ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 3/24/2023

After giving up 151 points I think it's safe to say that we need better defense at every position, including rim protection. Utterly inexcusable. I don't think there's a single above-average defender on this team.

A lot of that is just youth, young players usually aren't very good defensively. But it's also on the coaching. OKC is also really young, they don't have any starters over 24 and only 1 guy playing any real minutes over that age (Kenrich Williams), and they're not playing like this. Because they actually have a solid coaching staff who holds guys accountable and teaches them what to do.

All of that said, I think the Rockets do desperately need a good switchable wing defender in the offseason, as well as a rim protector type to sub in at the 5 when Sengun's not getting it done.

 

Fat ass outran the Rockets. (Maybe that was last game.)

When they put on the film study, show this fat ass outrunning the entire team.

 

Silas is a Beta as a coach, he should have been fired a long time ago.

DD

 

Accountant looking mofo set an NBA record against us smh

 

Everything is connected if we had a good interior defender Jabari and Tari can spend more time defending the perimeter cuz they know if the opponent leaks inside there will be sombody to block and protect inside. As it is if opponents know they can score inside no problem they have more confidence to launch 3s cuz they know they always have option to score inside as a fallback.

It's the same setup GSW has they have Klay Thompson and Wiggins as good perimeter defenders but then inside they have Looney to block shots and then Draymond is the defensive quarterback who oversees everything.

 

Just when you think this team might have taken a step forward they go & completely/utterly embarrass themselves & let Luke mfing Kennard drop 10 bombs from deep like he's prime Klay Thompson, get dogged by the fattest dude in the league, while putting up their usual brickfest from 3... Tragic

 

Someone gives me a summary of today game

 

True to Rockets form, we let yet another unknown scrub go off on us. This time, to the tune of 10/11 3pt shots. Our guards were complete ass on D.

 

KPJ needs to get traded for some picks

 

Wing defenders are not what we need. Across Jabari, Tate, Tari, and KJ we have fine defensive talent at the forward spots. We don’t really get torched in iso by wings.

We get torched by guards (e.g., Dame) and centers (e.g, Valanciunas, JJJ).

The problem is we have no point of attack defense, zero rim protection, miserable PnR defense, and no interior size.

You’re right though we need a defensive center option who can rim protect, defensive rebound, and defend post ups. Garuba isn’t that.

POA defense is coachable I think. I believe Jalen can be a good POA defender if he accepts coaching, tries every possession, and stops focusing solely on getting buckets.

There should be some natural improvement from our young core just from being in a non tanking situation next year and getting older. OKC for example is young but are playing multiple 23-25 year olds in their rotation, we play nobody over 22.

 

I think better defensive play from the 3 would go a long way to covering up defensive missteps by Green. Tari and KJ have potential but have a lot of defensive lapses. Maybe they'll be able to learn to be lockdown defenders though, it's true that they have good tools.

Better defensive production from the 1 spot (KPJ is still not getting it done) and a good coach working with Jalen would help a lot though, you're right.

 

I think generally our 3 and 4 defenders aren’t great because they make mix ups often as super young players, but they don’t compromise our defense systemically.

Our guards and center do. If you get blown by or die on screens every time on the perimeter, or if you can’t defend the rim without help, your whole defense is cooked. Doesn’t matter who you have on the wing.

Put it this way - if we had prime Scottie Pippen and Kawhi instead of KJ Martin and Jabari our defense would still be horrendous. But if we had prime Rudy Gobert and league average POA defenders at the guard spots we’d be good on that end.

 

I thought the consensus was for Silas not to win anymore for draft reasons? When he does lose he's a "Beta" male?

 

After the game, I watched all the 3s (made or missed) in the game(link at the end of post). It wasn't very pleasant.

The whole team cannot defend a simple screen. They can't even decide which player defends who, to switch or not, let alone executing it after making the correct decision. Same thing on transition defense. I know the players are young but this level of incompetence is something else. And I can see this is not a point of worry for the coaching staff. The only thing that is coached is help defense. You can see it clearly because every guard has an eye for it and they try to do it, sometimes overhelping, sometimes just ghost helping to lose their man for no reason but still it is part of the scheme and they are trying to do something. With switching and how to defend the screens, they are clueless.

Things are only slightly better on 1-on-1 defense. Only Tari and Garuba get a clear pass there and Jabari just needs time to do some learning and getting stronger. Sengun, KPJ, KJ, Green all have major problems.

There is almost nothing we do right on defense. When everything is bad, It becomes hard to evaluate individual defense and tell how these players would look like if they were the only bad defender in a team with good d.

This should be the worst coached team of all time. Combined with the fact that it is one of the youngest with no vets and running an unsuccessful experiment at the pg spot, it is no surprise we can't win 20 games. Hopefully with the big picture changes (new coach, new pg, vets) and the young core growing older, these issues will be fixed rather quickly.


https://the-high-low.com/video/ids?...Xtx23Eegj23xHfN23VGuW23HKHq23xyYS23ekWV23Zyik

 

'From Cleveland, New York and all the way to Brooklyn. '

 

The coaching staff is clearly sleeping in the offseason, they had their Sets down, can't adjust on the fly, flat out could not coach a young team.

This coaching staff wouldn't coach a Luka led team to the Playoffs either.

 

Spoiler: Ouch…

 

I admire your optimism.