ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Blazers 1/5/2019

anybody know if that call was actually correct? if there's a foul away from the ball while the shooter is shooting, who should get the ft's? i thought it was correct (maybe last 2 mins only?), but now i'm questioning myself

 

Rox are way better than the Blazers at full strength so whatever. But our starting PF is a problem currently. He was a big reason the Blazers feasted on the boards and got so many second chance points. He's thick but he is not a big man. Also he is losing more and more confidence by the game offensively and not even looking to shoot the corner 3s. I feel the next major trade/move should be for a legit PF.

 

shrug...not even mad

Harden just had an off night...I don’t think Portland did a good job on him, he was just missing...lost in all of Harden’s greatness this season is that he’s shooting his lowest percentage at the rim since he’s been in Houston by a decent amount, and his percentage is the 2nd lowest of his career aside from his rookie season...his percentage at the rim is only gonna get lower after tonight’s performance

Capela continues to beast on the boards

Tuck has been a liability on offense for awhile now, he really needs to step it up

I’ll be at the Denver game on Monday to watch us start a new win streak

 

1 damn loss and we're back to #5, West is brutal af

 

Well that sucked

*** Portland

At least they battled on this bad half of a back 2 back

 

When you look at the stats, the Rockets lost this game on fouls and assists...Rockets 13 to 'blazers 27 assists, and Rockets 22 fouls to 'blazers 11 fouls. Rockets should have passed the ball around more to find the open man...too much ISO.

 

The positive from tonight is that Knight seemed really active and productive. Rivers was big too. Good additions those will add once E.G. and CP is back. The fact that we stunk pretty bad but were close at the end shows we will be alright.

 

Watch his highlights of his first year in Houston, he just elevates higher at the rim and finished stronger and faster. He plays so below the rim now. He has once and a while nice dunks on people but he definitely isn't as strong of a finisher as before. But he's compensating for that by his great 3pt shooting .

 

It's so insane how an "off-night" for Harden is still 38 f****** points.

 

Terrible day in Houston sports

 

The rockets are asking him to start and play starter minutes but he just isn’t starter caliber, especially playing out of position. PJ is a 10 minute guy at best.

 

Yes, we need a PF with size but Morey would rather sit and wait for some elusive 3rd star to fall in his lap.

 

Tough game, tough loss. Harden had his worst shooting night in a while, and still got 38 points. The percentages, well...they weren't great but still. What's the opposite of lights-out shooting? Shooting as if the lights were out? But more seriously, when you carry such a tremendous load, it's difficult to have a bad game and still win, though the Rockets weren't too far away.

Is it just me, or do the Blazers have a lot of smug faces as well? Turner and Nurkic are pretty annoying, but I guess since we have Austin Rivers now I shouldn't be complaining too much.

A longish rest, and on to the next one! I suspect this little break will do James Harden a world of good.

 

1-1

 

Switching our guards onto Nurkic on every pick was a bad idea. He either got an easy shot at the rim or an offensive rebound almost every time that happened.

 

its time to start a dialogue about PJ Tucker

 

The love affair with PJ Tucker has to stop. He's great in some matchups and terrible in others, and this was one of them. Yet, MDA gives him all the minutes he wants.

You can't have your starting PF play 35 minutes and take just 1 shot. He was a -15.

Tucker would be a great defense/hustle energy guy off the bench, but not a starter on a championship team. He just doesn't bring enough value on both ends to justify the minutes.

Someone like Kevin Love at the starting spot would be ridiculous, though we probably don't have the assets for that.

 

Tucker and Nene were beyond awful tonight.

 

DANTONI HAS GOT TO DO A BETTER JOB PLAYING THE MATCHUPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO PJ. HE HAS WORKED SO HARD ON DEFENSE HE DOES NOT HAVE THE LEGS TO SHOOT THE CORNER 3. THEY NEED TO PLAY A LITTLE UP TEMPO SO HOUSE AND GREEN CAN GET LOOSE. ALTOGETHER THIS WAS MORE LIKE HOW THE REFS WILL CALL IT IN A PLAYOFF SERIES, THEIR IS SOMETHINGS TO BE LEARNED AS FAR AS THE REBOUNDING AGAINST THE BLAZERS AND THE GUARD PLAY. THE PELICANS SHOWED THE WAY TO KILL THEM LAST YEAR. YOU HAVE TO WORK LILLARD AND MCCULLOM THRU SCREENS AND PHYSICALITY. MAKE THEIR FOWARDS TAKE TOUGH VOLUME SHOTS AND CROWD NURKIC.

 

You're always dropping nuggets of positivity, I love it.