ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 1/4/2021

I like this perspective and wording
setting the tone

its almost like game is won or lost not by percentages but by energy and attitude

 

not enough playing time to get into rhytm

 

They were a top 10 defense for the year who swtiched everything, so all this action you are talking about gets netaged by a switch defense. Chris Paul even talks about this in a podcast and he knows way more than you or I. Man that was ONE GAME. You really expect me to believe they were a worse team with Durant? Is that what you are honestly telling me? We lost to the Spurs without Kawhi, Im I to believe they beat us without him too? The answer to both is no. Dont ever expect Iguodala to shoot that well for an entire series. If we had a little wing depth we'd have won that series.
Thanks Tillman.

 

I think Silas made a mistake starting Nwaba. He can defend, but he can't shoot well enough to start. Sterling Brown should've started

 

And Wall is what? A slightly better mediocre basketball player at this point on his career making 40 million a year? Both players are garbage next to Harden. At least Russ is capable of scoring by himself. Say what you will about everything else he at least could get to the rim and finish. Wall looks lost.

 

We're just not a very good team. We are Harden + Stuff. I like Wood but he gives up 8-10 ppg with his bad defense. I like Wall but he's not a star - just a pretty good starter.

This is why any Harden trade needs to be for a rebuild - not for adding pieces around John Wall. "_______ doesn't fit next to Wall" should not be a thought that anyone has, because Wall will not be a foundational player to a contender.

 

The problem with Harden right now is that his body and quickness he has lost over the years means that the dude is going to have rough nights when he isn't making his stepback. Luka at this point is more versatile where he doesn't need to be so reliant on the three.

Harden also has a habit that Luka doesn't where if he's shooting poorly he becomes more disinterested in the other things like moving feet on defense, or not getting up the court in a respectable time.

 

Exactly bro. Let me say this, you never want to be too high or too low after a game. Either pendulum swing can result in a what they call a knee jerk reaction. That's why you always need to go back and rewatch the whole entire game or at the very least rewatch where the momentum shifted. Because it's very easy to overreact after a big win or big loss. Any real student of the game is going to take pride in that kind of approach rather it be coaches, players, analysts, or fans. That's why I rewatched the game last night and gave time stamps to @HP3 and @D-rock because imo it is very important to make sure you can reaffirm the facts, and not just talk $hit with no real empirical data.

I don't think it's a blame thing per say but you can definitely see once Harden came back in our energy totally shifted on both sides of the ball. And the $hit was so obvious that even Bill mentioned it several times along with Bull in that second quarter. But saying things like this means you are being negative here on CF and posters will flame you as a Harden hater for only pointing out the facts. I take pride in the fact that I don't subjugate myself to only watching this team (even though I'm from Houston and live in Houston). I try to make it my business to watch at least 4-5 games everyday, which allows me to see anywhere from 80-120 players and about 8-10 different basketball schemes a night. No other team allows one guy to dominate the ball as much as Harden does I can honestly tell you that much. I can see why teams would be reluctant to trade for James. But I guess that makes me a Harden hater lol.

 

Play harder clap clap.

People always ridicule coaches that say this. But, there is a reason coaches say this.

 

To each their own. A number of GMs project Luka to be an MVP candidate. He’s shown enough to indicate he’s a great player and that last year wasn’t a fluke.

 

We lost this one simply because Hardaway Jr went 8-10 from 3...

sometimes guys get red hot in the nba... it just so happened in the same game we only shot 27% from 3

 

This is gonna sound stupid, but i'll say it anyway. Last night the guys just didn't look like they were having fun out there. James especially looks like he's not having fun. And i worry about putting too much pressure on a new team, half of which is learning a new system, to gel right away. I worry every loss is an excuse for James to throw up his hands. If there's too much pressure to win out of the gate, just to keep the team together, I think it will ultimately work against the team's success.

I'd like to see our guys playing looser. I'd like to see our team do some trust falls and build some comradery. And i'd like to see our team out there having fun; i think we'll win more games that way. It would be great to find ways to dial back the pressure a little bit; especially early on. It will be important for everyone to be patient.

 

Refs taking Boogie out of the game shifted momentum and focus IMO. He was setting a tone for a physical game and for whatever reason .. oh no wait I remember its because Luka is the NBAs new sidechick that they were not going to allow anyone getting rough with her .. I mean him. League states he must be allowed to score at will and do whatever he wants.

Oh wow look! Another 30+ minute SCORELESS night from PJ Tucker!.

Thats just awesome. Really inspiring stuff.

So does anyone think James is half assing the effort level and threw that game last night? Starting to go to Phase 2 of the "F You Trade Me" tour?

 

didn’t bill say something of the lines like harden is checking back in let’s see if we can keep up the pace? I thought that was pretty telling

 

not too upset with the lost. we don't have chemistry yet and are really missing some 3point firepower (cough gerald green).

we will struggle against teams with good offenses.

 

So every team in the league?

 

So no D House last night, and he tried Nwaba and others, but none of them really worked (I thought S Brown deserved more minutes but Boogie going out he had to change rotations for more size out there). That tells me we still need to find that SF that can help on the wing on both ends of the floor. He doesn't need to be an all-star (that would be great) but he does need to be consistent. Nwaba is not consistent on offense (shooting), Tate is still too young and is a backup, House is a backup SF in my opinion with his inconsistency on both ends, and PJ's lack of versatility on offense and his unhappiness due to his contract situation are hindering his game. I hope Stone sees this too and can find something. Ego can be the piece that gets us that player (PJ and a pick too). I know it's difficult to make any moves with the James situation still hanging over us... so until then this is what we have.

 

Especially to someone like Harden who is notorious for sulking and decreasing effort when his shot isn't falling.

 

Man I'm really not seeing that with Wall. He definitely doesn't look "lost" to me.

 

Well Bill Worrell is notorious for being a LOF.