst basketball fans in the nba. basketball is the 3rd most important sport unfortunately.

 

The Knicks are a hot mess at the PG position. They also have no elite wing defenders and their center suffers at defending the PnR. I'm impressed that they're over .500. I want to see our defensive focus continue. And I'd like to see Zhou make progress as it seems he's got potential as an NBA defender and shooter.

Basically, trap game.

 

People are still on an Astros hangover and the Texans season still has 6 games left. Yes, there's little left to cheer for with Watson done for the year and no draft picks to tank for, but for some reason, people would still rather focus on a football team going nowhere(at least til next season) than their NBA team which is off to a 14-4 start.

My hope is come 2018 with the NFL regular season over and the Stros still 4 months from opening day that folks in this town finally wake up and take notice of what the Rockets are doing.