ClutchFans Game Thread: Pelicans @ Rockets 1/29/2019

If the rockets win 50 games and Harden doesn't win the mvp. Im done with the NBA.. and im not joking about this. Hardens out of control play this year is the only reason why im watching the nba( specifically the rockets) following that rigging in the wcf last year. Put in on record If Harden doesn't get the NBA MVP in 2019. Im done, the players are starting to run the NBA and its destroying the product. **** super teams

 

ZERO excuses. Yet.....here we are.

Absolutely pathetic loss. Giving away wins that can cost them seeding in the playoffs.

They don't get home games, or on the wrong side of the bracket, remember this game. And the Dallas game, and the Magic game, and the Brooklyn game.

Win those 4 games and they are 33-17 and THIRD in the WC right now ahead of OKC. Instead, they are 5th and barely hanging on.

Horrible.

They can set themselves right by beating BOTH Utah and Denver. BOTH. Tough task, but tough chit, you brought that on yourself.

 

Rockets roster is built to combat the Warriors. Built to be switchable. BUT, that doesn't always work so well against teams with bigs that can punish them inside and get rebounds.

Rockets have to find the right roster balance to combat teams with the bigs to get regular season wins AND be flexible to put out a unit to play with the Warriors. Not either/or. BOTH. Have to "get there" before you can even think about the Warriors.

Also, the Rockets have to be able to "gang rebound." They miss House here. They miss his rebounding AND his *boxing out* for others to collect rebounding. All of the little things.

 

Not gonna lie, at this point I feel like Morey is "showcasing" Hartenstein in the G-league as a trade sweetener. Let him put up HUGE numbers to make him look like a decent prospect. Hartenstein+Chriss = ?

Will be interesting to see if Hartenstein is called up for the Denver/Utah back to back. We know Nene will sit for one of them. So if he Nene sits, who plays backup C behind Faried? Tucker? Clark? Possible.

 

I think we can give it up to Jrue Holiday here. Tip your cap. He is a great defender and a baller. Harden played ok and still got huge numbers. Jrue just made him more inefficient.

But yeah, if Tucker and Harden are your best interior defenders, there are problems. Games like this is where you miss Ariza/Moute's rebounding and boxing out and positional defense. They are missing House. Guys that will gang rebound and box out.

 

We need House back in the house. No, he isn't a cure all, but as @Deuce points out, he would have helped, in my opinion.

 

And the problem is coaching/management will not allow players that DO care to get minutes (Clark, House, Hartenstein). In a game like this when the veterans have checked out mentally, you want some younger energetic players out there who are looking to prove themselves.

 

Need cap and House back ASAP!

 

This game really proved how we live and die by the 3, and how terrible we can be defensively at time.
We were hot until about the last 3:45 min left in the 2nd quarter, and then went cold as ice.

Things that stood out to me as to why we lost:

Nene plays 11 minutes and contributes only with 2/4 FT

Gordon, who is one of our best at driving in to the rim, only did it twice, going 2/2. We all know he is a streaky shooter from behind the arc, but he is also one of our best at driving to the rim and penetrating defenses, so he should have done that more.

CP3 simply doesn't take enough shots. He was 3/4 on 2PT shots, and ice cold at 1-5 from behind the arc. The problem is that he needs to just take more shots, because his percentage in both is not bad.

Ennis doesn't take enough shots. He was 1/1 inside, and 3/4 from behind the arc. Maybe he should have taken some more of the 37 missed shots. He is one of our best 3PT shooters. This is where the coach needs to coach. He was 3-3 from behind the arc with 3:45 left in the 2nd quarter, yet only took one more 3 after that, and he only played 21 minutes.

We miss Clint, and we need another star on this team who can be more than a part-time shooter.

You aren't gonna win with the bricks everyone was throwing from behind the arc. 19-56 is not going to win games.

