ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Hawks 10/19/2022

Couple thoughts. Green and Porter have to get to the line more than a combined ONE time in 68 minutes. I honestly don’t know how that’s even possible. Fernando looked great out there, he didn’t miss a shot and tied for the team lead in assists and rebounds. He’s got a ton of heart. Finally, and this is big, they only missed one free throw. Overall, there was a lot to like, but still so far to go. The turnovers are a big problem. Fun game.

 

Yes! you read my mind. Green has to attack more, but I know he can and is willing.

KPJ that's one thing I've said all summer, we need him to shoot the 3 more (sooner in the clock) and stop taking so many midrange shots. Don't drive inside if you're not committed to attacking the rim hard, pass the ball to someone else in that scenario. He takes way too may stop and pops, destroying his own efficiency.

Anyways it's game 1. Was fun to watch. It's exactly what you'd expect from a young team, lots to learn, lots to like.

 

Coaching issues is a big question mark. Silas is a good man, though.

 

3 turnover in the 4th hurt us.Im okay with the result. Much better opener than last year.

 

I agree with KPJ but the refs again seem to just swallow the whistle for Green on his drives. He has to make incredily tough shots through all kinds of contact and the refs just refuse to give him that respect.

Hopefully that will change this year and this game was just fluke, it's just annoying to see some guys get blown on during their drives and get to the line while Green has to get hammered for them to even think about blowing the whistle.

I remember last year Green went like several games in a row without a single FT, that was just silly and that was around the start of the season.

 

basically hakeem didn’t play again, and for that we suffered greatly

 

We didnt get blown out and were competitive the whole game ! This is the step in the right direction ! So exciting despite a loss

 

Saying i hate playmaking of KPJ is an understatement. Its been 3 seasons of his playmaking and he still throws the game away with stupid turnovers, stupid shot decisions and bad defense. He is our Real tank commander

 

A lot of what I saw will correct itself with time.
They just look like they haven't played together long enough.
Sengun in Europe and Smith missing most of the pre-season with his ankle injury didnt help.

I see a lot of promise, but it will take time.

 

KPJ is great scorer but awful playmaker who the hell thought he should be our pg

 

Silas has a man crush on KPJ, w t f is whole team and rotation centered around him? We literally have few to zero plays for 2 and 3 pick and at the same time we have a guy that showed NOTHING of being starting point, but a lot on the other end of things, given keys to the team. Is this our plan to tank and if KPJ by next draft still isnt good they let him? Whats going on with it? He is so bad at passing both decision making and skillwise its absurd. Great scorer though and thats what he should be doing

 

This! Sengun isnt offensive force but the ****ing glue. Silas is a ****ing moron. It was painful to see Bruno trying to pass from the high hedge

 

there was one 2nd Q fastbreak possession where jabari led the entire crowd and was up ahead at the rim all alone literally waving his hands above head. kpj had the ball further back in the crowd and either wasn't looking or just didn't want to. jabari then flared out to the right 3pt line still all alone looking like wtf pass me the rock. kpj ended up casually dribbling down for a 20ft jumpshot brick in traffic SMH

 

Those are plays that wont show in the stats but are making me tear my hair out. I trained basketball in Europe as a pg and this is so bad i just cant understand it. He only passes to potential assists or as a bail out

 

i have to admit something here for the 1st time. i cannot remember the last rox game i watched when i didn't mutter to myself "fukin idiot" at least once for these kinds of kpj plays. his talent is obvious and now we've got him here for 2 more yrs minimum, but he's got some serious head issues to resolve

 

Improved Turnover numbers and still below average Defense.

You also cannot win as a young team with numbers like 3 team blocks and 4 team steals...

I still think the Rox would punish the real tanking teams and bad teams eventually but tough stance there.

 

KPJ still looks more for his numbers which is puzzling as he has his contract secured recently.

Looks like the next Christian Wood if he doesn't seriously become a team player.

 

Game looked fine. We was in the game the whole way through against a very good team that had a big addition and played their home opener.

we need to get to the line more and look for the extra pass more. But it felt like Green already got a lot more screens than he did last season. Now finish better close to the rim, play more Eason and just keep on developing those young guys.

 

It was light Night Court out there tonight. Everyone was all over the place. But this puts us in a good position to get that pick. So I like it. Let the chaos continue. Rats chasing the cheese.

 

I have mixed feelings about this game.

The good news is that we lost an often close game against a tough opponent. And the Nets lost horribly too. Hopefully this continues, and we get another high pick (either ours or via swap with Nets).

How we lost was a bit disappointing, though.
We were extremely sloppy with the ball, and shot really poorly.
Worse yet, our 3 most valuable assets--Green, Smith, and Sengun (Alperen, I'll admit, is probably no longer a top 3 valuable asset for us)--did not play well.

Sengun was particularly awful, turning the ball over constantly. His lack of size clearly bothered him, and it's not something he can fix.
I think this was one of his worst games with us though, so I do expect him to play better.

Jabari got tons of great corner looks. He needs to start hitting those. His 3-ball didn't look as flat as it did in SL, so that's an improvement.
I expect rookies to shoot poorly from 3. That happens all the time, as they adjust to the longer line. (Though, ostensibly, Jabari's NBA-range was one of his main selling points).

Green has improved his ball handling a lot since the start of last season, but he still has some more to go (at one point, he went between his legs and dribble off his butt in the perimeter against Trae, turning it over).
He also sometimes makes bad decisions (e.g. end of half, he didn't notice he could for a 2-for-1 and turned it over).
And he was cold today. His shot still remains a tad inconsistent, with some misses looking terrible. He does take some tough shots.
But I still really like what I've seen from him since he has entered the league. I think he can be a very special player, and I consider him our only untouchable.

I thought KPJ was our best player. He had some bad turn overs here and there (his handle is aesthetically pleasing, but not particularly tight).
His shooting looked, from mid and 3. He had some nice assists, and also made more than a couple of nice passes that should've been assists.
He improved on his defense a lot last year. He didn't play a particularly good game on D last night, but you still see some glimpses of how his length can bother other guards.
I still think he may be better suited as an SF, but he splits PG duties a lot with Green anyway, so I don't mind him at PG.

Thought Eason looked good and should've probably played more.