ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Cavaliers 1/25/2025

I am crazy but I pick Amen. I do not buy Wemby's size and athleticism over a 15 yr career. A human being that big shouldnt be able to move that fast. Sooner or later he will become injury prone.

Amen is gonna be like Westbrook. He still running, jumping and dunking at age 36.

 

not sure, because wemby’s already had a stress fracture in his leg plus back issues and i’m still pissed off from yao & tmac’s careers

 

Yeah, y’all are crazy. I’ll gladly take the risk considering his upside is the best player for the next decade.

 

A decade seems long but it is actually short. If Wemby only has a 10 yr shelf life I wont be surprised if he doesnt even win 1 ring. He will basically be Embiid 2.0.

The days of MJ or Lebron where one guy can dominate the league is done. The NBA has so much talent Jokic who has clearly been the best player in the last 5 yrs only has 1 ring.

Its more important to be both healthy and good. The more seasons you can play the more chances of winning.

 

welcome to the club & congrats!

 

What a win, even though we contributed to their run by making silly mistakes, they had all the momentum and the crowd went nuts. How we kept our composure, for such a young team, was what impressed me the most. That’s mostly on FVV and Amen, but even Green didn’t get rattled. Honestly though, as much as I love Tari, no way in hell he deserved to be on the court for as long as he did in the 4th with how he had been mistake after mistake while offering nothing on offense.

Our youth and tendency to be flying at players really almost cost us the game. Doubling off of Nieng was particularly frustrating to see. Also 3 fouls on 3pt shooters, including a silly reach by Brooks at the end, yeah that guy is not having a good stretch and has my vote 100% to be benched. I was impressed by Tate given how Tari & Brooks were playing on defense. Tate was steady, calm, collected. He should play more in games where those 2 are not delivering.

I give credit to Ime though, he did a lot of things right and showing faith in Adams since day 1 is paying off huge dividends right now.

 

Btw play of the game: Amen’s block on Mobley straight up.

 

Cam became ill and missed the 2nd half. I'm not sure what happened to him.

 

It.was.INSANE.

 

Agree on Tari EXCEPT that block on Garland was the dagger that put the game away.

Agree on Brooks. Full stop.

 

So I have a question. Are we still in the second phase of the rebuild?

 

Yes.

Imagine what Phase 3 looks like.

82-0 + Championship.

 

Phase three is just...

Dynasty.

Seriously this team has Astros 2016 vibes where people were predicting a future dynastic level run and it happened.

 

ESPN is highlighting the Lakers & Warriors game, two b**** ass loser Cali teams no one gives a **** about. Because they’re trying to ignore how the best team in the East was just issued TWO consecutive back to back losses by the Rockets. This is why we don’t have any All stars going to All Star weekend. They hate us cause they ain’t us.

 

This league is amazing at shooting itself in the foot.

From having lead poisoned old heads constantly b**** about the modern game to constantly hyping up old rivalries of players far past their prime and not embracing the new young blood, to black out restrictions for league pass local games...

This league just wants itself to fail.

 

I think NBA fans and media would be giving serious consideration to Amen as being on Wemby's level if he came into the league with the same amount of hype and into a situation where he was the automatic #1A on offense like Wemby has been. His scoring efficiency wouldn't be as good as it is right now but his volume stats would be much better and might not be far off Wemby's.

 

Legacy media is dead. You'll find no shortage of actual analysts talking about this on YT tomorrow.

 

I love this team. After years of the Harden iso ball, then just gross basketball once he left, it’s super refreshing to see a team that plays with a high level of effort. They do a lot of things wrong, especially on offense, but effort and athleticism make up for a lot of mistakes.

I do still have some lingering concerns about what this looks like in a playoff series. Some of the 4th quarter meltdowns and inability to consistently get easy offense has me worried. On the other hand, you’d expect the effort and intensity to be turned up to an even higher level, and this squad can just suffocate teams and run them off the floor with this swarming style of play.

I have no idea what the ceiling is. I have a hard time believing that we are truly title contenders just yet, seems like more seasoning is still needed, but who the hell knows. Also, Udoka is a gangsta.

 

Man just finished the game. Gotta say, one of the most enjoyable I've seen in recent memory. They're getting so much better so quickly. Says a lot about the coaching staff and Stone's drafting. I called 42 last year and missed it by 1. Figured they'd bump that by 10 at 52 this season, but they're at 30 with half a season to go .

On to the champs. Should be fun.

 

What an incredible game. Rewatching today for sure.

Casual NBA fan thinks game of the night was LeBaby and Steve Cry for the 600th time? “I wonder why ratings are down?”

Nah two great teams battling and not being overly officiated. That’s your highlight if you like basketball.