Sure, James was getting blocked and missing shots inside, going 5/14, but at least he got 9/10 free throws.
My problem with James is that he just takes too many forced 3's in my eyes, and has been averaging over 16 3PT attempts a game since late Dec. It's not like he has a great 3PT percentage. He just takes way more than everyone else. I mean he has taken 176 more 3's than the 2nd place shooter, yet doesn't even rank in the top 125 in percentage. He's taken 183 more FGA than the second place guy as well, yet only ranked 87 in percentage made. It's no wonder he is shattering records, but come on man, of course he is taking so many more shots than everyone. Sometimes taking forced shots or trying to do it all isn't what is best for the team. All our other guys need to step up more, and start trying to make some of their own shots, instead of waiting until they are wide open.

 

Even switching won't work against the Warriors now that they have Demarcus Cousins.

 

This Rockets team is the most inconsistent team I have ever seen. When they are playing good teams they mostly play great When they play bad teams they suck. No matter who is playing, they struggle when playing bad teams Money needs to do something now
Doing nothing and this team will die a quick dead if they even make the playoffs. Morey Sh#t or get off the pot.

 

Lol the point of practice at this point and age like PJs is maintaining rhythm and abbility rather than develop one. Yes practice is nessecary unless you wanna go Chris Paul/Iverson and loose 30% of your skill in half of a year(Chris obviously had injury and couldnt touch basketball). And You know DAntoni barely holds practice? I guess he just as me dont know nothing about sports . What do you want to teach 34 year old NBA basketball player? **** up his shooting form? Because you wont teach a new one(i see you Lonzo&Fultz). Develop athletic traits? He already developed those and reggresed from his prime. Whats the point of shooting basketball right after a bad loss in the middle of the season other than letting bad energy go?

And yes after a game they should get rest and recover. If he wants to be in a rhythm in a game he should put shots before one not after lol. You know accurate shot comes from fresh legs and core balance? He was hitting everything at the start of the season and now after playing 40mins a game, 50 games later he is bricking wide open ones.... hmmm i wonder why..

 

yeah pretty much confirmed everything i said. thanks

 

This team needs to get a sense or urgency back. We are in the middle of a tough Western conference. A couple of losses could drop us to the eighth seed and a draw of GS in the first round.

 

It's called heart. Something we lacked in this game, I'm sad to say.

 

There is a risk of falling out of the playoffs all together too. Urgency is needed no doubt and further help may not be at hand. Call back Hart for the next 5 games. Let's see if he can space the floor with three pointers. We have nothing to lose by trying that out.

Lots of intense practice is needed on both ends of the floor by the entire team.

 

I partially agree with you about Harden's shooting. The rest of the guys aren't touching the ball enough, however they are professionals and should be able to make them too. The are too afraid, barring Gordon and Green to some extent, despite their recent struggles.

 

Morey is a statistician who has never played basketball. It's prudent to not give out big contracts, but he doesn't and can't understand the pulse of the team. Not everything is new math.

 

Yes, I agree. There are times they have the ball in their hands and simply don't take the shot, or don't try to drive it inside more. I guess you can say we get what we pay for. Most of our money is invested in James and CP3, with another large chunk in Clint. The rest we got pretty cheap. Sometimes they can make us look great, especially when hot from behind the arc, and other times you see why some of them were weren't starters on other teams. I don't blame them for that, because they are who they are. What I do think they can change though is being more aggressive in making more shots on their own. As for guys being hot and simply not getting the ball enough, or not getting enough minutes, I blame the coach for not making that happen. As for total lack of defense in the paint, I think it is a combination of what we have to work with, our small ball lineup, the lack of effort at times, the coaching, and maybe even not enough practice outside regular games. It is concerning though, because of the frequency of losses. We will be knocked out first round with this up and down type of play though, even with Clint if something doesn't change.

 

Lets face it, this team has not been the same since Zhou Qi went down. Qi's bench presence was key to our success.