ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 12/25/2017

1) Rox at 75% and without their 1B lost a close game to a 100% healthy OKC.

2) Roberson is the best Harden defender in the league. I'd be curious as to what Harden's FG% is against strickly Andre. I bet is lower than AR's free throw percentage.

3) Melo in his role today and lately >> Anderson.

4) OKC's length and defense is real. They will be a problem for anyone they face in the playoffs. Hopefully GSW.

5) The way teams have been guarding Rox in taking away the three will ultimately be helpful for getting ready for the post season because they will get lots of practice.

6) Capela is as good or better than DJ

7) We still are one major piece away from GSW level

 

because he couldn't get around roberson and paul george.

they're not exactly turnstiles on the perimiter.

 

Frustrating end to the game. Expected a loss today, still really pissed about the two previous losses. If we take care of business in those games, we can afford a loss today.

Championship level teams find a way to grind out wins even with key players missing. We haven't shown the ability to do that this season. Our defense in the 4th was pretty lackadaisical. Tough back to back coming up, we need to bounce back in a big way.

 

Not with THIS team. But we're short 2 key players that makeup our formula.
Just having CP as a primary ballhandler increases our point differential by about 10 points by reducing turnovers.
Also takes load off of James for scoring.
CP also provides steals which translates to extra points.

In addition, Luc with the extra D and has also been one of our
better 3 point shooters.

That's a LOT to take off the table. But still impressive we went toe-to-toe
with their full squad and big 3.
If we had our full squad, I'm confident this would have been a W

 

Sports media blackout for me..

 

hey moron, get back to me when Harden has a good shooting game (without the free-throws) against Roberson & PG13, because I can't remember when was the last time he did that

 

Thunder is not a subpar team. On paper they are better than the Rockets according to preseason analysts. And they are finally playing to their potential.

 

Sure, that is why OKC was that bad, but they have improved somehow.

 

They only show you boring loss now.

 

We are losing not a few games cause we don't have that valuable 4th guard. Had we signed Jameer Nelson, maybe Deron, we would have like 3-4 less losses. Morey is the main responsible of these loses to me. Remember we traded Pat and Lou for Paul, our other 2 playmakers... Without Paul, Harden is more alone than ever. Gordon had 6 TOs. Nobody can even put the ball on the floor outside him and Paul.

 

Improved yes, but it's mainly a product of a pretty weak schedule.

They're a good team, just a lower tier than us.

 

lmao, 7/18 FG, 3/11 3PT is hitting shots left and right?

fookin' delusional idiot

 

Morey. just take a look at GSW 10 mans rotation.

 

why no time out

Rocket River

 

Well, we have to see. Talentwise they are still Top 5 in my books.

They dun have a good enough bench and Roberson is always got to be a subpar scorer.

Patterson has to be a 8-9 ppg by now, he aint.

 

I HATE losing this game SOOOOoooo much...

It doesn't matter that we're better, or injured...

What sucks is I knew we'd lose this game when I saw vs OKC on the Christmas Day schedule.

It was a better headline if OKC won, it was in OKC. I kept thinking ugh.... no matter where each team is, for days you'll hear about it, and it'll be ANNOYING AS FCK.

Of course Paul was injured (again).
Of course one of our best defenders and bench players was out.
Of course we had lost 2 and they are winning lately.

Of course.

Missed FTs and bad defense. It was a completely winnable game, and we just wasted it because we couldn't keep them from scoring down the stretch, and couldn't make ANYTHING late... sigh.

It's just 1 game, I know.

But did we really have to lose to both LA's and OKC? To the team we got Paul from AND the team that lost to us in the playoffs? Ugh, the news will have a field day that will negate our recent win streak and injuries.

I can't believe how many points were giving up late, and how bad our 4th quarters are.

It's 25-7, which is still awesome, but come on. We were easily staring 28-4 right in the face and it just fcked it all up.

Nite CFs.

 

Dude also pump faked himself out of shots. He has no confidence at all. MDA benching his ass in the 4th ( he actually played some decent D in the 2nd half compared to the 1st) and Paul speaking to him on the bench is a sign something is off with his head and not just his shot and whos defending him.

The amount of times I saw Harden double teamed/trapped.. you would think he would be wide open for 3. Why is the team not running plays to get him open? or anything?

Obviously thats MDA's job, but when you dont even get road Ryno you cant but help be annoyed.

Dude has insane range, we have all seen it. I see a lot of him parking himself in the corner for 3's and these odd Parson like pump fakes that let the defender close on him instead of just letting it fly like Ego for example.

Lots of other blame can be had for this loss, but Ryno has been god awful for what feels like weeks now.

/rant over and I do believe he will find his shot and his confidence again, its just making it even harder to win when hes playing this crappy.

 

Hard to win when your bench gives you next to nothing... You're telling me Morey couldn't find an actual NBA caliber backup guard and we're forced to watch scrubs like Weber trot out there that's too scared to even attempt to score... Again this team's depth is HIGHLY suspect

 

Harden had such a weird game, he only shot bad and that was it. he had just 1 turnover and 14 assists

 

Hey Lin troll when he is getting triple teamed it’s impossible. There whole game plan was to stop harden and get others to beat them moron.